Palu, C Sulawesi, (antarasulteng.com) - Foreign tourists have been coming to Tambing Lake in Lore Lindu National Park in Poso, Central Sulawesi, to watch various kinds of birds living in the forest area.
"Most foreign tourists come specially for studying and watching birds in the eco-tourism object," head of Section 3 of the park, Fery, said on the sidelines of a dialog on the role of the press in the protection of Lore Lindu National Park held by Antara at Lake Tambing on Sunday.
The Lore Lindu National Park has been declared as a biosphere preserve by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1977.
Fery said there are around 263 bird species living in the park and 30 percent of them are endemic.
Some of the endemic birds are Noree Sulawesi (tanygnatus sumatrana), cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea), rangkong bird (buceros rhinoceros and aceros cassidix) and pecuk ular (anhinga rufa).
Fery said the number of foreign tourists visiting the tourism object in the Poso district located 1,700 meter above sea level has continued to increase from year to year.
In 2013 the number of domestic and foreign tourists to Lake Tambing was recorded at only around 600 but it increased to 3,000 in 2004 and 6,000 in 2015.
From January to December 2015 the number of foreign tourists was recorded at 244 up from only around 100 in the same period before.
"Most of the foreign visitors were researchers and bird watchers," he said.
Lake Tambing is located around 90 kilometer from Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi and could be reached in two hours by car or motorcycle.
Reporting by Anas Masa
