Ecotourism in Armenia

What is Ecotourism?

Before speaking about ecotourism in Armenia, let’s first describe what is ecotourism and what are its main principles. Ecotourism is a form of sustainable travel that supports the local environment instead of putting more pressure on it and exploiting its resources. And if we try to define it broadly, we can say that it is a low impact travel to endangered or undisturbed nature areas.

There are many definitions for Ecotourism, but the most accepted one is the definition that gives The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), which says that ecotourism is “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”

Ecotourism as well as the sustainable tourism originated after the environmental movement in 1970’s. The main principles of ecotourism are:

• Minimize negative impact not only on the environment but also on a host community.
• Involvement of local communities in the process
• Economic benefits and income opportunities for local communities.
• Public awareness and education

Ecotourism in Armenia

Armenia has a wide variety of natural wonders as it is one of the top 34 locations in the world in terms of its biodiversity. Here you can find around 350 bird species, 250 species of butterflies, 3500 species of plants with 452 of them recorded in the Red Book.The rate of endemism is also very high – 11% of the fish, 17% of the amphibians, 24% of the reptiles, 23% of the birds and 24% of the mammals in Armenia have been estimated to be rare and endangered.

Since 2016 Armenia celebrates annual ecotourism festival in Vayots Dzor region of Armenia. The main purpose of the festival is to develop ecotourism in Armenia by the way of improving social awareness about the protection of environment. Ecotourism festival usually gathers eco-travelers, the ones who are interested in the concept of ecotourism and many local communities who have an opportunity to present their eco friendly products.

Ecotourism Activities in Armenia

This type of tourism doesn’t require a comfortable hotels and a high level service but requires some physical abilities, although the trails are made the way to be suitable for everyone. Ecotourism in Armenia suggests a lot of activities such as:

Hiking and Trekking – Hiking is the best way to be close to nature and merge with its soul. Due to its mountainous landscape, Armenia offers a wide variety of hiking trails and all of them are accompanied with breathtaking nature scenes. Hiking in Armenia can also be a great opportunity of communicating with local communities, seeing how people live in villages and why not to experience a real Armenian hospitality. While being as a host in local communities you can buy many home made and eco friendly goods from them. By this you can stimulate the local communities to stay and work in their villages and will help to develop the economy of the village.

Watching the wildlife – In Armenia you will have an opportunity to see and observe the wildlife of Bezoar goats. The special observatory called “Ditaket” in Shatin village of Vayots Dzor region, gives the opportunity to observe the bezoar goats, to see how they go down the canyon to drink water. Due to the rocky environment goats are able to escape wild animals and climb the rocks. Right now, the observatory has only one or two visitors a day; however, after some work and fixing technical problems, the observatory can become one of the most-visited ecotourism destinations. The observatory also makes a lot of efforts for protecting the bezoar goats, so by visiting the observatory you also can have your participation in the protection of the species.

Bird-watching – Coming to Armenia can be a great way to add to your bird watching experience. Whether you are well practiced, or brand new to the activity, Armenia has a lot to offer. There are over 370 species of birds in Armenia, many of which breed within the region. You can have a bird-watching experience in Lori.

The birds have an ecological and aesthetic influence on the environment. Bird watching in Armenia as an activity is thus both interesting and important. By participating once, it can become your favorite hobby.

Ecotourism Destinations in Armenia

One of the most important infrastructures of ecotourism are specially protected areas. Such as for example National parks and State Reserves where you can meet endangered nature areas. The main purpose of developing ecotourism in protected nature areas is to preserve the nature and its relict species. Armenia stands out with its beautiful and unique protected areas, forests, lakes and wide variety of plants.

Ecotourists typically look for experiences that provide a sense of closeness to the natural attractions and local communities. That is what you will find in Armenia and that is what will make you return.

Though this branch of tourism is quite new in Armenia, but it is developing year by year.

In Armenia many of the historical monuments are always either hidden in the forests or are located  near the villages. And sometimes they are in such remote places that you have to walk a few kilometers in order to reach those sights. So in Armenia ecotourism can be easily combined with both hiking and cultural tours.

One of the best places of experiencing ecotourism in Armenia is Khosrov State reserve. By taking a hike to the reserve you can see picturesque waterfalls of Khosrov reserve, see the ruins of the remote monasteries Havuts Tar and Aghdjots Vank, admire the beautiful natural monument Symphony of Stones and a way more. Near the reserve there are some eco tourism centers.

Ecotourism Centers in Armenia

One of them is “Hye Landz Eco Village Resort”. Here the main attractions are domestic animals which tourists can feed. The eco resort is located in Geghadir village thus providing the village with several solar panels, which promote sustainable development in the village.

Next ecotourism center that is located in the territory of Khosrov state reserve is Urtsadzor village. There are two eco houses in Urtsadzor – “Urtsadzor Eco House” and “Ranger Campus” . Not far from them, in Gnishik village, there is another cozy place called “Gnishik Eco House”. These three eco houses offer many exciting experiences , such as interesting hiking and horse riding trails, ecological actions, planting and so on.

There is also an eco-educational center in Urtsadzor, where locals can attend interesting courses of ecotourism.

Another ecotourism destination can be Dilijan National Park. Here again there are many beautiful yet easy hiking trails which go through the rich forests of Tavush region. Here you can stay in Vanatun near Haghartsin monastery. In Vanatun Monastery Stay the monastic atmosphere is getting completed with special menu arranged with monastic lifestyle and dishes made by local recipes. By the way, you will not find Wi-Fi there. So here you will stay alone with mother nature.

As it is said “It is better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times”. So if you are still curious about what can offer Armenia to eco travelers, you can just take our 10 day hiking tour in Specially Protected Areas of Armenia and we will show you what eso tourism looks like in Armenia.

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Hiking in National Parks of Armenia