Community-based eco-tourism

Snow Leopard Conservancy - Conservation Program

Lunch at the Parachute Café.

Parachute Cafés: Directly Benefitting Local People

Along the trails throughout Hemis National Park, village women have formed cooperative groups to operate Parachute Cafés that serve trekkers during the tourist season. They rotate duties, with two or three running the café while back in the village their household work is done by their teammates.

This program builds upon the initial training held in 1997 by the Leh Nutrition Project. Since 2000, The Snow Leopard Conservancy – in partnership with the Ladakh Ecological Development Group (LEDeG) and The Mountain Institute – has provided training in basic hygiene, preparation of simple, appealing meals for tourists, and appropriate menu pricing. Emphasis is placed on environmentally friendly practices, including good garbage management, the use of natural gas and kerosene for cooking instead of scarce firewood or yak dung, and the sale of pressure-boiled, filtered water to minimize use of plastic mineral water bottles, which end up littering the landscape. With further funding provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), we are providing follow-up and ongoing support in community-based eco-tourism development.

Leaflets are posted in the Cafés, informing visitors about the program and letting them know that by refilling their water bottle with boiled, filtered water, purchasing tea or a tasty meal at the Parachute Café, they are directly benefitting the local economy, enabling rural people to sustain their traditional culture while improving their livelihoods, and helping them become better stewards of this fragile high-altitude ecosystem.

Community-based Tourism

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