Balancing Tourism and Conservation

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

A number of officers clean up the ash of Mount Merapi at Borobudur Temple, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Monday (22/6/2020).

Indonesia is rich in world-heritage sites. In tandem with the blessing of their tourism potential is the responsibility to maintain and protect them.

Kompas published a special report on the management of world-heritage sites earlier this week. The coverage reviewed the management of world-heritage sites, which must be taken care of and protected due to their potential as tourist destinations.

Large numbers of visitors have, for example, threatened the cultural-world-heritage site of Borobudur Temple in Magelang Regency, Central Java. Damages occurred on the stone stairs due to the wear and tear of the visitors' footwear. Damage was also caused by vandalism and littering.

According to the monitoring and assessment conducted between 1984 and 2021, the Borobudur Temple building has been reduced by two centimeters due to the large number of visitors.

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Large numbers of tourists, who have been increasing since 2010, are also feared to disturb the Komodo dragon ecosystem in the Komodo National Park, East Nusa Tenggara. In 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of visitors at Komodo National Park reached 221,703 people, more than double the previous year.

The main five threats that endanger the sustainability of this forest are road construction, agricultural expansion, illegal logging, poaching and weak supervision from the government ( Kompas, 4/7/2022).

The threat also afflicts the Tropical Rain Forest of Sumatra which was designated as a natural world-heritage site by UNESCO in 2004. The main five threats that endanger the sustainability of this forest are road construction, agricultural expansion, illegal logging, poaching and weak supervision from the government (Kompas, 4/7/2022).

Wherever it is located, the world--heritage status enhances a site's prestige and generates attraction. Not surprisingly, world-heritage sites have become a source of many people’s incomes. In fact, not all sites are fit to be “sold" for mass tourism.

The existing data and facts make us aware that not all world-heritage sites can be marketed as a source of revenues for the government either at a provincial or a regency level. In the case of Borobudur Temple and Komodo National Park, the large number of visitors has a negative impact on the existence and quality of the world-heritage sites.

Indonesia, which has nine world-heritage sites, each of which are in the category of outstanding universal value, should be proud of them. However, if they are not maintained and protected properly, their quality can be degraded.

If the quality deteriorates, UNESCO can even revoke its world-heritage status, as experienced by Liverpool, England, in 2021.

If a world-heritage site is degraded, UNESCO can include it on the list of world-heritage sites in danger. If the quality deteriorates, UNESCO can even revoke its world-heritage status, as experienced by Liverpool, England, in 2021.

We do not want the quality of world-heritage sites in Indonesia to be degraded. It requires a commitment from all parties to jointly protect them. The most important principle is that tourism and conservation must go hand in hand.

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)