The State Forest and Wildlife Minister Harak Singh Rawat has directed officials to speed up the development of the five already identified circuits for eco-tourism in the state.
The Uttarakhand Eco-tourism Corporation has started work on preparing a roadmap for developing these five identified eco-tourism circuits in the State. In the first phase, these circuits would be developed around forest rest houses while ensuring that villages located in and around these circuits are also connected to eco-tourism activities, which will also provide the villagers an opportunity for their livelihood development and income generation.
Presiding over the meeting of Uttarakhand Eco-tourism Corporation in lansdowne, the state’s forest and wildlife minister emphasised on the need for speedily executing the work required for development of the five identified eco-tourism circuits in the state.
Rawat said that although Uttarakhand is a hub of religious tourism, so far the state has not been able to evolve as an eco-tourism destination. Through the Uttarakhand Ecotourism Corporation, the State is making a sincere effort in this direction. “Considering the natural and scenic beauty of our state there exists a substantial potential for developing Uttarakhand as a hub of eco-tourism activities,” said the minister.
The managing director of Uttarakhand Eco-tourism Corporation and the chief project director of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded Uttarakhand Forest Resource Management Project (UFRMP), Anup Malik made a detailed presentation at the meeting. He informed that a total of 30 forest rest houses spread across Pauri, Almora, Champawat, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Rishikesh and Tehri districts were proposed to be taken up under this initiative as part of development of the five identified eco-tourism circuits.