Lucknow: On National Wildlife Day, Uttar Pradesh is widening its eco-tourism lens beyond the tiger, placing greater emphasis on birds, wetlands, forests and the habitats that support them. While big-cat sightings remain a key draw, planners are increasingly designing experiences that help visitors read a landscape rather than just tick off an animal.Nature trails, interpretation facilities, watchtowers, informative signage and habitat-based circuits are being developed to shift wildlife travel toward education and conservation-linked awareness. More than Rs 231 crore has been approved across 70 eco-tourism projects from financial year 2022-23 to 2025-26, spanning forests, wetlands, wildlife areas, bird sanctuaries, lakes and other nature destinations across the state.Tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh said the aim is to develop eco-tourism while protecting the character of each landscape and helping visitors understand what they are seeing.In the Terai, around Rs 8 crore has been taken up for signage linked to Dudhwa. At Ranipur Tiger Reserve in Chitrakoot, nearly Rs 14 crore has been taken up for development on tourism land near the reserve.Wetlands are being highlighted as a parallel wildlife circuit, especially in winter when migratory birds such as greylag geese, northern pintails, ruddy shelducks and northern shovelers arrive.The Sarus Circuits in Etawah and Mainpuri, backed by more than Rs 7 crore, link habitats associated with the state bird, including Sarsai Nawar and Parauli Ramayan in Etawah and Kirithua, Sahas Sahan, Kuri Jarawan, Sauj and Saman in Mainpuri.
