Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Mr Edward Awuah, an official of the Forestry Commission in Ghana, has said Eco-tourism is the fastest growing market in the Ghanaian tourism industry.
Mr Awuah said according to the World Tourism Organisation, ecotourism had an annual growth rate of 5 percent and it represented 6 percent of the world gross domestic product and 11.4 percent of all consumer spending.
He said this is not a market to be taken slightly and urged the private sector to help in the development of more ecotourism sites in the country.
Mr Awuah who is also the Coordinator for Awutu-Agona Eco-tourism, said this when he and Mr Ernest Nkansah-Kwarteng, Winneba District Forestry Manager and some Tourism students from Cape Coast inspected the five forest reserves at Awutu Bewuenum.
The five reserves being developed into Eco-tourism by the Forest Commission and the Winneba District Forest are, Akrabong, Obotoumfo, Abasumba, Ahirasu Nos one and two, all near Awutu Bewuenum in the Awutu-Senya District of the Central Region.
Mr Awuah said the reserves have been designated as a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area and are being protected for their exceptionally high levels of biological diversity.
He said around the globe, eco-tourism is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of vacationing adding that the objective of the program was to create jobs and revenue generation whilst maintaining their statuses.
Mr Nkansah-Kwarteng said the Forestry Commission has constructed tourism centre at Awutu Bewuenum with hostel facilities for visitors adding that it had also formed Community Biodiversity Advisory Groups to protect the area.
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