Badung The Center of Tourism

Sangeh Park

There are around 5000 monkeys at present in Sangeh Natural Tourism Park, 25 km to the North of Denpasar in Abiansemal Sub-District of Badung Regency. Originally, this park was under the management of Desa Adat Sangeh traditional village authority. It is now managed by a group of professionals with experience of working in tourism. The village authority still handles security, cleanliness and space structure. I Made Sumohon the professional management chief said that the technical management team has 20 crew recruited on 01 April 2003. He recounted how each of the five banjar communities of Desa Adat Sangeh had selected four people to represent them in managing this place of interest. In addition to the dual management, the Forestry Office of Bali Province also plays a role in watching the site in technicality.

Under the improved management, there has been an average of 6,000 tourists visiting Sangeh monthly. Most of them have been domestic visitors providing an average income of Rp20 million per month to the management. The management allocates one third of the income from the entry tickets to pay salaries, 26% is contributed to Regional Government of Badung Regency and the rest goes to the Desa Adat Sangeh. ‘A 90% drop in the number of foreign tourists here has taken place after Bali’s Black October, so that now most visitors are domestic tourists,’ Mr. Sumohon said in low spirits.
Sangeh has been a famous tourist destination for many years due to its forest and wild animals which have lured a lot of visitors. Sangeh Park is 13,969-ha wide bordering rice fields to the north, the Yeh Penet River to the west and the comuniyty of Banjar Batusari to the south and east. There are about 6443 pala trees (difterocarpus tri nervis), and about 27 other sorts of tree such as gamal (Glerycidea), a tree effective in eliminating weeds, harbesia, and banyan , with low-growing plants such as ket-ket, and gunggung
Animals also occupy this forest, among others apes, civet, and snakes. The apes are a grayish color with a long tail and it is these monkeys which tourists love to watch, I Made Budiasa (40) a guard from ‘KSDA’ Natural Resources Conservation, told BTN recently. Sumohon informed us that there are four temples in the park. The temples are respectively Pura Bukitsari (on the most western point of the park), Pura Melanting (in the centre), Pura Tirta (towards the front of the park), and Pura Anyar (in front of a gate leading to the entrance to the forest).
Desa Adat Sangeh community is in charge of honoring all the temples, except Pura Anyar, which is the responsibility of Banjar Batusari. There is an isolation area in the park where naughty or sick monkeys can be rehabilitated. The management and the government are in charge of keeping the whole area clean and in order, including replanting the forest and taking care of the animals so they continue to feel at home.
It is interesting to know about the origin of Sangeh Forest, apparently it came from Mt. Gunung Agung in a slow westward movement to Mengwi one night but stopped because someone shouted out. Such a tale has been thought of as true because nowhere else can the pala tree be grown in a forest except in Sangeh, Sumohon ended his story. (sana)

See Bali's Regencies : Badung : Sangeh Park Gianyar :Ubud’s Monkey Forest Bangli : Penglipuran Bamboo Forest Remains Preserved Klungkung : Rafting and Dining on Klungkung’s Melangit River Karangasem : Trekking in East Bali Buleleng : Selat Villagers Protect Their Forest Jembrana : The Sacred Banyan Tree Tabanan : Bedugul Botanical Park Rich in Tropical Plants Denpasar : Denpasar’s Mangrove Information Center