Bhubaneshwar, Jan 19 (PTI) Mangalajodi EcotourismTrust, a community owned and managed venture promoted by RBSFoundation India and Indian Grameen Services on the banksof Chilika Lake in Odisha, has won the prestigious UnitedNations World Tourism Organisation Awards.
The trust was honoured with the coveted award for"Innovation in Tourism Enterprise" at the 14th UNWTO Awardsceremony held in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, RBS FoundationIndia said in a release.
The villagers of Mangalajodi, once associated withpoaching of birds, stand as true defenders of wildlife in theregion today. The change was orchestrated by a coordinatedeffort in implementing an awareness campaign on the importanceof preserving natural species and the benefits associated withwildlife tourism, the release said.
Owing to unsustainable levels of poaching, in 2000 thearrival of migratory birds in Mangalajodi, 75 km from here haddropped to 5000 and now the number has soared to over threelakh in the region, it said. Other visible impacts includeincreasing revenue through ecotourism, sharp fall in poachingincidents and increasing support of villagers.
Based on the principles of community ownership and EcoTourism, UNWTO award for 'Innovation in Tourism Enterprise'recognises MangalajodiÂ’s business model that is botheconomically viable and environmentally sustainable. Therelevance of the award is further amplified as United Nations(UN) General Assembly recently adopted 2017 as theInternational Year of Sustainable Tourism, it said.
Ecotourism with its inherent potential of unifyingconservation, communities and sustainable travel, makes it aviable livelihood proposition for the communities residingnear ecologically important regions such as forest, wetlandand desert ecosystems, the release said. PTI SKNRG.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.