MANADO (ILO News) – North Sulawesi is known as a province with a wealth of biodiversity reserve of flora and fauna, both in land and marine reserve. The Bunaken Tangkoko Minahasa Biosphere Reserve, for example, is located in the heart of the Coral Triangle of the Indo-Pacific; while Likupang in North Minahasa Regency has been selected as one of Indonesia’s five super-priority tourist destinations.

To promote sustainable tourism in North Sulawesi that preserves the environment, supports local livelihoods, and promotes responsible practices, the International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), with support from the Government of Japan and the UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (UN-PAGE), is organizing a three-day Green Jobs Forum titled “Transitioning to a Green and Blue Economy: Learning from North Sulawesi”.

Held in Manado from 26-28 September, the Forum is also conducted in coordination with UNEP Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). The Forum aims to build an economically and ecologically viable system that provides local communities with opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and decent work, protects the environment, highlights unique tourism offerings like village homestays and in the process creates green jobs within the growing tourism sector.

Also aimed to foster the transition towards a low-carbon green and blue economy, the Forum is officially opened today (26/9) by Olly Dondokambey, Governor of North Sulawesi, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, Bappenas’ Deputy for Economic Affair, Kusum Jaim, Team Lead of Mitigation Impact Assessment Support Unit of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Michiko Miyamoto, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia.

Governor Olly in his remark emphasized the importance of tourism sector for the province of North Sulawesi. The North Sulawesi tourism is a tourism rising star in the country with a 600 percent growth of foreign tourists visiting North Sulawesi that has contributed to the economic growth.

“Tourism sector is a leading sector in the province and this sector plays an important role in expanding job opportunities through green and blue jobs that pay attention to preserve the environment and the conversion of natural resources. Thus, we are committed to support the development of quality tourism and we have developed local initiatives to support the transition to green and blue economy,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Michiko Miyamoto, ILO Country Director for Indonesia, highlighted the huge number of employment opportunities that could be created by the tourism sector. She also emphasized the important role of tourism to foster community engagement, empowering local communities and preserving traditional knowledge.

“The ILO is pleased with the joint Forum that we have initiated with relevant ministries and partners to focus on biodiversity conservation, the creation of green jobs and the acceleration to green and blue transition leading to sustainable local economic development and livelihoods. We hope to continue enhance and strengthen the collaboration, knowledge-sharing and innovative approaches among relevant stakeholders,” she stated.

During the three day of the Forum, various issues are discussed, including issues related to sustainable development related actions on green jobs and the linkage between green and blue economy to local community, tourism industry and nature reserves. The Forum also examines local economic development, the protection of the biodiversity and knowledge-sharing and concludes with the identification of ways to move forward with the development of partnerships for biodiversity and jobs initiative, skills development and the promotion of sustainable and inclusive tourism approach.

Under the UN-PAGE programme, the ILO aims to enhance the understanding of the employment impacts of the green transition and address knowledge gaps of national economies to support sustainable development and promote Green Jobs and Just Transition in the country, while enhancing peer learning through regional exchanges.

For further information, please contact:

Tendy Gunawan
ILO’s Programme Officer
Email: tendy@ilo.org

Irfan Afandi
ILO’s Officer on Green and Blue Economy
Email: irfan@ilo.org

Gita Lingga
ILO’s Communications Officer
Email: gita@ilo.org