Victoria Quiri
European Bureau Chief, Strasbourg 
The development of ecotourism entails many questions, in particular regarding infrastructure - what can be created in and near natural areas, and what cannot? To help understand the nuances of this complex issue the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) has developed and published step-by-step instructions for organizing infrastructure in such territories.
The “Guidelines for Infrastructure and Construction in Protected Areas” describes in detail the types and characteristics of facilities for the development of infrastructure in protected areas, provides plans schemes, and also contains a list of materials that can be used for the construction of facilities in special protected areas.
As conceived by the creators, the guide will help find answers to the main problematic questions, in particular, to understand what to build, what infrastructure objects should be and how to apply the concept of sustainable development to them. To determine the capital costs the users can find the corresponding methodology for their calculation, as well as the “Methodology for calculating a preliminary financial model”, which presents 3 business models for organizing infrastructure facilities in protected areas.
The “Guidelines for the Design of Infrastructure Objects in Protected Areas”, created by ASI, has included and systematized all foreign and Russian experience, knowledge and approaches within the framework of the existing regulatory and legal field. According to the ASI, the principles of sustainable design, construction and operation of ecological tourism infrastructure, which is based on maintaining a balance of human needs and the capabilities of the natural and cultural environment, were at the forefront in preparing the guide.
The document was created by ASI in cooperation with Fantalis (a large developer with extensive experience in the design and construction of infrastructure facilities in natural areas from the Krasnodar Territory to the Kamchatka Peninsula) with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.
The guide https://old.asi.ru/library/ecotourism/120678/ is recommended to heads of protected areas, representatives of authorities in the field of ecology and natural resources, economics and tourism, investors and entrepreneurs, builders, architects, experts in the development of territories.
