MATARAM. Mount Rinjani in Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), will soon be enlisted in Indonesia’s national geoparks list, a closer step for the natural conservation area to join the world’s geoparks network under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“We will receive the national geopark certificate for Mt. Rinjani in the first week of November,” NTB development planning board head, Chairul Mahsul, told The Jakarta Post in Mataram, on Saturday.
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and the Geology Agency will issue the certificate once application documents submitted by the NTB administration are declared complete.
Chairul said once enlisted in the national geopark list, the management of Mt. Rinjani could improve, both in terms of conservation and tourism potential developments. “It will receive more attention from the central government, particularly in terms of budget,” he went on.
The determining of Mt. Rinjani in the national geopark list is part of efforts to nominate the natural conservation park to be enlisted in the UNESCO’s geoparks network list.
Head of Rinjani National Park, Agus Boediono, said part of the national park which covered more than 40,000 hectares was currently managed by Rinjani Trek Management Board (RTMB), an agency whose members represented the government, non-government organizations, local communities, and tourism players.
Since managed by the RTMB, Mt. Rinjani won several awards both from national and international levels. It won the World Legacy Award 2004 and became the finalist of Tourism for Tomorrow Awards in 2005 and 2008.
“As a volcano with tremendous geo-tourism potentials, such as beautiful scenery of caldera, lakes, mountain peaks, craters, waterfalls, caves, hot water springs and new lava flows, it’s truly proper for Mt. Rinjani to become a geopark,” said Agus. (The Jakarta Post)
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