To strengthen nature tourism in select Ramsar sites, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has joined hands with the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) for conducting training under Amrit Dharohar Capacity Building Scheme 2023 at Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar, Ramsar Sites at Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
With the help of the Madhya Pradesh State Wetlands Authority (MPSWA) and EPCO, a total of 60 participants (30 from each Ramsar sites) were identified from the local communities of Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar to impart training and subsequently certifying them as nature-guides.
Under this initiative, Alternative Livelihood program (ALP), a 30 hours/15 days training programme in Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar, was launched on 14 December 2023, by Ministry of Tourism in the presence of senior officials from MoEF&CC, Ministry of Tourism, Indore Municipal Corporation, Environmental Planning and Coordination Organisation (EPCO), Govt of Madhya Pradesh, Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM), and more.
Deep Kalra takes over from Dinesh Khanna, Executive Director, Eastern International Hotels Ltd, who served as Chairman of WTTCII for 2022-23.
MoEFCC is implementing the ‘Nature-tourism’ component of the ‘Amrit Dharohar’ initiative jointly with the MoT with an aim to enhance livelihood opportunities for local communities through harnessing the nature-tourism potential of the Ramsar Sites across the country. Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar are two of the five priority Ramsar Sites besides Bhitarkanika & Chilika in Odisha and Sultanpur in Haryana, identified by MoT and MoEF&CC for piloting these training programmes for local communities under the Alternative Livelihood Programme (ALP).
The first training was launched at Sultanpur National Park, Ramsar site, in Haryana, on December 8, 2023.
