Armenia Has Great Potential for Ecotourism Development

EcoLur

Armenia has great potential for ecotourism development: Alen Amirkhanian, Director of the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, presented the wealth of Armenia at 'Ecotourism in Armenia' conference held at the American University of Armenia on 2 April.

'Wse have much health, for example, bird species – there are many tourists who travel to different parts of the world to watch different bird species. Armenia has around 350 bird species. If to compare with Europe, the area of which is 330 times larger than that of Armenia, it has 700 bird species. What about butterflies, we have 200 species and Europe has 570 species. Armenia has 3500 plant species and natural monuments, which are not valued to their full extent. We should have regional thinking: the tourist traveling to Georgia, will most probably visit Armenia as well. We should keep this environmental chain in mind. Each year 10 million people travel all over the world for ecotourism purposes and we shouldn't undervalue or neglect our natural and cultural values: we should shared these values with our world,' Alen Amirkhanian said in his speech. According to him, the obstacles to ecotourism development in Armenia are irresponsible mining, tree felling, poaching, lack of awareness and organization.

April 05, 2016 at 14:10