PANAJI: The Department of Tourism, to mark the World Wetlands Day on Thursday held a seminar under the theme ‘wetlands and tourism’ at the Institute of Hotel Management,  Porvorim.
Mr Gaurish Dhond, president, Travel and Tours Association of Goa said,

“The ecological balance provided by the existence of wetlands was the raw material for the tourism industry.” He added that there was more to Goa than beaches. Unfortunately wetlands have not been recognized as the most precious resource because of lack of awareness of it.”
Mr Swapnil Naik, director of tourism, said, “Wetlands, by regulating the tides and influencing the water quality in the lakes, played an important role in tourism in Goa which is beach dominated.” Due to development, huge tracts of wetlands are getting converted into urban areas. For instance Panaji, a large part of which was wetland in the past, is now a city.
The focus of the event was to sensitize students and tourists on wetlands.Major wetlands in Goa include mangroves, inter-tidal mud flats, salt pans and reservoirs. Carambolim lake, Chorao islands, Salauli and Anjuna reservoirs are the most important wetlands found here.