Things that are Allowed and Not Allowed to Do when Visiting National Parks

Conservation area is a protected area that has different classifications in many countries, usually the classification is considered to be the level of protection, the size of the area, and of course the biodiversity and the potential resources of the area. Hence, there are differences in the activities that can be done in one classification of the protected area to another. For example, in Indonesia, some of the classification of conservation areas are National Park, Nature Preserve, Nature Park, and Wildlife Reserve; there are some activities in National Park such as Trekking that are not allowed to do so in Nature Preserve. Because, National Park can have one of the additional values of a conservation area (tourism) but Nature Preserve is pure for preservation of natural resources.

However, because of its accessibility for tourists and travellers to visit National Park, Nature Park, and Wildlife Reserve, still there are limitations in activities to effectively preserve the area that is habitat to many species. Tourism activities that are allowed to do in Indonesia's protected areas are visit, look, and embrace the beauty of the nature, the biodiversity of the plants (flora) and animal (fauna) that can be expressed by taking-pictures (photography), swimming, hiking, bird-watching and many more.

In 2022, The Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Republic Indonesia has published a statement of Travel Ethics in Conservation Areas. From this statement, we discover things that can be done by travellers in conservation areas in Indonesia, these are:

• Report your arrival and get your permission/clearance to enter the protected area to the management (National Park/Natural Resources Conservation Office).
• Using trusted and certified tour guides.
• Read carefully the rules and code of conduct in entering the conservation area.
• Only visit the allowed sites, destination, and attraction.
• Wearing and using clothes, attires, and gears that fulfil the health and safety standards.
• Notice and follow the visiting time schedule.
• Comply with the COVID-19 health protocol.
• Bring your own trash bags for your generated waste during the visit and bring along until you exit the conservation area and put them in the designated trash bin.
• Bury any organic waste on the ground soil to help the decomposition.

In addition, this statement also pronounce things that are not allowed to do by the travellers in conservation areas in Indonesia, those are:

• Leave trash in the conservation area.
• Bringing and using packaging made of styrofoam and single-use plastic.
• Using flash light when taking pictures.
• Make a bonfire and light a firework.
• Smoking on the pathways/tracks.
• Cut tree stems and branches.
• Making new routes/pathways by cutting/clearing the vegetation.
• Take and bring any things that are from inside/belong to the conservation area.
• Move any animal and plants from their habitat.
• Taking any action that can disturb the wellbeing of the animal and plants (fauna & flora).
• Having/buying anything that is made of/contains whole/part of protected animals and/or plants as souvenirs, dead or alive.
• Touch and feed animals.
• Make any form of murals on any media, such as painting or scratching on tree trunks.

These are the general ethics that are applied in any conservation area in Indonesia. There are also specific rules that are applied in specific conservation areas in regards to its specific type of environment, ecosystem and biodiversity. So, please always keep the above pointers as your rule of thumb when visiting National Parks, Legends!