Enjoying a geopark is one of the most popular vacation options. Geopark is an integrated area between the protection and use of geological heritage in a sustainable way, and promotes the economic well-being of the people who live there.
We are familiar with two terms, Global Earth Park and National Earth Park. The initial goal of establishing a Geopark was to protect the geological heritage in European countries by a non-governmental organization called EGN (Europe Geopark Network) in 2001. Indonesia has several geoparks that are able to attract attention. September 2012 the Mount Batur caldera area has even been designated by UNESCO as a member of the Global Geopark Network (GGN) Earth Park network. Mount Batur caldera has natural beauty, archaeological and geological traces, as well as the cultural peculiarities of its people.
The abundance and diversity of vertebrate fossils, artefacts, ancient human fossils and the beauty of the landscape is an invaluable heritage that Indonesia has. This attraction is the main capital and great opportunity for Indonesia to be developed as a geological nature reserve area. Currently, two geological nature reserves in Indonesia are listed on the list of UNESCO's international network (Global Geopark Network/GGN), namely the Gunung Sewu and Mount Batur Karst Mountains.
Geopark is a geographical area that has geological heritage and geological diversity of high value, including biodiversity and cultural diversity that is integrated in it, which is developed with three main pillars, namely conservation, education and local economic development. After previously there were two Indonesian geoparks, namely Batur and Gunung Sewu which received the title of UNESCO global earth park (UNESCO Global Geopark) in 2016, in April 2018, there were two Indonesian earth parks which again received the same predicate from UNESCO, namely Mount Rinjani in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara and Ciletuh in Pelabuhan Ratu, West Java. Rinjani and Ciletuh are recognized along with eleven other earth parks spread across North America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Thus, in Southeast Asia, out of a total of six UNESCO Global Geoparks, four of them are in Indonesia. Indonesia also has seven National Geopark areas, and there are approximately 80 areas that are candidates for National Geoparks in 2025.
Quoted from the UNESCO website, UNESCO Global Geopark is a geographical area where sites and landscapes that are international geological assets are managed with the concept of conservation, education and community empowerment in an integrated manner. With this concept, an earth park that has received UNESCO recognition will be developed with a conservation and sustainable development approach by involving local communities. Currently, there are 140 earth parks that are included in the UNESCO network. The parks are located in 38 countries, four of which are in Indonesia. UNESCO Global Geopark membership is limited to four years and will be reviewed thereafter.
With the entry of Indonesia into the UNESCO Global Geopark list, there are many advantages that Indonesia can get from this recognition. “Geoparks can be an alternative solution for utilizing natural and cultural wealth for economic revival and social empowerment, while still prioritizing environmental conservation and protection factors, regional attractiveness as well as investment opportunities in several sectors that have the potential to increase rapidly. "From the development of geoparks, the tourism service sector, the MSME industry, creative industries, hotels, agriculture, culinary and several other related sectors can grow.
Geopark development makes a real contribution, among others, to regional development, increasing community resilience from disasters, educating people on a good life by respecting diverse cultures, empowering women to obtain additional sources of income, providing job opportunities for the community through geopark tourism, and the establishment of cooperation between regions and countries in utilizing geological diversity, biological and cultural diversity, as well as environmental services (amenities) in a sustainable manner. As identified by UNESCO (2017), geopark development also contributes to Indonesia's efforts to achieve the goals and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (TPB/SDGs).
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