Unesco declares Indonesia's Toba Caldera as global geopark

Toba Caldera contains the world's largest volcanic lake, Lake Toba. PHOTO: ST FILE

JAKARTA (XINHUA) - Unesco has declared the Toba Caldera natural lake in Indonesia's province of North Sumatra as a global geopark, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday (July 8).

"Through this declaration, Indonesia can develop the Toba Caldera through the Global Geoparks Network and the Asia Pacific Geoparks Network, especially regarding the empowerment of the local people," Arrmanatha Nasir, the Indonesian ambassador to France and concurrently Andorra, Monaco and Unesco, said after the declaration.

He said the Indonesian government managed to convince Unesco of Toba Caldera's geological potentials to sustain the lives of the local people through its rich culture, tradition and biodiversity.

The area where Toba Caldera is located is home to the indigenous Batak people, according to the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

The declaration was expected to encourage economic growth and sustainable development in the province.

Toba Caldera first applied to be a Global Geopark in 2014 - before the establishment of Unesco Global Geoparks - but the application was rejected.

Toba Caldera is renowned for its climate-changing, supervolcanic eruption that occurred about 73,000 years ago, according to the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

It contains the world's largest volcanic lake, Lake Toba, which is one of Indonesia's many popular tourist attractions.

In addition to the Toba Caldera, Indonesia has four other Unesco Global Geopark sites, namely, Mount Batur in Bali, the Ciletuh geopark in West Java, the Gunung Sewu geopark which covers Yogyakarta, Central Java and East Java, and Mount Rinjani in West Nusa Tenggara.

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