Sustainable Tourism in Ecologically Fragile Landscapes of Kerala’s Western Ghats

Abstract

The Western Ghats, one of the most important biodiversity hotspots is the ecological backbone of Kerala and had become an enticement for nature based and heritage tourism. However, unplanned tourism, climate change etc. has compounded the region’s ecological fragility. This is a qualitative and conceptual research study based entirely on secondary data, synthesizing findings from an extensive desk-based review of academic literature, institutional reports, and official government statistics spanning 2010 to 2024. This paper focuses on the relationship between tourism growth and environmental degradation in Kerala’s Western Ghats with special focus on the Wayanad and Idukki district. It critically examines the link between recent natural disasters- especially landslides and the tourism developments in the region. The study has argued that unregulated land-use change, specifically slope modification for construction of resorts and homestays, road expansion, and poor waste management, has intensified slope fragility and soil erosion in the study area. This activity acts as a critical exacerbating factor, amplifying the risk of catastrophic events, as evidenced by post-disaster assessments of the 2018 Idukki and the devastating 2024 Wayanad landslides. Therefore, the study concludes that tourism in the Western Ghats necessitates a paradigm shift from growth-centric to ecology-centric governance. The study suggest that this shift is achievable by integrating decentralized planning, focusing on carrying capacity limits, community participation and ecosystem restoration.