SDG Indicator 15.2.6

15.2.6 Sustainable Management of Land for Tourism (Educational Outreach)

Universitas Islam Sultan Agung (UNISSULA) provides educational outreach and participatory assistance to local communities on the sustainable management of land for tourism through community engagement, spatial planning, field surveys, participatory discussions, and eco-edutourism development.

In 2025, UNISSULA implemented a community-service programme in Manggihan Village, Getasan, Semarang Regency, assisting the local community in preparing a tourism village masterplan based on education and ecotourism.

The programme directly involved the Manggihan Village Government, Pokdarwis Pepeling, Karang Taruna, Kelompok Usaha Bersama (KUB), UNISSULA lecturers, and students in identifying tourism potential, evaluating land conditions, discussing development priorities, and planning the sustainable use of land for tourism.

The outreach activities were provided free of charge to participating local community stakeholders.

Sustainable Tourism Planning in Manggihan Village

Manggihan is an emerging tourism village with natural, agricultural, livestock, landscape, and educational-tourism potential.

To support its development, UNISSULA conducted a community-service programme aimed at preparing the Manggihan Tourism Village Masterplan based on education and ecotourism through a participatory approach.

The programme included:

Perception alignment
Primary field surveys
Focus Group Discussions
Aerial mapping using drones
Spatial analysis
SWOT analysis
Preparation of the tourism village masterplan

The programme resulted in a technical planning document designed to strengthen the capacity of Pokdarwis Pepeling and the Manggihan Village Government to manage tourism development based on education and ecology in a more sustainable way.

Public evidence:

https://doi.org/10.61251/cej.v4i3.460

Educational Outreach through Participatory Tourism Planning

The Manggihan programme was not limited to preparing a planning document.

It was conducted as a participatory educational and community-engagement process in which local stakeholders were directly involved in understanding the relationship between tourism development, land use, environmental conditions, infrastructure, and community needs.

UNISSULA lecturers and students worked with the Village Government, Pokdarwis Pepeling, Karang Taruna, and KUB through a series of field-based and discussion-based activities.

This enabled local stakeholders to gain practical experience in:

Identifying tourism resources
Assessing existing land conditions
Evaluating tourism development opportunities
Understanding spatial relationships
Identifying environmental limitations
Discussing appropriate tourism functions
Determining priorities for future tourism development

Primary Survey and Community Learning

The programme began with a participatory survey of village potential and development challenges.

On 22 March 2025, UNISSULA lecturers and students worked collaboratively with the Manggihan Village Government, Pokdarwis Pepeling, Karang Taruna, and KUB.

Survey teams were divided among six hamlets to collect physical, social, and economic information.

This activity enabled local stakeholders to observe and discuss actual village conditions rather than developing tourism plans only from secondary information.

The survey process therefore functioned as both data collection and practical education in understanding how land, community activities, natural resources, and tourism potential are interconnected.

Focus Group Discussion on Tourism Development

Following the field survey, UNISSULA conducted a Focus Group Discussion on 16 April 2025 at the Manggihan Village Hall.

The FGD involved:

Village officials
Pokdarwis Pepeling
Karang Taruna
KUB
The UNISSULA Faculty of Engineering community-service team

The discussion presented survey findings, identified key development issues, and gathered community ideas for the future tourism village.

Topics included tourism attractions, development concepts, appropriate locations for tourism activities, gathering areas, rest areas, and parking facilities.

The involvement of Pokdarwis was particularly important because the tourism awareness group is directly involved in managing village tourism.

The participatory process ensured that land-use decisions reflected both technical considerations and local community needs.

Aerial Mapping for Sustainable Tourism Land Management

Sustainable tourism requires an understanding of the physical characteristics of the land.

For this reason, UNISSULA also conducted aerial mapping using drones.

On 23 May 2025, the team worked with village officials and Pokdarwis to obtain aerial information used to assess:

Village land boundaries
Existing land conditions
Access routes
Relationships between tourism sites and settlements
Road networks
The suitability of potential camping-ground locations

The aerial survey provided a spatial basis for tourism planning before site designs were developed.

This activity demonstrated to local stakeholders how spatial information can support more responsible tourism land management.

Managing Tourism Development within Environmental Constraints

The programme recognised that tourism land cannot be developed without considering environmental conditions.

Field surveys and community discussions identified several important physical constraints.

Some areas of Manggihan have steep slopes and are vulnerable to landslides during the rainy season.

The village is also located in the upper Tuntang watershed, meaning that uncontrolled land-use change could affect downstream areas, including Lake Rawapening.

For this reason, tourism planning needs to consider:

Tourism development → land suitability → slope conditions → watershed protection → controlled land use → environmental sustainability

This approach helps prevent tourism development from being separated from the ecological characteristics of the village.

Eco-Educational Tourism as a Sustainable Development Approach

The masterplan was developed using an eco-edutourism approach.

