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Eco
Policy of True Luxury Tours
In
today's world the importance of protecting our natural habitats is paramount.
We at True Luxury Tours promote responsible tourism. Our
dream
of establishing the first privately owned and operated Wildlife
Sanctuary in India became a reality from the efforts of
extraordinary people. The team of
Shanane Davis, Gajendra Singh Chouhan and Ravi Chowdhary implemented a
policy in 2005 at our True Luxury Tours Jalore Wildlife
Sanctuary that ensures the protection, survival, and growth of
this rare eco-system. The
policy is simple enough, stop the illegal cutting
of trees, stop cattle and goats from entering and eating rare
plants and trees in the
sanctuary, stop poaching, to re-forest areas that
have been cut, and
to raise money for these endeavors by opening the
reserve to a limited number of eco-tourists (Sanctuary opens
to eco-tourism in September,
2007).
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A
large privately funded program was given by True Luxury Tours to
establish this policy. Meetings were held with nearby
villagers to educate them on
the destruction they were causing by cutting trees and allowing their cattle and goats to run free in the sanctuary area.
Particular areas of the Sanctuary are now open to cattle and goat
herders for the feeding of their animals that does not cause a
negative impact on the eco-system of the reserve. When certain
wild grasses become too
abundant in certain areas of the reserve it can
clog the re-production cycle of important trees and plants.
The cattle and goats keep
these grasses at a certain growth level that helps
promote a healthy eco-system. Because of this control the
number of Indian Gazelle has increased by 30 in the last two years.
Poaching
is now history at the True Luxury Tours Jalore Wildlife
Sanctuary. Many meetings were held with local villagers to
educate them on the problems
associated with the hunting of wild Desert Hare,
indigenous birds, and the poisoning of the Indian Desert Zird.
Villagers were educated that these particular animals are part
of a larger food chain. The
rare Asiatic Wildcat, the rare Desert Cat, the
Rusty-Spotted Cat, the rare Tawny Eagle, and the Imperial
Eagle depend on their survival
by the abundant supply of these animals. In the last
two years the number of sightings of these rare animals in the
sanctuary has increased dramatically.
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Certain
areas, once filled with trees in Sanctuary, were cut by
villagers over decades for fuel. A careful study of which
areas needed to be re-forested
were conducted by first studying the areas in the
sanctuary that were traditional grasslands. These grasslands
are essential for the survival
of the Indian Gazelle, Blue-Bull (Asia's
largest Antelope), Asiatic Wildcat, Rusty-Spotted Cat, Desert
Cat, Desert Fox, Desert Hare,
and snakes. Once the areas that were found
that needed to be re-forested a study of which trees and
plants should be planted was conducted. As of summer 2007, a total of
two-thousand indigenous trees
and plants have been planted. True Luxury Tours and
the Rajasthan Forest Department (with a grant from the World
Bank), have financed the
purchase, planting, and maintenance of these trees
and plants. By the end of summer 2007 a further two-thousand
trees and plants will have be
planted. Furthermore, each eco-guest to visit the
property, starting in September of 2007, will be encouraged to
plant their own tree or plant
in the sanctuary.
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A
clean and oxygen rich water supply is available in the sanctuary
only in the months after monsoon. True Luxury Tours has
established a watering hole
that is rich in nutrients and oxygen that will now make
water available for wildlife year round. True Luxury Tours has
observed in other wildlife Sanctuaries that animals often did not
frequent man-made watering holes and decided to find out the
reason why. After studying
this problem it was noted that artificial watering
holes often had no sustainable oxygen and smaller animals
could not
easily drink from these holes. Hooved animals such as Gazelle, and
Blue-Bull would often muddy a hole and afterwards other
animals would not drink from
this water. The watering hole that was developed in our
Sanctuary has different depths so smaller wildlife such as
jungle
bees, butterflies, birds, and small wildcats can also easily drink
from this water, mid-size depths so Gazelle and Blue-Bull could
drink the water without being
able to muddy the water, and deeper depths so
Leopard can drink this water. The water in this hole is also
flushed out after every month
to ensure the quality of the water stays healthy
for all animals to drink. Indigenous aquatic plants, kept in
clay pots, are submerged in
the water to keep the nutrients and oxygen
levels high so frogs and snails will produce in and around
this watering
hole. This watering was also developed to look completely
natural in its surroundings.
To
ensure the funding and growth of our Sanctuary True Luxury Tours
has decided to open the Sanctuary for Eco-Tourism in September
2007. An eco-friendly campsite
has been developed inside the jungle core
with tents that offer bathrooms, running water and sustainable
electricity 24 hours per day. Guests will be allowed to go on safaris
twice a day, once in the early morning and in the late
evening. These safaris will be
conducted with the Sanctuaries naturalist and will be
on foot. Careful studies of how animals react to people in the
Sanctuary have been conducted as well as a study of where the
different animals reside and frequent so guests have the
maximum chance available to
see and experience rare Indian wildlife in its
natural habitat. Forty (40%)percent of all funds received from
guests will be put back into
the protection and growth of the Sanctuary with
a further two (2%) percent going to village support schemes
such as the purchase of
sustainable firewood.
Every
month new projects are started in the reserve to make it a
better place for the animals, trees, and plants to live.
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