Protected areas make about 25% of whole area of Plunge District. Therefore environmental requirements for the establishment of business activities in the district are much stricter. On the other hand, abundance of the side many protected areas creates preconditions to develop environmental friendly tourism, which would create new main and additional sources of income for many local families. However, many local people lack knowledge what environment protection measures should be implemented locally by themselves and how environmental activities could be combined with development of local tourism business.
This project aims to increase awareness of local communities about business development possibilities in protected territories, by stressing rural tourism and eco-tourism development possibilities, trough theoretical and practical education of local people, as well as promotion of ecological and rural tourism in protected areas of Plunge district.
During the project the two-days length seminar ? training will be organized for local people. Local people will be trained on practical environmental measures and requirements to the rural tourism farms as well as on specifics of tourism in protected areas. It is expected that environmental awareness level of local people will increase, and this will assist to establishing the balance between economic activities and protection of the most important ecosystems. Moreover, development of eco-tourism and rural tourism with higher level service will attract more tourists, which in a long term will facilitate development of environment friendly income generating activities and improvement of livelihoods in Plunge district.
A documentary film ?Is mutual benefit possible? Protected areas and business? will be created. It will serve as a educative material for the promotion of the ecological tourism. The project is also planning to have good media coverage in local newspapers, TV and radio. Information about the project will be disseminated in all Telsiai county.
The project will have functional connections with other projects implemented in Plunge District: Leader + (aiming at rural development through sustaining environmental and cultural values), as well as Intereg III C COTOUR project (on cooperation for the development of tourism and regional products). Partners of the project will be Plunge Department of the Lithuanian Rural Tourism Association, Administration of Zemaitija National Park, Plunge Center of Business Information, and unofficial union of District?s Community Organisations.