Ecotourism is an underestimated moneymaker: Environmentalists
Ecotourism is an underestimated moneymaker: Environmentalists
BOGOR (JP): Proper promotion and understanding of ecotourism
could help contribute badly needed revenue to the country,
environmentalists here have said.
Unfortunately, said Nani Saptariani and Deden Hilga Safari of
the Young Indonesian Forest Lovers, ecotourism is not well
understood here.
"Proper management of ecotourism could become a source of
large revenue," Nani said last week. It is high time the country
appreciated its own attractions better, she said, citing fees for
certain tourist spots which charged only Rp 2,000 per person.
The environmentalists were involved in coordinating a number
of events here as part of activities held in several cities
called Ruwatan Bumi, or earth cleansing rituals, and other
events.
The Ruwatan was coordinated by the Indonesia Alliance for
Better Earth and Humane Life and held throughout April to spread
public awareness and encourage creativity in response to the
nation's crisis.
The subject of ecotourism was one of several raised in talks
aired by Radio Suara Antara FM each Wednesday and Friday evening
in April as part of the Ruwatan.
Even officials have not yet understood ecotourism, he said
which should focus on both ecological and economical components.
Evaluation of public opinion is also an important part of
ecotourism, he added.
He said there were essential commitments to implementing
ecotourism. These included the responsibility of all parties
involved to avoid any negative impact on the local culture and
environment. Another commitment was to increase conservation
efforts, he said, and to increase the local people's income.
"Ecotourism must involve people from the planning stages to
implementation," he said. If nature conservation was an important
way to get money, people would take extra care in guarding it,
Deden added.
The Bogor activities also included performances and programs
held by various nature clubs involving the public. Tours were
organized to educate participants on the contents of the Bogor
Botanical Gardens. Earth cleansing here ends Sunday with
collecting trash from the slopes of Mount Salak, at the base of
which Bogor is located. (24)