Off the wire
• 1st LD-Writethru: Chinese leaders extend Spring Festival greetings  • Spotlight: Trump's order to build border wall draws strong response from Mexico, criticized across LatAm  • Assad says latest cease-fire "gateway" to peace in Syria  • France's left-winger Hamon dominates final debate ahead of primary run-off: poll  • 1st LD: Fast-track bill presented to parliament to pave way for Brexit  • Cambodian PM greets Chinese Lunar New Year  • Urgent: Fast-track bill presented to parliament to pave way for Brexit  • Interview: Too early to oppose Mekong navigational improvement plan: expert  • Spotlight: Targeting Raqqa beyond Turkey's capacity and full of risks: analysts  • Interview: Media can play vital role in enhancing Sino-Afghan relations: journalist  
You are here: 　 Home

Armenia to boost ecotourism

Xinhua, January 26, 2017 Adjust font size:

Armenia has both the resources and potential to expand ecotourism, Aram Aghasyan, head of the Department of Specially Protected Areas of the Armenian Ministry of Nature Protection, told Armenpress here Thursday.

More coordinated work from the public and private sectors is needed to aid the growth of this unique form of tourism, Aghasyan said.

"We have a lot of wealth in our country gifted to us by nature like the Khosrov Forest, the Shikahogh State Reserve, Sevan National Park, etc.," he said. In these areas guesthouses have been built with the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the hopes of attracting more tourists.

Aghasyan said Armenia will set up an information center on ecotourism at the State Museum of Nature of Armenia to further promote ecotourism.

Though ecotourism is a relatively new idea in Armenia, it is becoming more popular due to the country's vast biodiversity and rich natural monuments. One interesting fact Armenian environmentalists like to boast about is that the tiny South Caucasus country has a recorded 359 bird species, while the total number in Europe is about 700. Endi