The need for a “Lagos State TOURISM Master plan” that will harness the potential of the State as a critical component of the “Atlantic Gateway Cluster” identified for the tourism projects under cultural and regional conference destination sub sector of the National master plan has again been stressed.

A lecturer at the university of Lagos , department of Urban and Regional Planning, Tunji Adejumo gave this charge while delivering a lecture titled “Biodiversity Conservation and Tourism: Integrating Hospitality Industry In Sustainability Paradigm”, as part of events, to mark the world Tourism Day in Lagos by the State Government.

According to the expert “such master plan must be conceptualized to be a hospitality industry developmental document that is based on sustainable economic plan rooted in abundant water cultural tourism natural resources”

While stating that the national Master plan imposes the need for a flagship identified as the Olokolo Cultural Resort, the lecturer stated that “the principal criteria for the nature tourism destination planning are selection of unique scenes, historic, geology and bio-diverse features”.

According to him, the type of recreation and leisure services to be introduced in such protected area usually dependent on conservation goal, visual quality, primary site features vulnerability to developmental activities deriving social –political policies.

He further enunciated a four steps program that includes well articulated philosophy, futuristic institutional framework to midwife and deliver government goals, an independent organization with a profit orientation and removal of governmental controls from its management.

Adejumo further suggested that the depleted forest reserve should be converted into states parks adding that the “creation of parks is a necessary exercise for long time social economic development of the people”.

Earlier, the permanent secretary ministry of intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Ashamu Sewanu Fadipe disclosed that United Nations organizations (U N O) have declared 2010 as the international year of biodiversity in safe guarding our environment from destruction.