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December 9, 2017 | Last Modified: 2020

Travel Experience

The Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park (NEPL NP) is the largest protected area in Laos and is famous for its rich wildlife biodiversity supporting a wide range of species, many of which are endangered. Currently, two community-based wildlife-tourism experiences are available in NEPL NP. The Nam Nern Night Safari since 2010 is the premier wildlife-tour in the country. The highlight of the tour is a boat-based night-time wildlife spotlighting led by guides that were former community hunters. Second is a network of trekking trails opened in 2016 offering visitors the opportunity to feel as field biologist for few days while tracking and identifying proof of wildlife along the trails.These wildlife-tours are run and serviced by communities associated with the National Park and focus on conservation and education.

Responsibility

Living inside or immediately adjacent to the National Park are more than 100 villages, representing multiple ethnic groups located within some of the poorest districts of the country. To provide alternative livelihood opportunities for local people and to safeguard the National Park’s wildlife biodiversity and ecosystems on which these communities rely on, the National Park supported by NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) developed wildlife ecotourism program. The NEPL NP’s ecotourism program has been designed to create a direct link between conservation and tourism so that the money tourists pay acts as an incentive for local people to protect endangered wildlife species and their habitat.

Business Case

The NEPL NP’s wildlife conservation tours are non-profit ventures with the majority of the income directly benefiting the local communities. All earnings are reinvested back into the ecotourism and other National Park’s conservation activities. Most of the ecotourism community service providers (guides, boatmen, cooks etc) are from former poacher households. More than 150 service providers (40% women) from 4 villages receive alternative additional revenue by working on wildlife conservation tours. To ensure that surrounding non-tourism communities are incentivized to support conservation efforts and also share in the benefits that tourism brings to the area, the surrounding 26 villages receive financial incentives based on the seen wildlife by visitors on the National Park tours. Greater incentives are provided for sightings and proof of rarer species.

Google Map

The Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park (NEPL NP) is the largest protected area in Laos and is famous for its rich wildlife biodiversity supporting a wide range of species, many of which are endangered. Currently, two community-based wildlife-tourism experiences are available in NEPL NP. The Nam Nern Night Safari since 2010 is the premier wildlife-tour in the country. The highlight of the tour is a boat-based night-time wildlife spotlighting led by guides that were former community hunters. Second is a network of trekking trails opened in 2016 offering visitors the opportunity to feel as field biologist for few days while tracking and identifying proof of wildlife along the trails.These wildlife-tours are run and serviced by communities associated with the National Park and focus on conservation and education.

Living inside or immediately adjacent to the National Park are more than 100 villages, representing multiple ethnic groups located within some of the poorest districts of the country. To provide alternative livelihood opportunities for local people and to safeguard the National Park’s wildlife biodiversity and ecosystems on which these communities rely on, the National Park supported by NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) developed wildlife ecotourism program. The NEPL NP’s ecotourism program has been designed to create a direct link between conservation and tourism so that the money tourists pay acts as an incentive for local people to protect endangered wildlife species and their habitat.

The NEPL NP’s wildlife conservation tours are non-profit ventures with the majority of the income directly benefiting the local communities. All earnings are reinvested back into the ecotourism and other National Park’s conservation activities. Most of the ecotourism community service providers (guides, boatmen, cooks etc) are from former poacher households. More than 150 service providers (40% women) from 4 villages receive alternative additional revenue by working on wildlife conservation tours. To ensure that surrounding non-tourism communities are incentivized to support conservation efforts and also share in the benefits that tourism brings to the area, the surrounding 26 villages receive financial incentives based on the seen wildlife by visitors on the National Park tours. Greater incentives are provided for sightings and proof of rarer species.

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