Ecotourism launched as forest on fire
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri declared 2002 as the year of ecotourism at a ceremony in a small village north of Merapi volcano in Central Java on Thursday just when a forested area to the south of mountain was being razed by fire.
The forest fire began around 11 a.m. on Wednesday and was still not under control on Thursday as the President inaugurated the ecotourism area and the Merapi National Park.
Pakem police chief Comr. Ferro Adi Mahendra estimated that this week's fire had destroyed at least 100 hectares in the first 24 hours within the protected forest.
The fires could spread to nearby forests and villages if there is strong wind.
As of late Thursday, a joint team of local police and the rescuers were on alert around the Nirmala Lake, some 3 kilometers from the site.
Apparently due to the fire, the President did not bother to inspect the southern part of the volcano. She, instead, spent her time observing the landscape from a hill in the regency of Magelang for 30 minutes.
She was accompanied by her husband Taufik Kiemas, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister I Gede Ardhika, Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno, Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro.
Megawati arrived at the location at noon to inaugurate a monitoring post and observe some photographs featuring the volcanic activities of the Merapi volcano.
She also watched live video from the top of the volcano via a remote camera. The President also had a look through a telescope at the huge mountain.
Central Java Governor Mardiyanto said in his speech that the opening of an ecotourism area connecting Surakarta, Selo and Borobudur was aimed at improving the economy of the local people. Solo is known for its Javanese kingdom, Selo for its hill station areas, and Borobudur for its Buddhist temple.
Mardiyanto said that the development of the tourism belt between the Merapi Volcano and the Mount Merbabu had been established in 1974 during the leadership of Governor Munadi.
The opening of the tourism area, he said, was expected to promote natural resource and culture conservation around those mountains. It is also expected that the tourism area will complement the Borobudur Festival scheduled for June 11 next year.
Local residents have expressed strong rejection of the park for fear that they would not be allowed to exploit resources from the area if it were protected, but local government officials insisted, arguing that the national park was necessary to protect an important ecosystem that was being rapidly destroyed.
Local officials however, assured residents that they would still be allowed to cut grass for their cattle in the park.
At least two people were arrested following a rally in Boyolali against the park development on Thursday.