Recovery Of The Bromo Post-Fire Ecosystem Because The Pre-weeking Flare Takes Up To 5 Years

JAKARTA - The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Center (BB TNBTS) stated that the process of restoring the ecosystem of the Mount Bromo area in East Java due to forest and land fires took up to five years.

Head of the TNBTS Center, Hendro Widjanarko, while inspecting the Watangan Valley Savana Block, Probolinggo Regency, East Java, said that the restoration of the regional ecosystem took a long time for native trees in the area to grow optimally.

"For native trees in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park area, such as mountain spruce, kesek, caps, pairs, which are affected by fires, it is estimated that it will take 3 to 5 years," said Hendro as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, September 21.

Hendro explained, in an effort to restore the ecosystem of the Mount Bromo area which experienced forest and land fires in August and September 2023, there are three mechanisms that will be implemented.

According to him, the first mechanism is natural recovery, especially for the savana or seaweed area in the area. Then, rehabilitation by replanting trees and restoring or efforts to restore biological elements.

"The restoration of the ecosystem, there are three mechanisms, nature, rehabilitation, restoration. So what is natural is natural for savana naturally, later we will see nature can recover itself. Hopefully this month or two months it can recover for savana," he said.

Efforts to restore the ecosystem of the Mount Bromo area are estimated to cost up to Rp3.5 billion from the total estimated loss of up to Rp5.4 billion due to the forest and land fires.

"From the previous one (loss tax), the recovery is around Rp. 3.5 billion," he said.

Previously, on September 6-18, 2023, the Mount Bromo tourist area had to be completely closed due to forest and land fires. The fire occurred on September 6, 2023, due to the actions of visitors who used flares for shooting.

As a result of a series of forest and land fires in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park area from August to September 2023, 504 hectares of area were reported to have been damaged. The majority of damaged areas are savana areas.

The Mount Bromo area is one of the leading tourist destinations in East Java. In 2022, it was recorded that 318,919 tourists were visited, divided into 310,418 domestic tourists and 8,501 foreign tourists.

Of the total number of tourist visits to Bromo throughout 2022, there was Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) reaching Rp11.65 billion, which increased when compared to the previous year which was Rp4.85 billion.