GREEN ECONOMY IN TOURISM IN UZBEKISTAN

: Ecotourism has become a key tool for raising environmental awareness among local residents and visitors, ensuring long-term sustainability. Tourists are becoming increasingly sophisticated in having a meaningful travel experi - ence, including interacting with local people, learning about their culture, and observing the unique ecosystems, flora and fauna of new areas. According to the article, the abundance of natural resources can support the practice of ecotourism in Uzbekistan, and such activities can bring more economic and social benefits to the country. Any difficulties should not be an obstacle to the development of ecotourism in Uzbekistan. Recommendations for popularization of ecotourism practice in the region are given.


Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor of the Department of Tourism Tashkent State Economic University
Abstract: Ecotourism has become a key tool for raising environmental awareness among local residents and visitors, ensuring long-term sustainability.Tourists are becoming increasingly sophisticated in having a meaningful travel experience, including interacting with local people, learning about their culture, and observing the unique ecosystems, flora and fauna of new areas.According to the article, the abundance of natural resources can support the practice of ecotourism in Uzbekistan, and such activities can bring more economic and social benefits to the country.Any difficulties should not be an obstacle to the development of ecotourism in Uzbekistan.Recommendations for popularization of ecotourism practice in the region are given.
Tourism is an important part of the country's economy.In particular, domestic tourism and ecotourism have become one of the main sources of income in many countries today.Uzbekistan is also one of the countries with high tourism and recreational potential and rich in ecotourism opportunities.For this reason, special attention is paid to the development of ecotourism today.
Despite the fact that ecological tourism (ecotourism) is a new and young direction of tourism, the growth rate is 2-3 times faster than other tourism industries.At the same time, the share of ecotourism in the field of tourism is 15-20%, and this indicator is expanding year by year.The goal of ecotourism is to ensure environmental security and sustainable development of current and future generations through tourism.In this respect, ecotourism serves economic growth as an important direction of "green" economy.According to the analysis, tour operator companies providing ecotourism services mainly operate within the Chimyon-Chorvoq recreation zone.However, Uzbekistan's Hisar, Bobotog, Kohitangtog (Surkhandarya), Chakchar (Kashkadarya), Nurota (Navoi-Jizzakh), Zarafshan (Samarkand), Turkestan (Jizzakh), Oloy (Fergana), Kurama, Chotkal (Namangan) mountains, residual mountains in the Kyzylkum desert, Kyzylkum desert, dry bottom of the Aral Sea and shallow salt lakes, Ustyurt plateau, Borsa kelmas salt marsh, Mingbulok bog, Aydarko Organization of complex and thematic eco-tours along the banks of Dengizkol, Amudarya and Syrdarya, Muruntov quarry and unique monuments of nature has not been fully implemented.Speleotourism (cave tourism) has great potential in Uzbekistan, which is rich in its own charm and unrepeatable scenery.
One of the directions of the development of the "green" economy is directly aimed at the development of ecosystems, their preservation, effective management and ecotourism.From this point of view, we can study ecological tourism as an important branch, tourism in harmony with nature.
At the moment, there are more than 500 caves in Uzbekistan, and according to information, eco-tours are not organized in any of them due to the lack of sufficient tourist infrastructure.In the deserts and plains of Uzbekistan, there are great opportunities to organize a camel ride aimed at viewing barkhans, dunes, forests, shorkhok, barrens, wells, as well as the grass that shows the way of life of local shepherds.Big Chimyon, Zomin, Chotkal, Koksuv, Piskom, Turkestan, Hisar, Zarafshan, Oloy, Kurama, Nurota mountains have natural geographical conditions for organizing hiking, trekking and mountaineering.Also, there are great opportunities for rafting tourism development in many rivers and streams flowing from the mountains (Ugom, Chotkal, Piskom, Koksuv, Topolondarya, Shakhimardon, Sangzor, Zarafshan, etc.).According to the information of scientific research institutions and experts, today the development directions and prospects of ecotourism are formed in connection with the laws of nature and the stability of geosystems.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com)-At the online summit of Central Asian countries and China held on January 25, 2022, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev outlined a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening and expanding cooperation between the countries had done The head of state called the joint promotion of the "climate" agenda and "environmentally clean development" issues an urgent direction of mutual cooperation that meets the interests of all participants in this format, taking into account the increasing negative consequences of global warming and the importance of global warming.mobilizing efforts to mitigate the consequences.In this regard, Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward the initiative to develop a "Road Map" for cooperation within the "Green Silk Road", which is becoming one of the main directions of cooperation within the framework of the "One Place, One Road" initiative.
