Eco-Tourism Conference in Belek

The Forestry Ministry and National Parks management held a 2-day eco-tourism conference at the Maritime Pine hotel in Belek on 9th-10th April. Also invited were several university professors with expertise in tourism, geography… etc, as well as the representatives of several NGO’s – of these, the WWF was represented by Eray Çağlayan, Doğa Koruma Merkezi by Yıldıray Lise and the Culture Routes Society by Kate Clow. The meeting was held after the individual parks management plans have been made, but the Ministry showed a willingness to speed up and be more flexible in their activities.

The meeting split into working groups and made various recommendations, including the conservation and maintenance of cultural routes in the National Parks and forestry areas. We hope for more follow-up meetings with individual district forestry managers and the Ministry in Ankara.