Pastoralism and Rangeland Management on the Tibetan Plateau in ...

seven percent, entrance fee for monasteries (gomba) accounted for nine percent,
h<strong>and</strong>icrafts accounted for three percent, local food another three percent <strong>and</strong>
the rest was spent on miscellaneous expenses.
Bhattarai (2002) also makes crude estimates regarding the sharing of total
income accruing from tourism (including the Upper Mustang entry fee,
ACAP entry fee, income to the trekking agency, <strong>and</strong> the host community)
<strong>and</strong> concludes that of the total income 52 % accrues to the central treasury,
38 % to the trekking agencies, seven percent to ACAP <strong>and</strong> three percent to
the Upper Mustang host community. Clearly, the gains to the local economy
remain miniscule. For the Loba who have seen the impact of tourism in Lower
Mustang <strong>and</strong> the ACAP region, the reasons for dissatisfaction with the nature
<strong>and</strong> impact of tourism in Upper Mustang are therefore not difficult to find.
Tourism needs to be made relevant for broadly shared local development that
enhances local incomes <strong>and</strong> contributes to the production of infrastructure.
In economic terms, tourism in Upper Mustang has not impinged on local
production, but has contributed to increased pressure for food items <strong>and</strong> fodder.
Until now, the socio-cultural impact of tourism has remained limited, but
greater awareness of the cultural <strong>and</strong> environmental heritage is clearly called for
because signs of neglect of the vernacular architecture <strong>and</strong> the lack of maintenance
<strong>and</strong> renovation of monasteries <strong>and</strong> chorten remain obvious. The linkage
between tourism <strong>and</strong> traditional feudal institutions in Upper Mustang remains
very strong. This has put the poor at a disadvantage because they are often
excluded from the decision-making process. This is a very complex issue that
needs to be addressed because poverty remains a key issue to be considered in
addressing the concerns of conservation <strong>and</strong> development in Upper Mustang.
The impact of tourism per se on the environment is difficult to discern. Staff of
trekkers clearly has an impact on the fuel dem<strong>and</strong>. Alternative energy for cooking
<strong>and</strong> heating remains a major issue. The efforts of ACAP over the years have
paid off in the visible increase in plantations (mostly of Populus ciliata) all across
the settlements of Upper Mustang, but plantations alone are not a substitute for
alternative energy. Apart from this, the potential for hydro-electricity should be
explored. The issue of alternative energy is further tied to the conservation of
bio-diversity because bushy vegetation such as Caragana are uprooted <strong>and</strong> dried
to serve as fuel for cooking.
The opening of the road to Koralla has facilitated the import of a variety of consumable
Chinese products, often in bottles, tins or plastic wrappers. Although
tourists are required to carry back their solid waste, with a monitoring system in
place to ensure this, tourist destinations such as Lo Manthang openly evidence
a spectacle of unmanaged solid waste, broken glass bottles <strong>and</strong> plastic wrappers,
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> > > 3. Eco-tourism <strong>and</strong> Nature Protection in Relation to <strong>Pastoralism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong> <strong>Management</strong>