Ministry of Tourism (MoT) in collaboration with Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) launched the fourth training programme under the Amrit Dharohar Capacity Building Scheme on 5^th January 2024 for local community members, boat owners, and Forest department officials of Bhitarkanika National Park in the presence of Dr Sagnik Chowdhury, Regional Director (East), Ministry of Tourism, Dr. M Ramesh, Scientist ‘E’, MoEF&CC, Dr. Md Sabir Hussain, Nodal officer and Head, IITTM Bhubaneswar, Mr Sudarshan Gopinath Jadhav, IFS, DFO, Mangrove Forest Division (WL), Rajnagar, Odisha, and other officials from Forest Department, Govt of Odisha.

Under this initiative, two training programmes of 15 days each namely Alternative Livelihood program (ALP) and Paryatan Navik Certificate (PNC) will be conducted. With the help of the Odisha State Wetlands Authority (OSWA) and Mangrove Forest Division, Rajnagar a total of 60 participants (30 for each course) were identified from the local communities in and around Bhitarkanika to impart trainings and subsequently certifying them as nature-guides.

This is part of the ongoing effort of enhancing livelihood opportunities for local communities through harnessing the nature-tourism potential of the Ramsar Sites across the country under the Amrit Dharohar Initiative of the MoEF&CC. In the first phase of this programme, five priority Ramsar sites were identified namely Sultanpur National Park, Sirpur wetland, Yashwant Sagar, Bhitarkanika National Park, and Chilika Lake. The first three training programmes for Sultanpur National Park, Sirpur wetland, and Yashwant Sagar have been successfully completed in December 2023.

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