A draft copy of the proposed Eco-tourism policy for Sikkim, that includes creation of an autonomous regulatory Sikkim Eco-tourism Council, has been prepared by Ecotourism Conservation Society of Sikkim (ECOSS). The proposed autonomous council headed by a chairperson has two tiers below it. Sikkim Eco-tourism Directorate with a Chief Operating Officer will coordinate the allied agencies in regulating and boosting ecotourism activities in the state. The proposed Council will have representations from different stakeholders and state forest officials. The directorate will have four different departments to fulfill the objectives of the policy. The State Government has positioned Sikkim as the ultimate ecotourism destination and identified it as a thrust industry, said Renzino Lepcha, the Executive Secretary, ECOSS while outlining the rationale behind the proposed policy. "Ecotourism represents a core element of Sikkim tourism initiatives and projects. Thus, the need for an ecotourism guideline for the State is essential in order to coordinate and bring synergy and integration between the various stakeholders in ecotourism,' said Lepcha to UNI. "Its time that Sikkim should prepare guidelines that reflect its natural and cultural characteristics, besides preserving it for the future. Some states have already done their policy,' he said. "The four interpretations of the proposed draft were Samraman, Sahyog (cooperation and interdependence among the stakeholders), Sahabhagita (participation in all activities) and Samrakshan (conservation). Conservation is supreme in eco-tourism,' said Lepcha. Eleven different strategies have been formulated to fulfill the objectives of the ecotourism policy by ECOSS in the draft copy, after brainstorming with the stakeholders. The strategies include product development, publicity, forging private public partnerships, monitoring and benefit sharing mechanism. Tour agents, joint forest management committee and other stakeholders have been asked to submit their suggestions to make the policy a model policy. The ECOSS Executive Secretary said the policy could be adopted in the second week of March after it is submitted to the state government by the Eco-tourism Circle of the forest department. T D Rai, Director of the eco-tourism cell of the State Forest Department, told UNI that eco tourism falls mainly in forest areas, which are under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department and attracts the Central and State Forest Acts. The development of ecotourism activities in these areas can be done after making it as a component of the management plan of forest and wild areas, he said.

The World Wildlife Fund today warned that Sikkim might become the next hub of international illegal wildlife through Nathu La border trade. Nathu La trade route is the shortest route to Tibet region of China, which has wooed the wildlife traders, WWF programme officer Dwaipayan Banerjee said highlighting on measures to check such trade through Indo-Nepal and Indo-China border. "If we don't act soon, Sikkim may be listed as the next hotspot of trans-border trade after Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal,' Banerjee said while addressing a gathering of forest officials, tour operators, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and eco-tourism societies here. "We need to realize that wildlife crime is slowly creeping in and take immediate steps to curb it,' State forest department Chief Wildlife Warden N T Bhutia said, adding that there was a need to tighten security near Nathu La border. Sikkim with a geographical area of only 0.2 per cent has 27 per cent of the nation's biodiversity and is listed in the ten most critical centres for bio-diversity and endemism as it shares border with Nepal, Bhutan and Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.Nathu La border, where trade between Sikkim and TAR had started since 2006, is only 64 km away from here. Dongqingang, the nearest mart in TAR was mere half-an-hour distance from the international border. Conservator of Forests C Lanchungpa informed that medicinal plants of the state were being smuggled across the border in small volumes. "A big consignment of red sandalwood, meant for TAR, had been seized by Sikkim police on November 30 last year,' he said, adding that the State possesses almost 50 per cent of the butterfly species of the whole subcontinent with some being rare and endangered. He further said three French students were caught red-handed on July last year by state wildlife officers while they were catching butterflies and moths from a reserve forest in West Sikkim. "Various enforcement agencies and tour operators along with the locals need to come together to check the menace,' he added.

Smoking may now burn more than your lungs, if you happen to do it at the MG Marg here. The State Urban Development and Housing (UD&H) department is mulling a proposal to ban smoking along the MG Marg. The ban comes with a heavy fine for offenders. This decision, which has come a few years after the Marg was declared a "Litter and spit-free zone,' may soon be implemented. This was informed by the department officials at a day-long awareness-cum-capacity building campaign organised for the porters of Gangtok and its surrounding areas here Wednesday. The new rule may come into force once the MG Marg renovation and beautification works are completed. The State Government has banned smoking in public places, but the law has not been implemented in earnest.means during the elections.

sikkim's most important cash crop is ailing. India's biggest producer of large cardamom, Sikkim, has recently witnessed a sharp fall in crop yields, forcing many farmers to abandon large cardamom

The elevation, loamy soil and forest foliage of the eastern sub-Himalayan mountains are ideal for large cardamom cultivation. Cardamom plantations cover about 22,000 hectares in Sikkim which produces

Russia could lift ban on export of Indian rice Russia may lift the ban on exports of rice, groundnut and sesame seeds from India soon. The ban was imposed in April after Russia's monitoring

Saturday, July 7. It's day 18 of an indefinite hunger strike by tribespeople of Sikkim's Lepcha community and there's no end in sight. Protests against the imminent influx of a series of dams on

How does a country of over a billion people take on the challenge of providing a better life to its citizens?