The Potency of Seagrass community to Support the Development of Ecotourism in South Coastal of Lombok Island Indonesia
Abdul Syukur, Lalu Zulkifli and Agil Al Idrus
1)Postgraduate Program of Science Education, Mataram University
2)Department of Sciences Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mataram University
12*Correspondent Author: Abdul Syukur, syukurbiologi[at].unram.ac.id.
Abstract
Coastal ecosystems consisting of mangrove ecosystems, seagrass beds and coral reefs have the potential to be developed as ecotourism. Seagrass ecosystems located in the intertidal zone are an integral part of coastal tourism in the area of study. However, its existence has not received serious attention as a component of coastal ecotourism that can contribute to ecological services. This article aims to start an effort towards empowering this potential through the study seagrasses ecology to formulate the potential of ecological services in supporting the development of ecotourism. Data collection were done through observation, survey and questionnaire methods, and data analysis were done descriptively. The analysis showed that the potential of seagrass community tourism services can be grouped into three parts, namely: (1) seagrass community that form seagrass beds in each tourist location, (2) the diversity of species of biota associated with seagrass can be enjoyed by tourists and (3) seagrass community area can be the location of snorkeling at the time of high tide. The conclusion of the study is that the existence of seagrass ecosystems can provide added value from aspects of environmental services in the development of ecotourism in the southern coastal region of Lombok Island.
Keywords: Seagrass ecosystem, Development of coastal ecotourism, Ecologycal services
Topic: Biology