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View all search resultsForest fire threatens Lake Toba’s UNESCO Global Geopark status
UNESCO granted Global Geopark status to the Toba Caldera in 2020, following a nine-year effort by the Indonesian government. However, just three years after receiving the designation, the Toba Caldera was issued a "yellow card" warning by UNESCO.
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This aerial picture taken on April 4 2019 shows Lake Toba, from Sigapitan, which covers some 1,707 square kilometers of North Sumatra, nearly twice the size of Singapore. The lake, formed by a gigantic volcanic eruption some 70,000 years ago, is the largest resurgent caldera on Earth. (AFP/Goh Chai Hin)
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recent forest and land fire in Samosir regency, North Sumatra, is jeopardizing the government’s efforts to preserve Lake Toba’s status as a UNESCO Global Geopark, which has been at risk since the site received a “yellow card” warning in 2023.
Zainuddin Harahap, head of the Protection, Law Enforcement and Capacity Building Division at the North Sumatra Environmental and Forestry Agency, said the fire first broke out shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
"Strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly across the area. It burned approximately 100 hectares of forest," Zainuddin said in a recent interview.
He added that authorities were still investigating the cause of the fire.
According to authorities, the fire was first reported near the Tele Observation Tower in Harian district. Videos circulating on social media showed visitors fleeing the area, on foot and in cars, along the road leading to the tower, as flames and thick smoke engulfed nearby bushes.
The incident prompted officials to temporarily close the popular tourist site until conditions are safe enough to reopen.
Azizul Kholis, general manager of the Toba Caldera Global Geopark Management, expressed concern that the recent forest fires could affect the upcoming revalidation of the geopark’s UNESCO membership.
