Three parks proposed as world sites

PADANG, West Sumatra: The government has proposed that three national parks in West Sumatra be declared world's heritage sites in Southeast Asia.

"The three are the Gunung Leuser Park (Aceh), Kerinci Seblat Park (West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu and South Sumatra), and the Bukit Barisan Selatan Park (North Sumatra)," head ranger of the Kerinci Seblat Parkm, Listya Kusumawardhani, said on Monday.

She said the proposal had been made by the government during the ASEAN Regional Workshop on Cluster and Transborder World Heritage Site Nomination in Kuching, Serawak, Malaysia, last Oct. 21-23.

A similar proposal was made during the 5th World Congress on National Parks in Durban, South Africa, earlier on Sept. 9-10, she added.

During the meeting in Kuching, she said, the government had also proposed that the Betung Kerihun Nature Park in West Kalimantan province, and the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary and Batang Ai National Park in Serawak be included in the transborder program. --Antara