Tourism route development

Nowadays, eco-tourism has become a hot spot and tourism fashion in the world tourism industry. Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, as a natural landscape, biodiversity and historical and cultural protection area of vertical spectrum of bioclimate, has rich and unique eco-tourism resources such as geology, climate, biology, history and nationality. Since 1994, Baoshan Nature Reserve Administration has carried out beneficial exploration and practice in developing eco-tourism in order to give full play to resource advantages, develop tourism resources in nature reserves, develop community economy and realize "promoting development through tourism and promoting protection through development".

1, rich and unique ecotourism resources.

Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve is located in the border area between China and Myanmar in the west of Yunnan Province. Administratively, five counties (cities) across Baoshan and Nujiang, Tengchong, Baoshan, Lushui, Fugong and Gongshan, border Myanmar in the northwest, the famous Nujiang Grand Canyon in the east, and Tengchong Volcano and Rehai National Scenic Area in the southwest. The nature reserve was founded in 1983, and 1992 was listed as a class A nature reserve with international significance by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In April 2000, with the approval of the State Council, Nujiang Provincial Nature Reserve, located at the northern end of the reserve, was upgraded and included in the management of Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve. The combined nature reserve has a total area of 405,549 hectares, making it the largest national nature reserve in Yunnan Province. In 2000, 1 1 was approved by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve.

The huge Gaoligong Mountain starts from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the north and reaches the Indo-China Peninsula in Myanmar in the south, with a total length of more than 600 kilometers and spanning five latitudes. The mountain trend is north-south, high in the north and low in the south. The elevation of the main peak is 5 128 meters, the lowest elevation is 523 meters, and the relative height difference is 4605 meters, which forms a unique landscape with three-dimensional climate and vertical distribution of natural vegetation. Due to its special geographical location and climatic characteristics, Gaoligong Mountain has become a natural passage for the gathering of animals and plants in the north and south and a transitional link between the east and the west. During the third and fourth ice ages, it was almost unaffected by the cold climate and used to be a refuge for animals and plants. Animals and plants in the hot, warm and cold zones in the close space gather on a mountain, and the biological resources are extremely rich. According to the preliminary investigation, there are 4,303 species of higher plants and 65,438 0.425 species of various animals in the nature reserve, including 60 species of key protected wild plants in China and Yunnan Province, such as Rhododendron grandiflora, Taiwania flousiana, Taxus yunnanensis and Shuiqing Tree, more than 600 species of ornamental flowers and 65,438 0.077 species of medicinal plants. There are 82 species of wildlife under special state protection, including Indochina tiger, antelope, leopard, clouded leopard, white-browed gibbon, langur, white-tailed pheasant, golden eagle and green peacock. There are more than 400 species of birds and 0/17 species of mammals. It is one of the regions with the richest biodiversity in China and is known as the "green treasure house".

Gaoligong Mountain is the watershed between Nujiang River and Irrawaddy River. There are more than 80 rivers flowing into these two rivers in the nature reserve. Due to the large drop (often more than 2000 meters), these rivers have formed many beautiful waterfalls and overlapping waters. The organic combination of mountains and water makes Gaoligong Mountain have charming natural scenery, and together with the local scattered alpine hot springs, it constitutes the unique natural landscape of Gaoligong Mountain.

At the same time, the history and culture of Gaoligong Mountain are rich and colorful. In recent years, many Neolithic cultural relics have been discovered on both sides of Gaoligong Mountain. Archaeology has proved that densely populated primitive people lived here 4000 years ago. The ancient city with unique relics and the well-preserved Southern Silk Road (the capital of Shu Road) further illustrate the glory of ancient civilization here. In addition, Gaoligong Mountain is still an ancient battlefield, and it is also the main battlefield of anti-Japanese in western Yunnan. There are beacon towers, battle pits, bunkers and other ancient and modern war relics in the area. Today, there are still more than a dozen ethnic groups living around the nature reserve, such as Han, Dai, Yi, Bai, De 'ang and Ang. Their different customs and religious beliefs have strong regional characteristics. Therefore, Gaoligong Mountain is also known as the "Mountain of Culture".

The unique natural landscape, rich biodiversity, rich history and culture and diverse ethnic customs of Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve have created unique conditions for its eco-tourism.

2. Ecotourism is on the rise.

At the end of the 20th century, with the development of the world economy, the living environment of human beings has gradually deteriorated, and ecological problems such as deforestation, grassland destruction, soil erosion and desertification have become more and more prominent. Mankind is facing the crisis of living environment, and a green wave of protecting living environment has emerged around the world. Tourists are eager to have a green tourism environment. Driven by the global green consumption wave, eco-tourism emerged as a kind of "green tourism" that "returns to nature".

