Shillong: A group of five Japanese visitors three from the Japanese Foundation and two from, ‘The Most Beautiful Villages In Japan (TMBVIJ) ,’ visited Mawlynnong, in East Khasi Hills, labelled as the Cleanest Village in Asia. They also visited Sohliya village in Ri Bhoi District. Narrating their experiences, the team said they were very impressed by the sense of community in Mawlynnong and the keenness of the people of that village to maintain the unique selling proposition (USP) of their village – cleanliness.
Speaking to this correspondent, Aka Serigawa of TMBVIJ said “Most developing countries have the tendency to destroy their natural beauty. Japan has gone through this process and now we want to reclaim whatever is left. There are 54 most beautiful villages in Japan which have been certified so after they have met the benchmarks, one of which is that the population each village should not be more than 10,000 people”.
Ms Serigawa said India has an abundance of high quality natural resources such as paddy fields, forests, waterfalls etc., which people seem to have forgotten are selling points in village tourism. She said her team the TMBVIJ receives applications from different stakeholders asking that their villages be certified as part of the consortium. “We have to visit those villages and certify them so that they become part of the circuit.
Karsuma Doi of the Japan Foundation explained that the Foundation collaborates with France, Italy, Belgium and Canada to identify such touristy villages. He said the team were very keen to collaborate with India and Meghalaya in particular which already has several village tourism spots. However, the villages would have to meet their benchmarks.
The Japanese team had been taken to different locales by local tour operator, DD Laloo who had, in collaboration with MTDF, developed Mawlynnong as a tourist resort. Laloo is now creating a village resort at Sohliya village where he is also working with the local communities in conserving the natural environment.
Interestingly the movement of, ‘The Most Beautiful Villages’ started in France in 1981. The idea is to create a completely different style of tourism that is environment friendly. The purpose of this form of tourism is to avoid the pitfalls of turning villages into soulless museums and theme parks. The objective of this mission is to reconcile villages with the future and to restore life around all that they know best – the forests, rivers, hills, caves, root bridges at al.
The idea further is to make the villagers the major stakeholders in their tourism and ensure that they make a living without destroying anything that is already a part of the village and by enhancing its beauty.
The two teams are visiting other parts of India as well to explore the possibilities of creating networks of the most beautiful villages.
