Potential of Urban Wetlands for Ecotourism Development- A Case of Deepor Beel, Guwahati

Wetlands are amongst the most productive ecosystems of the Earth. The system includes diverse features in terms of components, functions and attributes. Wetland ecosystems are essential to human well-being (Finlayson et al. 2005). A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that wetlands can deliver a great variety of benefits to human society (Ghermandi et al. 2010). Up to 87% of the global wetland resource has been lost since 1700. The planet is losing wetlands three times faster than natural forests. Tourism is one of the significant tools to enhance and support environmental conservation. According to UNWTO, sustainable tourism means putting the principles of sustainable development, set out at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, into practice in tourism. Deepor Beel is a permanent freshwater lake and the only Ramsar site in Assam which is experiencing adverse human activities; filling of wetlands for habitation purpose, cutting the sides of wetlands, pollution, fishing and killing of migratory birds. Degradation of water quality, sedimentation in the lake surface, deforestation activities in and around the Beel area has increased the importance of conservation and restoration of the Beel. Presently, Deepor Beel is a degrading Beel, facing threats due to urban encroachment and its illegal uses. Therefore, the research questions for this study are- (i) What are the causes and effects of deterioration of the wetland ecosystem? (ii) How to manage the wetland ecosystem through ecotourism development? The study aims to conserve urban wetlands to enhance eco-tourism and have a balanced urban development of Guwahati. To understand the potentiality of eco-tourism in Deepor Beel in Guwahati, the objectives are to understand the importance of urban wetland ecosystem and its present status, to assess the development initiatives in terms of tourism development by government and private sectors in Guwahati, to analyse the socio-economic and governance aspects of the wetland management and tourism in Guwahati and finally to suggest strategies or measures to enhance ecotourism-based wetland development. Primary and secondary data are used in the study through field study and secondary data collection from various organisations. Ecotourism opportunity spectrum is an analysis done to understand the suitability of the wetland for ecotourism development. To understand the anthropogenic impacts of human activity, water quality index, spatial pattern analysis, species diversity index, correlation analysis, carrying capacity analysis, Kuppuswamy’s socio-economic scale, Karl Pearson correlation, vulnerable economic index, WTP-Demand Curve, SWOT analysis and Pralong’s method is used to derive the potentiality of the wetland for ecotourism. Tools like Arc GIS, SPSS, MS Excel, Google Sketch Up and Google Earth have been used for the various analyses of the study. The study would find its application in the field of ecotourism development at the state level which would contribute to the growth of GDP to the nation. The initiatives were taken under ecotourism that incorporates policies and strategies at the organizational level, spatial planning, local community level that would also benefit the local community by generating employment as well as conserving the richness of the biodiversity of the lake. The findings and proposals of the study can be a helpful strategy to develop an appropriate policy for tourism to be beneficial to both the economic benefits of the state and empowerment of the local people.