The work of Himalayan Ecotourism, a social enterprise in the Himalayas

We believe that to achieve sustainable development in remote rural areas the local community needs to be socially and economically empowered. That's why we have encouraged the people of the ecozone of the GHNP engaged in tourism activities to come together to establish their own society : "The GHNP Community-Based Ecotourism Cooperative".

We, the cooperative members and a couple of other professionals/supporters work together as Himalayan Ecotourism for organizing your treks and travels.

We have set the rules so that everyone has a larger benefit being a member of the cooperative rather than working as an individual. Each member has at least one share in the company. It means that your trekking staff do not work as simple daily-based wage earners but as shareholders of the company.
Himalayan Ecotourism is the company of your staff ... That's why they care so much about you, their customers, and very soon their friends.
Therefore, our cooperative model is not only good for the locals, it is very good for your travel experience as well.

The cooperative has become the instrument of the locals to raise their voice, to claim for their rights and to envision a growing path.
We have greatly enhanced the social, economic and even politic empowerment of the local community.

In December 2018, some of our cooperative members suggested that we should plant trees on the barren lands and along trekking trails in the Tirthan valley, ecozone of the Great Himalayan National Park. Soon after this, we planned a plantation in the Nohanda Panchayat where many members are living.

The first plantation happenned in the month of January 2020.
Following the breakout of the COVID-19, we scaled up our reforestation program in order to provide alternate source of income to the cooperative members.
Therefore, we could extent our objectives is to a substantial regeneration of the forest ecosystems, especially on the right bank of the Tirthan river which has become barren due to forest fires and other unsustainable uses of the forest lands.
Mitigation of the impacts of climate change, restoration of the habitats for wildlife and economic benefits for the local villagers have become the main goals.

We organize two plantations every year, one in the winter and one during the monsoon with an initial target of restoring the forest on 2 square kilometers of barren land. A nursery is being set up to provide the required saplings. Different varieties of indigenuous tree species are being planted, from Deodar (Himalayan Cedar) to Horse Chestnuts or other broadleaf trees like the Ban oak.

The program is funded by people and organizations who voluntarily want to offset their carbon emissions. You can also become a zero carbon citizen :
OFFSET YOUR CARBON EMISSIONS.
Watch this video to have a quick understanding of what we do for you, and how will you not only offset your carbon emissions but also contribute to a real sustainable development in the Himalayas. be with us !

Igniting fires in the forests is a common practice in the Himalayas. The reasons are a wrong economic calculation. And the consequences are immensely dreadful.

Most of the forest lands are burned every year leaving us with very little chance of preserving the Himalayas as a shelter for invaluable biodiversity and as a source of oxygen, water and other vital resources in a near future.

Hence, we have set our “Stop Forest Fires” project as a priority.
After having studied the issue for about 4 years we found that the best way to go about it was :

 Raising awareness of the local villagers about the consequences of forest fires,

 Educating the children about the need of protecting the environment,

 Creating a social movement against intentional forest fires, named "I am a defender", and

 Offering new income generating activities as a substitute for the forest fires short term economic benefits .

Unfortunately, we have to report that the situation of women in our part of the Himalayas is quite poor. From the time of their birth, local girls are the victims of blatant discrimination and have a much lower social status.
That gave us an additional reason to work for women empowerment as we believe that women are the key the conservation and sustainable development.

Working for women empowerment where women have such a situation is not an easy task. But it is a crucial effort as many unsustainable practices and development are due to the male- and caste-dominated system. One must face the cultural barriers to bring a change in that respect. And that is quite challenging and time taking, especially in an area where the women status as well as the caste system are, still today, seen as unchangeable cultural traits.

We try to show the local families a way where women can have a role at a higher level than washing plates and other household duties. Bringing women together for saving money and discussing their problems, and then training them to making of value-added products appeared to us as to be the first step.
We wish to see them earning their own money, in an organized and collective way, so that they may gradually grab more power and responsibilities in the local system.
Ideally this could create a great synergy with our cooperative society. As we said, it is virtually a never-ending task. We will keep on working on this and update you!

In these times of high-tech and emerging artificial intelligence, millions of people are still using wood for their energy need without any technologies that ensure efficiency and safety.

In this part of the Himalayas, most of the people cook, warm their houses and heat water with the help of ridiculously simple wood stoves which are obviously highly inefficient, polluting and emitting toxic smokes.

After 3 years of R&D, Himalayan Ecotourism has developed three models of clean and efficient wood stoves and one model of solar cooker, very appropriate for the need of the local community. We have given our project the name of Symbioz.

Presently our most promising stove is in the hands of some professors et IIT Mandi for the last stage of the research : to make the stove more user-friendly and easier to manufacture.
Students of engineering can apply for intership to help in the ultimate development of the stoves.