Tehran – The Ministry of Environment (DOE) and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts have signed a four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen the partnership to maintain the environment and promote sustainable tourism.
The MOU was signed on Monday in front of DOE head Shina Ansari, reported by Tourism Minister Reza Salehi-Amiri.
The agreement focuses primarily on promoting sustainable use of biodiversity, responsible environmental action in ecotourism, fostering green jobs and ensuring a global registration of natural heritage.
Within the framework of the MOU, various programs will be implemented, including holding specialized education courses, establishing and strengthening sustainable tourism infrastructure, monitoring and assessing the social and environmental impacts of tourism activities, and preventing the negative impacts of unregulated tourism.
Working groups have been developed to plan, implement and oversee contracts, and progress accounts are published regularly.
MOUs play an important role in enhancing the national capacity to protect the country’s natural and cultural heritage and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Improving strategic cooperation
At the 18th meeting of the Strategic Council of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts held in August, Ansari emphasized the need to redesign Iran’s tourism development model and urged improvements in strategic cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism in the green tourism sector.
She was called a clean and local industry along the country’s natural ecosystem, Milas Aliya (CHTN) reported.
She warned that promoting the tourism industry without environmental attachment poses a threat to Iran’s cultural and natural heritage.
Emphasizing the need for institutional synergies to protect the country’s natural and cultural heritage, she said:
Ansari emphasized the need for people, tourists and travel activists to stand with environmentalists. She added that protecting nature is not just an organization’s responsibility, but a national and cultural obligation.
Officials continued, “Wetlands, forests, mountains and Iran’s natural natural regions could be introduced as sustainable tourism destinations. The Ministry of Environment is ready to compile and implement sustainable green tourism within the framework of a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, Tourism and Handaft.”
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