In particular, he proposed to include in the document issues of attracting Chinese investment and technologies to the field of alternative energy, localization of components and equipment for solar and wind power plants, as well as training of specialized personnel.The initiative put forward by the head of the state, in recent years, great efforts have been made to develop alternative energy sources, and this fully meets the interests of Uzbekistan, this approach is the main factor of sustainable development.
All of Shavkat Mirziyoyev's lectures contain issues related to "green" development, initiatives aimed at its practical implementation, which once again emphasizes the relevance of this topic, the need for changes in all aspects of our life and economy.In the last five years, systematic measures have been implemented in Uzbekistan to adapt and mitigate the consequences of climate change, to protect the environment and biodiversity.In particular, the concept of environmental protection until 2030, the strategy of our country's transition to a "green" economy in 2019-2030, the concept of water management development in 2020-2030, etc. were adopted.
Taking into account the proposals of Uzbekistan, the initiative to adopt the "Roadmap" for cooperation within the framework of the "Green Silk Road" and implement it in practice is the implementation of national tasks and the transition to the "Green Silk Road".will be an important contribution to the implementation of activities.The "green" direction, support for the development of the "Green Agenda for Central Asia" program announced by the President of Uzbekistan in 2021, and the implementation of the obligations of each country of the region to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change were considered.. Undoubtedly, China's leading role in this is extremely important.The participation of this large and technologically advanced country in solving the "green" development issues of the Central Asian countries not only mitigates the consequences of climate change, but also ensures the transition of the countries of the region to a new technological order, and contributes to the stable and sustainable development of the economy and the whole of Central Asia contribute and ensure the transition to a new technological regime.
In the Strategy of the transition to a "green" economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the period of 2019-2030, approved by the decision of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PQ-4477 of October 4, 2019, there is a strategy for adapting to and mitigating the consequences of climate change, increasing the efficiency of the use of natural resources, and protecting natural ecosystems.a number of tasks are presented.Also, the 15th goal of the National goals and objectives in the field of sustainable development until 2030 is "Protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems, promote their rational use, rational use of forests, combat desertification, stop and reverse land degradation, stop the process of biodiversity loss."consists of This, in turn, is related to the effective use of tourist and recreational opportunities of the regions and the development of ecotourism.Thus, the ecotourism system is based on the principles that can be used in various types of tourist activities.They include educational or adventure trips (walking, horse riding, water, mountain, hiking, etc.), student vacations, ornithological tours, scientific tours and expeditions, recreational tours, children's resorts, etc. takes Interest in ecotourism has arisen due to the growing demand for authentic tourist experiences and nature conservation.Summarizing the definitions given above, we can say that, in our opinion, ecotourism is a special field of tourism that adapts to natural, cultural and social values and promotes the harmony of nature in the natural environment and changes the lifestyle of local people.
The main factors that lead to the development of ecotourism combine nature tourism and its protection, and thus serve as an economic incentive for environmental protection.Another advantage is that it provides an opportunity to better understand and obtain more information about the relationship between wildlife and the various cultural values of society.The main task is to create a mechanism for the ecotourism industry to be commercially viable, ecologically sustainable, and culturally responsible.Tourism planners, tour operators, managers, marketing staff, and mass media have used the term "ecotourism" in a much broader sense.As a result, this concept was applied to a number of tourist products.Unfortunately, they logically do not fully correspond to the definitions given above.
Today, the development directions and prospects of ecotourism are formed in connection with the laws of nature and the stability of geosystems.The natural and climatic conditions and recreational resources of our country provide an opportunity to develop ecological tourism in accordance with each region.Today, attention is paid to the organization of ecotourism in protected natural areas.For information, it should be noted that in our country there are 6 state reserves, 1 complex (landscape) order reserve, 5 state national nature parks, 11 state nature monuments, 12 state order reserves, 1 state nature nursery, 2 state biosphere reserves., 1 national park, as well as 71 forestry farms and 5 hunting farms.
