If you visit Trashiyangtse towards the end of 2008, expect an enormous signboard welcoming you to the dzongkhag. As you move on, several more boards will inform you about trails and places you are approaching. On reaching the town, a beautiful park will greet you, along with a host of other natural attractions. This is at least what a proposal says that hopes to transform the beautiful and serene valley of Trashiyangtse into the ultimate eco tourism destination in the country. A proposal, submitted in January by the dzongkhag to the Department of Tourism and the United Nations Development Programme, suggests strategic activities to promote eco-tourism through the participation of rural communities to improve their livelihood. The proposed project proposes developing basic tourist facilities, including walking trails and public toilets, plantation along river banks, park landscaping and information brochures, among others. Village community leaders will be involved in the documentation of historical and sacred Buddhist sites and rural communities should benefit through the sale of traditional handicrafts, food and lodging and from porter and pony charges. According to dzongda Dr Ugyen Tshewang, the place did attract tourists earlier but not up to its full potential. "Trashiyangtse has greater opportunity for eco-tourism,' he said. "It's endowed with a lot of natural beauty and biological diversity.' Some of the notable features were the sacred monuments and historical sites like Chorten Kora, Gom Kora, and Omba Ney and the fact that it served as roosting grounds for the black-necked cranes in the winter months. There were traditional handicrafts produced locally and by a Zorig Chusum institute in the dzongkhag. "Given all these, we feel we can do something to improve it, thus the proposal,' he said, adding that all the activities would be carried out within the framework of eco-tourism policy. While the dzongkhag received less than a thousand tourists annually, it also had only one hotel with limited rooms catering to tourists. Meanwhile, plans have been laid to restore the habitat of black-necked crane, which was disturbed by the Kholongchu floods in recent years. Dr Ugyen Tshewang said that the species of wood used to make the traditional dapa (wooden bowl) was becoming extinct and manufacturers had to go beyond Trashiyangtse to look for the raw material. The dzongkhag, in consultation with the agriculture ministry and international experts, was researching how the plant could be grown. "If we come up with a solution, we shall restore the species in Trashiyangtse,' he said. The dzongkhag is eagerly waiting for the proposal to come through in the next few months. By Kesang Dema kesang64@kuensel.com.bt