The natural wealth of Mendono Village, Kintom District, Banggai Regency, Central Sulawesi, encouraged Students of UGM Students Community Services (KKN) – Sangalu Banggai to explore tourism potential that is still largely unknown to the wider community. One such potential is the Mendono River Waterfall, better known to locals as Molang Waterfall.
One of the KKN students, Zidan, explained that the five-day, four-night expedition began on Saturday (01/17/2026) and returned to Mendono Village on Wednesday (01/21/2026). Four KKN students from the Mendono Village sub-unit explored the natural environment. They were Jonathan Ephram Purnomo (Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences), M. Zidan Jibrian (History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences), Elvanicky Gita Nusantara (Remote Sensing Cartography, Faculty of Geography), and Kalyana Maia Majesta (Faculty of Forestry). The group consisted of 16 people, including the group leader, four KKN students, and several members of the Mendono Youth Organization.
Zidan explained that in order to carry out the Tourism Potential Promotion work program, the UGM Sangalu Banggai Community Service Program team conducted a five-day, four-night expedition to Molang Waterfall. This activity aimed to document the natural beauty of the area while identifying access challenges and opportunities for developing tourist destinations in the region. This initiative also supports the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, by creating business and employment opportunities for residents around Mendono, Banggai Regency. Additionally, it supports Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities by preserving the natural environment to ensure the waterfall’s beauty remains intact.
The journey to Molang Waterfall is considered quite challenging by the students. According to Zidan, the team had to take an unofficial tracking route, follow the river, pass through dense forest, and cross rocky cliffs. Along the way, the KKN students also spent the night at several natural campsites such as Buntong and Doloman, which are known by the local community as stopping points when traveling through the forest.
Before reaching Molang Waterfall, the KKN team first passed Bilaladik Waterfall, another natural destination that is no less interesting. The existence of these two waterfalls shows that the Mendono River area has a rich and diverse natural landscape with the potential to be developed as an integrated nature tourism route in Mendono Village.
Given the limited access routes, this activity is also part of a cross-cluster collaboration between KKN, particularly the science and technology cluster, through the Creation and Mapping of Access Routes to Tourist Destinations program. The program aims to create clearer, more systematic, and easier-to-understand tracking routes, thereby serving as a safe guide for both tourists and local communities.
In addition, the UGM Sangalu Banggai KKN team also runs a digital content-based tourism promotion program by producing short videos that capture the natural beauty along the tracking route to Molang Waterfall. Although the promotion was currently focused on writing news articles, the visual documentation is prepared to be published through social media such as TikTok and Instagram Reels in order to reach the younger generation more widely and creatively.
Through this expedition, the UGM Sangalu Banggai KKN students hope that Molang Waterfall and the Mendono River area will not only be known as beautiful natural destinations but also as spaces for learning about the importance of community-based tourism management and environmental sustainability. With the right promotional strategies and planned management, the tourism potential of Mendono Village is expected to develop without compromising the existing natural values and local wisdom.