August 13, 2018, Jakarta. Today, at Balaiurung Room, Ministry of Tourism office, Jakarta, Ms. Esthy Reko Astuti, Ministerial Expert Staff for Multicultural Affairs and Chairperson of the Calendar of Events, Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia, launched the Danau Sentarum Festival as part of the "100 Wonderful Events Indonesia". The theme of this year's festival, "Spurring Cross-Border Ecotourism in the Heart of Borneo" aims to encourage ecotourism, as a locomotive to promote local wisdom and culture, nature conservation and an effort to support the improvement of local livelihoods in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan.

Regent of Kapuas Hulu, A.M. Nasir, S.H in his speech stated that various activities will be held to attract visitors to the festival, such as, Traditional Boat Parade, Danau Sentarum Cruise, Honey Drinking Festival and Cycling in the Heart of Borneo II. "We ensure that by coming to this festival, tourists will not only get a new tourist experience, but will also gain knowledge about the lives of local people in Kapuas Hulu interacting and protecting their forests, including preserving existing flora and fauna," he added.

Lake Sentarum, covering 127,393.4 hectares, was designated as a National Park on February 4, 1999, and was also designated as a Ramsar Site in 1994. In addition to having a tropical rainforest ecosystem, the area also has lake wetland and freshwater swamp forest ecosystems; it is home to 675 species of flora comprising 97 families, of which 13 are rare and endemic to Borneo. The area is also home to many species, including orangutans, proboscis monkeys, sun bears and arowana fish. As a National Park, Danau Sentarum is managed to protect hydrology, as well as preserve the biodiversity within.

World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia, through its Heart of Borneo (WWF-HoB) initiative and Yayasan KEHATI through its Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) Kalimantan program, have designated the Heart of Borneo as one of the program's priorities, and both organizations have worked together and collaborated in supporting the implementation of the Danau Sentarum Festival.

TFCA Kalimantan Program Director, Puspa D. Liman said, "The launch of this festival is an important step in promoting ecotourism in conservation areas, particularly in Kapuas Hulu District". In addition, the role of the local government, local partners and tour operators, as companions and tour managers, is an integral part in promoting the event.

In conjunction with the launch of the Danau Sentarum Festival, WWF-HoB and TFCA Kalimantan organized an exhibition of various activities of partners and local communities, as part of the support for the Kapuas Hulu District government in promoting Visit the Heart of Borneo - which is a multi-year campaign, to make the Heart of Borneo region as ONE ecotourism destination.

WWF-HoB Leader, Iwan Wibisono emphasized, "In July 2018 in Palembang, Lake Sentarum was officially recognized as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. This festival will certainly be the right event to share achievements, showcase the beauty of the area, and most importantly expose the local wisdom and participation of local communities in preserving nature."

The Danau Sentarum Festival, which will culminate on October 25-28, 2018 in Kapuas Hulu District, is now in its fourth year and is now part of the Visit the Heart of Borneo campaign. Don't hesitate to step foot and visit this festival!

Visit the Heart of Borneo

For more information, please contact:

Arum Kinasih, Communications Assistant, WWF-Heart of Borneo | Phone: +62 856 808 3689 | Email: akinasih@wwf.id

Hamda Khairuzani, Data and Information Assistant, TFCA Kalimantan | HP: +62 852 7455 4275 | Email: hamda.khairuzani@kehati.or.id

About WWF-Indonesia

WWF-Indonesia is an independent national conservation organization and part of the WWF global network. Starting work in Indonesia in 1962 with the Javan rhino study in Ujung Kulon, WWF-Indonesia is currently active in 32 fieldwork areas in 17 provinces ranging from Aceh to Papua. Supported by around 500 staff, WWF-Indonesia works with governments, local communities, the private sector, NGOs, civil society and the public at large. Since the signing of the HoB declaration in 2007, WWF has continued to play a key role supporting the three governments in undertaking initiatives, enhancing collaboration and implementing conservation programs across Borneo. Working with key national and regional partners - government, private sector, civil society and other supporting institutions (donors, technical specialists, public and media) - conservation projects are led by the WWF HoB Program, a collaboration between WWF-Indonesia and WWF-Malaysia with support from WWF offices around the world. For more information, visit https://wwf.or.id

About Borneo's Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA)

TFCA (Tropical Forest Conservation Act) Kalimantan is a debt transfer cooperation program for forest conservation in Kalimantan; between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of America; with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and WWF-Indonesia as Swap Partners. KEHATI Foundation as the administrator distributes TFCA Kalimantan grants to institutions approved through a selection process to implement programs that support Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiatives including species conservation, development of environmental services and non-timber forest products (Arowana Fish, ecotourism and organic honey) in Lake Sentarum and its surroundings. For more information, visit the website at www.tfcakalimantan.org

About Heart of Borneo (HoB)

The Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative is a conservation and sustainable resource management program, agreed by three neighboring countries (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia), with the aim of improving the sustainable management of natural resources in the 23 million ha Borneo region. This initiative was agreed and announced by the ministers of the three countries at a ministerial meeting held in Denpasar on February 12, 2007. Furthermore, in 2008, the three countries have agreed on the Strategic Plan of Action (SPA) of HoB as a direction for the three member countries to develop their respective National Strategic and Action Plans.