THE Community Based Tourism (CBT) initiated by Land Economic Management and Conservation (LEMCO) sees green light for implementation in Solomon Islands.

The initiative comes to effect this year after one seminar held on December 9 by LEMCO along with a facilitator, Dr Marcus Curcija.

For this year, LEMCO is currently taking CBT ahead an additional step by looking into different ways to bring it to several provinces throughout Solomons Islands.

The Director for Sustainable Livelihood, LEMCO, Dr Marcus Curcija said past December was very beneficial in terms of networking in which he was able to establish in Honiara, hoping to maintain contact with everyone throughout 2017.

After the seminar Dr Curcija continued working with other stakeholder in the country to promote CBT.

“I am currently working with members of the Art Gallery and the National Museum to display Solomon Island arts and crafts on a larger scale.

“This project is currently being developed and I look forward to providing a more detailed update about the progress of this project,” Dr Curcija said.

Dr Curcija said the seminar held recently in Honiara established a great network and is complimentary to the principles of sustainable tourism and capacity building at provincial and community level.

“I am currently looking into providing a means of income support for active community members and stakeholders from the Solomon Islands,” Dr Curcija said.

Recently, the Director for Solomon Hosts, Ms Joyce Konofilia said Solomon Host’s role is to promote CBT in Solomon Islands, to ensure communities around Solomon Islands are aware of the idea.

She said if the country adopts this new concept, it’s a benefit for Solomon Islands as Fiji has been a success story in CBT and other parts in the Pacific.

Meanwhile, CBT is a new tourism concept introduced by LEMCO and during its introduction in December, 36 participants from government sectors, NGOs, Community groups, churches and students attended.