SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: Eco-Tourism of National Park (A Brief Comparison Between Indonesia and Costarica)

"Tourism in International Relations"
Lecture: Drs. Usmar Salam, MIS
Haslian Hasan - 06/ 196090/ SP/ 21729

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT:
Eco-Tourism of National Park(A Brief Comparison Between Indonesia and Costarica)

National park existed as one of the answer for our environmental damage problems especially the forest. Forest become the important things for human life. It becames so important because there are so many creature depending their life that live inside on it. All of them unity and cannot be separated. The damage of one of those creation will give an impact to the others creature life, faster or slower. The damage of forest mostly caused by changing in social life style. Begun from primitif society-agraris-industrialis-electronic information society, The idea of human nature relationship show up in the middle of the changing. Modern life tend to control all the aspect of nature and at the same time destroy it with the development of technology they create. Technology has special and specifics roles toward the decreasing of natural resources conducted by modern human race. For example, in the beginning of european industrial revolution, forests used to supply main raw material for any industry. In the other place , the growth of population force the forest transformed into residential place. Uncontrolled illegal logging since sixteenth century has causing a lot of wild animals especially from mamals and birds species wiped out from the earth. In the last decade the human activities towards the environment trend also change, caring activity for better environmental system is increase after the degradation of environment which caused by human being, it becomes the life style. Such as the “eco” movement has been developing since 1960 untill right now, it is already spread all over the world. It demanding product and service to apply caring for environmental system, such as eco-tourism, eco-management, eco-labelling, eco-region, etc. National park is one of the integration of eco-tourism.

National park can be defined as an conservation zone to care the nature which have original ecosystem, managed using zonation system which used to research aims, scientific, education, support plantation, tourism and recreation.
There are 3 major consideration to establish the national park:
1.Government or entrerpreneur initiative
2.The zone/area has valuable natural resources and culture.
3.The zone/area can be used and exploited by the society.

National park managed using zonation system because the original function of it as protection area, that is:
a.Core zone/ area. Prohibited zone, no one allow and have access to have activity inside except for research activity with permission before. No human architecture building allowed to be build inside the core zone.
b.Exploitation zone which is limited exploitation zone which can accessed. Non wood forest resource which became source of life for people by daily expolitation activity.
c.Supporting zone is zone outside the national park that have a function as zone to support the national park zone.

Beside that, national park has it own characteristics, that is:
1.The area of national park has enough space.
2.The contents of national park must be special, vegetation and animals, geomorfological position and the nature in complete formation.
3.Control and protection system is effective and exist. Where one or two ecosystem physically not change because exploitation and human residential.
4.Policy and management hand by central government board which have rights. The board must take preventive action or wipe out any kind disturbance or demolition activity towards ecosystem and the contents of national park.
5.The probability of developing the tourism, where the visitor allowed to enter the national park with specific rules applied to support the inspiration, education, culture and recreation activity.

The last prequirement used as preferences, because tourism is one of the biggest industry in the world. Eco-tourism contribute 10-50% from the total of world travelling. Tourism is temporary touring, conducted in one specific place, not for doing business things in the visited place, but only to enjoy the travelling and to fulfill the many kinds of willingness. Eco-tourism with conservation base in national park is tourism category which involved number of people to visit one specifis place and spending some or all of their money to get incredible experience how to interact with the bilogy community. Eco-tourism sometimes schemed and directed to observe specific species such as elephant, tarcius, maleo bird, or another exclusive species. Eco-tourism can be defined as sustainable tourism model because the basic concept of sustainable tourism is the continuinity of natural resources and culture. Tourist start to find something new and natural, boring with conventional tourism and the increasing of people willingness to care the nature.
Eco-tourism is tourism activity which give big attention towards tourism resources continuinity. International eco-tourism society defined it as natural tourism touring that responsibility to maintain the environment and increasing the standard of local society wealth. Quebec charter specify that eco-tourism is kinds of tourism which adopting the principle of sustainable tourism and differentiate it from the other kinds of tourism. It can be observed from the activity that:
a.More intense contribute to the nature conservating activity and culture.
b.Involving local society in planning, developing, and managing the tourism also giving positif contribution to the local wealth.
c.Conducting in independent tourism or organized in small group..

