Royal Sembahulun Story

My name is Royal Sembahulun. I am the owner of Lombok Green Nature. I am working in the tour and travel business, besides that, I am an activator who active in the campaigning of environmental issue, social and economic in West Nusa Tenggara since 2004. In 2003, I joined in Nature Adorer Organization that focuses on environment conservation. In 2006, I was pointed/chosen as the secretary of the Organization. On the way, I started to think of combining the environmental sector and tourism. Firstly, I went along in tourism as a tour guide and most of doing trekking to Mount Rinjani. This is the beginning of me to know the tourism industry and its benefits to change social society and economy.

In 2008, I started to make a big movement by making an Organization named Sembalun.
Community Development Center with some youths of Sembalun. I am the director of the Organization since it was built now on. We focus on Environment, social, economic, and non-formal education for the locals. We started doing volunteering and increasing some skills for the locals. One of the basics is the Free English Course that was taught by volunteers in supporting tourism development in Sembalun and West Nusa Tenggara.

In 2010, I struggled for the right of the laborers in Mount Rinjani to get proper treatment from some tour operators who use their service. Act of caring focused on increasing the pay and limitation of the weight of goods carried by porters. I got some appreciates of developing tourism relate to my activities as an activator of tourism. In 2015, I got appreciation from the governor of West Nusa Tenggara as a good activator of tourism. Then, in 2018 I got an appreciation from the Tourism Ministry of the Indonesian Republic, category “appreciation for activator of local business in Homestay sector”. I am aware that most businessmen who exploited this nature are still far away from the sustainable concept and appear more trouble to environmental sustainability.

Developing tourism will increase the economy for the locals and change the social class by creating a new field of work that can decrease the poverty rate. But it’s not parallel with environmental sustainability such as rubbish in tourism objects that are most visited. So, everybody who works in this industry (tour and travel) has to understand how to maintain the environment aimed at sustainable tourism. These are the reasons why I have to change my company name from Royal Rinjani Tour became Lombok Green Nature.

Read also: Information Trekking Rinjani