TOURISM GOVERNANCE AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR TARGETED KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS (KBAs) IMPROVED
The Greater Sundarbans Ecotourism Alliance is a Destination Management Organization that will serve as an advocate for the holistic tourism industry of the region. After establishing this DMO, the USAID Ecotourism Activity will help to ensure the organization fulfills this critical role of mitigating tourism’s negative impacts on the environment while sharing opportunities for the vibrant exchange of people to ensure maximum benefits to communities. Once the Destination Development Strategy is finalized and the organization formed, the DMO will lead the implementation of the plan and unite both the public and private sectors to increase communication and work together on key challenges. Through their role, the DMO will liaise with the GoB to address regulatory challenges, improve tourism’s contributions to the protected areas and natural resource management, and increase awareness of the communities and visitors on conservation-friendly behaviors.
The USAID Ecotourism Activity aims to ensure that tourism supports management of biodiversity and conservation through three key intermediate results:
IR 2.2
GoB financing and capacity for protected areas management strengthened
