Komodo National Park - Conservation

Conservation

The island of Padar and part of Rinca were established as nature reserves in 1938. Komodo Island was declared a nature reserve in 1965, and in 1977 an UNESCO biosphere reserve. The three islands were declared a national park in 1980, which was later extended to include the surrounding marine area and a section of Flores in 1984. In 1991 the national park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Since 1995, the national park authority has been supported by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an American environmental organization. A new management plan was co-authored with TNC and implemented in 2000 to address the problem of increasing resource exploitation, both marine and terrestrial. Most pressure on marine resources originates from fishing communities and commercial enterprises from outside the park. However, regulations and restrictions on resource use impact mostly on park residents, who have few options to make a living but rely on what the park has to offer. The provision of alternative livelihoods is part of the overall management strategy, but communities within the park are yet to benefit from appropriate measures addressing their needs.

After 5 years operation, in 2010 Putri Naga Komodo's (PNK) permit was yanked. PNK was a nonprofit joint venture company partially funded by the TNC and the World Bank to operate tourist facilities in hopes of eventually making the park financially self-sustaining. After the moment more illegal fishermen came due to enforcement declined greatly following the exit of TNC that helped fight destructive fishing practices. In early 2012, dive operators and conservationists found many desolate grey moonscapes. Illegal fishermen are blasting sites with 'bombs' of fertilizer and kerosene mixed in beer bottles or use squeeze bottles to squirt cyanide into the coral to stun and capture fish. In the past two years more than 60 illegal fishermen have been arrested and even one of the suspects was shot and killed after the fishermen tried to escape by throwing fish bombs at the rangers.