UNWTO/Chimelong Sub-regional Capacity Building Workshop on Sustainable Tourism and Biodiversity Conservation for the Mekong Subregion Member States
Background
The UNWTO/Chimelong Sub-regional Capacity Building Workshop on Sustainable Tourism and Biodiversity Conservation for the Mekong Subregion Member States will be held on 19-21 February 2019 in Pakse, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao DPR).
Organized under the framework of the UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative and in line with UNWTO’s priority on Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building, this sub-regional workshop focuses on enhancing the quality of human capital in the field of sustainable tourism and wildlife conservation within the Mekong river area.
The event will motivate local tourism employees and communities to act as champions of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection along the Mekong, which will help ensure sustained income generation for the local people as a result of tourism activities.
Objectives
The aim of the subregional workshop is to raise awareness among local tourism stakeholders and the communities of the importance of biodiversity conservation along the Mekong and how to address environmental issues while undertaking tourism activities.
The key objectives of the workshop are:
- To analyse in a participatory manner the main threats to biodiversity and the environment along the Mekong, in particular those threats caused by activities of local people or enterprises.
- To provide guidance to local people that are (self-) employed in the tourism sector on how to act as champions for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection in their communities.
- To provide guidance to tourism employees on how to contribute to environmental management (making optimal use of scarce natural resources) and waste management in their enterprises.
Participants
The workshop will be attended by tourism officials from Lao PDR at the local and provincial level, and selected local people who are self-employed in the tourism sector. Representatives from the national tourism administrations of the Great Mekong Subregion Countries (Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam) will be invited to the workshop, especially to share experiences on this new training initiative and explore opportunities to replicate the workshop in their countries.
