Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday as Nepal is holding a national campaign to escort "Nepal Tourism Year-2011".

The MoU was signed for the establishment of "New Dimension of Partnership in Conservation and Tourism", said NTB.

"NTB, the national tourism organization and WWF, the world's largest independent conservation organization are committed to sustainable development of Nepal and using tourism industry as a vehicle for growth to achieve poverty alleviation within Nepal," NTB said in a press release.

NTB said, "It recognizes the significance of nature conservation for promotion of tourism and WWF recognizes sustainable tourism development as one of the major ways to achieve lasting conservation outcomes in Nepal."

The significance of MoU was focused at the poverty alleviation in Nepal through tourism industry and the hot issue of climate change that Nepal recently faced of anomalous dryness.

"This MoU will help to preserve the natural resources and to increase livelihood opportunities in Nepal," said Anil Manandhar, country representative of WWF Nepal at the occasion.

Addressing the same occasion, Chief Executive Officer of NTB said that to promote the national campaign "Nepal Tourism Year-2011", we need to drag whole world's attention for which joint venture with WWF will lead us to the success.

Nepali government has given vital focus on tourism industry to alleviate poverty in the country for which Nepal has decided to celebrate 2011 as a "Nepal Tourism Year". Nepal had set the goal of one million tourists for Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2009)