Borobudur Temple Manager And 5 World Heritage In Indonesia Forms A Joint Forum For Strengthening Communication

Buddhists ahead of Tri Suci Vesak 2022 in the courtyard of Borobudur Temple, Magelang, Central Java, Monday 16 May 2022. (Between-Anis E)

JAKARTA - The managers of six world cultural heritage sites in Indonesia have agreed to form the Indonesian World Heritage Management Forum. The forum is a common forum to strengthen communication and network.

Head of the DIY Culture Service, Dian Lakshmi Pratiwi, said that the forum was agreed by the managers in the declaration at the 2024 World Heritage Day Seminar which took place in Yogyakarta on April 24-25, 2024.

"Hopefully this will become a new door and our common opportunity, we are empowered to strengthen communication and networks," said Dian in an official statement, Sunday, April 28, which was confiscated by Antara.

There are six world cultural heritage sites in Indonesia set by the United Nations for education, science and culture (UNESCO), namely Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, Sangiran Site, Bali Subak System, Ombilin Sawahlunto Coal Mine (West Sumatra) and Yogyakarta Philosophy Axis.

In addition to forming a joint forum, said Dian, website managers also agreed to seek to provide platforms in a transparent manner and stimulate discussions and highlight the opportunities and challenges they face.

They are committed to building open, inclusive, and substantial information and communication from an early age with all related parties.

"Next, strengthening togetherness, collaboration and networks between managers in Indonesia, especially capacity building in capacity and competence as well as opening up opportunities and opportunities to share information as well as taking the initiative in all aspects of site management," he said.

In the declaration point, site managers encourage local governments and governments to pay more attention, consider dealing with the gaps, problems, and challenges faced by managers as the spearhead of implementing in the field.

This, according to him, is realized through government management policies or local governments on world heritage, both administrative aspects, regulations, guidelines, guidelines, and technical aspects, capacity building, as well as the management strategy of each stage and provisions for the management of the UNESCO World Heritage.

Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said that the managers of world cultural heritage in Indonesia as at the forefront of conservation have an important role.

"Not only guarding, they are story tellers, protectors, and drivers in an effort to preserve the extraordinary important values of these sites," said Sultan.

The UNESCO Convention in 1972, he said, reminded that it is a shared responsibility to protect the cultural and natural heritage of the world, not only for aesthetic purposes but as a moral obligation to preserve cultural and natural wealth for humanity.

According to the King of the Yogyakarta Palace, World Heritage Day which is commemorated every April 18 is a symbol of the global awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Hilmar Farid ensures that the world's cultural heritage in Indonesia is well managed and has provided great benefits for the community.

The determination of a world heritage site, said Hilmar, emphasized the importance of extraordinary universal values (outstanding universal value/OUV) so that it is very important to explore and maintain these values and see the possibility of their development into various activities programs.

"The success of this world cultural heritage site is certainly closely related to the involvement of the wider community in development and maintenance," said Hilmar Farid.