Government Benahi Geopark Kaldera Toba After The Yellow Card From UNESCO
JAKARTA - The Indonesian government moved quickly to fix the Kaldera Toba Geopark after the area received a warning or "yellow card" from UNESCO.
This reprimand was issued because the standard management and completeness of facilities in the natural park area were deemed not in accordance with UNESCO Global Geoparks criteria.
The warning was given at a UNESCO meeting in Morocco in September 2023, in which Kaldera Toba was deemed not optimal in terms of governance and supporting facilities. The management body has not met a number of international standards set by UNESCO.
Responding to this, the Deputy for Destination Development and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Hariyanto, said that currently there is a regional planning plan (site plan) for the Kaldera Toba Geopark.
"The preparation of the site plan will be completed by the Toba Caldera Management Agency UNESCO Global Geopak together with the agencies that handle energy and mineral resources of North Sumatra Province," he said as quoted by ANTARA.
According to Hariyanto, the government has also prepared special allocation funds (DAK) for the 2024 fiscal year worth IDR 56.6 billion. This fund will be used to build tourism facilities such as amenities and attractions in natural, water and cultural tourism areas around Lake Toba. The focus of development is spread across eight regencies in the Kaldera Toba area.
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Furthermore, the funds will be used to improve the visibility of the Kaldera Toba Geopark area. Some of the infrastructure that will be built include the main gate (gapura) of geoparks, identity relief, and an educational interpretation board that will be installed in the Silalahi Geosite, Dairi Regency.
As part of efforts to strengthen Kaldera Toba's position in the eyes of the world, the Ministry of Tourism together with the Geopark Management Agency will hold an international seminar on June 26, 2025.
The seminar will review the geological and cultural potential of the Kaldera Toba Geopark and is preparation for a re-evaluation from UNESCO.
In the seminar, geological and cultural experts, including Prof. Mega Fatimah Rosana, Ph.D and Ananto K. Seta, Ph.D from Indonesia and Prof. Ibrahim Komo, Ph.D from Malaysia will attend. It is hoped that this forum will be a place to exchange knowledge and strategies to strengthen geopark management according to international standards.