Do you ever feel the need for a break from your daily routine? To feel free from the rat race, to feel small and happy, to be away from everything around you? It’s easy to think of being out in nature as a way to feel happy. Sometimes we need to press the pause button, maybe rewind a bit, get away from people and our restricted spaces, and go outside to discover the bounty that is our natural world. Nature-based tourism is a way to do this.
Some people add nature-based activities or the environment to their vacations to cleanse their travel palate. Some people choose to go on nature-based holidays to get away form the daily grind. It doesn’t matter what you choose, once you have experienced the natural world, there’s no turning back. We don’t hear any complaints about the natural world with all its components.
What is nature-based tourism?
Nature-based tourism encompasses the forest and all its inhabitants, as well as the rivers, mountains, and valleys. Nature-based tourism includes ecotourism, wildlife tourism, adventure tourism, and environmental tourism.
These days, the desire to explore the unknown and be in nature is more appealing than ever. Perhaps because city life has become a bit boring, people are looking for ways to make holidays more enjoyable.
Is it enough to be a spectator? One can be a witness, an appreciative spectator, but it’s also a great thing to do something. That’s where environmental tourism comes in. It is a form of nature tourism that allows us all to contribute knowledge and information to the wider community. This is where the desire to conserve and understand the natural environment plays a major role.
Who is an environmental tourist?
Have you heard about
Citizen Science? Participation by the public in scientific research is called
Citizen Science. Tourists can also become citizen scientists. Scientists cannot be everywhere at the same time. That is why they rely on data from the general public.
There are portals for nature such as iNaturalist and India Biodiversity Portal. You can upload any nature observation, whether it be a beautiful flower or a geographical feature. Click a picture to add your find into the existing database. Your observations become part of the data scientists use to study the ecology of a particular area. Isn’t it cool? One moment you’re a tourist, the next you’re a citizen scientist.
Citizen Science has been instrumental in the discovery of many animal and plant species. It is often the unaware explorer who took a photograph of something he thought was very strange. Sometimes, you find out things you didn’t know about a place by exploring it. For example, why is a particular patch of forest sacred? Imagine you are in a village and have just discovered a new fruit. Nature traveller you can learn so much from the things that come your path.
It is no surprise that nature-based tourism is so popular with travellers.
- Who is India’s most famous Citizen Scientist,
Indian naturalist and ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali was one of the most prominent citizen scientists. He was a pioneer in Indian ornithology (study and study of birds). - Is nature tourism popular here in India?
Yes. India has 106 national parks, 564 wildlife refuges, hundreds of mountain ranges and eight major rivers. It is also home to many types of topography. - What is sustainable tourism and nature-based tourism different?
A part of ecotourism is sustainable tourism. Nature-based tourism includes ecotourism, adventure tourism, and wildlife tourism.