Azizul Kholis, general manager of the Toba Caldera UNESCO Global Geopark Management Agency, said on Tuesday that the assessors will visit several sites around Lake Toba, including Eden 100 Park in Sionggang Utara village, Toba district.
The assessment will be led by Jose Brilha of Portugal and Jeon Yong Mun of South Korea. Their itinerary includes geosites on Samosir Island and Sipiso-piso Waterfall in Karo district — one of the highest waterfalls in Indonesia.
Lake Toba was formed by a supervolcanic eruption approximately 74,000 years ago, creating a vast caldera that is now filled with water, with Samosir Island at its center. It was designated a UNESCO Global Geopark on July 2, 2020.
However, at the UNESCO Global Geoparks meeting in Morocco on September 4–5, 2023, the Toba Caldera Geopark received a “yellow card” — a formal warning for failing to meet several key management standards. Geoparks in China, France, Italy, and Peru received similar warnings. While no sanctions were imposed, the Toba Geopark was given two years to make improvements.
The warning cited low public awareness and appreciation of geosites, poor coordination among managing stakeholders, lack of standardized geological interpretation, inadequate visitor facilities, and limited research and public education related to geology, biodiversity, and cultural heritage.
"The yellow card highlights the need to make geosites more visible and appreciated by the public," said Hariyanto, deputy for destination development and infrastructure at the Ministry of Tourism.
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Reporter: Muhammad Said, Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
Editor: Anton Santoso
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