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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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komodo dragons - giant lizards

“The Komodo dragon, as befits any creature evoking a mythological beast, has many names. It is also the Komodo monitor, being a member of the monitor lizard family, Varanidae, which today has one genus, Varanus.  Residents of the island of Komodo call it the ora. Among some on Komodo and the islands of Rinca and Flores, it is buaya darat (land crocodile), a name that is descriptive but inaccurate; monitors are not crocodilians. Others call it biawak raksasa  (giant monitor), which is quite correct; it ranks as the largest of the monitor lizards, a necessary logical consequence of its standing as the largest lizard of any kind now living on the earth…. Within the scientific community, the dragon is Varanus komodoensis. And most everyone calls it simply the Komodo.”     Claudio Ciofi

The Komodo dragon is an ancient species whose ancestors date back over 100 million years. The varanid genus originated between 25 and 40 million years ago in Asia. The Komodo descended from this species and evolved to its present form over four million years ago.

The Komodo is long lived (as are most of the larger reptilian species) with an estimated life expectancy of over 50 years in the wild. In keeping with its longevity, the Komodo matures late in life, becoming sexually viable at five to seven years, and achieving maximum body density in fifteen years.  Komodos are sexually dimorphous, which means males are bigger than females. The largest recorded specimen was 3.13 meters in length and was undoubtedly a male. Females rarely exceed 2.5 meters in length. What is perhaps more important, is that the characteristic bulk is achieved by older dominant males in clearly delineated territorial areas. As an adult Komodo can consume up to 80% of its body weight in one gorging, weight is a highly variable factor, and is largely dependent on the most recent feeding. A typical weight for an adult Komodo in the wild is 70 kilograms.

Komodo dragons are first and foremost opportunistic carnivores, and predators second.  Although the Komodo can sprint briefly at 20 kilometers an hour, it does not chase down game as do the larger mammalian predators. The Komodo is a stealth predator, which lies motionless and camoflouged alongside game trails for the unwary, which tend to be the very young, the old and the infirm. In an attack, the Komodo lunges at its victim with blinding speed and clasps it with the serrated teeth of the jaw. Prey are rarely downed in the initial attack unless the neck is broken or caratoid artery severed. The more likely outcome is escape, followed by death a few hours or days later from septicemia introduced by the virulent strains of bacteria found in the saliva of the Komodo dragon (the Komodo survive primarily on carrion and  ingest the bacteria when feeding).

The Komodo has two highly developed sensory organs – the olefactory and the Jacobson’s  - which allow the dragon to detect rotting carcasses from distances as great as 10 kilometers. The yellow forked tongue is

constantly being flicked in and out of the mouth, “tasting the air”, and inserted into the Jacobson’s organ located in the roof of the mouth. The individual tips are highly sensitive and are capable of discriminating odors in the magnitude of millionths of a part. Using the information garnered, the dragon wends in a seemingly random, winding path which becomes straighter the closer it approaches to the carrion. The Komodo is typically a communal feeder and any number of dragons might arrive at the site of the carcass.

Socialization occurs during feeding at carrion sites, as does mating. The abdomen is slashed first and the intestines and stomach contents scattered. Young juveniles roll in the fecal matter to mask their scent from aggressive adults, which attack and sometimes kill juveniles during feeding. The dominant male feeds until sated, followed by other dragons in order of size. While the dominant male is gulping down hindquarters and ribcages, the braver dragons chance foraging a few scraps. Virtually the entire carcass is consumed in the process– head, fur, hooves and bones. After feeding, the Komodos become quiescent and approachable while their digestive tracts are converting the food into fat energy stored in the tail.

Between the months of  May and August, mating occurs at and around feeding sites. As males outnumber females in a ratio of nearly four to one, the dominant male must fend off other suitors before mating. Males will engage in slashing, biting and bipedular rearing onto the tail, until the dominant male is acknowledged by displays of subservience and the vanquished flees. The female is forced into a prone position while the male tongue flicks her body, and in particular, the fold between the torso and the rear leg close to the cloaca. With Komodos, the male hemipenes are located here as are the female genetalia. Once prone, the male mounts onto the back of the female and inserts one of the two hemipenes into her cloaca , depending on which side he is perched. The month of September is when a clutch of 15-30 eggs is buried in a nest dug with the powerful claws of the female dragon. A typical nesting site is in the composting vegetative mounds of the maleo birds which are indigenous to Komodo.

