Promoting geotourism to develop the poor area : an initiative to Jeli District, Kelantan, Malaysia

There are wonderful landforms/landscapes and amazing phenomena all around the world. Mountains, hills, rivers, lakes and waterfalls are some natural attractions of an area. They are geological features that make an area interesting and enjoyable. Geological attraction is one aspect of geotourism (a part of ecotourism). The state of Kelantan in Malaysia has so many geological features which has good potential as a tourist destination. One district in Kelantan, namely Jeli is a remote area and is still in backward condition. However, Jeli is rich of natural resources and constitutes many beautiful geological attractions, such as Gunung Reng, Pergau River, Lata Chenai, Lata Janggut, and Lata Renyok waterfalls and Jeli hot spring. All these potentials should be conserved and developed by promoting them as geotourism sites. This initiative can help to maintain and protect natural attractions while supporting the economic development in the area. Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), which will have a branch campus in the area soon, in cooperation with the local government, non-governmental organizations, private sectors, and the local community, should play an important role to reach the objective and to initiate this effort as an alternative to empower the local community and at the same time to eradicate the poverty in the area.