Is ecotourism the right approach for Ujung Kulon?

Earth Wire, the environmental division of Antara, and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a German foundation, orgazied a workshop on the environment for journalists and activists. The Jakarta Post reporter, Gedsiri Suhartono, took part in the workshop, held on Oct. 9-12, in Jakarta and Ujung Kulon National Park, West Java, and wrote the following stories.

UJUNG KULON (JP): The pristine wilderness of the Ujung Kulon National Park faces deliberate environmental destruction as tourism slowly creeps into the area.

Mushrooming resorts, townhouses and condominiums on the way to Labuan Port, which is one entry point to the national park, is one indication that city dwellers have their eyes on this area.

The park's management is planning to attract more visitors to enjoy the rustic forest, beautiful beaches and the variety of wildlife.

The dilemma now is whether the park should be further promoted while bearing the consequence of inviting unavoidable environmental damage, or stay as low profile as it is now.

Until this century, before Ujung Kulon became a reserve and then a national park, the area was the hunting, fishing and gathering grounds for the well-off.

Nowadays, although people are still able to collect forest products in the park's buffer zone, agriculture, hunting and fishing activities inside the park are banned.

One of the greatest challenges in the conservation of Ujung Kulon National Park will be to educate local communities living on the fringes of the park about the need for protecting the forest and wildlife as well as gaining their support.

In the villages around Ujung Kulon, several organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature's Indonesia Program and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation run educational programs for local residents to find alternative resources and incomes.

Agoes Sriyatna, chief of the national park, said the only way to delay the unavoidable destruction of the national park is by preparing and improving the quality of human resources.

"What we have now is far from adequate," Agoes said, referring to the 30 employees oversees in the vast park.

Urban garbage floats southward along the coast, smothering marine life and washing up on Ujung Kulon's shores is another problem.

There is also the poaching of marine life by fishermen, often from distant regions, as well as the pressures and demands raised by the tourist industry.

Many feel that tourism is in general much more likely to have negative social and environmental impacts.

Ecotourism, therefore, sounds exciting because the concept combines the pleasure of discovering and understanding spectacular flora and fauna while making a combined effort to protect them from destruction.

Ecotourism, in other words, incorporates both a strong commitment to nature and a sense of social responsibility.

But not all agree.

"Come on, let's not deceive ourselves, we are just delaying the destruction, not preventing destruction from happening," Vincent Graichen, a visitor who seems concerned about the park's condition.

Graichen was referring to pollution resulting from transporting people from one island to another by motorboat, beaten tracks left in the once unspoiled forests, not to mention the obvious piles of garbage around the park.

The concept is a good one: an economic model that utilizes tourism to support nature conservation. But do not be fooled by the lofty ideals because it could prove impractical and unrealistic.

"When people do business, they think only of profit, and philosophical ideals often only become a means to achieve the ends," Anton Saksono, a fish exporter and importer who also operates motorboats at the national park, said.

A nature lover himself, Anton said he is fully aware of the various threats facing the environment, but as a businessman he can only do his best while reaping benefits.

"Some told me that with the conscience I have, I should continue doing business here because I am the least of the evils," he said contemplatively.

Responding to concerns about damage to Ujung Kulon, the government has declared that only 10 percent of the whole area can be utilized for tourist purposes.

For example, only 10 percent of Peucang Island is used for tourist facilities.

Ethics

A major complaint expressed by the park's management is visitors' lack of understanding or disregard of the right ethical standard when entering the park.

The rare chance to encounter rhinoceros at the park, for example, is exacerbated by visitors' ignorance of acceptable wildlife behavior.

"To truly be one with nature and observe it, one needs to be absolutely silent and simply enjoy the wonders of nature instead of shouting in awe and disrupting the forest's harmony," Agoes said, referring to the clamorous chatter he often has to endure when accompanying visitors on nature walks.

Many city dwellers, he added, often appear to have a superficial interest in the national park, and therefore do not get the most out of their visit.

Arief Zulpermana, a tour manager, told The Jakarta Post that in general, local visitors' knowledge about nature and the proper ethics observed when in the national park fall far short of foreigners'.

"Unfortunately, our local visitors are often ignorant about the wildlife, not educating themselves enough before they visit," Arief said.

According to Arief, foreign tourists seem to better prepared themselves, by reading, for instance, and arrive with the intention of learning and enjoying their visit.

"I am not sure if this is the right way to say it. But for lack of better words, foreign visitors seem to be more professional in their visit compared to local people," he added.

Visitors' shortcomings, however, fail to dissuade park's staff from welcoming and entertaining the flow of visitors.

"We very much enjoy their presence and the human exchanges that happen. After all, humans are part of nature and we want outsiders to know about the work and the pleasure one can derive from the national park," Arief said.

Based on his observation of the many locals who have visited the park, Agoes draws the conclusion that many Indonesians cannot yet enjoy nature for what it is. They have only reached the level of relishing luxuries, he said.

Agoes said as an example that locals request air-conditioned rooms, while foreigners enjoy breathing in the sea breeze and listening the sound of the waves.

A polished image of the park's management and human resources is needed to handle the difficult task of nature preservation and tourism, Agoes said.

"We are therefore preparing our human resources, improving their skills to enable them to handle the flock of visitors in the park," he said.

But the park management also needs to educate its staff. Agoes admitted that even some employees need to learn more about the environment. During one of our walks in the forest, he was dumbfounded when the group discovered the remains of a campfire apparently used by a park worker for warmth at night.

National parks serve at least three functions: to preserve and protect several species from extinction without neglecting the roles of local residents who live around the national park.

Every aspect to raise consciousness about the importance of national parks should involve not only the park management and its staff, but also local people and visitors. There is no guarantee that the environment will be secured if ecotourism is promoted, but at least it might delay the destruction.