T

he East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) administration’s plan to raise Komodo National Park’s entrance fee to at least US$500 as part of efforts to boost the profile of the conservation area has been met with opposition from the local community.

NTT Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat recently said that tourists should pay a lot more to see Komodo dragons in the park — the only place in world where people can see the endangered species in their natural habitat, which is also an official UNESCO World Heritage site.

West Manggarai Tourism Rescue Society Forum (Formapp Mabar) feared that a higher entry fee would decrease the number of tourist arrivals and subsequently lower the incomes of tourism operators and tour guides in the area, particularly in Labuan Bajo, which is the main hub for the park.

Formapp Mabar chairman Rafael Todowela said the plan might also affected local businesses such as restaurants, hotels and coffee shops.

“That is why we demand that the NTT governor issue a statement scrapping the plan to impose a higher entry fee of $500,” Rafael said on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com.

The park has welcomed a growing number of tourists both from Indonesia and overseas in recent years. However, the influx has triggered a number of environmental problems, including fires, which have affected the park’s landscape, according to the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

Previously, the central government planned to limit the number of visitors to the park in a bid to maintain the ecosystem’s stability following a fire in August that burned several hectares of grassland.