Over 150 government officials, conservationists from home and abroad and scholars from universities, investors and tourist industry representatives, and ethnic Tibetan villagers have gathered at the Hailuogou National Glacier Park in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, to participate in the Khampa International Ecotourism Conference.

Co-organized by the government of the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Conservation International (CI) China Programme and Green Globe 21, the theme of the conference is participation.

"Through participation and communication, we expect to identify useful and practical ways in developing ecotourism in this region," said Lu Zhi, director of the CI China Programme.

During the three-day conference which ends today, the participants were divided into two groups to discuss topics such as cooperation in ecotourism between different regions, market demand for environmental tourism, ecotourism assessments and planning, guidelines and standards for ecotourism, and local community participation.

Apart from this, examples of tourism with practical ecological and cultural considerations were presented by local and international experts.

"The conference is really a good chance for us to learn and think how to promote our ecotourism industry and how to realize the sustainable development of tourism," said Yang Suping, head of the Ganzi government.

The Khampa Tibetan Region, covering parts of Tibet and the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, is well known for its beautiful landscapes and rich traditional cultures.

And it overlaps almost 80 percent of the mountains of southwest China, an area designated by the international conservation organization based in the United States as one of the world's top 25 biodiversity hotspots.

(China Daily November 15, 2004)