The Iranian Department of Environment is working on developing a number of ecotourism programs across the country, covering protected areas and wetlands. The goal of these initiatives is to expand nature-based tourism while ensuring the protection of biodiversity and the environment, an official representative reported.
Iman Hadi, a specialist from the department's tourism projects office, noted that these programs are part of a broader strategy by the organization for managing natural territories. He emphasized that among the main tasks of management programs for protected areas are the protection, monitoring, and sustainable use of biodiversity, preventing environmental threats, and avoiding habitat degradation.
Hadi added that one of the priorities of the department's office for habitats and protected areas is involving local communities and the private sector in implementing nature conservation-oriented ecotourism programs. Executive plans are currently being prepared for recreational zones in the country's reserves and wetlands.
Furthermore, financial and economic studies have been updated for the development plans of ecotourism at sites such as Ashuradeh Island, Golestan National Park, Kamishlu National Park, and the Bisutun protected area. Hadi also stated that calls for participation will be issued by both individuals and legal entities to implement ecotourism and nature conservation programs within the framework of protected area management plans.