VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

When traveling to Situbondo district, you will find a tourism village of Kampung Blekok. Kampung Blekok is one of the conservation-based nature tourism areas. The location is in Pesisir hamlet, Klatakan village, Kendit district, Situbondo regency, East Java.This tourism area, since 2017, through the Situbondo Regent's Regulation on Biodiversity Conservation, has been designated as a mangrove area inhabited by ardidae water birds or called blekok birds by the local community. Another advantage of this tourist village is the landscape with beautiful mountain and sea views to see at sunset.

The tourist village of Kampung Blekok has an area of 6.3 hectares. It is estimated that the number of mangrove stands in Blekok Village is 12,600 trees. There are 10 types of mangrove trees, namely Soneratia Alba, Rhizophora Mucronata, Rhizophora Stylosa, Rhizophora Apiculata, Avicennia Alba, Avicennia Marina, Acanthus Ilicifoius, excoecaria Agallocha, and Hibiscus Tiliaceus.Meanwhile, there are 11 species of water birds found in Blekok Village, namely Red Herons, Great Egrets, Small Egrets, Buffalo Egrets, Ash Night Herons, Blekok Rice Fields, Sea Kokokan, Rice Kareo, Pengala Elephants, Beach Trinil and Javanese Perk. Out of the 11 bird species, 3 species are included in the protected category, namely the Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), Buffalo Egret (Bubulcus ibis), and Gajahan Pengala (Numenius phaeopus).

Traveling to Blekok Village, you can see various types of birds. To see these various types of birds, come to Kampung Blekok at 05.00 am local time, when the birds go looking for food.You can also watch the birds at 17.00 in the afternoon when they return to their cage in the mangrove forest. Through wooden bridges and viewing towers, you can watch white birds fly and perch in the mangrove forest along the coast.In addition to seeing hundreds of water birds through wooden bridges, you can also participate in planting mangroves or exploring mangrove forests by using boats belonging to local residents. You can also walk in the small alleys and see the activities of the surrounding community who mostly work as fishermen and craftsmen for souvenirs made of wood and shells.The handicrafts are sent almost all over Indonesia, especially Bali and Lombok. You can also buy various handicrafts from the local community as your souvenirs.