Universitas Gadjah Mada released seven students who are members of UGM International Expedition (UIE) V Mapagama to explore wild water rivers of Franklin River, Tasmania, Australia from 13-27 November 2018.
UGM Student Affairs Director, Dr. Suharyadi, M.Sc., released the students in an event held at Balairung UGM on Monday evening (10 November 2018).
To the expedition named as Pristine Wild Rivers, the Mapagama team send their members: Irfan Hafiyyansah (Law student), Lutfi Perdana (Philosophy student), Rais Kun Fajar P. S. (Engineering student), Iqbal Setya Nugraha (Psychology student), and three Vocational School students: Dimas Satria W., Suryo Abdi Pangestu, and Laily Adhliya.
Dimas, athlete coordinator, said the international expedition was seen as giving positive impacts to the development of adventurous skills of its members and the capacity of Mapagama as an organisation to run an international event. As such, this expedition is made as one of the most significant points to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
“The skills of each individual to do the expedition have been trained in the Asahan River in North Sumatra which is one of the main destinations for enthusiasts of extreme sports, particularly white water activities,” he said.
Dimas explained the main project of the expedition was doing the Franklin River exploration in the Franklin – Gordon National Park that lies in the heart of Tasmania. It will be done for eight days beginning 15 November 2018.
Expedition chairman, Irfan, added the team would face a very difficult condition due to the different climate and situations. The area of the expedition is humid with temperature reaching 5 degrees at night as well as there being no access to the outside world throughout the journey except navigating the rivers.
“These would all pose a challenge to the the UIE V team,” he said.
Irfan hoped the team would learn much from the expedition especially in terms of white water sport tourism from management to safety matters as well as the management and regulation of Tasmanian National Parks.