In Sochi, three ecological trails opened in preparation for the Olympics

In Sochi, a special committee has selected three priority projects out of 13 initiatives aimed to promote ecological routes. The new environmentally-friendly pathways are ready to receive tourists, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The implementation of the projects is dated to the 22nd Winter Olympic Games and the 11th Paralympic Winter Games of 2014.

According to Sochi scientists, the city and vicinities are potentially attractive for development of ecological tourism.

In 2012, the Sochi Branch of the Russian Geographic Society (RGS) announced a contest and collected proposals from public on development of ecological tourism in the region. The chosen priority environmental trails were as follows: the route "Sochi Canyons" combining the routes "To St Mary Cave" and "To Wet and Dry Canyons of Psakho River"; the educational ecological trail "Our Amazing Blinovo Forest; the ecological trail "Imereti"; and the environmental training trail to Mount Bytkha and Gorge "Stone Chaos". These trails are ready for visiting.

Thus, a section of the trail "Dry Canyon", located in the territory of the Sochi National Park, is a picturesque tectonic fault that formed 70 million years ago as a result of an earthquake.

In 2013, the Sochi Branch of the RGS continues developing ecotourism in the vicinity of Sochi. The next ecological trail should open soon in the neighbourhood Bytkha, said Yulia Naberezhnaya, the spokesperson of the Sochi Branch of the RGS.