Question1 to Mr. Ts. Dashpurev (Hustai Nurru BR)
As you mentioned in the presentation, the pandemic affected a lot the ecotourim in many protected areas in the world, not only Hustai Nurru. Attracting the national tourists, which you introduced, may also have limit to sustain the finance of the biosphere reserve.
What do you think as possible solutions to address the crisis of the ecotourim during the pandemic or similar situations?
Answer:
Before the pandemic, most of the BRs in Mongolia were focusing on foreign tourists, because foreign tourist will generate more income for the BR and local economy. In the last two years, Hustai Nurru is gradually changing the focus onto the local tourists. Although pandemic poses a great challenge to the eco-tourism by blocking foreign tourists, it also provides an opportunity, since a lot of people are not able to travel abroad as well, and they are encouraged to explore the eco-tourism hotspot within their own country and own nature. The estimated data showed that the number of tourists in Hustai Nurru BR in 2021 will exceed the number of 2020, which also indicated the revival of eco-tourism. Another idea is to bring in group tourists, for example, school children, to the BRs. However, this kind of activity is also determined by the pandemic and lockdown policies.
A lot of grant and funding programs also helped in keeping the Hustai Nurru BR running. The reserve fund established by Hustai Nurru BR before 2020 played a very important role. In the future we might have to tackle more and more challenges like Covid-19, thus this kind of reserve fund will be of vital importance to build the resilience and robustness of BRs. Nevertheless, more international donation from countries or organizations is still needed to ultimately solve the problem faced by many BRs in Mongolia, and governments should also pay attention to the conservation of the ecosystem, which requires decades of hard work to survive but could be ruined within a short period.
To survive the great pandemic and economic crisis, we could also explore more commercial models. For example, BRs could offer prepayment services for tourists abroad, who could physically visit the BRs in the future and get a discount by paying in advance. This would help in keeping the financial wellness of BRs.
Question2 to Mr. Ts. Dashpurev (Hustai Nurru BR)
In our eco-education facilities, we are also facing problems induced by the pandemic, and many of them are looking for some alternatives such as online visiting. Will this idea of online services be applicable and beneficial for the national parks and BRs as well?
Answer:
While people might not have the incentive to pay for the virtual tours, we could instead establish an online platform to share our data, photos of animals as well as landscape, etc., and encourage people to donate through this platform. For the kind donors, we could offer some extra photos or local products, if possible. MAB could also help to organize such a platform and get all the BRs involved.
Comments