The gestation period for the eggs is eight to nine months. Hatchlings, which average 40 centimeters in length and weigh 100 grams, emerge from the nest in April and immediately scramble up the nearest tree to avoid being eaten by the adults.  There are plenty of small lizards, insects and mammals in the canopy after the brief rainy season in January and February to sustain the juveniles until they descend to the forest floor roughly a year later. This period of change between an arboreal and a terrestial habitat, when the juveniles are a meter in length, is a time fraught with danger.  The juvenile Komodo is just too bulky to safely ascend many trees, and not big enough to outrun a ravenous and determined adult. Cannibalism is a fact of life for this species, and perhaps is an evolutionary response to the harsh, arid climate of Komodo.

Prey species for the dragon on Komodo island include deer, boar, wild buffalo, the maleo bird, snakes, reptiles and small mammals. On Rinca, the monkeys and wild horses found there are also constitute prey, as do the goats raised by the local people. On the odd occasion people are also attacked by the Komodo dragon. There have been eight recorded instances of attacks on humans since Komodo has become a national park, almost all of which occurred on Rinca.


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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komodo dragons

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How does a Komodo dragon act in the wild ?

The Komodo dragon is generally very slow and lethargic. It spends much of his time basking in the sun. It usually wanders in search of food mornings and in the afternoons, and naps in shade during mid-day when it is the hottest.

What things do they use to help them to survive ?

The Komodo dragons most useful trait is its acute sense of smell. The sense of smell (olfactory nerve) in the nose is helped by the Jacobsons organ located in the roof of its mouth which is activated by the tips of its forked tongue. This is why the Komodo dragon is constantly flicking his long, yellow tongue into the air, tasting it for signs of nearby food.

What body parts do the Komodo Dragons have ?

The Komodo dragon has many serrated teeth, strong claws for digging, a long forked tongue, a long thick tail and hard, scaly skin. The largest ones are 3 meters long (ten feet) and weigh up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds).

Why are they called Komodo dragons ?

The name was given to the worlds largest lizard by Douglas Burden, the leader of the 1928 American expedition to the island of Komodo, the only place in the world where these lizards are found.

What is their daily routine ?

The Komodo dragon wakes at dawn and immediately moves to a sunny position to bask until its core body temperature is achieved. It then spends the rest of the day roaming in search of food, with a rest in the shade during the hottest part of the day. The Komodo dragon retreats into his burrow at dusk to sleep throughout the night.

How do baby Komodo dragons act and what do they do ?

Baby Komodos hatch from eggs that have been incubated in a nest for nine months. When they emerge from their shell, they scramble to the nearest tree and climb. The baby dragons spend the first year of their life in trees living on insects, bird eggs and small lizards. When they reach a length of one meter, they descend to forage on the forest floor. This is a survival instinct developed over millions of years because adult Komodo dragons are cannibalistic and will eat their young.

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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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komodo dragon


courtesy of Asia Map,
asiamap@cbn.net.id
Click here to view the map.

Komodo is no longer a remote island accessible only by wealthy tourists on private boats. Today there are over 20,000 visitors a year that visit the park. The majority of visitors still arrive by cruise ship, despite the fact the most popular, Spice Island Cruises, ceased operations in 1999.

The gateway to Komodo is arguably the island of Bali. While most visitors to Komodo National Park enter through the gateway cities of Bima in eastern Sumbawa, or Labuanbajo in the west of Flores, the departure point is actually Bali. Both Bima and Labuanbajo are serviced by regularly scheduled flights that depart daily at 9:30am from Denpasar to Bima, with connecting flights to Labuanbajo on Monday and Saturday. The gateway cities are also connected to Bali by overland buses and inter-island ferries. There are local coastal ships that travel between Lombok and Labuanbajo. These boats cater to tourists and take passengers on a four day trip that includes a day and night in Komodo National Park (cost $50 per person).

After arriving in Sumbawa, a ferry service from the port of Sape in the east of the island to Labuanbajo picks up and drops off passengers in Komodo in the July-August peak tourist season. Otherwise local tour operators organize shared boat charters from either Bima or Labuanbajo to Loh Liang and the smaller islands in Komodo National Park. Grand Komodo Tours operates a four day/three night package from Bima to Komodo return for US$190, with two nights in a hotel, and one on a live aboard boat.

