Employees of Land of the Leopard National Park have studied ecological tourism in Australian national parks during a trip to the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney.

Yelena Salmanova, Land of the Leopard’s deputy director for science and environmental education, and research associate Dina Matyukhina studied the work of their Australian colleagues at the invitation of the National Parks Association of New South Wales.

Australia stands out among other countries for its diversity of national parks, a significant part of which has been created not only to conserve nature but also for ecological tourism. Many of them are located on the shore, but there are also territories far away from the coast, whose problems are similar to those of Land of the Leopard.

According to Salmanova, Land of the Leopard employees took a special interest in the organisation of camping sites with the provision of comfortable conditions for tourists. There are plans to set up similar sites for campers in Land of the Leopard in the Primorye Territory within several years.

“The experience of Australian parks is attractive in that all that is needed for comfort is in place, but there is no extravagance. The infrastructure of ecological trails and camping sites harmoniously blends with the natural landscape, creating a sense of naturalness and simplicity. We realised that we are on the right track, and the experience of our Australian colleagues will come in very handy,” Salmanova said.