The statement was made by Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) Tran Hong Ha while addressing the "Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Tourism" seminar, which was held on June 26 on the sidelines of the ongoing sixth Global Environment Facility Assembly (GEF 6) in the central city of Da Nang.
The Vietnamese minister also acknowledged that the rapid development of tourism in some localities of the country has had negative impacts on the ecosystem, plant and animal species there.
He called for greater international support for perfecting policies and laws regarding the issues at hand as well as in raising Vietnam’s capacity in developing nature-based tourism with priority given to protecting biodiversity and boosting livelihoods.
He also hoped for wider experience sharing on feasible models of tourism development and public private partnerships which succeed in simultaneously conserving biodiversity and promoting tourism.
Delegates at the event, which was co-organised by the MONRE and the World Bank, discussed policy building and management on sustainable ecotourism, and studied effective ways in developing nature-based tourism and biodiversity conservation from foreign countries and organisations around the world.
