REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU -- The Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN) Office, Riau, will hold the Tesso Nilo Festival on November 22-24, 2017, to re-establish the local wisdom of the people living around the forest as a new tourism potential.

"There are two objectives of holding this festival, the first being conservation and second, cultural," TNTN Head Supartono said here on Monday.

This festival is being held for the first time, and the office expects at least 200 visitors at the event.

The Tesso Nilo Festival will feature Pelalawan District's culture called "Nyanyi Panjang," or literally means "long song."

Supartono explained that Nyanyi Panjang has been established by the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education as an intangible cultural heritage.

He added that Nyanyi Panjang has 25 local songs containing messages on nature, but only a few people have mastered it.

"Now, only three people are able to perform Nyanyi Panjang, and they are old," he noted.

Supartono said the festival is also aimed at promoting TNTN's natural ecotourism potential.

The national park can only be reached by a private car, with the trip taking some three to four hours from Pekanbaru City. The national park was inaugurated on July 19, 2004, and has an area of 38,576 hectares. Most of its area belongs to Pelalawan District, and the rest is part of Indragiri Hulu, Kuantan Sengingi, and Kampar Districts.

On October 19, 2009, the TNTN area was expanded to 83,068 hectares. This forest block serves as a habitat for elephants and Sumatran tigers.

"Initially, the main objective of establishing this national park was to conserve elephants. There are seven tame elephants and about 120 wild elephants," Supartono revealed.

TNTN is planned to be expanded to cover an area of 100 thousand hectares to serve not only as the lungs of the archipelago but also of the world.

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