The Central
Kalimantan government is preparing the Tanjung Puting and Sabangau National
Park as an ecotourism destination with support from sustainability group
Rimbawan Bangun Lestari.
Central
Kalimantan Governor Agustin Teras Narang said the province is home to a vast
natural resources, specifically forests.
He added
that 30 years ago, Central Kalimantan was among the most resourceful provinces
in terms of its forestry industry. But government policies in the years that
followed led to logging being conducted across its forests.
“Logging
was conducted under government policies. In the process, reforestation efforts
also occurred but failed to match the logging. Today, natural resources remain
abundant. This, to us, is valuable,” he said during the signing of a
cooperation agreement between the Central Kalimantan government and Rimbawan
Bangun Lestari on Monday.
Agustin
said that 82 percent of Central Kalimantan consists of forests, with a total
area of 15.4 million hectares. He said he hoped that plans to develop the
forests as a tourism destination would include conservation efforts.
“Activities
that support the development phase of ecotourism were conducted prior to the
signing of this agreement, including the protection of endemic flora and fauna,
such as the orangutan,” he said.
Central
Kalimantan’s forest area comprise 1.6 million hectares of nature sanctuary
areas and nature preservation areas, and 11.1 million hectares of protected
forest, limited production forest and convertible production forest.
David
Makes, chairman of the Sustainable Management Group, a private-sector
conservation organization, said forest resources, especially those outside the
nature sanctuary and preservation areas, were prone to disruptions, both
natural and man-made.
“Without
careful and clever development and utilization, the result may end up damaging
and thus threatening the existing natural sanctuary and preservation areas,” he
said.
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