The Legal Definition of the Concept of Ecotourism

The term ecotourism is traditionally referred to travelling to natural areas in locations unaffected or poorly affected by anthropogenic factors and having scientific, cognitive, recreational, cultural value, and carried out by environmentally friendly methods, contributing to and promoting the harmonization of human relations with the environment, ecological education and education that promotes the protection of biological and landscape diversity. One of the essential features of ecotourism is the involvement of the local population in providing tourists with works and services in the service sector. The use of natural areas for tourism is of great social and economic importance for the development of regions with significant recreational potential. The organization of tourism in protected natural territories has features related to their legal regime aimed at the preservation of natural objects for the purpose of protection of which such territories are created and containing restrictions on the use of natural resources and economic activities. The policy development of ecotourism in specially protected natural areas as an objective laid by the State requires to define this concept in compliance with the law, since its content depends on the degree of involvement of specially protected natural objects, complexes and ecosystems in recreational activities. The concept of ecotourism should include an indication of the maximum permissible recreational loads and the conformity of forms of ecotourism with the objectives of specially protected natural areas as defined in the legislation and individual provisions thereon. The list of objects of tourist infrastructure must be approved by the Government of the Russian Federation for federal specially protected natural territories and the highest executive authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities for specially protected natural areas at the regional and local levels.

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