Diversity of Cultural Landscape and Potency of Sustainable Tourism Development in Rural Area of Lombok Island, Indonesia

Abstract

Interaction between humans, nature, and culture creates a cultural landscape that provides various benefits. The pressure and threat to the existence of the cultural landscape is getting higher. This study aims to identify and analyze the diversity of cultural landscapes and determine potency of sustainable tourism development based on cultural landscape in rural area of Lombok Island, Indonesia. The area inhabited by the Sasak tribe is a rural area with ditinctive pattern of spatial organization. Kinds of cultural landscapes observed in this research are ricefield (bangket), settlement (gubuk) and homegarden (leah), meadow (gumi pupak), garden (kebon), and forest (gawah) and sacred area (simbit). Research findings indicate that the cultural landscape of the Sasak tribe in rural of Lombok Island is the traditional settlements that are built and depend on the biodiversity and its environment. Sasak people in rural of Lombok Island still maintain the cultural traditions. Through their involvement in this area, Sasak people can carry out the preservation of their cultural landscape. The development of cultural landscape as sustainable tourism can play an important role in preserving regional cultural values as a national cultural asset, preserving plant diversity and landscape, and improving the welfare of local communities.