Airfares: Denpasar to Bima US$ 60 o/w
Denpasar to Labuanbajo $80 o/w

Park Facilities

The Komodo National Park administrative offices are located in Labuanbajo in west Flores. An information center and travel agents where transportation to and from the Park can be arranged are also found in Labuanbajo. The majority of tourists to the Park pass through the Loh Liang ranger station nestled in the sweeping arc of Slawi Bay on Komodo island. This is the largest facility in Komodo National Park with bungalows and rooms, a restaurant and a dormatory for the park rangers. The most popular tourist activity is a hike to the Banugulung viewing area, a two-hour roundtrip level walk that originates from Loh Liang. Hikes to other areas of Komodo are also possible, and vary from one to two days: Gunung Ara, Poreng, Loh Sebita, Gunung Sata libo, Soro Masangga. On longer walks overnight accommodation can be arranged at ranger posts at Loh Sebita and Loh Genggo. For certified divers there is a compressor and diving equipment available for hire at Loh Liang as well as masks and fins for snorkellers. Handicrafts made in the nearby village of Komodo are for sale at the arrival jetty.

The entrance ticket to Komodo National Park costs Rp 25,000 and is valid for three days. It is easily renewable, so a prolonged stay in the park is possible. There are two ranger stations which provide spartan accommodation for tourists: Loh Liang on Komodo and Loh Buaya on Rinca. The charges are minimal and start at Rp 30,000 per room. Be advised that everything is basic, including beds, communal toilets and food availability. Fortunately most travellers are not deterred by the limited facilities, accepting this as a part of the Komodo experience. Advance booking for accommodation are not accepted.

The hiking on Rinca is less strenuous than that on Komodo, and has the added attraction of viewing the wild horses and monkeys which are not found on Komodo. On Rinca wild buffalo are more common and easily seen as well. On the north side of the island, behind Rinca village, is a large cave with a resident bat colony. Rangers at both Loh Liang and Loh Buaya are readily available to lead walks, and are knowledgeable about the local fauna and birdlife.

Diving in Komodo

Scuba divers have a number of operators to chose from and range from the live-aboard luxury of Dive Komodo's MS Evening Star to the more spartan accommodation found on the boats operated by Grand Komodo Tours.

Liveaboards

Dive Komodo: Operates two charter vessels: 30m long MS Evening Star with six cabins and a large dormatory aft. Shared facilities; 23m long Dewata Ayu, a luxury catamaran with four double berth cabins. One toilet. Both vessels have Bauer compressors and twin aluminum tenders.

Divemaster: Mark Heighes.

Cost US$180 per person for Evening Star, $120 per person for Noorigoo

Grand Komodo: Operates three vessels: the 20m coastal steamer Komodo Plus with five cabins and shared facilities; the Tarata, a larger 30m converted steamer with A/C six cabins and attached baths; and the Baka Temu, a large eight cabin phinisi boat with all the mod-cons . All boats have Bauer compressors with aluminum dinghy.

Regularly scheduled departures start from $780 per person for seven days, with all diving and food included.

CNDive. Operates one converted steamer with sleeping space on deck. Three day dive safaris.

Land Based Dive Operators

Reefseekers (0385) 41443 Email: Dive@reefseekers.net

CNDive (0385) 41159 Fax: (0385) 41379

Bajo Dive Club (0385) 41343 Email: bajodiveclub@hotmail.com

Oceanic Diving (0385) 41426 Email: oceanic_diving@yahoo.com

Puri Komodo (021) 3145154 Email: info@purikomodo.com

 

Click here to view the map.

courtesy of Asia Map,
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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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komodo dragons

