ITANAGAR, 19 Oct: The Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS-XI), a flagship program of the integrated mountain initiative (IMI) concluded in Leh, Ladakh on 12 October with a call for sustainable tourism.
Organized by the Sustainable Forum of Ladakh, (SDFL) the Ladakh chapter of IMI, along with the office of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) with the main theme of SMDS-XI ‘Harnessing Tourism for Sustainable Mountain Development,” the summit had delegates from all the mountain states and governing council members of the IMI.
Many questions surfaced during the three days summit were dealt with by a variety of speakers representing different fields of expertise.
The Summit which was inaugurated by union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, had speakers like Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur, IMI president P D Rai and CEC of LAHDC, Tashi Gyalson.
The issues of environmental sustainability, tourism products, security and other issues were discussed during various technical sessions.
“Inputs received from the resource persons were interesting and insightful as it came from all across the Himalaya and other mountain regions of the world,” said a release.
The release further said that one of the main side events of every SMDS is the Mountain Legislators’ Meet (MLM), and this year, MLM was centered around the issue of extended producer responsibility.
The summit was sponsored by the UT of Ladakh and LAHDC along with others. The University of Ladakh was active in its participation including the office of the principle chief conservator of forests Jigmet Takpa.
