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Bantimurung to be developed into educational tourism park
With its abundant biodiversity, Bantimurung National Park in Maros regency, South Sulawesi, hopes to provide educational eco-tourism packages to visitors
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ith its abundant biodiversity, Bantimurung National Park in Maros regency, South Sulawesi, hopes to provide educational eco-tourism packages to visitors.
The park is located about 30 kilometers from the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.
"Bantimurung holds such a rich biodiversity it can educate visitors in a *natural laboratory'. Visitors to the park not only enjoy the beautiful scenery but also learn something," Ilham Azikin, head of Maros Tourism Agency, said recently.
Of the species found in Bantimurung, which is part of a conservation forest along with adjacent Bulusaraung National Park, include birds, reptiles, insects and apes along with 302 different plants recorded by the National Parks Agency.
The park is also considered unique geologically, as it is surrounded by a karst mountain range, waterfalls and caves with stalagmites and stalactites.
Ilham said the park could be made the center for scientific practices and observation.
"Visitors, for example, can observe butterflies metamorphosing. They can also learn about the metaphysical processes behind waterfalls and differentiate various flora and fauna," he said.
The park's authority plans to build a 7,000 square meter facility with a price tag of Rp 400 million *US$43,478* to breed butterflies to supplement dwindling populations in the wild.
Park head Agus Budiono said almost half of the region's 250 butterfly species discovered by famed British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace could no longer be found.
A researcher from the Makassar Hasanuddin University could only find 103 species of them, he added.
"Our latest inventory shows that over 100 species that were once prevalent here can no longer be found. That's why we want to build the facility," said Agus.
The Maros administration plans to revamp the site in to an educational tourism park.
The administration will also work with universities, including in providing interpreters and tour guides to help visitors learn more about the park's flora and fauna.
Ilham said his office had proposed a budget of Rp 4 billion to realize the plan and hoped the park would earn more for the regency's income. The park contributed Rp 3.5 billion to the regency's coffers last year.
