Location: Lesser Sunda Islands Map
Area: 1,733 km² (603 km² land)
The Komodo National Park (Indonesian Taman Nasional Komodo) is
located in Indonesia, in the area of the Lesser Sunda Islands in
the border area of the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West
Nusa Tenggara.
It includes the three larger islands of
Komodo, Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous smaller ones, with
a total land area of 603 km², with a total area of the national
park of 1817 km².
The park was established in 1980,
initially only as a sanctuary for the Komodo dragon. Later it
was dedicated to the preservation of all flora and fauna, also
in the maritime area. The waters around the islands are home to
1000 species of fish, 260 species of reef corals, 70 different
sponges, 17 species of whales and dolphins, and two species of
sea turtles. Since the protection measures began, dynamite
fishing has ceased and the area covered by coral has increased
by 60 percent. The park is popular with divers because of its
biodiversity.
The park's larger mammals are of Asian
origin. The maned deer is the main prey of the Komodo dragon.
There are also wild boar, cynomolgus monkeys, civets
(Paradoxurus hermaphroditus lehmanni), water buffalo and horses.
A special feature is the endemic rat Komodomys rintjanus/Rattus
rintjanus.
The islands of the national park are of
volcanic origin. In its area live about 4000 inhabitants in four
settlements. In 1991 the national park was recognized by UNESCO
as a natural world heritage site. The town of Labuan Bajo in
Flores is the starting point for most travelers.
Komodo dragons are the main attraction for tourists in Komodo
National Park. Currently 3,267 people live in four villages within the
Komodo National Park and 16,816 people live directly around the park (as
of 2007). Tourism began in the 1980s with the founding of the national
park, around 30,000 tourists were counted in 1995/96, 93% of them
foreigners, mostly Dutch, German, English, Americans and Australians.
So far Komodo has almost exclusively been developed for tourism and
most guests make a day trip to the island as part of a holiday in
Southeast Asia. In 1995/96, tourists spent an estimated US$1.1 million
around Komodo National Park. It is criticized that only about 1% of this
money goes to its residents - the majority of the sum is turned over in
the two places from which it can be reached: Labuan Bajo on Flores and
Sape on Sumbawa. However, according to a 1996 survey, most of the
population were keen on tourism: 92.7% said they would be happy to see
more tourists. However, there were also voices that tourism was damaging
the culture of the Lesser Sunda Islands and that products and services
were becoming more expensive. 47.4% of the average poor population
complained that only residents who were already rich would benefit, and
27.3% stated that their families would not benefit noticeably from
tourism.
Also controversial is the practice of using slaughtered
goats to attract the Komodo dragons, which are difficult to observe, to
special “viewing sites” for tourists. Because the Komodo dragons become
strongly attached to these sites and occur in high concentrations,
spatial behavior could be significantly affected, favoring intraspecific
aggression, or the animals associate humans with food and attack them in
anticipation of food. On the other hand, selling goats as bait brings
local people up to a third of their profits from tourism.