Gede Pangrango park reopened to climbers

Gede Pangrango park reopened to climbers

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Mount Gede Pangrango National Park was reopened to the public on
Saturday after being closed for three months due to vandalism and
environmental damage by trekkers.

The head of the park's management team, Nopianto Bambang, told
The Jakarta Post on Sunday about 600 volunteers from local
outdoor clubs and forest rangers would now check trekkers at the
park's entrance and exit points at Gunung Putri Puncak,
Selabintana and Cibodas.

"Forest rangers and volunteers will also check four climbing
routes for signs of vandalism. Those who are found vandalizing or
damaging trees or buildings within the park will be banned from
entering the park in the future.

"The volunteers and the rangers will also repeatedly remind
climbers of the national park's regulations, which stipulate,
among other things, that they are not allowed to bring in any
sharp weapons or do any damage to the park," Nopianto said.

"A mountain climber should never vandalize or damage the
environment. He is supposed to take care of nature. This is what
we are doing; we must take care of the environment around Mount
Gede Pangrango," he said.

He said the second biggest problem for the park management was
litter. To deal with this problem, volunteers and rangers will
check people entering the park and count how many bottles of
water and bags of snacks they are carrying with them.

"If we do not find the (food packages) in their bags when they
leave, they will have to return and clean their climbing routes.
That is why we now require climbers to bring plastic bags with
them to carry away all of their trash," he said.

Nopianto acknowledged that these regulations had been in place
for a long time, but were simply ignored by visitors to the park.

The management shut the national park in January to repair all
of the damage that had been done by visitors.

Over the course of three months, park employees and volunteers
cleaned the four climbing routes of Cibodas, Cibeureum Falls,
Kandang Badak and Puncak Gede Pangrango of trash and graffiti.

Nopianto said that since the park was reopened, 24 outdoor
clubs had registered to trek up the mountain. A maximum of 600
people a day are allowed to enter the park in order to minimize
and environmental damage and to ease the monitoring of visitors.