Background

The government of Indonesia like many other countries in Asia and the Pacific have voluntarily committed to reducing green house gas (GHG) emissions by 2020. Indonesia has committed itself to a reduction of 26 per cent (up to 41 per cent with international support) in GHG emissions. In order to achieve this, climate change mitigation planning must be fully integrated into national economic development planning.

The effects of climate change and consequently policies of mitigation and their impact on the world of work are not always fully understood and in some cases considered a strain on the economy and competitiveness. The labour authorities’ and the social partners’ (ILO constituents) involvement in the development of comprehensive and coherent climate policies are required. In order to assist the government of Indonesia, the ILO through its regional office in Bangkok has selected Indonesia, as one of the five countries, to implement the Green Jobs in Asia Project. The objective of this project is to deepen ILO constituents’ understanding and commitment for the promotion of Green Jobs opportunities and an adequate transition for workers and employers towards a low carbon, climate change decelerating, environmentally friendly and socially respectful development in Indonesia.

The development of sustainable tourism in Indonesia is of paramount importance for the Government, the tourism industry and other concerned stakeholders. Part of the country’s sustainable tourism strategy is the development of eco-tourism; yet, human resources need to be further strengthened in order to realize this objective. Eco-tourism activities not only will assist in generating employment opportunities, enhancing income options through increased market diversification, but also serve to encourage the community to maintain environmental quality of the local area.

Purpose and objectives

The development of sustainable tourism in Indonesia is of paramount importance for the Government, the tourism industry and other concerned stakeholders. Part of the country’s sustainable tourism strategy is the development of eco-tourism; yet, human resources need to be further strengthened in order to realize this objective. Eco-tourism activities not only will assist in generating employment opportunities, enhancing income options through increased market diversification, but also serve to encourage the community to maintain environmental quality of the local area. In this connection, the main purpose of the roll-out training for ecotour guides is to provide beginner tour-guides, as well as potential ecotour guides, the opportunity to develop the necessary skills to plan and manage ecotours in line with the national competency standards for ecotour guides defined by the Indonesian Government.

Under this activity, participants will be trained on the skills requirements to meet national ecotour guide competency standards, aimed at enabling participants to enhance their abilities and increase their employability within the tourism industry. In addition, a number of instructors for the rollout training have been selected from the previous Training of Trainers’ (ToT) workshop held on 11-13 May 2012 in Sembalun, Lombok with a view to further strengthen participants’ skills and abilities for ecotour guide instruction. An assessment of existing tour packages and potential new tour products in the selected destination areas will be conducted and shared with the participants during the training.