Himalayan nature-based tourism. Challenges for tourism and protected areas

Each year, millions of tourists visit Himalayas. Sensitive to outside influences, the Himalayan environment of mountain areas has been abruptly exposed to it. The authorities of the Himalayan countries try to conserve them and currently, there are 126 areas under protection. However, due to economic and social reasons in the Himalayan countries, there is currently no possibility of realizing a comprehensive, rational and balanced approach to nature protection and tourism in the region. The reconciliation of two functions, namely nature protection and tourism, is the main challenge for all levels of management of protected areas – from the administration of specific parks or reserves to government administration. Results showed that regional and political diversity of the entire area, limited logistic, economic and technical possibilities, and often the lack of a uniform concept and strategy of actions, result in numerous and diverse problems. These include the state of the natural environment within protected areas and the trends in the changes (degradation, pollution, natural hazards), the impact of tourism on local communities (transformation of economic activities, mentality, ‘tourist-local resident’ relations), management (no long-term development plans, tensions on the ‘government- local communities’ line, poorly and unevenly developed tourist infrastructure, inefficient control system), etc. At the end of the paper, directions for action are indicated that could contribute to increasing the effectiveness of nature protection in the Himalayan Mountain areas in the face of growing tourist pressure. Note: This is the second part of the two-set paper about the tourism in the Himalayan PAs. The first one can be found under the title: Himalayan nature-based tourism. Potential, regional diversity, nature conservation and touristic load.