Rather than relying only on conventional tourism facilities, the programme sought to connect tourism activities with local natural resources, agriculture, community livelihoods, environmental education, and village landscapes.

Potential tourism resources include natural landscapes, agricultural activities, community-based educational activities, forest-edge areas, and local environmental practices.

This creates opportunities for tourism development that uses existing village characteristics rather than replacing them with unrelated large-scale development.

The approach can be represented as:

Local landscape → community knowledge → environmental education → tourism experience → community benefit → sustainable land management

Land Zoning for Tourism

A major output of the programme was the identification of a priority tourism-development area covering approximately 124 hectares in Manggihan and Sengon Hamlets.

The area was divided into:

Reception Zone
Core Zone
Supporting Zone

The two principal tourism products identified were a camping ground and community-based educational tourism.

Zoning helps reduce unplanned tourism development by directing activities to appropriate areas according to their function.

This enables tourism facilities, community activities, natural landscapes, and supporting infrastructure to be planned as an integrated system.

Sustainable Management of Tourism Land

The programme demonstrated that tourism development requires more than attracting visitors.

Sustainable tourism land management also requires consideration of:

Existing land use
Slope and terrain
Settlements
Road access
Environmental sensitivity
Natural landscapes
Local livelihoods
Community facilities
Tourism carrying functions
Long-term spatial organisation

By introducing these concepts through surveys, mapping, FGD, and masterplan preparation, UNISSULA helped local stakeholders strengthen their understanding of responsible tourism development.

Community Participation in Land-Use Decisions

Pokdarwis Pepeling and the Manggihan Village Government played an active role throughout the programme.

They contributed local information, participated in primary surveys across the village, supported community meetings, and participated in the FGD process.

This participatory model is important because tourism land is closely connected with community livelihoods and everyday village activities.

Sustainable tourism planning therefore requires decisions to be developed together with the people who live in and manage the area.

The programme followed the process:

Community participation → local knowledge → field assessment → spatial planning → sustainable tourism management

Strengthening the Capacity of Pokdarwis and Village Government

One of the main purposes of the outreach programme was to strengthen local capacity.

Before the programme, Pokdarwis and the Village Government recognised the importance of planning but had limited technical capacity to prepare a comprehensive tourism-development document.

Through the UNISSULA mentoring programme, local stakeholders were introduced to:

Tourism planning concepts
Land-use assessment
Participatory planning
Spatial analysis
Tourism zoning
Development prioritisation
Long-term tourism management

The resulting masterplan provides a technical reference that can be used by local stakeholders when considering future tourism projects.

Connecting Tourism with Environmental Education

The tourism concept developed for Manggihan also incorporates educational activities.

Local environmental and livelihood activities can become part of tourism experiences while simultaneously increasing awareness of sustainability.

The programme identified opportunities to integrate tourism with existing community activities, including agriculture and environmentally oriented local practices.

This supports a tourism model in which visitors can learn from the local environment while communities retain control over how their land and resources are used.

Free Access for Local Community Participants

The tourism planning, community education, field survey, FGD, mapping, and mentoring activities were provided free of charge to participating community stakeholders.

No participation fee was required from the Village Government, Pokdarwis, Karang Taruna, KUB, or participating community members.

This enabled local stakeholders to access university knowledge, technical assistance, spatial-planning skills, and tourism-development guidance without a financial barrier.

Maintaining Local Environmental Functions

The programme recognised that the long-term value of tourism depends on maintaining the environmental characteristics that make the village attractive.

Natural landscapes, agricultural areas, forest edges, highland views, and local community activities are part of Manggihan’s tourism potential.

For this reason, tourism development should maintain the relationship between:

Landscape quality → environmental protection → tourism attractiveness → community benefit → long-term tourism sustainability

Uncontrolled land conversion could reduce both ecological quality and tourism value.

The masterplan therefore provides a framework for tourism development that considers both development opportunities and environmental constraints.

Educational Tourism and Camping Ground Development

The masterplan identified community-based educational tourism and a camping ground as principal tourism products.

The camping-ground concept was assessed in relation to land conditions, road access, nearby settlements, and supporting infrastructure.

Educational tourism was designed to connect visitors with local community activities and village resources.

These tourism products were therefore developed within a wider spatial-planning framework rather than being treated as isolated attractions.

Supporting Long-Term Tourism Management

The masterplan provides a basis for future tourism management by the community and Village Government.

It helps local stakeholders understand:

Where tourism development should be concentrated
How different tourism functions can be organised
Which areas require environmental consideration
How facilities relate to existing settlements
How tourism can be connected with local livelihoods
How development can be implemented gradually

This long-term approach is important for reducing fragmented or unplanned land development.

Public Evidence

The Manggihan programme was implemented through field surveys, FGD, drone mapping, participatory planning, and community mentoring during 2025.

The programme was later documented in a peer-reviewed community-service publication describing the preparation of the Manggihan Tourism Village Masterplan based on eco-edutourism.