UNWTO DELIVERS TRAINING ON TOURISM AND BIODIVERSITY IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA

UNWTO delivered two training seminars on tourism and wildlife in Dubréka, Republic of Guinea, from 14 to 16 November and in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, from 21-23 November 2017. The seminars are part of a series of activities within the UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative on Wildlife Conservation and Sustainable Tourism in Africa and Asia and the Pacific.

With the rapid growth of the tourism sector in West and Central Africa, tourism has become an important pillar for local economies. Challenges in preserving the biodiversity may in the long run affect visitors´ satisfaction which ultimately would result in lower income from tourism activities.

Each one of these programmes gathered approximately 30 participants from different areas of the tourism sector in the countries. The three-days training programmes aimed to raise awareness among the local population on the importance of biodiversity conservation and how to address environmental issues while undertaking tourism activities. The training also encouraged local communities and tourism employees to act as champions of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection as a means to ensure sustainable income for the local population from tourism activities.

The successful completion of these two UNWTO/Chimelong seminars was facilitated by the support of respective Ministries led by H. E. Mr. Thierno Ousmane Diallo, Minister of State of Tourism, Hospitality and Handicrafts in Guinea and H. E. Mr. Franck Mwe di Malila Apenela, Minister of Tourism in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The training programme in Kinshasa closed the series of Capacity Building Seminars for Tourism Development and Biodiversity Protection in West and Central Africa, which involved a total of five countries. The conclusions of these workshops will be discussed at a regional workshop in April 2018 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The efforts put forward by the governments of Gabon, Benin, Niger, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo in hosting these workshops highlight the importance given to the contribution of the tourism sector in their countries to socio-economic development as well as to biodiversity conservation.

More information on the UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative /chimelong