Geopark Rinjani proposes construction of waste "shelters" on Mount Rinjani

Mataram (ANTARA) - The managers of Geopark Rinjani have proposed the construction of waste storage facilities or shelters as an effort to tackle the problem of rubbish littering the hiking trails of Mount Rinjani on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). “We are offering a concept for shelters at several climbing checkpoints, so that hikers can collect rubbish there,” said General Manager of Geopark Rinjani, Qwadru Putro Wicaksono, when met during the Rinjani Begawe Festival in Mataram on Saturday. Qwadru explained that the waste shelters aim to facilitate rubbish management by providing temporary collection points for waste brought by hikers traversing the Mount Rinjani climbing trails. Geopark Rinjani has presented the waste shelter concept to the West Nusa Tenggara Provincial Development Planning Agency (Bappeda). He assessed that the current climbing permit fees are substantial, but their management is still centralised with the central government, thus not yet optimal in supporting on-site waste handling. Geopark Rinjani offers the utilisation of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones to transport rubbish from collection points, given the limitations of human labour in the process of carrying it down across the difficult terrain of the climbing trails. “The climbing permit fees are quite high, but all the money goes to the central government. So, how can we ensure that (climbing permit fees) also have allocations for waste handling,” said Qwadru. Geopark Rinjani emphasises the importance of strengthening regulations in the form of strict sanctions and tighter inspections of hikers’ belongings when ascending and descending from the Mount Rinjani National Park (TNGR) area. Based on statistics from the TNGR Park Office for 2025, hiking-related waste reached 30.35 tonnes, while non-hiking waste amounted to 1.19 tonnes. The number of climbing tourist visits was recorded at 80,214 people, while non-climbing tourist visits reached 52,108 people.