Lying 200 nautical miles east of Bali, Komodo National Park nestles between the large islands of Sumbawa and Flores, all of which are part of Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara on current maps). This unique biosphere was born in the great volcanic uplift that formed Sumatra, Java, Bali and the islands lying eastward to Papua New Guinea. In 1928 the Dutch colonial government of the then Dutch East Indies formalized the nature reserve status originally conferred on Komodo in 1915 by the Raja of Biwa in neighbouring Sumbawa. Indonesia decreed the area a national park in 1980, and in 1992 Komodo was declared a World Heritage Site. Despite these official designations and its obvious interest to the scientific community, Komodo is daily suffering irreparable damage by the hand of man. Almost before the world can properly appreciate the natural beauty of Komodo - home of the Komodo Dragon - its wonders are in danger of disappearing forever.  It is disturbing that so little has changed since the declaration of Douglas Burden, leader of the 1926 American expedition to Komodo: 

"a place where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile"

We at the The Komodo Foundation and the Department of Tourism of Manggarai, West Flores want to make a difference and are dedicated to preserving this rich and wonderous area for the benefit of future generations


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Site hosted and maintained by Sea Below

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index_new.html0100644007727000017060000001505707706446611014147 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | Komodo Island

komodo dragons

Lying 200 nautical miles east of Bali, Komodo National Park nestles between the large islands of Sumbawa and Flores, all of which are part of Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara on current maps). This unique biosphere was born in the great volcanic uplift that formed Sumatra, Java, Bali and the islands lying eastward to Papua New Guinea. In 1928 the Dutch colonial government of the then Dutch East Indies formalized the nature reserve status originally conferred on Komodo in 1915 by the Raja of Biwa in neighbouring Sumbawa. Indonesia decreed the area a national park in 1980, and in 1992 Komodo was declared a World Heritage Site. Despite these official designations and its obvious interest to the scientific community, Komodo is daily suffering irreparable damage by the hand of man. Almost before the world can properly appreciate the natural beauty of Komodo - home of the Komodo Dragon - its wonders are in danger of disappearing forever.  It is disturbing that so little has changed since the declaration of Douglas Burden, leader of the 1926 American expedition to Komodo: 

"a place where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile"

We at the The Komodo Foundation and the Department of Tourism of Manggarai, West Flores want to make a difference and are dedicated to preserving this rich and wonderous area for the benefit of future generations


| Home | Komodo National Park |
| Travel Info | The Komodo Dragon | Marine Reserve |
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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Site hosted and maintained by Sea Below

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index_real.html0100644007727000017060000001454007617222401014263 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | Komodo Island

komodo dragons

Lying 200 nautical miles east of Bali, Komodo National Park nestles between the large islands of Sumbawa and Flores, all of which are part of Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara on current maps). This unique biosphere was born in the great volcanic uplift that formed Sumatra, Java, Bali and the islands lying eastward to Papua New Guinea. In 1928 the Dutch colonial government of the then Dutch East Indies formalized the nature reserve status originally conferred on Komodo in 1915 by the Raja of Biwa in neighbouring Sumbawa. Indonesia decreed the area a national park in 1980, and in 1992 Komodo was declared a World Heritage Site. Despite these official designations and its obvious interest to the scientific community, Komodo is daily suffering irreparable damage by the hand of man. Almost before the world can properly appreciate the natural beauty of Komodo - home of the Komodo Dragon - its wonders are in danger of disappearing forever.  So little has changed since the declaration of Douglas Burden, leader of the 1926 American expedition to Komodo: 

"a place where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile"

We at the Friends of Komodo want to make a difference and are dedicated to preserving this rich and wonderous area for the benefit of future generations


| Home | Komodo National Park |
| Travel Info | The Komodo Dragon | Marine Reserve |
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| Further Information | FAQ about Komodo |


Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id


Copyright ©1999-2002 Komodo National Park Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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This website is currently unavailable. For information regarding the Government of Indonesia Department of Forestry website, please go to www.komodonationalpark.org

May 15, 2002

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The Komodo Gateway Home Page

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links.html0100644007727000017060000002415207706446716013311 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | Resources and Links

Suggested Reading

  • Auffenberg, Walter. 1981. The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor. University Presses of Florida, Gainesville.

  • Attenborough, D. 1957. Zoo Quest for a Dragon. Lutterworth Press, London.

  • Adams, Douglas. 1990. Last Chance to See. William Heinemann, London.

  • Burden, W.D. 1927. Dragon Lizards of Komodo. Putnam Sons, New York.

  • Lutz, Richard. 1991. Komodo, the Living Dragon. Dimi Press, Salem.

  • Quammen, David. 1996. The Song of the Dodo. Scribner, New York.

