Kanchenjunga National Park in Sikkim has been selected as one of the top 100 Green destinations in the world by a team promoting tourism sustainability.
The announcement was made by Thomas Chandy, Principal Secretary & PCCF, Forest Environment & Wildlife Management Department, at a press conference here today on the basis of an official e-mail received in this regard by the department.
The Top 100, selected on the basis of open calls in the social media and of a selection process by 30 international experts in tourism sustainability, is a joint initiative of the TravelMole.Com, Vision on Sustainable Tourism, Totem Tourism, and Green Destinations.
The selection was made on the basis of six key criteria -- Nature, Environment, Culture & Tradition, Social well-being, Green Economy and certified Green Tourism Policy, he said.
The Principal Secretary said that a proposal to nominate the National Park as a World Heritage Site under Natural and Cultural (Mixed) landscape category has been posed to UNESCO.
This is the first time that a property has been posed to UNESCO under mixed category from India, he said.
The destinations in Asia Pacific that have been selected in 2014 Sustainable Destination Global Top 100 are Kakadu National Park and Rottnest Island in Australia, National Parks of Bhutan, Jinshanling Great Wall and Mt. Huangshan in China, Kanchenjunga National Park (Sikkim), Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala) in India, and Flores in Indonesia.
The Principal Secretary attributed the recognition to Kanchenjunga National Park to the importance that the state has attached to wildlife conservation and the steps taken in this regard.
He claimed that green policies followed by the state government on Eco-Tourism has enabled to achieve this feat.
Sikkim, he said, has the highest geographical area under Wildlife Protected Area (National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries).
