Authors: Martina Rahmadani (Responsible Marine Business Officer) and Sainal (Responsible Marine Business Facilitator), WWF-Indonesia

Tourism is one of the sectors that is relied upon as a source of income today. Tourism development is also evident in the Taka Bonerate National Park (TN) area - Indonesia's marine national park located in the southern part of Sulawesi - precisely in Selayar Regency, South Sulawesi Province. The conditions of biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems in it and the cluster of small white sandy islands hold tremendous potential to be managed. In addition to natural beauty, community activities and the cultural diversity of the tribes that inhabit the islands in the Taka Bonerate National Park area can also be a strong magnet for visitors and can provide knowledge for anyone visiting the area.

Taka Bonerate has long been a leading destination in Selayar Regency. The national park area manager and several parties also saw the opportunity to collaborate in tourism development. Until now, tourists who come spend more time diving and enjoying the beauty of the white sand on Tinabo Island - one of the islands designed as a tourist island within the Taka Bonerate National Park area. Later, tourists are expected to experience tourism with the concept of Model Conservation Village (MDK) which is currently being developed by Taka Bonerate National Park by involving the community.

The Conservation Village Model itself is a village that is used as a model for other villages around the conservation area in community empowerment efforts by taking into account conservation, social, economic and local cultural aspects, and will become an example in community empowerment in other places (villages). This activity aims to accelerate the development of responsible nature tourism in the area. The hope is that the community will be able to become the main actors in tourism management in the Taka Bonerate National Park area.

The villages that became the initial target of MDK development were Rajuni Village which is the working area of the National Park Management Section (SPTN) I and Jinato Village which is the working area of SPTN II, with the aim of being an example for other villages in developing conservation villages. MDK development was conducted on May 17-19, 2016 in Rajuni Village and May 20-22, 2016 in Jinato Village. The activity organized by Taka Bonerate National Park also involved various tourism actors, such as the Indonesian Tourist Association (HPI) of South Sulawesi, HPI Selayar, Community Forestry Service Team (TLKM) Hasanuddin University Makassar, Econatural, and WWF-Indonesia Southern-Eastern Sulawesi Subseascape (SESS) Program as presenters. The purpose of this activity is to encourage community participation in the plan to develop the MDK development roadmap as well as to increase the knowledge and skills of community participants in Rajuni Village and Jinato Village regarding rural-based responsible tourism.

The result of this activity is the formation of management groups in each MDK, namely the Tau Pulo Group in Rajuni Village and Jinato Marennu in Jinato Village. In addition to the formation of the groups, in yesterday's socialization activities, group members also practiced materials, such as guiding, making tour packages, and identifying several community houses that are ready to be used as visitor stays. As a pilot site for MDK, of course, conservation principles are integral to every tourism activity offered. To be able to maximize this effort, support from the community, government, academics, NGOs, and the business sector (e.g. environmental service providers) is needed. Especially in the process of strengthening groups and villages to become a quality tourism village by paying attention to environmental balance, socio-culture, and being able to improve the economy of the surrounding community.