  • Watson, Lyall. 1987. The Dream of Dragons. William Morrow .

  • Monk, Kathryn. 1997. The Ecology of Nusa Tenggara and Maluku. Periplus, HK

Links

Organizations

Websites for information

Websites for travel and diving

www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/komodo/htm

www.antibodysystems.com/komodo.html


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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October 1999 Issue
November 1999 Issue
November 2000 Issue
March 2001 Issue
May 2001 Issue
March 2002 Issue


March 2001 Letter from Komodo

The rainy season has just ended and the island is covered in green swathes that ripple in the wind. The butterflies and insects have hatched, there is an abundance of grass and the deer population has exploded. Plenty of prey for both adult and juvenile Komodos!! Hopefully the areas that were devastated by the raging brushfires of last October have regenerated.

It is hatchling season and researchers, led by Dr Claudio Ciofi, are preparing to capture the newly born Komodo dragons for sexing and DNA sampling for the purpose of determining sex ratios in the wild born, and whether eggs were fertilized by more than one male’s sperm. Dr Ciofi has found financing to continue research in Komodo, and to establish a state-of-the-art laboratory facility in Udayana University in Bali. There are also plans afoot for a permanent research station in Flores to extend research efforts to the wild Komodo dragon populations in west Flores.

There have been a number of documentary film crews working in Komodo these past few months. A Discovery Channel program filmed in November is being aired this month, and a German production company has finished filming and will be airing their program sometime later in the year. I’m sure there may be others that I am unaware of…..

There was a Workshop for the Dive industry in Komodo in Bali from Feb 28th – Mar 2nd organized by The Nature Conservancy. Issues relating to marine conservation were discussed and a number of initiatives agreed upon. A Komodo Marine Tourism Association will be formed, and entrusted with drafting and enforcing a Code of Conduct for all dive operators in Komodo National Park. Meanwhile, in the future, park authorities are preparing to implement a marine usage fee for Komodo Marine Reserve with a price of US$20 as the figure mooted.

Meanwhile, the “floating ranger station” has proved very effective. The Kerapu is 20 meter long wooden boat that accommodates 10 – a combination of park rangers, water police and armed naval marines. The vessel is on patrol 24 hours a day to protect the 140,000 hectares of marine reserve found in Komodo National Park. Since the inception of patrols in October, 2000 there have been a number of blast fishermen apprehended as well as two groups of deer poachers. The marine marauders are in various stages of the legal process – either undergoing trial or in jail serving sentences, and their boats have been impounded in Labuanbajo. The message that Komodo is a marine reserve with teeth is being broadcast loud and clear to the local community.

The four room accommodation at the ranger station in Loh Buaya, Rinca was destroyed by an electrical fire at the end of February. The Komodo Foundation is assessing the cost of replacing this structure. Once plans have been drafted and approved, we will be solicting funds to re-build this facility.

The Komodo Foundation is organizing a Clean-up Komodo Day to coincide with Earth Day which is scheduled for April 22, 2001. All interested parties are invited to join in….


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Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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March 2002 Komodo National Park Bulletin

Komodo National Park is the recipient of a $600,000 donation from a fund, guaranteed equally between the UN and the Aveda natural cosmetics manufacturer. The fund is aimed at creating models for using tourism to promote the protection and preservation of important habitats. It also strives to balance tourism demands with the needs of local people, the landscape and the environment. The pledged money will be spent over a period of three years. In the first year, funds are earmarked for improvement of the arrival pier and museum at the ranger station of Loh Liang on Komodo island

Park authorities have also recently signed an MOU with San Diego Zoo to improve management policies of Komodo National Park. The first fruits of this collaboration will result in the renovation of two existing bungalows in the ranger station at Loh Liang into an on-site laboratory and housing for visiting scientists, and improvement of the water supply for Loh Liang.

Park rangers were kept busy in January apprehending a group of poachers. Four out of the seventeen suspected poachers were captured and have been sent to jail, awaiting trial.The poachers were hunting deer, the meat of which is dried into venison jerky and sold in Sumbawa.

A total of 9 mooring buoys suitable for large boats have recently been installed in the park by a joint effort between The Nature Conservancy, the Komodo Marine Tourism Authority, The Komodo Foundation, and Mark Heighes of the Evening Star.


