ECOTOURISM AND ARCHITECTURE : PERSPECTIVE OF CHOTIARI WETLAND COMPLEX SINDH, PAKISTAN

Ecotourism has the strongest pro-poor effect on people living around wetlands, as the visitors come to the site they create room for direct marketing, thereby incentivizing the development of an economic fiscal multiplier effect. Because of unsustainable incentives, the pattern of "trying livelihoods" in the Chotiari Wetland Complex, which is in Sindh-District Sanghar, has been dwindling. Furthermore, some evolving development actors, as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), Sindh Tourism Development Corporation (STDC), and WWF- Pakistan have attempted to take control of the local community's destiny by recognizing tourism development as a way of enhancing their livelihoods. The objective of the research is to find and explain the current status of tourism development and its impact on the local communities and environment of Chotiari Wetland Complex another objective is to establish the architectural ethics in planning and developing tourist’s facilities that bridge the gap between ecotourism and its architecture and is beneficial for the community and genral environment. A review of some of the contemporary literature indicates that the primary factors that connect ecotourism to architecture and contribute to the upliftment of the local community and highlighting the lack of literature that focuses on the architecture of ecotourism in wetlands with a hot arid climate. An analytical study of the hot arid area of the Chotiari Wetlands' Vernacular Architecture is addressed in this research, outlining the factors influencing its significance. This is accompanied by a discussion of the potential of the Chotiari Wetlands’ vernacular architecture as a basis for the development of eco-tourism architecture. The methodology adopted for the study was a case study with a combined technique of qualitative research. Data was collected through private walks, surveys, observations, photographs, videos, sketches, focused gathering discussions, on-site meetings with involved stakeholders, and study of existing literature. Considering the findings of the study, along with the observed natural resources in the area traditional mud straw, and reed houses have been proven to have potential regarding eco-tourism and to be best suited for the area, both for the dwelling of residents and the accommodation of tourists with the elimination of deficiencies. It is also revealed that the current tourism architecture is not user-friendly and does not adapt to the local context and the environment. Moreover, the local community is interested in tourism-related income generation activities. The paper concludes that architects and resource planners must take the concept of vernacular architecture as a key principle for future development and construction of ecotourism architecture with the involvement of local communities.