"This land is not like our land, its sky is not like our sky. Its sky sends rain down without the originating cause of clouds; On its ground the green grass sprouts up without any aid from the soil. It stands outside the circle of the Earth And the bowels of the enveloping Sphere The seasons all begin here at the time of their conclusion elsewhere. Here there is heat in our winter And chill in our summer Its roads are frightful as path leading to the Nook of Death; Fatal to life is its expense like the unpeopled City of Destruction. Its forests are full of violence like the heart of the ignorant. Its rivers are beyond limit and estimate Like the minds of the wise……………" 

Wrote Mullah Darvish of Herat in his accounts of his expeditions to the land bordering Northeast India. Though written 300 years ago, much of his descriptions have not lost its relevance even today. 

Northeast India is a region of great natural and cultural diversity. It is home to almost every climatic zone on earth (except deserts) and is one of the wettest regions in the world. The area consists mostly of hilly, forested terrain formed by the collision of the Indian Subcontinent and the Central Asian Plateau. The Himalayas find their final eastern limit in the state of Mizoram, in countless mountains ranges that extend in a northeast-southwest direction. A wide variety of plant and animal life has been able to survive in the region's forests. Northeast India's uniqueness also lies in the ethnic diversity of its inhabitants who have been able to preserve their cultural identity, through their social systems, customs, dress, festivals, songs, dances, myths and beliefs. The majority of the population living here is not of Indo-Aryan stock but descends from those who migrated here centuries ago from Mongolia, Tibet, China, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

This in a nutshell is India's northeast. Its unfathomable beauty, cultural diversity and geographical location offer great potentials for ecotourism and sustainable development for the entire region. But due to its inappropriate policies and difficult terrain, Northeast India today lags behind in many areas of development, particularly in the area of revenue generation. Accept for the tea and to a lesser degree the oil industry in some parts of Assam, major portions of the region have no industry to its credit. The majority of the population of this region depends on agriculture and the forests for their livelihood, which is only of subsistence level with no knowledge or means for long-term benefits. The rich biodiversity of the region is also being drastically reduced due to the "Jhum Cultivation" (slash and burn cultivation) in the hilly areas. 

Though the Northeast is culturally diverse, there has also been considerable erosion of cultural values due to several reasons. An increase in literacy has changed the aspirations of the younger generation and cultural memory is slowly dwindling. A significant fraction of cultural artifacts are being lost at an increasing rate. Most of the older generations possessing traditional knowledge have not been able to transfer it to the younger generation.

In such a situation, ecotourism appears to be a viable option for sustainable development and conservation of rich culture and environment of this region. Development of ecotourism in this fragile biotic and cultural situation will therefore be challenging. It would require innovative inputs, which are currently unavailable within the region and perhaps even in the country. 

What is needed, therefore, is a comprehensive tourism action plan and marketing, which presents the Northeast as one destination, with tightly knit cooperation between all the northeast states. In the long run a single official tourism body overseeing the entire region would be a sensible proposition. This would mean planning the economic use of natural resources with the right inputs, viable projects and community participation. Having recognized this, one important question is the role of the government. At this moment, the single largest investor in tourism is the government, the product of which is a series of what may only be described as half projects, neither related to one another nor anything else, nor region specific. There is never enough money or staff either to complete the sketchily conceived projects or to maintain them. The only aim is to utilise the funds sanctioned by a distant, ill-informed central government.

There is a need to shift from the all India norms and patterns of administration and planning for the northeast. The shift should be from a casual 'planning for the Northeast' to a sincere 'planning with the northeast. At the same time the northeast state governments must have the willingness, determination and the vision to wholeheartedly support the development of tourism. Tourism cannot be taken up in half measures, as its repercussions will be too damaging to undo. Though tourism is eulogized as a private driven industry, in reality and more so in the northeast, it will predominantly be dependent on the Governments as the prime movers. They must also realise that tourism development is not the responsibility of a single department alone and it should be integrated with all development plans of the states. If the foundation of tourism planning is correct, the economic benefits will automatically percolate down to the lowest level.

For development of tourism in this region, the promotion of ecotourism is the most viable option - the resources for which are in abundance in the Northeast. However the facilities, technicalities and professionalism involved in creating ecotourism products have to be developed keeping in mind specific needs and requirements. The various components of ecotourism, such as the use of local materials and designs, use of ecofriendly techniques, proper waste management systems, recycling of garbage etc, should be made available in the government's schemes and projects. Communities should be given significant inputs about the pros and cons of tourism so as to avoid its negative impacts. It is not enough to have just ecotourism policy and guidelines. The means to implement these policies must be made available and a conducive atmosphere should be created to make it workable.

Unlike other states of the country, many tribes of northeast India have a highly evolved community system of managing local resources and development, such as the "village councils" of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and the more social oriented "Young Mizos Association" of Mizoram. These institutions hold the key for biodiversity conservation through sustainable management of natural resources. A strong linkage between government and communities and the private sector are necessary for developing eco-cultural tourism in this region. While villages will be the center of attraction, the government has to gear up to provide logistic support. Private investment is also necessary since the government may not be able to invest sufficiently. The private sector's expertise in development of infrastructure and services is also necessary for imparting training to communities and the governments.

Expertise of both the community and states has to be developed to handle activities and processes. Unless a significant part of the incomes can accrue to communities, their interests cannot be sustained in this venture. This would necessitate technical and managerial inputs to communities. With little opportunities to develop other industries due to the geo-political situation, community based tourism can be an opportunity to create rural and urban livelihood. This can build stakes for conservation within communities and provided sustainable livelihood for the communities.

Thus ecotourism, which is a sum total of "nature +culture + community" is a viable option for Northeast India. It can also become the means for tackling some of the key issues endemic to this region such as unemployment, conservation, resource generation and development of the region.

The challenge therefore is - can the concepts and goals of ecotourism be effectively implemented and achieved in Northeast India? As a very recent entrant into the intricate and competitive world of tourism, will Northeast India survive its pitfalls and go the way many nations have gone? Or can we learn from the past mistakes? Will the northeast states themselves miss another opportunity and make a hash of it, as they had with so many such opportunities? These are some issues, which require to be dealt with and acted upon by the states, the country and the world. After all, tourism is global, and we are all stakeholders in creating a better world and hence a better future.

 "The forest closed behind us, shutting the valley in, shutting us out, and we walked forward through the centuries.........toward the alien and bitter present and the strangers who were our kind.........Willing or not, we had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, and we had realized that across barriers of caste and color, human being are one-all struggling along the same dark road......." Ursula Graham Bower in her book titled " The Hidden Land."

By: L.H.Thangi Mannen., Secretary (Tourism), Government of Nagaland, Kohima, India.