Expert Jeyhun Ashurov: “Ecological world, environmental protection should be regularly educated in schools and society. Municipalities and relevant institutions should work seriously to eliminate littering of ecotourism sites.
Protection of the environment in our liberated territories, compliance with ecotourism standards and proper use of the region’s potential in this regard are important factors in economic reintegration. The massive return of the population to our liberated territories, the creation of settlements and modern infrastructure there has returned Karabakh to our society. However, the mass settlement of these areas, at the same time, the growing international interest in Karabakh, and the desire to travel by foreign tourists make the setting of tourism, especially ecotourism standards, urgent in the region.
In recent days, alarm bells have been raised regarding keeping the areas clean and not littering, which is a pressing issue on the subject. The distribution of videos and photos on the social and internet media about the littering of ecotourism places in our liberated lands, and the coverage of materials presenting expert opinions also show this relevance. In this regard, from the monitoring and observations we conducted in those areas, we once again come to the conclusion that local communities, tourists and relevant institutions should increase their attention and responsibility in order to keep those places clean.
Tourism expert Jeyhun Ashurov, who gave us his opinion on the subject, also stated that images and news about the dumping of garbage on the roadsides in the occupied territories in the media caused negative emotions in the society. According to him, first of all, in order to require cleanliness in eco-tourist places, garbage cans should be placed in the appropriate places, sidewalks should be built: “There should be sanitary junctions for cleaning. There must be trash cans, appropriate inscriptions and signs. Similar issues are encountered in many regions. After Goygol was opened to the public, garbage began to be dumped there in a short time. Littering is not correct. But before that, we need to create the necessary conditions there, so that there are parking spaces or garbage containers in certain places. Certain conditions should be created so that cleanliness is required from now on. The presence of trash cans, sanitary stations, writings and signs will invite people to observe cleanliness and prevent such situations.”
In a number of places, despite the presence of garbage cans and sanitary facilities, cleanliness is not observed by people. This shows that the ideas regarding the education and even, in some cases, the application of fines in the society are justified. Regarding this nuance, the expert said: “In this case, education should start from the beginning. In other words, education about the environment and the ecological world should be carried out in schools, society, and the population. The second issue is, apart from education, sometimes we see places with trash cans, but trash overflows there, trash cans that are not emptied on time lead to littering in the environment. People also throw garbage around the garbage that is not emptied, or see that the presence of garbage cans is “pointless” and litter the surroundings. Municipalities and relevant institutions must work hard to eliminate such situations. In general, maintaining cleanliness is a matter of society. However, the relevant institutions should carry out the process of emptying the trash cans from time to time. The presence of writings such as “Let’s keep the environment clean”, filming and broadcasting various videos on social networks and television can lead to the creation of positive situations. As such education methods become more widespread, people will be more sensitive to the environment as they are aware of the situation”. Placement of appropriate containers, timely disposal of garbage, in parallel with environmental protection, the application of appropriate fines for seriously polluting the environment can be useful”. It was developed within the framework of the “Ecotourism standards in liberated areas” project.
The opinions and considerations reflected in this article belong to the author and may not reflect the official position of the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan.