The Komodo National Park conservation agency collected almost a ton of trash from Komodo Island.

Margaretha Priska, an officer at the conservation agency, said they conducted cleanup drives at four locations — Kambing Island as well as Rinca, Papagarang and Komodo villages.

The cleanup was held in coordination with several local institutions that included the Fire Awareness Society, village administrators, teachers and students.

“We collected around 980 kilograms, mostly plastic waste. The trash will be taken to a landfill in Labuan Bajo,” she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Labuan Bajo is the entry point to Komodo National Park, a conservation area that is known worldwide as the habitat of the Komodo dragon as well as for having breathtaking diving sites.

Another cleanup event was held in Kelimutu National Park, another popular tourist destination in the province. The local conservation agency collected trash from areas surrounding Lake Kelimutu in Ende regency.

Spanning around 5,300 hectares and designated as an official park in 1992, Kelimutu is home to the famous three-colored crater lakes and an arboretum showcasing endemic flora in the area, including the uta onga (Begonia kelimutuensis), turuwara (Rhododendron renschianum) and cantigi gunung (Vaccinium varingiaefolium). The park is also home to the garugiwa bird (Pachycephala nudigula), which is known for its broad range of songs.

On the same day, the Ruteng nature conservation park agency also carried out a cleanup drive around Lake Ranamese in Manggarai regency. The lake draws scores of visitors to its dense forests and 21-meter-deep crater lake, which is at an altitude of 1,220 m.

On Sumba Island, the Menupeu Tanah Daru and Laiwangi Wanggameti (Matalawa) National Park agency collected trash at the Lapopu waterfall, which is located in Hatikuloku village, Wanokaka district. 

The agency’s head, Memen Suparman, said they had collected at least 400 kg of trash.

“Around 150 people participated in the clean-up event.”

The regency, Memen said, still had no waste recycling management system in place, which exacerbated the trash problem.

He urged visitors to keep the area clean by throwing their rubbish in bins provided at the location. 

Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers collected over 500 kg of trash in Mount Halimun Salak National Park, West Java.

Awen Supranata, the head of the national park in Sukabumi, said the volunteers had cleaned up hiking trails, tourism spots and conservation areas.

Awen added that too many visitors were still discarding their trash, which includes plastic bags, cigarette butts and soft drink cans, in the national park. Most it is dumped on the hiking trails.

“Don’t pollute the mountain with trash. Visitors must take responsibility for their own trash,” he said as quoted by Antara.

Earlier, the NTT administration had also involved in dispute with regency administration and local Komodo park operators for planning a temporary shutdown of the park to improve the park’s condition.

When NTT Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat announced the closure plan in January, it was met with opposition from the local community and the wider public, which eventually led to Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya warning that decisions regarding conservation areas were solely under the jurisdiction of the central
government.

The ministry, along with the local administrations, later decided to form a joint team to assess the park’s condition and would decide on the matter in July. (das)

Popular

AGO hints second questioning of ex-education minister Nadiem

Green NGOs raise concern over $6b EV battery project

Labubu dolls ride China soft-power wave