Educating students in the organization and management of ecological tourism in the forest of Belarus

Abstract

Ecotourism in the Republic of Belarus is a relatively young, but already popular tourism destination with a high potential for development, especially on the lands of the forest fund. This is due to the high forest cover of the territory of the Republic (about 40%), the presence of a large number of significant environmentally protected sites. Among them are the National parks “Belovezhskaya Pushcha”, “Braslav Lakes”, “Narochansky”, “Pripyatsky”, Berezinsky biosphere reserve, state forest reserve “Nalibokskaya Pushcha”, key biotopes, picturesque rivers, lakes and pristine swamps, very attractive for tourists, including foreign ones. Only specialists who have extensive comprehensive knowledge of special biological and environmental disciplines, in addition to competence in the field of tourism, can professionally give a tour or excursion to such destinations. This allows them to reveal the complex set of connections and processes occurring in forest ecosystems, and provide an accessible information to tourists. The interest in such specialists has been repeatedly expressed by the heads of specially protected natural areas (hereinafter SPNA), of some forestry institutions. It should also be noted that due to the increased frequency and duration of adverse biotic and abiotic factors on forest ecosystems (epiphytosis, epizootics, climate change, hurricanes, fires) the value of standard natural sites has significantly increased and reinforced the interest in them. All of the above made it necessary to train specialists in the field of ecological tourism with deep knowledge in the sphere of multipurpose forest management, fauna and flora, local history, organization and marketing of ecotourism, service, psychology, foreign language, economics and law. It was organized at the Forestry Faculty of BSTU in 2009 in the framework of a separate speciality of the I stage of higher education (bachelor’s degree) “Tourism and nature management”.