There are numerous benefits that countries of the world are trying to expand ecotourism in their areas.Since Uzbekistan is a young country, it has limited experience, competence, and market resources in ecotourism.To improve the situation we should figure out the problems and take measures.Uzbekistan is facing to numerous challenges in terms of ecotourism.Firstly, a low quantity of national parks.Countries which are best-known by their ecotourism facilities pay more attention to their national parks.The main principle of these parks is to rely on their own power and self-defense.Secondly, in Uzbekistan 50% of national parks are owned by private sector, while the rest 50% is run by the state.In ecotourism development park reserve model is a bit different: financing these national parks is not government support, but state support.This is widespread in developed countries.Even these half of national parks offer identical packages.Just objects of the display may differ.Most of them located in remote places and when a tourist visits such a long distance with dreaming about having a unique tour, but dissatisfaction might occur because of sameness.
In most cases, distance may prevent them from going to natural places.Because tourist season in Uzbekis tan mostly in the summer period, thus the weather is not enough supportive, really hot and tourists prefer to visit nearer destinations.Thirdly, a low level of management.Unfortunately, there is no combined-tour packages for long distance tours.In most cases tourists who come with family members cannot find leisure activities for the whole family.It is difficult to find even alternative leisure activities there.Managing transport infrastructure is another issue for the country.The quality of transport service does not always meet the need of tourists, additionally some road conditions badly needed improving.Recently, in the vocabulary of employees of travel companies in Uzbekistan, the concept of "off season" has often appeared.Unfortunately, we have it not only in winter, but also summer months as well.When all Europe traditionally goes to rest, there is a lull in the hotels of Uzbekistan.In the midst of summer holidays, the number of tourists in Uzbekistan sometimes does not exceed several dozen.The absence of their influx is usually motivated by climatic conditions.However, as you know, neither high temperature nor humidity does not stop tourists visiting Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other hot countries.The study shows that the product on the market tourist services covers no more than 10% of the generally recognized attractions located in the traditional tourist centers of the country.(A.Ablaizov,2019) at the same time, in neighboring Kazakhstan where there are significantly fewer historical and architectural attractions than in Uzbekistan the flow of tourists is steadily increasing.Tour operators in Kazakhstan actively offer popular ecological tours.Wide variety of routes are offered including hiking, biking, river rafting.Tours on nature in Uzbekistan practically are not used.Finally, local people do not use opportunity of organizing eco tours.They have no knowledge how to organize and no special training programs to motivate people.Lack of practical and theoretical knowledge creates low level of specialists in the industry, this in turn affects negatively on tourism flow.
In conclusion, ecological tourism has a high role and importance in Uzbekistan's transition to a "green" economy and in the implementation of national goals and objectives in the field of sustainable development.There is still a lot of work to be done in this direction, which develops in harmony with nature, and there are many untapped opportunities.In this regard, development of ecotourism as an important branch of the "green" economy, formation of the ecotourism image of our country by attracting advanced foreign experiences and innovative technologies to the field is one of our main tasks.In Uzbekistan, the methods of creating recreational zones will be simplified, and ecotourism will be further developed.
The draft law "On amendments and additions to some legal documents of the Republic of Uzbekistan" considered by the deputies at the next plenary session of the lower house of the parliament refers to this.This document envisages changes and additions to the Land Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the laws "On Forests" and "On Protected Natural Areas".It is necessary for the effective and rational use of the land of the fund, the legal regulation of the leasing of land plots by the State Forestry Committee to legal entities and individuals on the basis of investment contracts or public-private partnerships.it was emphasized that the procedures for placement of bee families (hives) and farms by individuals in the plots of the forest fund should be simplified.This can only be achieved by amending the relevant legislation.As a result of the adoption of this draft Law, the effectiveness of the State Forestry Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan will be ensured.In particular, a legal basis will be created for the provision of unused forest fund lands to legal entities and individuals for the implementation of investment contracts or projects based on public-private partnership for a period not exceeding 49 years.Also, the procedures for creating recreational zones on the territory of the forest fund will be simplified, and new opportunities will appear for the development of ecotourism.
YA S H I L I Q T I S O D I Y O T VA TA R A Q Q I Y O T 2024-yil, yanvar.№ 1-son.
YA S H I L I Q T I S O D I Y O T VA TA R A Q Q I Y O T 2024-yil, yanvar.№ 1-son.