UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative trains public officials in Bangladesh on Wildlife and Sustainable Tourism
30 officials from different ministries of Bangladesh have participated in a workshop to enhance their knowledge and share good practices on Sustainable Tourism and Wildlife. The activity takes place under the framework of the UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative on wildlife and sustainable tourism, which is being implemented between 2017 and 2018.
PR No.: PR 18010
Participants from different ministerial authorities in Bangladesh, such as the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the Bangladesh Tourism Board, the Bangladesh Coast Guard, the Blue Economy cell, the Bangladesh Tourist Police and the Bangladesh Television joined the workshop on wildlife and sustainable tourism. The activity took place in Dhaka and was inaugurated by the Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism of Bangladesh Shajahan Kamal who mentioned the need to enhance technical cooperation initiatives with UNWTO.
The session, organized by the Bangladesh Tourism Board and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism aimed at raising awareness on policies related to the development of Sustainable Tourism as a driver of wildlife conservation and protection measures. A special focus was made on the Royal Bengal Tiger Bangladesh, present around one of the World Heritage sites -The Sundarbans-.
The relevance of these themes within the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Tourism Goals (SDGs) was underlined as well as the need to launch policies to address these topics in the country. The workshop included the revision of good practices related to wildlife-based tourism in Asia and the Pacific.
The participants followed practical exercises organized in working groups and discussed the different issues related to wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism. Each group had the opportunity to conduct a final presentation with a list of recommendations to foster wildlife-related tourism in the country.
Afzal Hossain, Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Dhaka shared with the participants a Key-note paper entitled 'Achieving Sustainable Development Goals through Sustainable Tourism with particular Reference to Wildlife Conservation: Ways and Means.' The debates were moderated by the former Country Representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Ishtiak Ahmad.
Contacts:
UNWTO Media Officer Marcelo Risi
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / mrisi@unwto.org
UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org
