Lake Tambing Ecotourism Reopened To Tourists

JAKARTA, July 12 (Antara) - Local and foreign tourists will now be able to visit the Lake Tambing ecotourism destination in the Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP), Central Sulawesi Province, again. For more than a month, tourists had been temporarily banned from visiting the area after a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Poso District on May 29, 2017. But the Lore Lindu National Park Chief Sudayatna remarked in Central Sulawesi provincial city of Palu on Tuesday that the Lake Tambing ecotourism destination has been reopened for tourists. As a result of the earthquake, the water level of Lake Tambing rose to about 10 meters and was considered to pose a threat to visitors. In addition, several facilities and infrastructure at the Lake Tambing tourism area were damaged by the earthquake. They had been temporarily banned from visiting the area for more than a month, taking their comfort and safety into account. "But now, the local and foreign tourists can visit the area again, because we have reopened it since two weeks ago," Sudayatna remarked. According to him, the number of domestic and foreign tourist arrivals at the lake in the Lore Lindu National Park has again steadily increased since the area was reopened. The scenic Lake Tambing is part of Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP), which is surrounded by the districts of Donggala, Poso, and Sigi in Central Sulawesi. Situated at an altitude of 1.7 thousand meters above sea level and some 80 kilometers from the provincial city of Palu, the lake area has become a favorite tourist destination and is the ideal choice for bird lovers and outdoor adventure enthusiasts. The scenic views around the lake, coupled with the melodious songs of the birds, greet and mesmerize the visitors, making them feel at home so that they no longer feel like returning to their lodgings. Sudayatna stated that the number of tourists visiting Lake Tambing continued to increase in the recent months. Before the area was temporarily closed, the number of domestic and foreign tourist arrivals at the lake rose dramatically. Now after having been reopened, the number of visitors will continue to increase. He noted that foreign tourists are mostly bird lovers and researchers as the area is home to around 77 bird species, 60 percent of which are endemic to Sulawesi Island. In addition to the beautiful lake as a tourist attraction, the visitors can get a firsthand glimpse of the variety of birds in varied colors, which live and breed in the surrounding forest area. Sudayatna explained that last year, around 3 thousand foreign and domestic tourists had visited the Lake Tambing ecotourism destination. The LLNP had received a significant amount of budget to improve the existing facilities at the ecotourism destination of Lake Tambing. The funds from the state budget for the Ministry of Forestry and Environment were channeled to build and improve the infrastructure and facilities at the Lake Tambing ecotourism destination. He noted that the infrastructure and facilities being built include a road connecting to the tourist attraction at the lakeside, a home generator to anticipate power failure, electrical installations, procurement of a motorcycle to transport garbage, a parking lot that can accommodate up to 50 cars and motorcycles, a mosque, and an information center. On arrival, the existing officers at the information center will offer a briefing to the visitors about the lake and the variety of other attractions at the national park. Sudaratna noted that in future, the LLNP will also build other facilities, such as a pavilion, cottages, outbound areas, and a bird observation tower near Lake Tambing. He remarked that a tracking line, orchid breeding garden, and gallery will also be built for the visitors, so that they can enjoy their visit to Lake Tambing and the national park. These improvements are urgently needed to attract more domestic and foreign tourists to visit the ecotourism area at the lake and park. The Lore Lindu National Park, where Lake Tambing is located, is a habitat to almost all of Sulawesi¿s endangered animal species, such as the mountain anoa, a dwarf buffalo, which was once common but now rarely seen; babirusa, an animal resembling both a pig and hippopotamus; tarsier, the world¿s smallest primate; tonkean macaque; and marsupial cuscus. The tourists visiting Central Sulawesi can plan a visit to the LLNP for trekking to see the prehistoric relics from the megalithic stone culture in the valleys of Bada, Besoa, and Napu. The facilities and infrastructure at the park continue to be improved to draw more domestic and foreign tourists. Hence, the local government is performing maintenance work on several facilities at the national park in order to attract as many foreign tourists as possible. The park was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and was formed through the unification of three existing reserves: the Lore Kalamanta Nature Reserve, the Lake Lindu Recreation and Protection Forest, and the Lore Lindu Wildlife Reserve. The park, which is located south of the town of Palu, covers a 2,180-square-kilometer area, with altitudes ranging between 200 and 2.3 thousand meters above sea level. In addition, Lore Lindu National Park is also home to the maleo (macrocephalon maleo) breeding site that will continue to be developed into an interesting tourism attraction in the province. Maleo, well known as the iconic bird in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, is found nowhere else in the world. The birds have been fully protected under Indonesian law since 1972 when it was formally recognized that their population was threatened due to overharvesting of their enormous eggs coupled with the loss and destruction of their native forest habitat.