The term "eco-tourism" was first put forward by Carlos Lascurain, a Mexican expert and special consultant of IUCN, in 1983. At that time, the definition of eco-tourism was: "Eco-tourism, as a special form of conventional tourism, allows tourists to appreciate and visit ancient and modern cultural heritage and appreciate charming scenery and wildlife in relatively primitive and primitive natural areas." Later, with the development of ecotourism, many tourism organizations and departments abused the concept of ecotourism, and almost any kind of tourism activities related to natural resources were labeled as ecotourism. In order to redefine the core of eco-tourism to the track of protecting nature and benefiting local people, 1993 Eco-tourism Society defines eco-tourism as "a tourism activity with dual responsibilities of protecting natural resources and environment and maintaining local people's lives".

Eco-tourism is different from traditional mass tourism, which emphasizes the protection of tourist objects and the participation of community people. Tourists play the dual roles of appreciator and protector in tourism activities. Compared with traditional mass tourism, eco-tourism has the following obvious characteristics:

⑴ Eco-tourism is a kind of tourism activity based on protection, and a large part of its tourism income should be used to protect natural resources.

⑵ Eco-tourism is a kind of sustainable tourism, and its ecological, social and economic sustainability must be considered when designing eco-tourism activities.

⑶ Tourism activities should include educating local communities and tourists about biodiversity and environment.

(4) Encourage local communities to participate in tourism activities and share the benefits brought by tourism.

Eco-tourism is a kind of sustainable tourism because it fully considers the ecological, social and economic benefits. Therefore, once it was put forward, it has been widely valued by tourism organizations in various countries, and it has developed very rapidly, becoming the main development model of the world tourism industry today. According to the statistics of Canadian Biology Bureau, the global eco-tourism output value of 1990 was 200 billion US dollars. According to the estimation of the World Tourism Organization, at present, the income of ecotourism has accounted for 20% of the total world tourism income. Comparatively speaking, China's ecotourism started late, but it is rich in resources and unique, with great development potential. At present, there are 932 nature reserves (excluding statistics of Hong Kong and Taiwan,1end of 997) and more than 800 forest parks in China. According to incomplete statistics, the number of forest tourists in China has reached more than 75 million, and the forest tourism income is more than 3 billion RMB, accounting for 1% of the domestic tourism income, which is far from the developed countries in Europe and America. For example, Germany has more than 60 national parks and many other parks.

Yunnan is the province with the richest biodiversity in China, enjoying the reputation of "plant kingdom" and "animal kingdom". There are 108 nature reserves in Yunnan, ranking first in China, with great potential for developing eco-tourism. As early as 1996, the Yunnan provincial government proposed to list tourism as an important pillar industry. Through the success of' 99 China Kunming World Horticultural Exposition and 2000 International Tourism Festival, Yunnan's international reputation has been greatly improved, and Yunnan has established the image of a green forest in China and the world. Yunnan tourism, especially eco-tourism, will face new historical development opportunities. As the ecological environment protection and key wildlife species protection in the upper reaches of two international rivers, salween and Irrawaddy River, the development of eco-tourism resources and ecological environment protection in Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve are of great international significance. The construction and development of ecotourism in nature reserves have ushered in a golden opportunity. At present, the reserve has successfully opened up eco-tourism routes, completed the development of eco-tourism communities in Baihualing Zaotanghe Hot Springs and Waterfalls, built Baihualing Research Tourism Reception Center, trained tour guides, and established Gaoligongshan Forest Travel Agency. In recent years, groups from the United States, Britain, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Australia, Hongkong, Taiwan Province Province and other countries and regions have come to Gaoligong Mountain for bird watching, scientific research, exploration and other eco-tourism activities. Domestic tourists have also come. Especially in holidays, the eco-tourism fever in Gaoligong Mountain has been formed, and the eco-tourism in nature reserves has gradually emerged.

3. Several principles of ecotourism development

According to the characteristics of eco-tourism and the reality of Gaoligong Mountain, we have followed the following principles when developing eco-tourism.

