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Photo: K. Ananthan

Row the boat The Parambi Cruise in the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary

Today, tourism still flourishes, but, in a manner that does not harm the original inhabitants — tigers, leopards, elephants, Indian gaur, deer, lion-tailed macaques and numerous other animals. Only 30 vehicles are allowed into the sanctuary, accessed via Top Slip in Tamil Nadu, and people are encouraged to spend a night in the interesting accommodations created out of machans, unused watchtowers and dilapidated foresters’ quarters.

Among the top draws are the seven luxurious Swiss tents put up in an alcove in the administrative block and a trek through the remnants of the erstwhile tramway that ran till Cochin. “The concept has caught on very well,” says Sanjayan Kumar, IFS, who took over as warden of the sanctuary a year ago.

The first thing he did was to remove the cattle, and plastic. Today, it is 100 per cent cattle-free. And, the tribals who sold their cattle were made guides, and offered a salary. Some others were involved in the exercise to make the delicious ‘Parambi Dhara’, the sanctuary’s official drink (tribals treat spring water in a reverse osmosis plant, and bottle it). A tribal symphony, where they play their traditional instruments and dance, is also part of the agenda.

“All this, because,” Sanjayan says, “We can’t think about an oasis of conservation in the midst of a socio-economic desert.” Also, the tribals have been sensitised to picking up every little scrap lying outside and depositing them in a central place. Over the months, they’ve learnt enough to teach visitors a thing or two about eco-tourism.

Catering to the more adventurous lot are the “Fullmoon Census”, where people sit on a machan under moonlight and, make a note of the animals that they sight, and a trip to the Veettikunnu Island Inn, rich in sandalwood, and bang in the middle of a water body. Sanjayan says organising trips there has taken the ‘sandalwood’ pressure off them. “Because there is human movement now, the poachers have kept away.”

One of the accommodations offered is a chance to stay in Kuriakutty, where Salim Ali spent two years studying birds. A two-day Hornbill Watching Programme is now held at the Salim Ali Study Centre there. Another “must-experience” is the Parambi cruise, where you gently glide on the waters in an improvised bamboo houseboat made by the locals. The boat is parked in a bamboo grove, and six rowers propel their bamboo oars, and take you on a trip you are not likely to forget for long.

Making the trip to Parambikulam informative are the high-tech orientation and interpretation centres. The first takes visitors through what the sanctuary offers and teaches them their role in letting it be. The second is an interactive set-up where tourists can use touch-screen panels to know everything about forests and the environment, take quizzes (three levels), learn to identify pug marks (courtesy: the friendly watcher Sashi, who proudly displays the pug mark mould of a young cub, and another taken when it was a year older), listen to bird call. Soon, a visual element is to be added, so that visitors can see video grabs of animals in the wild.

The tribals also make handicrafts, honey and beeswax balm, under the eco-development programmes of the Forest Development Agency, Parambikulam. And, some of these are given away as gifts to those who do well in the quiz. A stall sells these products, and caps, jackets and posters bearing the sanctuary logo. Camps are also organised for children, where they are taken on a trek, and introduced to the bounties of Nature. Part of the trip is a visit to the 450-year-old Kannimara teak tree. Children vow to protect trees by tying a rakhi to the oldest growing natural teak tree, take a Parambikulam oath, and take home a friendship band.

The change is especially palpable to those who are back in the sanctuary after a while. Such as K. Kulothungan, a businessman from Chennai, who remembers trekking to a picnic spot near the dam as a student 28 years ago, and Mathew Philip, an auditor from Tiruvananthapuram, who returned to plastic-free Parambikulam after 10 years.

If you want to check out details visit the extensive webpage, www.parambikulam.org ; contact the Wildlife Warden at 04253–245005, or e-mail: wildlifewarden@parambikulam.org

Parambikulam is 100 km from Coimbatore, 39 km from Pollachi, and 98 km from Palakkad. The sanctuary headquarters is four km from Top Slip.

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