The
Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra is located in Indonesia and consists of three National Parks, Gunung Leuser National Park, Kerinci Sablat National Park, and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. This rainforst consists of 10,000 plant species, 200+ mammal species and 580+ bird species. And is also known among the largest tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia. Being listed on the
UNESCO World Heritage in Danger list in 2011, there's facts to believe that this historic rainforest could ultimately be in danger.
The five principles within cultural heritage tourism programs include:
- Collaborate
- Find the fit between the community and tourism
- Make sites and programs come alive
- Focus on authenticity and quality
- Preserve and protect resources
In researching these five principles in relation to The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, the lack of preserving and protecting resources and finding the fit between the community and tourism have not yet been properly managed. Some ways in protecting this site from further threats would be to reduce the chances of these animals being in danger whether that's from the environment or individuals visiting the rainforest. The rainforest has a significant animal diversity as mentioned above, also with a high level of endemism. It also suffers from agricultural encroachment. Because of these, it's important to preserve and protect these resources and animals. In relation to finding the fit between the community and tourism, the rainforest suffers from institutional and governance weaknesses and also road construction. With finding that fit between the community and tourism, it would be beneficial to limit the number of people per day visiting the rainforest and also their modes of transportation. It would also be beneficial if the local community and government could support in preserving this rainforest for years to come.
On the other hand, the Gunung Mulu National Park is not currently in danger. It's located in Malaysia and is the most studied tropical karst area in the world. The Gunung Mulu National Park consists of 17 vegetation zones with over 3,500 species of vascular plants, over 20,000 vertebrates and much more. The largest known cave chamber in the world, the Sarawak Chamber, is located within the Gunung Mulu National Park.
According to my research and the Unesco World Heritage List,
The Gunung Mulu National Park meets all five principles within cultural heritage tourism list above. This includes, providing enough natural habitats above and below ground for all kinds of plants and animals. Also, providing protection for those threatened species and wildlife to roam where they wont be threatened. With having specific boundaries, this makes for the national park to have more of the natural landscape and preserved sites. Unlike the The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, the Gunung Mulu National Park is fully supported by the Government, community and tourism support for protecting the conditions and the integrity of the land. With this, there is not road access to the park and also no construction presently within it. With having limited public visitation, the park can be preserved to it's utmost full extent. The Gunung Mulu National Park is known for it's increased biodiversity and for it's karst features and displays the ecological and biological processes beautifully. There's numerous opportunities to study this National Park.
In conclusion, it's vital that we do our part in protecting these dangered national parks and rainforests. They won't be around forever, so why not protect and preserve them for the future generations. So I ask you, what are you doing to preserve and protect any site in danger? I challenge you to go and research these two historic sites and maybe research different ones that interest you specifically.
Cite: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/
Click here for the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra
Click here for the The Gunung Mulu National Park
