The Namche Conference: May 24-26, 2003 People, Park, and Mountain Ecotourism Participants and Presentations: Mr. Shafqat Hussain

Mr. Shafqat Hussain Ph.D. Student, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University; email: Shafqat.hussain@yale.edu Abstract Community Based Conservation and Economic Rationale – A case from Northern Pakistan. Community Based Conservation (CBC) in recent years has gained a lot of popularity among policy makers, NGOs and governments in the developing countries. The main focus of CBC is on the use of economic incentives to bring about necessary behavioral changes among rural communities. The paper emphasizes that sole importance on economic rationale in CBC can results in myopic policies that lead to failure of these programs. Mountain communities in Northern Pakistan, and elsewhere in the world have a complex relationship with their environment, that includes, in addition to economic factors, a whole set of other related factors. In order for CBC to become meaningful, it must view the needs of the people outside the narrow neo-liberal economic framework.

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