Vol.: (0123456789) 1 3 Environ Monit Assess (2022) 194:914 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10548-0 Developing ecotourism sustainability maximization (ESM) model: a safe minimum standard for climate change mitigation in the Indian Himalayas Smriti Ashok  · Mukund Dev Behera · Hare Ram Tewari · Chinmoy Jana Received: 25 April 2022 / Accepted: 30 August 2022 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 inevitable for its sustainable requirements. The inte- gration of ecological and socio-economic factors is vital for ERM, as has been demonstrated by devel- oping an Ecotourism Sustainability Maximization Model for an area under study, that is the Yuksam- Dzongri corridor (also known as Kangchendzonga Base Camp Trek), in the Khangchendzonga Bio- sphere Reserve (KBR), Sikkim, India. This model is based on the earlier developed ecotourism sustain- ability assessment (ESA) framework by the authors, which is based on the hierarchical relationship among ecotourism principles, criteria, indicators, and verif- ers. Employing such relationships, this paper attempts to maximize ecotourism sustainability (ES) as a func- tion of its sustainability principles, criteria, indica- tors, and verifers, subject to the constraints identifed through the safe minimum standard (SMS) approach by employing linear programming. Using 58 indica- tors as decision variables and 114 constraints, the model resulted in a maximum level of achievable ES with a score of 84.6%, allowing the resultant opti- mum values of the indicators to be maintained at the operational level. A central tenet of the model is the collective responsibility and adoption of a holistic approach involving the government, tourists, tourism enterprises, and local people. Keywords Ecotourism sustainability principle · Criteria and indicator · Linear programming · Optimum value · Sikkim state · Bellagio STAMP- 2009 Abstract Recently, ecotourism has been identi- fed as an adaptation strategy for mitigating climate change impacts, as it can optimize carbon sequestra- tion, biodiversity recovery, and livelihood benefts and generate new opportunities for the sustenance of the economy, environment, and society of the area endowed with natural resources and cultural values. With the growing responsibility at the global level, ecotourism resource management (ERM) becomes Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi. org/10.1007/s10661-022-10548-0. S. Ashok (*)  Faculty, Department of Architecture and Planning, National Institute of Technology Patna, Ashok Rajpath, Mahendru, Patna, Bihar 800005, India e-mail: smriti.ar@nitp.ac.in; drsmritiashok@gmail.com M. D. Behera  Centre for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302, India e-mail: mdbehera@coral.iitkgp.ac.in H. R. Tewari  Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302, India e-mail: tewarihareramgmail.com C. Jana  Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), College Square (W), Kolkata 700073, India e-mail: chinmoyjana@yahoo.com