3. 1 protection principle

Eco-tourism is a kind of tourism activity based on the protection of resources and environment, and its premise is protection. As a nature reserve, it is most important to protect biological species and natural human landscape. What needs to be understood here is that the development of tourism in protected areas is not an end, but a means to increase the income of protected areas and promote the development of local communities. We can't develop tourism for the sake of tourism, and the ultimate goal of developing tourism is to better protect nature. Therefore, to develop ecotourism in nature reserves, we must deal with the relationship between protection and development. First, we should plan scientifically. According to the Regulations of People's Republic of China (PRC) Nature Reserve, tourism activities in nature reserves can only be carried out in the experimental area, not in the core area. The projects designed in the tourism planning of protected areas should be conducive to the realization of the protection objectives and functions, and the design of tourist routes, the intensity of activities and the number of tourists should be within the scope permitted by the ecological environment. Second, it should be implemented step by step as planned. The development of protected areas should adhere to the conditions are ripe and the development is in place. Protect the immature first, and don't blindly mount the horse, resulting in the waste of manpower, material resources and financial resources and the destruction of resources and environment. Third, it is necessary to organize tourism activities reasonably, and avoid tourism overload and environmental pollution by controlling the number of tourists and arranging tourists to enter the scenic spot in batches.

3.2 the principle of harmony

Eco-tourism emphasizes the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, requires the coordinated development of tourism and environment, and the matching of scenic spot construction and protected areas. In the development of scenic spots, we should try our best to maintain the originality and authenticity of resources, and the selection of projects should conform to the local natural and cultural characteristics to avoid moving modern urban buildings to tourist areas. In the planning of Baihualing eco-tourism scenic spot in Gaoligong Mountain, tourism service facilities (accommodation, catering, shops, etc. ) is arranged in Baihualing Administrative Village, Mangkuan Township, Baoshan City, outside the reserve. In addition to the necessary swimming lanes, viewing pavilions, rest pavilions, ecological toilets, wildlife observation posts and other facilities, no other facilities are placed in the scenic spot. And the architectural design is in harmony with the local environment. For example, Baihualing Scientific Research Tourism Reception Center is located near the local Hanlongzhai, and the Bai folk houses are in harmony with the local environment and become an organic part of the village. In the development of Zaotanghe Hot Spring Waterfall Eco-tourism Community, a 3.5-kilometer circular tourist road was mainly built. The road construction should try not to destroy the natural environment, cut down trees, lay stones on the road surface, and be in harmony with the environment.

3.3 * * Principles of Architecture and Community

A very important factor in ecotourism activities is the close participation of local communities. The development of ecotourism in protected areas should be combined with the development of local communities and adhere to the principle of co-construction with communities. If we let local communities develop ecotourism in isolation, the support needed for their sustainable development is very limited. If ecotourism is to develop continuously, its projects must be linked with the interests and needs of rural communities. On the one hand, attract communities to participate in tourism planning, scenic area development and construction, and tourism planning should include community tourism (farmhouse accommodation, national culture, mountain customs, etc.). ), and the construction of scenic spots has made the community people work. For example, in 1997, people from Hanlong Society in Baihualing Village participated in the development of Zaotanghe eco-tourism community, and they were paid 465,438 yuan +0.550 yuan, an increase of 207.75 yuan per capita; On the other hand, the community people directly participate in tourism activities, such as providing tour guides, lodging, selling agricultural and sideline products, tourist souvenirs and other service activities, and engaging in ethnic song and dance performances and other tourism activities. Baihualing Village in Baoshan City has benefited from the implementation of tourism development and other projects. 1995, 1995, on February 8th, the villagers set up the first farmers' biodiversity protection association in China-Gaoligongshan Farmers' Biodiversity Protection Association, and now it has more than 100 members. In addition to spontaneous conservation activities, the association also set up a Yi people's performance team in 1997 1 month to perform various ethnic dances at each festival and carry out nature conservation publicity activities. Nowadays, national performance has become a tourism activity with special significance in Baihualing Scenic Area.

3.4 The principle of diversity of activity types

Eco-tourism is rich in content and flexible in activity types, which can be a single professional tourism or a comprehensive tourism activity. According to the characteristics of Gaoligong Mountain, its development focuses on the following five projects:

Wildlife viewing Gaoligong Mountain is one of the key areas of biodiversity in the world, and wildlife viewing is one of the most distinctive tourism projects in the reserve. Protected areas can carry out bird watching, mammal viewing, butterfly viewing, flower viewing and other eco-tourism activities.

Natural scenery tourism Gaoligong Mountain's magnificent mountain canyon landform, unique three-dimensional climate, wonders of virgin forest vertical distribution and charming landscapes such as hot springs and waterfalls make the reserve an ideal natural scenery tourism holy place.

