The Tamil Nadu government today released its Ecotourism Policy 2017, which envisages major role for local communities. Chief Minister K Palaniswami had earlier announced that the state will come out with such a policy. Community based ecotourism, where the emphasis will be on the active involvement of local communities for their empowerment and socio-economic upliftment, was one of the "guiding principles" on which the the development of ecotourism in the state will be based, the policy said.
It also said "ecotourism sites identified and developed will have their uniqueness and value in terms of aesthetic, natural, cultural and landscape characteristics which will be recognised and developed into a ecotourism product with which the site could be recognised in future." The initiatives will include hiking, trekking, wildlife sighting, bird watching trails, boating, photography, visit to medicinal plants conservation area, craft making, local handicraft, promoting local festivals, and adventure sports, it added.
The Forest Department will be the nodal department for implementing the policy, it said, adding a special purpose vehicle (SPV), the State Ecotourism Board (SEB) will also be floated. The SEB will finalise the strategies regarding pricing and appropriate packaging and branding of ecotourism destinations, it noted. The Ecotourism policy will be reviewed after five years.
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