Ecotourism implementation for tropical forest resource conservation in Indonesia: Legal aspects

Abstract

In developing countries, including Indonesia, ecotourism can potentially be a strategy to conserve forests as well as generating local income and thus alleviating poverty. This concept is applicable to accommodate tourism development in this country, preventing negative impacts of mass tourism. Due to its potential resources, the government had long been established sets of regulations to accommodate the implementation of ecotourism in forest areas. However, it is important to measure whether these regulations are consistent with ecotourism principles to ensure sustainability aspects. This study aims to evaluate several regulations in Indonesia related to ecotourism implementation in terms of their consistency in applying ecotourism principles. The research method was a desk study and content analysis. Results showed that the Ministry of Environment and Forestry had enacted regulations to encourage the implementation of the ecotourism concept in managing tourist destinations located in forest areas: production, protected and conservation forests. However, several ecotourism principles were not regulated, such as environmental and local education culture to visitors and local people, conservation planning in the tourist destination, and control mechanisms. In conclusion, it is essential to elaborate ecotourism principles in the regulations to ensure the sustainability aspects of ecotourism implementation in state forest areas.