BADUY LAND NEEDS PROMOTIONS TO ATTRACT FOREIGN TOURISTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 16 (Antara) - The culture tourism in the land of the Baduy Tribe who still live in virgin forests in Banten Province needs to be further developed and promoted to attract foreign tourists.          Located some 40 km southeast of Serang, provincial capital of Banten, the Baduy Land covers 5,100 hectares and is populated by about 5,000 to 6,000 isolated Baduy tribesmen.          The uniqueness of the Baduy tribe is its firmness in upholding their ancestors' traditions and its rejection of all kinds of modern life, despite the fact that the Land of Banduy is not far from the metropolitan city of Jakarta and Bandung, where modernity is gaining fast progress.          The Land of Baduy is therefore has the potential to be cultivated and developed as a culture tourism, without the need to change or disturb the way of life of the Baduy people.          For instance,  the tourism site of the isolated Baduy tribe in the Kendeng mountainous area, Leuwidamar Subdistrict, Banten, can become an international tourism destination and attract foreign tourists if properly developed.            "So far the government has not yet maximally developed the tourism aspect of the Baduy community's potential," Emuy Mulyanah, a member of the Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD) of Lebak District, Banten, said here on Monday.          According to Mulyanah, the Baduy tribe's tourism potential can be sold to the world partly because it is also a very interesting object for researches.          The land of the Baduy tribe in Lebak District is a separate world which blends fertile earth, virgin forests, clear water, clean air and an unpolluted environment.          The Baduy Land is free from pollution and separated from the bustle of big cities such as Bandung and Jakarta, even though Banten, where Lebak District is located, shares borders with these modern cities.          Mulyanah said the Baduy tribe is categorized as  one of the country's isolated communities which rejected modernity. Up to now, the Baduy community still maintains the traditions of their ancestors and refuses modern life.          Members of the Baduy tribe also preserve their environment and are friendly with nature. Thus, the Baduy tribe rejects asphalted roads and electrification of their region.          The uniqueness of the local people's lives also lies on their maintained traditions and customs. They live in a forest area covering about 5,100 hectares and have built no roads, have no electricity, do not have radio or television and reject the use of motorized vehicles.          Head of Lebak's Tourism Service for youth, sports and tourism affairs Oman Nurohman said  in the Baduy Dalam (the interior of Baduy Land) tribesmen usually clad in white clothing, when traveling to other regions. They have to go on foot and are not allowed to use public transportation.          Syaifullah Saleh, former head of the Culture and Tourism Service of the Regional Government of Lebak District said two years ago, many anthropologists come to the Baduy Land to conduct research, since members of the Baduy tribes maintained a very modest life, though they never experience food shortages.          The Baduy build wooden houses, walled with plaited bamboos. Their forests produce all the materials they need to construct their homes. There is no need to buy cement, tiles, bricks and other modern housing materials.          They live a simple life based upon a primitive agricultural system and firmly maintain the values of their traditions.          "We are of the view that these values have high selling points for promoting them as tourism objects," Syaifullah said.          Nurohman concurred with Syaifullah, saying many anthropologists came to the region to study the traditions of the Baduy people.          "There are many anthropologists who have visited the Baduy Land to conduct researches," Nurohman said.          Sarpin, the secretary of the Kanekes Village, Leuwindamar subdistrict, said that most of visitors to the tourism object of the Baduy Land were from universities, schools, researchers, private and government institutions.          The number of family visitors, however, was still small. "We are convinced that the number of foreign and local visitors to the Buduy Land in the future will increase," Nurohman said.          Nurohman said that in 2014 the number of foreign tourists visiting the Baduy tourism destination reached 158 from the Netherlands, Britain and Switzerland.          Most of the foreign tourists visited the Baduy Land for conservation purposes or to learn the local culture. This is because the Baduy tribe still maintains their traditions and rejects modernity.          Data in 2012 showed that the number of tourists to the Baduy Land  stood at 5,380 visitors, including foreigners. This is relatively small.          Therefore, local legislator Emuy Mulyanah said that the culture tourism of the Baduy Land still needed to be developed and promoted as it had the potential to attract foreign tourists.          He also expressed concern as the conditions of the indigenous Baduy Land are still saddening as the areas had no adequate infrastructure and other facilities.          In the Baduy region there is no hotel, inn, market and clean water supply. Thus, the Baduy tourism object is rarely visited by international tourists, he said.          He expressed hope that the local government would develop the Baduy indigenous tourism object in an effort to attract tourists, advance local people's economy and increase regional government's income.          "We are confident that the the Baudy indigenous tourism can attract foreign tourists," Mulyanah said.***1*** (T.A014/H-YH) (T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 16-03-2015 22: