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Indonesia holds first Geopark National Conference
Four geoparks in Indonesia are listed as UNESCO Global Geoparks, but improvements are still crucial.
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Tents on the rim of Mount Rinjani, one of Indonesia's geoparks. Four geoparks in Indonesia are listed as UNESCO Global Geoparks, but improvements are still crucial. (Shutterstock/Nasrul Hisham)
T
he inaugural Indonesian National Geopark Conference took place in the auditorium of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday, July 12. It is held in collaboration between four ministries and attended by Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, the Education and Cultural Ministry’s culture director general Hilmar Farid and Creative Economy Agency head Triawan Munaf.
Kompas.com reported that 11 representatives of Indonesian geoparks were also present to discuss the improvement of the parks. The session is considered crucial for sustainable economy development and nature conservation.
Human resources, science and technology and maritime culture coordination deputy Safri Burhanudin, the event organizer, stated that development of Indonesian geoparks was among the most rapid worldwide.
The country now has four geoparks of international standard listed as UNESCO Global Geoparks, and seven of a national standard. There are more than 80 potential geopark locations that will be followed up in the future.
Also attended by administrators of 11 provinces, the conference is set to be held once every two years, and expected to continue into further conferences of international scale. It will take place on September 2019.
Read also: Mount Rinjani proposed as UNESCO biosphere reserve
Safri said Indonesia would be the host of the Asia Pacific Geopark Network Conference at UNESCO Global Geopark Rinjani on Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
Meanwhile, Luhut notes the importance of specific laws to support the growth of geoparks. He expects that the geoparks would contribute a high income to the country. (mut)
