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Lake Tambing offers rare bird watching, but lacks cleanliness

Lake in the garden of Eden: A wooden boat represents the perfect opportunity for bird watching on serene Tambing Lake

Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post)
Palu
Mon, August 31, 2015

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Lake Tambing offers rare bird watching, but lacks cleanliness Lake in the garden of Eden: A wooden boat represents the perfect opportunity for bird watching on serene Tambing Lake. The lake, located on Lore Lindu National Park in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, is home to 270 species of birds including the endemic maleo bird.(JP/Ruslan Sangadji) (JP/Ruslan Sangadji)

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span class="inline inline-center">Lake in the garden of Eden: A wooden boat represents the perfect opportunity for bird watching on serene Tambing Lake. The lake, located on Lore Lindu National Park in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, is home to 270 species of birds including the endemic maleo bird.(JP/Ruslan Sangadji)

Lake Tambing, located in Lore Lindu National Park (TNNL) in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, around a two-hour drive from the provincial capital Palu, has become one of the most favored places for domestic and foreign visitors to see rare birds.

'€œSome of them are bird researchers. The area is home to around 270 bird species, 60 percent of which are endemic to Sulawesi,'€ TNNL Center technical conservation head Achmad Yani said recently.

TNNL is home to a maleo bird breeding center in Saluki village. Environmentalists have often expressed concern at the dwindling population of the big bird, which is a '€œmascot'€ for Sulawesi.

Besides bird watching, tourists can also visit a tarsius breeding center in Kadidia village, hot springs in Kamaroa village, megalithic statues on the Napu and Besoa plains, as well as Lake Lindu, all located in the national park.

Achmad Yani said the TNNL Center recorded around 6,000 tourists visited Lake Tambing from January to August this year, including foreign tourists who were mostly from the US, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australia.

Achmad said the TNNL Center had targeted the state could earn Rp 26 million (US$2,000) from tourist entrance tickets to Lake Tambing this year.

Ticket sales, however, have so far reached Rp 32 million and would most likely top Rp 50 million by the end of the year, above the initial target, he added.

'€œThe income is just from a tourist site, specifically the Lake Tambing resort,'€ said Achmad.

But tourists have complained about the dirty surroundings, as garbage is strewn around the tourist sites, detracting from the area'€™s natural beauty.

American tourist Calvin Hill, who visited Lake Tambing with four of his colleagues, praised the natural beauty, but complained about the trash, such as drink cans and bottles, cigarette packs and butts and plastic wrappers.

'€œWe could not enjoy the natural beauty and wildlife in the area due to the situation,'€ said Hill.

Another American traveler, Mark Houston, expressed hope the park'€™s management would pay more attention to sanitation issues, saying one of the key factors of a good tourist attraction was environmental cleanliness.

'€œA clean tourist site would further add beauty to its surroundings,'€ said Houston.

Both of the visitors expressed their awe at the natural beauty of Lake Tambing, which is a haven for birds. The lake is teeming with birds as various species from across the world survive and breed in the forests surrounding the area.

'€œWe come here just to watch the birds,'€ said Houston, adding he was pleased to be able to visit the tourist resort which was suitable for wildlife researchers.

'€œWe are very entertained by the melodious sound of birds chirping in the Lake Tambing resort,'€ said Houston.

He and his colleagues stayed at the resort for five days to enjoy watching and listening to the birds.

'€œFrankly, there is nothing like this in other parts of the world,'€ said Houston.

The TNNL Center began developing the Lake Tambing tourist resort this fiscal year. TNNL Center head Sudaryatna said his office had started organizing the resort area by building infrastructure and various supporting facilities to boost foreign and domestic tourist arrivals.

'€œThis year, we aim to build several of the necessary facilities and infrastructure, such as the entrance and roads along the lake and power grids,'€ he said.

'€œWe will also build several houses made of wood which will be rented to visitors,'€ added Sudaryatna.

'€œWe will also build greenhouses for orchids and medicinal herbs at the Lake Tambing tourist resort,'€ said Sudaryatna.

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