kick-off meetings with local population and ecotourism workshop in kurmety village
AUGUST 7, 2014

On August 7, 2014 kick-off meetings with local population and workshop on ecotourism development were held in Kurmety village (Saty rural district of Raimbek region), situated in the buffer zone of “Kolsay Kolderi” national park.

Kurmety village is conveniently located in the mountain canyon of the same name, which may be considered a great starting point for a great deal of interesting travel routes. However, with a few exceptions, this part of the national park has been barely included in recreational activities so far.

Evgeniy Klimov is one of those people due to whom a system of guest-houses in Saty village, located in the neighbourhood of Kurmety, has been successfully operating for already many years. At the workshop Evgeniy shared his experience in community-based tourism development, as well as introduced the basic concepts and principles of the so-called ecological tourism to the workshop’s participants. It was also stated that ecotourism in rural areas should be developed based on coordination of all efforts by community council. Moreover, it is necessary to establish the community fund which among other things will function as mutual aid fund. 

About twenty villagers took part in the meeting and the workshop. About a quarter of them have already expressed their wish to work in the field of ecological tourism, both in the development of the system of guest-houses and as travel guides. Temporary coordinator was selected from the meeting’s participants, who will act in the name and on behalf of the local community in dealings with the third parties.

In Autumn-Winter 2014 we are planning to hold the workshops, where local residents who wish to work in tourism will gain knowledge on guest-houses management and principles of working as travel guides, as well as familiarize themselves with the important legal, financial and other practical matters. Hopefully, by the next season Kurmety villagers will be ready to accommodate and serve their first tourists.

Kick-off meetings and workshop on ecotourism were organized by “Avalon” PF in the framework of the project “Protection of Biodiversity in the transboundary region Northern Tien-Shan”, funded by Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development of Germany (BMZ). The workshop’s organizers express their gratitude to the administration of Saty rural district and personally to Malik Ydyrysov for the cooperation in organizing the event.