An ecotourism conference will take place in Karaganda City, Central Kazakhstan on 26-27 August 2010, headed by ETPACK, Ecological Tourism and Public Awareness in Central Kazakhstan.
Central Kazakhstan is still a white spot in terms of tourism development. The ETPACK initiative is looking into the development of community based eco-tourism in Central Kazakhstan promoted by national and international third sector organizations.
The two year project started in September 2008 and is financed with 160.000 Euro by the Institution Building Partnership Program (IBPP) of the European Union. The German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and the Kazakh NGO Ecomuseum Karaganda have been cooperating in the past two years to realize the project and provided the needed co-financing. Vitaliy Shupar (Ecomuseum) and Til Dieterich (NABU) coordinated the expert team during the project implementation supported by the International Department of NABU in Berlin.
During the project implementation three eco-sites with a network of home-stays was built up in Karaganda Oblast (Ulytau, Kyzylarai and Kent). Within the project founded small eco-tourism operator is now marketing the tourism products of the eco-sites i.e. tours and souvenir products. On the basis of the existing Karaganda Ecological Museum a regional information center for eco-tourism and ecological education, based on the non-governmental multi-member organization EcoMuseum was founded. The information center does provide information services for organization members, interested people, as well as local, national and international stakeholders on the natural and cultural heritage of the region. These activities enhance the ecological awareness, provide an alternative income source to local people in the region and give them a chance to use natural resources sustainable.
Ecological Tourism has great potential in Kazakhstan. The country has vast areas of untouched nature to offer. Vast pans and semi-deserts dominate the country and give visitors a feeling of freedom and remoteness. As virtually no fences are present in the open country one can freely move about in this exciting countryside. In addition, the mountains and lakes are an important asset as well as the local rural population whose gift for hospitality is intrinsic in their being.
Tourism has shown a tremendous growth and is recovering quickly after years of crisis. Within this promising industry ecotourism is showing the best performance over the last few years. That is for a reason. “We followed a community based approach to guarantee, that the benefits of tourism are staying in the region and enhance the living standards of the local people as well as nature protection”, Vitaliy Shuptar the national team leader of the ETPACK project says. Ecological tourism is always conserving the environment and improves the well-being of the local people. In this context the project has developing three eco-sites with homestays and 1 souvenir production of traditional handicrafts. “Ecotourism is never connected with big single investments, which bare often high risks both economically and ecologically”, stated Til Dieterich from the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU). When placing conservation of the environment at the centre of the objective, it appropriately takes the main asset of tourism into account: a clean and beautiful, natural environment.
The conference aims at:
- Establishment of ecotourism as a tool for rural development in Kazakhstan
- Offering know-how transfer on best practices from Kazakhstan and abroad
- Contributing to building up a positive image of Kazakhstan serving the tourism development
- Building a platform for governmental, non-governmental and business organizations to discuss eco-tourism development in Kazakhstan
- Linking ecotourism in Kazakhstan to established international networks
There are different definitions on what ecological tourism actually is and the International Ecotourism Society (TIES, www.ecotourism.org) does give the most comprehensive:
“Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”
This means that those who implement and participate in ecotourism activities should follow the following principles:
- Minimize impacts
- Build environmental and cultural awareness
- Provide positive experiences for both- visitors and hosts
- Provide direct financial benefits for conservation
- Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people
The participation in the conference is free of charge. If you are interested in finding out more information, simply visit www.etpack.ecotourism.kz
Source: Etpack
Editorial Director
