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Greenways in Belarus
The Agro and Ecotourism Association was established in 2002 to promote rural and environmentally-friendly tourism among local communities across Belarus. The Association numbers over 300 members, who, in the main, come from Belarusian villages. Thanks to the pioneering work of the Association and Valeria Klicunova, the Association's President, over 70 tourist farms have been established across the whole country.
In 2004, the Agro and Ecotourism Association initiated a greenways programme in Belarus thanks to the support of the Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation and the Polish Greenways Coordinator, Dominika Zareba. It all started with an internship organized for Elena Vietrova at the Foundation offices in Krakow thanks to a Kirkland Scholarship funded by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation (2003-2004). During the internship, Elena prepared a doctoral thesis on the potential for developing greenways in Belarus.
In 2004 - 2005, under the cooperation between the "Agro and Ecotourism" Association and the Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation (thanks to funding from the Region in Transition Program of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and the DG Environment of the European Commission) two Polish-Belarusian study visits were organized to move the program forward in 2005, along with an international planning session held in Belarus involving specialists from Poland, USA, UK and Montenegro. Representatives of the Association participated in several conferences and seminars relating to ecotourism and greenways in Poland. A special study tour for Belarusian rural leaders was organized to Polish greenways and several English, Belarusian and Russian language publications were prepared. All these activities translated into first eco-tourism initiatives in Belarus based on the greenways philosophy, involving a network of tourist farms and using the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm of Association members. In 2006, thanks to a grant from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a webpage dedicated to greenways in Belarusia was launched: www.greenways.by.
„Agro and Ecotourism" Association
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