Science and education tourism Gaoligong Mountain has always been a place that Chinese and foreign zoologists and botanists yearn for. Due to the steep mountains and complex terrain, many places are inaccessible so far, and the resources and background of the reserve are not clear. This is a mysterious maze. Scientific research tourism has great potential. At the same time, this nature reserve is listed as a popular science education base in Yunnan Province by 1999, which is an ideal popular science and patriotism education base.

Historical and Cultural Tourism Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve is rich in historical and cultural accumulation. Carry out cultural tourism, so that tourists can experience the life of the ancients and imagine the peak of ancient wars and the glory of the ancient Silk Road while wandering around famous mountains and rivers.

Gaoligong Mountain, a national tourism, is a corridor for migration and integration of national borders. There are more than 65,438+00 ethnic minorities living around the reserve, such as Yi, Dai, De 'ang, Bai and Miao. These ethnic groups have different customs and traditional cultures, and their national customs, religions, activities, songs and dances, marriages and festivals are all valuable cultural heritages.

In addition to the above-mentioned tourism projects, Gaoligong Mountain can also carry out eco-tourism activities such as mountaineering, exploration, landscape photography and rafting.

3.5 the principle of attracting foreign investment

Nature reserves are the wealth of mankind. Because most nature reserves in China lack protection funds and investment in ecotourism development, nature reserves should actively create conditions to attract foreign investment and accelerate the pace of tourism development. The Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve is currently implementing the Sino-Dutch Cooperative Forest Protection and Community Development Project (FCCDP for short), the second phase of the "Gaoligongshan Forest Resources Management and Biodiversity Protection" project funded by the MacArthur Foundation of the United States, and the "Population, Land and Environment" project of the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations University. The implementation of these international cooperation projects has brought excellent opportunities for the development of ecotourism in nature reserves. 1997 1 month, with the help of 60,000 yuan funded by MacArthur Foundation, the nature reserve built 3.5 kilometers of tourist routes and opened up an eco-tourism community of bathhouse river hot spring waterfall in Baihualing. From 1998 to 2000, the FCCD project implemented community development projects in 24 natural villages around nature reserves (including developing economic forests, saving firewood to change stoves, building biogas digesters, community ecotourism, etc.). ), the Dutch side contributed 2,256,900 yuan. The implementation of the project has laid a good foundation for community development and eco-tourism development. 1from June 5, 1999 to October 38, 1999, the project hired a Chinese and foreign ecotourism expert group composed of Dr. Trevor H.B.Sofield of Australia, Mr. Hubertus Goverd of the Netherlands, Ms. Li of Hong Kong and researcher Kang of Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences to conduct a feasibility study on the ecotourism in Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve, and put forward some countermeasures for ecotourism development. At the end of this year, the project also plans to hire relevant experts to formulate an eco-tourism action plan for Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve and build a multimedia tourism exhibition center in Baihualing.

4. Suggestions on developing ecotourism

Ecotourism in Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve is still in its infancy. After several years of development practice, ecotourism in nature reserves has shown a good development momentum, but there are still some problems in tourism planning and scenic area development management. In view of these problems, the following suggestions are put forward:

(1) Improve planning to prevent eco-tourism from becoming mass tourism. In view of the fact that the current tourism development planning is mainly garden-style, the characteristics of ecotourism, especially the relationship between ecotourism and mass tourism, have not been fully considered. After the implementation of the current plan, once the tourism is hot, a large number of tourists flock to the scenic spot, and there will be problems such as tourism overload. Therefore, on the basis of the existing planning, we should make rational planning again to determine which scenic spots are mass tourist areas and which are eco-tourist areas. Some scenic spots with low biodiversity conservation value are planned as mass tourist areas, while for scenic spots with high biodiversity conservation value, only eco-tourism activities with little impact on the environment can be carried out. This is usually at the expense of 0. 1% nature reserves to satisfy the curiosity of mass travelers who want to enter nature, thus achieving the purpose of protecting 99.9% nature reserves.

(2) Strengthen enterprise management and promote the development of tourism. Forest Travel Agency was established in Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve in May 1995, but it is still managed by the Science and Technology Department of the Administration, which is not conducive to the development of enterprises. In addition, at present, the development of tourism mainly depends on the limited operating funds of protected areas, without taking the road of enterprise, with insufficient investment and slow development. It is suggested to strengthen the management of existing tourism enterprises, develop ecotourism by enterprises, and adopt the mode of travel agency (tourism development company)+community (farmers) to facilitate fund raising and enterprise management.