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Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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Marine Reserve at Komodo National Park

Komodo is unique in the world in having two distinct marine habitats - tropical and temperate - a few nautical miles distant from each other. There is a constant flow of the warm tropical waters of the Flores Sea to the north which mix with the cold upwellings brought from the south by the Indian Ocean. The upwellings are caused by deep ocean currents originating in Antarctica which collide with the volcanic shelf of Komodo and surface. The upwellings, combined with the oxygenation occasioned by the fierce currents surrounding Komodo, provide an endless supply of plankton and nutrients to the surrounding seas. This in turn, supports an amazing and colourful profusion of temperate marine life - invertebrate, mammal and fish. A few mile to the north lies an even greater multitude of tropical fish life that are normally found in equatorial waters. All in all, there are over 1000 species of fish and marine mammals found in the waters surrounding Komodo.

Saving the Seas of Komodo

Even WITHOUT a Dragon, Komodo and its surrounding islets would for me still remain a powerful  symbol of that vanishing Garden of Eden deep within our collective memory . With its strange orchids, flying lizards,  forests of giant fan palms and scarcity of man, it seems less like another Place than another Time.  So remote is this tiny island  that it wasn't until l911 that Varanus Komodoensis,  its 10-foot long, running swimming, tree-climbing lizard, was described by science and revealed to the world as  fact rather than myth.

Located at the edge-seam of the world, in no one continent and no one sea, the dragon islands of Komodo National Park are also surrounded by a furious moat  For the Lesser Sunda archipelago, that thin chain of islands stretching east from Bali towards New Guinea, is also the grid which
divides the warm shallows of the South China seas, from the cool deeps of the Indian ocean. The ebb and flow between these opposing bodies of water produces not only the protective navigational hazard of tidal races and whirlpools, but also an astounding  mixture of  marine creatures of both warm and cold water, some species having no business to be anywhere near here at all, others found no where else, and many more constantly revealing themselves to be new to science. No less than fifteen different varieties of whales and dolphins have recently been observed  here, from  pods of  shark-eating tropical Orcas, to the two-foot long, exuberantly acrobatic  spinner dolphins.

Whereas the Dragon was only discovered in the first decade of this century, it wasn't until the l960's that it was properly surveyed and studied. In the 1970's it began receiving is first trickle of tourists, and only  the l980's did its waters first  begin being plumbed by SCUBA divers - and now, at the turn of the Millennium, just when we have started to see how mysteriously rich this region is, we find it under threat.  The burgeoning population of Indonesia, the hunger for fish and meat, has brought dynamite and cyanide fisher bandits to Komodo's reefs, and marauding armed poachers seeking the wild deer and pig of the islands, which are the essential life support of the great lizard. Our last dragon, and its moat of marine mysteries, should be passed on, don't you think, to continue to remind  future generations of our earliest beginnings and of that dwindling Garden of Eden within us all?

Lawrence Blair, 
Bali, November 1999 


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Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
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May 2001

We have just returned from Komodo where we had the inaugural Earth Day Clean-up on May 22nd (a month after everyone else – below the equator style!!). The clean-up ranged over four days and involved well over three hundred people, including park rangers, conservation cadets, villagers and youth volunteers. We collected over 200 garbage bags of plastic which will be sent to re-cycling centers in Bali.

We wish to thank Grand Komodo Tours for the donation of the ship Keti for two days, as well as the Komodo Marine Tourism Authority for their sponsorship of the 250 t-shirts distributed to the participants. Special thanks to Paul Boleng, the head of the Labuanbajo branch of The Komodo Foundation for his energetic leadership of the event, and to Muriel Ydo of the Bali Clean-up committee for her invaluable advice on its organization.

This event helped crystallize a realization that West Flores and the Komodo National Park required an on-going involvement on our part to foster and expand on the initiatives begun. This has led us to open a Labuanbajo office under the guidance of Paul Boleng, the former head of Tourism for West Flores. Pak Paul is acutely aware of community needs and requirements, and his wealth of knowledge and contacts will prove invaluable in realizing those desires. We look forward to working together to develop a responsible program for eco-tourism in east Flores.

On a more mundane and practical level, here are the latest updates on travel in the region.

