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The dark future of conservation and tourism in Komodo park
UNESCO has warned of the potential hazard of mass tourism as the government planned to bring in 500,000 visitors inside the Komodo National Park once pandemic restrictions are loosened.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (center) talks to reporters during a visit to Rinca Island in the Komodo National Park, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, on July 21, 2022. (residential Office Press Bureau/Lily Rachev)
P
resident Joko ”Jokowi” Widodo made an important statement on the future management of the Komodo National Park during his visit to Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, last week to inaugurate new tourism facilities on Rinca Island, thereby ending the obscurity regarding the government’s policy on the conservation area.
The President announced two different ideas for managing conservation and tourism in the Komodo National Park. First, Rinca Island and its surrounding waters will be dedicated to the purpose of tourism, targetting a massive 1.5 million visitors in just one year. Meanwhile, Komodo Island, Padar Island and the waters nearby will be designated for exclusive tourism with an awfully expensive entrance fee for the sake of conservation efforts in Komodo National Park.
Earlier, the government had announced the hike of the entry fee for Komodo Island and Padar Island, the park’s two most prominent tourist islands, to a whopping Rp 3.75 million (US$250) per person starting from August.
The locals, however, are seeing the blueprint from a different perspective. Growing discontent with the President’s ideas was shown at the latest public rally that took place in Labuan Bajo on July 18. The protesters comprised tourism-related organizations, the people of Komodo Island and environmental activists who see the current policy as not only counterproductive to conservation value, but also potentially destructive to the park’s tourism on a larger scale.
They had made efforts to develop nature-based tourism in the area with the spirit of community over the past few years.
Following the public outcry, the government’s plan to develop Rinca Island for mass tourism needs to be seriously reconsidered when it comes to the matter of conservation. This concern is very urgent for the Komodo National Park, as the area has come under the spotlight of the global community alerting the hazardous effect of over-tourism.
We should take into account the two latest warnings from notable international agencies concerning conservation in the Komodo National Park. First, in November 2021, the International Union for Conservation of National (IUCN) changed the extinction status of Komodo dragons from being vulnerable to being endangered species as an impact of climate change.
