FOUR MORE INDONESIAN GEOPARKS AIM TO BE RECOGNIZED AS UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARKS by Fardah

 Jakarta, Oct 11, 2016 (Antara) - Blessed with beautiful nature, Indonesia has some 40 national geoparks across the country, and at least four are to be proposed to become UNESCO Global Geoparks.

         The four geoparks are Mount Rinjani in West Nusa Tenggara, Lake Toba Caldera in North Sumatra, Ciletuh Waterfall  in West Java, and Merangin pale botany park in Jambi on Sumatra Island.

          In fact, proposals for Mt Rinjani and Merangin geoparks have already been submitted and the results will be announced by UNESCO in April 2017.

           Indonesia currently has two UNESCO Global Geoparks, namely Batur in Bali, which was recognized by UNESCO in 2012, and Mount Sewu in Central Java.

         Located in northeast Bali, Batur Global Geopark includes two volcanic calderas and presents a complete volcanic landscape, with caldera walls, cones and craters, geothermal phenomena such fumaroles, hot springs, a lake, lava flows, pyroclastic flows and tephra.

         Two cataclysmic eruptions that occurred 29,000 years and 20,000 years ago produced an outer-caldera and inner-caldera, from
which the grand landscape scenery originates.

          Between 1804 and 2000, Mt. Batur erupted at least 22 times, forming a strato-volcano, which is one of 127 active volcanoes in Indonesia, and an important component of the Pacific `ring of fire¿.

          The double-calderas, with a crescent-shaped volcanic lake being 7 km long, 1.5 km wide, and located 1,031 m a.s.l., was called the finest caldera in the world.

         The uniqueness of the area¿s geology with the volcanic origin, endemic flora and fauna, and original culture, influenced by the Balinese Hindu religion, is a perfect combination of different heritages.

        The Global Geopark developed a program of "School to Geopark" where students explore and recognize nature, and "Geopark to School¿ that disseminates information about the natural environment of Batur
and its heritage to schools.

          Since 2014, students from Singapore have chosen Batur Global Geopark to perform their annual fieldwork in volcanology science.

          Meanwhile, Mount Sewu Global Geopark is an enormous mountainous limestone zone, marked by conic karst hills spanning Yogyakarta, central and east Java.

             The karst landforms grew from dissolution, when the limestone was uplifted from the seabed some 1.8 million years ago. 
      The uplift notably led to the formation of coastal and river terraces, as well as sandstone outcrops. The earliest signs of human presence date back 180,000 years, with evidence of settlements along the riverbanks and in limestone rock-shelters and caves.

           The stone-terraces that surround almost every hill bear witness to local-knowledge passed from generation to generation to preserve a relatively thin soil for agriculture.

           Located in the Southern Mountains of East Java, Gunung Sewu Global Geopark extends east-west along 120 kilometres.   
     
      A depression zone occupied by the Merapi and Lawu active volcanoes
limits its northern part, while the south is bordered by the Indian Ocean.

          There is still tectonic activity in the region, because Mount Sewu is located in front of an active subduction zone between the Indian Ocean, Australian and Eurasian plates.

        Active uplifting has taken place for 1.8 million years and produces very visible river terraces at Sadeng dry-valley, as well as coastal terraces along the southern coast of the Global Geopark.

         In addition to its aesthetic and recreational values, Mt Sewu is, rich in biodiversity, archaeology, history and cultural aspects.

        Pacitanian stone-culture represents Paleolithic to Neolithic artifacts in
Southeast Asia.

         Approximately 1,802 square kilometres of the area contain traces of prehistoric settlements. Some of the prehistoric people lived in caves, while others lived in open space.     
   As part of the Wonderful Indonesia tourism promotion, Indonesia showcased its national geoparks at the 7th International Unesco Conference on Global Geoparks in Torquay, England, September 27-29, 2016.

         Among the geological heritages were Ciletuh-Pelabuhan Ratu Geopark, Batur UNESCO Global Geopark, Toba Caldera Geopark, Mount Rinjani Geopark, Mt. Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark, Merangin Geopark, Maros-Pangkep Geopark in South Sulawesi, and also Raja Ampat Geopark in West Papua, said Nia Niscaya, an official of the Indonesian Tourism Ministry, recently.

        The conference, organized under the theme of Health and Well Being of Communities through Creative and Active Engagement, will explore how well-being can be measured beyond the traditional economic indicators of GDP.

         At present, there are 120 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 33 countries.

        UNESCO Global Geoparks are single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development.

        Their bottom-up approach of combining conservation with sustainable development, while involving local communities, is becoming increasingly popular.

        In addition to the UNESCO Global Geoparks, the UN body has also enlisted the Cultural Landscape of Bali, Borobudur, Prambanan and the Sangiran Early Man Site onto UNESCO's World Heritage List. ***4***
(f001/INE)
(T.F001/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 11-10-2016 14:41:19