It's a win-win situation for locals, ecotourism promoters

A few years ago, Mangalajodi, a tiny village in the northern fringe of Odisha’s Chilka lake, Asia’s biggest brackish water lagoon, was often grabbing  headlines for wrong and extremely disturbing reasons-- the hunting and merciless killing of migratory birds that would flock the picturesque water body in lakhs every winter from different corners of the world. 

The village, in fact, was known as a poachers’ paradise as a majority of its residents was engaged in bird  hunting, which was illegal as many avian species are protected under the law. Things, however, have changed now. The village is no more a poachers’ den. Rather, it has turned into a safe haven for both migratory as well as local birds. And more importantly, the yesterday’s hunters (the local villagers) have now become protectors of the avian guests. 

All these were possible because of a project called Mangalajodi Ecotourism (ME), an initiative that has helped the local community to set up and institutionalise a tourist facility. The project has been supported by Mumbai-based RBS Foundation India, a non-profit organisation promoted by Royal Bank of Scotland to carry out community development work in India. The foundation has roped in another not-for-profit organisation, Indian Grameen Services (IGS) to partner with it in the implementation of the project. 

“The initiative has resulted in a sustainable alternative livelihood option for locals, who now see themselves as stakeholders in the conservation of this critical bird habitat,” said Dhruvi Shah, the programme director of RBS Foundation India. 

Significantly, the initiative has already been recognised at the national level. It received the runners up prize under the community stewardship category at this year’s prestigious UNDP India Bio-diversity Awards, jointly promoted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The award was presented  in Port Blair on the occasion of the International Day of  Biological Diversity.

 In 2010, the RBS Foundation joined hands with the IGS which already had expertise in handling similar issues to implement the Mangalajodi Ecotourism project. The Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust was set up with locals as stakeholders to run the project. 

However, it was not a cakewalk for the IGS to implement the project. There were differences between promoters and the villagers on the new initiative. “It was certainly a challenge but we had the expertise and determination to overcome the challenges. We managed to implement the project within a year’s time,” said Sanjib Sarangi, Odisha head of the IGS. Sarangi had also worked on a similar project at a tiger reserve in Maharashtra.

The ME project took off in 2011 with three cottages for visiting tourists. During the year, 815 tourists enjoyed the hospitality in the cottages and the earning was Rs 4.6 lakh. In 2013-14, the tourists inflow increased to 1126 and the revenue went up to Rs 10 lakh. The revenue turnover is expected to cross Rs 20 lakh in 2014-15.

Sarangi, who supervised the implementation of the project, said the arrival of tourists and earnings during 2013-14 could have been more but for cyclone Phailin, which ravaged the entire coastline of Odisha, including Ganjam, Puri and Khurda, the three districts that account for the 1,000-sq km Chilka lagoon and the peripheral villages like Mangalajodi. “There was a delay in the arrival of migratory birds because of the cyclone. Therefore, we had to cancel many bookings,” said the IGS activist. 

The biggest achievement of the project is it has managed to provide alternative livelihood to locals. The villagers, who earlier earned a living killing migratory birds and selling their meat, are now engaged as boatmen, guides, housekeeping staff, cooks, laundry men and auto drivers for visiting bird lovers and tourists. Now, 61 families are engaged in these activities. 

Significantly, the villagers are also engaged in bird protection drive. The ME has formed “conservation teams” consisting of villagers, who have been assisting the local forest department staff in patrolling the lake to stop poaching in other areas of the water body apart from Mangalajodi.

 The team members also rescue injured birds, treat and release them. The villagers also guide the local fishermen how not to hurt or disturb the avian guests while fishing. 

“The poaching activities in Mangalajodi have almost come to a stop. Stray inincidents of bird killing reported in the area this season were done by outsiders and not by villagers from Mangalajodi,” said Sarangi. 

The efforts in Mangalajodi seem to have yielded results as arrival of migratory birds is steadily going up. There was a drop in the arrival winged visitors in Chilka Lake in and around the lagoon besides Nalabana, a popular bird sanctuary located inside the lake .

The bird census carried out in the picturesque lagoon, jointly by the state-run Chilka Development Authority and other government and non-government agencies, including Mumbai- based Bombay Natural History Society, last winter revealed that a whopping 1.5 lakh birds had made Mangalajodi their home. 

The development in Mangalajodi has also made bird lovers and bird watchers in the state happy. “It is nice to know that the  poaching activities have comedown in Chilka Lake. However, the icing on the cake is the developments in Mangalajodi. The village’s turn around story-- from a poachers’ paradise to a safe zone for birds-- is certainly remarkable,” said Prasanta Mishra, a Bhubaneswar-based amateur bird watcher who, like many others, visits Chilka Lake every winter to see the gathering of the avian guests.