Known as a province with a wealth of biodiversity reserve of flora and fauna, both in land and marine reserve, North Sulawesi is the area with the highest endemicity in the world—60 percent of endemicity level for mammals, 36 percent for birds and 28 percent for reptile. To build a public commitment to develop sustainable and inclusive economy in this province, the ILO in collaboration with the Forum of Vocational Training (Forlat), a national forum for information exchanges among training centres in Indonesia, conducted a one-day tripartite dialogue on 29 August in Manado, North Sulawesi.

The dialogue was attended by around 55 participants from relevant ministries, employers’ organizations, private sector, academia, civil society organizations and local communities. The dialogue aimed to raise the commitment of relevant stakeholders towards sustainable and inclusive tourism. The dialogue also marked a preliminary event of the Regional Forum on Green Jobs in Southeast Asia titled “Transitioning to a Green and Blue Economy for ASEAN Member States: Learning from North Sulawesi” which will be held from 26 to 28 September in Manado.

Dr. Johny Tasirin, a senior lecture of the Faculty of Agriculture of Sam Ratulangi University (UNSRAT), presented key findings of his latest survey. As a conservationist, he highlighted the importance of conserving the biodiversity of North Sulawesi Province for job creation and sustainable growth in tourism sector.

“Numerous employment and economic opportunities can be developed without destroying the environment and biodiversity. Crafts, eco-tour package products and art as well as cultural performances and events are only some of the opportunities that we can explore and expand,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Dani Kaurou, Head of Infrastructure, Facility and Zone of the Provincial Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) of North Sulawesi, presented the mid-term development programme and its achievements on sustainable economy development. He also demonstrated the linkages of the achievements to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly for Goal 8 on Economic growth and Decent Jobs and Goal 13 on Climate Change.

During the workshop session, the participants identified various challenges in the tourism sector of North Sulawesi Province. The also worked together to prioritize three areas of strategic actions: waste management, institutional collaboration mechanism for tourism and communication and publication. They also highlighted the urgency of strengthened coordination, relevant policy regulations, empowerment of human capitals, as well as budget and infrastructure.

The participants also emphasized the needs for a comprehensive approach in waste management at community level and for a strong coordination and consolidation among tourism stakeholders at all levels from national level to village level. A creative and innovative informational materials and dissemination was identified as the crucial need to widely promoting a sustainable tourism destination. Thus, a joint effort between universities and villages were highly recommended. In addition, to ensure the inclusivity, a greater involvement of vulnerable groups such as women and persons with disabilities was prioritized.

Tendy Gunawan, ILO’s Programme Officer for Enterprise Development and Employment, stated that tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing economic sectors today. “To ensure the sustainability of our tourism sector, we need to consider the carrying capacity of the tourism destination, awareness of the community to preserve the environment while also benefitting economically from the tourism development, for this a functioning social dialogue between various stakeholders is crucial,” he concluded.