ECOTOURISM AS A WAY OF SAVING BIODIVERSITY: WORLD EXPERIENCE AND UKRAINIAN PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Ecotourism is a promising direction of sustainable development that contributes to saving biodiversity, environment protection and provides economic benefits for local communities. In this research there is analyzed Ukraine's potential of the ecotourism development in current conditions. There is described experience of other countries such as Costa Rica, Kenya, and Australia and there are offered ways of adapting these examples to Ukrainian realities. The opportunities and problems of ecotourism in Ukraine are considered, in particular, development of infrastructure, organization of environment protection activities and increasing the ecological consciousness among the population. Results of the research show that ecotourism can become an effective tool for saving natural heritage, supporting economy of different regions and forming responsible attitude towards nature.