According to Minister Antoni, this initiative was in response to the recent incident on Mount Rinjani.
"We emphasized the importance of improving climbing management, including ranking the difficulty of the routes, adopting a quota system, and developing better climbing standard operating procedures (SOPs)," he remarked.
Minister Wardhana expressed her support for strengthening safety and risk management measures at tourist destinations.
"The incident at Rinjani serves as a reminder for all of us that cross-sector intervention is essential. We will form a joint working team to improve safety standards at nature tourism destinations," she remarked.
Furthermore, the minister emphasized the close link between conservation and tourism development.
"It is impossible to realize sustainable tourism without protecting nature. This synergy is crucial for the future of Indonesia's tourism," she emphasized.
During a meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday, the two ministers agreed to follow up on cooperation through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to guide future collaboration.
They also discussed utilizing a US$4.7 million grant from the Zayed Foundation to support the conservation of Komodo dragons and the surrounding areas of Komodo National Park.
The grant is expected to be a significant catalyst in enhancing the protection of endangered species while also supporting conservation-based nature tourism development.
Antoni emphasized that Indonesia's nature tourism must follow the principles of ecotourism rather than mass tourism.
"We must not rely on FOMO (fear of missing out). Nature tourism must contain educational and cultural values. We must find the common ground between conservation and responsible tourism," he stressed.
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Translator: Arnidhya Nur, Raka Adji
Editor: Primayanti
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