In terms of national park, national park managed using zonation system to focus on protecting kinds of unique and rare ecosystem. The combination became perfect because both of the concept is fit to be applied in sestainable tourism development. The benefit from eco-tourism in national park is:
a.Increasing the chance in economie.
b.Conservation the nature and culture heritage.
c.Developing the facilities.
d.Increasing the quality of life.

How about the management of eco-tourism in Indonesia and Costarica?

Eco-tourism management in Costarica national park.
Costarica is one of american latin country which known have complex variation of life creature and oriented in developing the sustainable environmner in inside Costarica. With more than 615 wild species in every 10.000 km2, Costarica placed in top rank as a country whose have a lot of life variation in the world compare with the others. Many kinds of exotic tropical flora and fauna lived in Costarica and those are is part of 12 ecological zone key. 5% world life creature lives here. Without question, this country got initial name from many researcher and naturalist group from all over the world as “heaven whose life”.

Nowadyas there 25 national park in Costarica which managed by National conservation area system(SINAC), one of department in environmental and energy ministry in Costarica. Costarica issued policy to protect environment and sustainable eco-tourism which later on became references for another country in the world. Rain forest, tropical forest, riversystem in Costarica became destination for study or subject for student observation or group of organization. Uncountable world knowledge about the importance of habitat being uncountable contribution from Costarica national park system.

One of the effort to protect the nature and environment around Costarica, 25% from government land transformed into protection area and conservation zone and aimed to protect the beautifulness of Costarica nature from illegal loging and forest destruction. Costarica also become the host for 10.000 species of plant and trees, more than 850 species of birds, 205 mamal species, 35.000 insect species, 160 amfibi species, 220 reptile species, and about 1013 species of freshwater fish and salt fish. Diversity and wonder of nature make Costarica became trully nature heaven. Costarica also became a host for rare flora and fauna and those become benefit for Costarica by transformed it into eco-tourism place.

Eco-tourism management in Indonesia national park
The management of national park in Indonesia fully manage by region as implementation of decentralization. The management of national park in region running by national park department. Job description of this department is controlling the national park area with considering aspiratif, creativity and adaptive issue. But in reality eco-tourism national park management policy in Indonesia still below the standard. At the same time conflict is more often show up compared the agreement of running the eco-tourism with traditional society. Attention to the policy about eco-tourism still minimum. The laws of tourism only limited in technical and general tourism execution, beside that, there is no specifis board handle the eco-tourism in general and particular. In fact that Indonesia have approximately 38 national park. With the potention mentioned, the number of tourist came will be increase. In 2004 for example, Meru Betiri national park visited by 3.183 foreign tourists and 445 domestic tourists or wakatobi national sea park where 25 % income received by local people came from the tourist. This prove that eco-tourism realized or not can create sustainable tourism development. Because there is effort for conservation the environment and including the local potency feel the result from tourism.

Comparing the management of eco-tourism in Costarica and Indonesia, eco-tourism management in Costarica is very succesfull because the way to manage the eco-tourism as main tourism comodity is very focus, approved by establishing special board to manage the tourism and specifically manage the national park and eco-tourism. In Indonesia, the management of eco-tourism running very slowly shown by the are only few policy concerning about tourism especially in case of eco-tourism. nevertheless, the policy of eco-tourism in Indonesia has been developing based on sustainable tourism development such as environmental conservation and tourism multiplier effect to the local community.

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Fandeli, Chalid dan Muhammad Nurdin, 2005, Pengembangan Ekowisata Berbasis Konservasi di Taman Nasional, Fakultas Kehutanan UGM Yogyakarta bekerjasama dengan Pusat Studi Pariwisata UGM Yogyakarta, Kantor Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup RI, Yogyakarta.

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Paper strategi Two-Level Game dalam Pariwisata Berkelanjutan di Costarica Mata kuliah PARHI