A Tourist Information Centre and Souvenir House, led by the Conservation Area Management Committee, has come into operation at the Tangting Youth Club building in Tangting, Kaski.
The centre will provide visitors with information about Tangting’s culture, homestays, natural beauty, wildlife and conservation. It will also display and sell local products and handicrafts, supporting local women and the village economy.
Local leaders welcomed the initiative. Himal Gurung, Chair of Tangting Youth Club, said the youth are ready to take responsibility for sustaining the centre. Guman Gurung, Chair of CAMC Tangting, said the centre will help share social, environmental and cultural knowledge about Tangting while supporting the local economy. School headmaster and writer, Om Prakash Gurung added that the centre will become one more destination for visitors and create benefits for local women’s groups.
Sudarshan Parajuli, project leader from Friends of Nature Nepal, said the team is happy to establish the centre in this beautiful village. He added that FON Nepal has worked around Tangting for more than a decade on dhole, clouded leopard, human-wildlife conflict and other conservation issues. The new centre is expected to promote responsible tourism, share conservation messages and support community development in Tangting.
Local tourism entrepreneur Mr. Bhupal Gurung stressed that this is a much-needed centre that the community has been waiting for a long time. He said this is just the beginning, and the centre should be properly managed and expanded into a strong and useful information centre. Visitors can now get gifts, local guide services and other local information from the centre.
The stairs connecting the centre to the road were built by local people. A clean-up campaign was also carried out by local homestay and hotel operators, local youth and other stakeholders. Vice Chairperson of Madi Rural Municipality, Mrs. Kalpana Gurung, shared her view that Gurung dress displays and other fundraising events should be organized to sustain this information centre. She thanked everyone involved in the information and gift centre.
The centre was established under the project “Promoting Tourism through Whistling Hunters (Dhole Conservation)”, led by the Conservation Area Management Committee and supported by Friends of Nature Nepal, EOCA, Dhole Conservation Fund, ACAP and local community organizations.
