More than 200 leisure and tourism officials and experts from all over the world have reached a consensus on lake conservation and tourism development at the China International Lake Tourism Forum which was concluded Sunday in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province.

According to the consensus that was reached on Saturday evening, lakes are important and irreplaceable resources for mankind. Their ecosystem is comparatively fragile and not renewable. Lakes are also an important resource for leisure and tourism. Civilized and 'green' tourism should be advocated so as to minimize negative influence on the environment.

Many lakes in the world have been somehow polluted. About 1 billion people on earth suffer from shortage of drinking water, and 20 lakes in China are disappearing on the average each year, the consensus says.

The consensus underscores sustainable development of lake tourism. It believes proper tourism development will benefit lake conservation efforts and will serve as a boom for the economic and social benefits of undeveloped regions and promote harmonious development between the rural and urban areas.

According to the consensus, a lake tourism union will be founded so as to facilitate management expertise exchanges and the establishment of a long-term training mechanism.

The two-day event drew senior representatives of governments, international organizations in lake and tourism and experts in the field of leisure and tourism from universities around world, involving Loch Ness, Baikal, Lake Victoria, and China's West Lake and Taihu Lake. Jointly initiated by China Tourism Association, the Zhejiang University and the Zhejiang Tourism Bureau, the forum highlighted 'Lake Protection and Tourism Development' as the theme.

2005/09/26
Source: Xinhuanet