GRINE: The 4th ECO Experts Group Meeting on Ecotourism, hosted by the Republic of Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot State was held in Girne city on 25 November 2024 in hybrid mode.
The event brought together leading experts from ECO members states to discuss strategies for promoting sustainable and ecofriendly tourism and preserving natural and cultural heritage. Delegates from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan, as well as Turkish Cypriot State attended the meeting.
Aftab ur Rehman Rana, Managing Director of PTDC represented Pakistan in this meeting. Discussions at the meeting focused on nature tourism best practices in protected areas and the management of diverse ecosystems for nature tourism, the recent progress in ecotourism activities, including the overview of national parks, planning and improvement of the infrastructure for ecotourism routes, and marketing and promotion of specific ecotourism destinations.
The meeting also reviewed the recommendations of the previous Experts Group Meetings on Ecotourism and discussed future cooperation in integrating the previous work to compile a comprehensive ecotourism catalogue with a special collection of best practices in ecotourism and organizing field trips to strengthen regional ecotourism. Participants expressed their commitment to work together to promote sustainable tourism practices, to continue the dialogue to exchange knowledge and experiences for the development of ecotourism within the ECO initiatives, and to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the region and sustain the benefits of ecotourism for local communities.
