Team Herald
PANJIM: National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is of the view that a well-managed tourist sector plays a crucial role in preserving biodiversity.
In a statement, NBA Chairperson Dr B Meenakumari said the theme for this years’ International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) is ‘Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism” coinciding with the observance of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.
“A well managed tourist sector can preserve biodiversity by reducing the damage and thus by contributing significantly to maintain or increase, key wildlife populations and biodiversity values through tourism revenue,” she said.
Meenakumari said that celebration of the IDB under the theme provides an opportunity to raise awareness and action towards the contribution of sustainable tourism, both to economic growth and to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
“It provides a unique opportunity to contribute to ongoing initiatives such as the Sustainable Tourism Programme of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns and to promote the CBD Guidelines on Biodiversity and Tourism Development,” she added.
IDB-2017 will be celebrated in Goa on May 22. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will be the chief guest for the event.
Meenakumari, thanking former Union Minister for Environment and Forest, late Anil Madhav Dave, for choosing Goa as the host, said that the biodiversity rich state presents an impressive spectacle for international and domestic tourists. “To drive home the point that biodiversity, at the level of species and ecosystems, provides an important foundation in Goa for many aspects of tourism,” she stated.
Dave, who died on May 18, was to preside over the IDB event.
