Ubud’s Sacred Monkey Forest

On my second day in Ubud, I walk to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary on the far South side of town. This tourist attraction is run by the Padangtegal village, and contains local holy temples – and it really does have a lot of monkeys.

There are three holy temples in the forest. The first is the Holy Bathing Temple, its use is pretty self explanatory, and it’s located next to a stream. The second is a large temple called Pura Dalem Agung, and the third is a cremation temple that’s located next to a graveyard. One must pay careful attention when walking around these temples, since monkeys really are everywhere – I almost tripped over quite a few (probably not the best interaction between a human and the revered monkeys of the “sacred monkey forest”. ) Staff in green outfits stand around the park, and give guidance on feeding the monkeys. I asked one of the staffers how many monkeys are in the park. “Over 300.”

The Sacred Monkey Forest is run by a council called The Padantegal Wenara Wana foundation, and different stakeholders and village members serve on the council. Their goal is to maintain the sacredness and culture of the area, while promoting it to domestic and international visitors. No easy task, as tourism has jumped from 800 a month in 1986 to around 10,000 visitors a month at present. While the early morning and late afternoons are fairly quiet, the temple receives a large amount of tour buses during the day. Here are the 3 goals of the foundation, as listed on their website:

· Educating people about the importance of conserving the Sacred Monkey Forest's natural and cultural resources.

• Maintaining a team of highly trained staff members that are responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the Sacred Monkey Forest.

• Monitoring and whenever necessary restoring the integrity of the Sacred Monkey Forest's natural and cultural resources.
  
  
• Unfortunately, due to the rainy weather my pictures of the place weren’t that great, but if you’d like to see the monkeys here is a video someone youtubed.
  

So, is this an example of responsible tourism? Unfortunately, the information office next to the forest was closed when I visited. The only thing I saw besides some darkened and locked offices were cheeky looking monkeys hanging out on the balcony nearby. I asked Sherry, the Ubud expat I met, about the forest and she did mention the local village was benefiting economically from the tourism. Environmentally, tourism has created a reason to protect the woods and animals inside – though with all the bananas being handed out the monkey community seems to have expanded disproportionately with the size of the forest. And what about socially, what are the effects of this site as a tourist attraction – does it still maintain a cultural meaning to Padangtegal village???

www.monkeyforestubud.com