Profile

Madhya Pradesh Ecotourism Development Board is an autonomous organization in the forest department of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. The Board was constituted in July 2005 for the promotion and development of ecotourism as a mainstream program of the Forest Department. The Board, apart from complimenting the Forest Department with the necessary knowledge, skills and policy initiatives, will act as a center of coordination between the Madhya Pradesh Tourism, the Forest Department and other stakeholders, for generating synergies between them. Within this larger mandate, the Board will focus on the achievement of certain objectives such as development of infrastructure; development and enforcement of standards / norms of service; review and development of policies and laws; ensuring participation of and benefits to all stakeholders, especially the rural communities and capacity building support for stakeholders. The bye-laws of the Board stipulate that the Board will mainly be a facilitating body to help government departments, travel businesses, local communities and other stakeholders in achieving their specific objectives of benefiting from creating visitor access to the serene, scenic and unexplored niches in the vast wilderness of the state while ensuring that the natural resources prosper to welcome more and more admirers. The Board is headed by the Forest Minister of Madhya Pradesh as President, the Principal Secretary Forest is the Chairman of the Executive Committee, while a senior forest officer functions as the Chief Executive Officer. The Executive Committee of the Board consists of senior-most unctionaries from the forest, tourism and finance departments and certain autonomous undertakings of the State.