  1. The two Sape-Labuanbajo ferries are now operating on a daily basis, leaving their respective ports at 8am, and arriving at 4pm in the afternoon. This ferry no longer stops at Komodo island. Access to KNP is via Labuanbajo where boats can be chartered to Loh Liang for approximately Rp 400-450,000, or to Loh Buaya for Rp 250,000.

  2. Anta Tours has started a trice weekly ferry service from Denpasar to Labuanbajo via Lembar and Bima. The cost of a ticket is Rp 225,000. The ship leaves Bali at 7am and arrives in Labuanbajo at 9pm.

  3. Air Mark will begin a new air service to Labuanbajo from Denpasar with three flights a week scheduled from June 3rd onwards. This ticket will presumably cost the same as the Merpati ticket – Rp 850,000. Meanwhile, Merpati is still operating its regular Monday and Saturday flights from Denpasar to Labuanbajo.

  4. The backbacker boats from Lombok to Labuanbajo are running regularly and a couple seem to be arriving daily. At Rp 450,000 for four days of food, travel and companionship, the offer is obviously too good to refuse.


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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| The Dragons | National Park | Underwater | Guest Photo | People |


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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Although Komodo island is part of a National Park, it is under constant threat from poachers who hunt deer, and local fisherfolk who use destructive and illegal means to exploit the marine resources of the surrounding seas. Komodo is a remote area and the resources available to the park are limited. Additional funds are desperately needed to allow the rangers to do their job effectively.

A case in point is the pitched gun battle on Komodo island between park rangers and armed poachers from Sumbawa in July of 1998. This incident coincided with the arrival of the Education Minister from Jakarta to dedicate a school in the village. The poachers managed to operate clandestinely for over a week and were only discovered when villagers were mobilized to contain bushfires lit by the poachers. The firefighters came under sporadic gunfire from concealed riflemen and were forced to retreat. Despite pursuit by park rangers, the poachers eluded capture and escaped in high-speed boats to Sumbawa with venison from the slaughter of 200 deer.

There are similar incidents involving rangers attempting to stop and arrest fishermen involved in fish bombing. There are numerous accounts of patrol vessels coming under attack from hand-thrown bombs, rifles and remote detonations. While there have been a few arrests and convictions, the problem is pernicious and continuing. The blatant disregard of authority, and desperation occasioned by Indonesia’s current economic problems, make it difficult to enforce the sanctity of the park boundaries. There is hope that the arrival of an Indonesian naval contingent will alleviate this problem and lead to its eradication.

Current Projects

The Komodo Foundation continues to work with local dive operators to control the crown-of-thorns outbreak that has plagued the waters of the buffer zone surrounding the park. This program was initiated in April 2002 and to date has resulted in the destruction of 160,000 crown-of-thorns starfish. Monitoring continues unabated.

The Komodo Foundation is working closely with the Global Coral Reef Alliance on an innovative coral reef regeneration program. The process utilizes seawater as a giant electrolytic cell to accrete minerals (primarily calcium carbonate) onto steel structures. The resulting structures have been dubbed “electric reefs” and are located on damaged reef fronts on Bidadari and Kukusan islands in the Komodo National Park buffer zone. The Komodo Foundation is helping with the organization of an Electric Reefs Workshop in Pemuteran, North Bali in January 2004.

The Komodo Foundation is currently raising funds to rehabilitate a derelict building at SDN 1 Labuanbajo and to convert this into a library cum resource center for all the school children of Labuanbajo, the capital of the newly created district of Manggarai Barat.

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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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1999 Award


Helen Fox is the 1999 ISRS/CMC Coral Reef Fellowship Recipient

The International Society for Reef Studies and the Center for Marine Conservation announced today that their 1999 Coral Reef Fellowship Award was made to Helen Fox, University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Fox will work in Indonesia's Komodo National Park where she will assess damage to coral reefs from dynamite fishing, also known as "blast" fishing. She will assess factors that affect recovery of blast sites and she will develop methods to help accelerate recovery of coral reefs damaged by this destructive fishing practice. It is well known that blast fishing causes widespread and devastating damage to coral reefs. Despite being illegal, blast fishing is reported to cause significant reef degradation throughout the South Pacific. Specifically, Ms. Fox will: 1) evaluate how coral cover at various spatial scales correlates with recruitment; 2) determine how rubble produced at the blast sites affects coral recruitment in various flow regimes; 3) manipulate substrate stability and rugosity to evaluate their effects on coral recruitment rates; and 4) construct successionals trends based on changes in community composition by comparing blast sites of known age with nearby unblasted sites. Komodo National Park is located in eastern Indonesia and includes areas where significant blast fishing previously occurred, but has declined dramatically in recent years due to management efforts. This is the third ISRS/CMC Fellowship award, with previous winners working in Belize and the Philippines. The award is for one year and is worth $14,000.

