Eco-guides in offing for Sundarbans: Menon

Bangladesh Tourism Board has started to train youths of the Sundarbans region as eco-guide for ensuring responsible tourism in the world's largest mangrove forest.

BTB in cooperation with Bengal Tours Ltd, one of the largest tour operators in the Sundarbans, imparted a 10-day eco-guide training to 20 local youths last week.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon told the news agency yesterday the numbers of both local and foreign tourists were increasing in the Sundarbans but there had been scarcity of eco-tourist guides and professional tour operators.

He said the eco-guides would ensure biodiversity conservation in the forest, which would also create employment opportunities for the local educated youths.

The minister has already urged the forest department to refer eco-guides to the tour operators when they give entry permission of any tourist group.

"If the tour operators hire an eco-guide along with forest guards whenever they bring a tourist group in the Sundarbans, the visitors will be encouraged to practise responsible tourism during their stay in deep of the forest," he said.

"We have received a proposal from United Nation World Tourism Organization to present the world's largest mangrove forest Sundarbans, a Unesco world heritage site, in front of the international holidaymakers in a proper tourism-friendly way," he said.

The BTB chief said they will provide eco-guide training to the interested candidates phase by phase to adequate numbers of eco-guides from four districts- Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat and Barguna.