Komodo Periscope - November

Here is an update on what has been happening in Komodo lately.

The Indonesian Navy have set up a base in Labuanbajo  in order to crackdown on illegal fishinf practices such as dynamiting, cyanide fishing, etc. Over 50 arrests have been made in the last few months. People from Sape, Ende and Sulawesi seem to be the main offenders, but there was even a vessel from Madura apprehended.

As far as the diving goes there is a lot going on. The mantas are here in numbers and congregating in south Komodo - up to 35 individuals at Manta Point on one dive !  Whale sharks have been sighted at Gili Lawa Laut in the north and Gili Motang in the south. Nine species of marine mammals have been identified recently: rissos, melon-headed, spinner, spotted and bottlenose dolphins; minke and sperm whales. Pygmy seahorses, giant frogfish and lacely scorpionfish have been found regularly during the past few months. Mackeral are numerous and many sailfish have been spotted at north Komodo. We discovered a new species of worm living on the underside of the blue linka starfish.

I now wish to start a new code of practice for all live-aboard vessels visiting Komodo as diver and vessel anchor impact on some of the more popular sites is becoming very evident. Bad management by operators is responsible for this and photographers seem to be the main reef wreckers. Many of the sites are very fragile and suffering. I plan to be in Bali on November 27th to try and get everyone together on this issue.

Best regards,
Mark

Komodo dragon lures tourists, conservation
Jakarta Post Features - November 09, 1999

By James Astill

KOMODO ISLAND, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): The Komodo dragon, a 3 meter- long, occasionally man-eating lizard seems an unlikely savior of coral  reefs. But the reptile's ability to draw the crowds may be the last hope  for some of eastern Indonesia's most precious marine environment.

Komodo National Park was established in 1980 to protect the dragon, which is found only on three dusty islands between Sumbawa and Flores. It also, incidentally, encloses some extraordinary seas. Sustained by rushing currents where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, the park is home to a staggering marine biodiversity. To the north, coral reefs sparkle. To the south, manta rays and filter-feeding whales glide through choppy, nutrient-rich waters.

But until the U.S.-based non-governmental organization (NGO) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) got involved in 1995, the park's status was precious  little shield against illegal dynamite and cyanide fishing, or plain over-  fishing. Despite the best efforts of the park authorities, the majority of the  reefs had been blasted or bleached and pelagic fish populations had slumped. TNC put the brakes on this devastation with the help of the police and  armed forces by instituting the first park patrols. Later, it lobbied  successfully for a ban on crude hookah compressors  -- which allow divers  to breath through a hose to a depths of 40 meters inside the park's bounds. As a result, blast fishing has decreased by 80 percent over the past year. But TNC knows well that unless it can offer local communities solid  financial alternatives, it might as well try swimming against the park's  treacherous currents."Tourism is crucial. The National Parks will live or die on the strength of their management's ability to woo visitors," says Rili Djohani, director of its Coastal and Marine Program.

The tourist dollar has been sought for conservation in so many ways, and with such varying degrees of success, that the word "ecotourism" has become worn with misuse. Only if revenues from nature-based holidays are pumped directly back into the environment does the industry warrant its "eco" prefix. But TNC is convinced it can pull this off in Komodo.  Its surveys consistently show that the dragon's pulling power is quite sufficient to protect its island habitat and the surrounding seas.Throw in some of the best diving in the world, wild horses on the island of Rinca and the harsh, parched beauty of a hundred uninhabited islands and it makes quite a
package.

Any development must be carefully paced to check its impact on the local communities and their natural resources. Exploitation of local labor and dried-up wells have no place in ecotourism.To that end, TNC is brokering agreements between investors, the Nusa Tenggara State Government and the national parks administration to ensure responsible development of the adjoining coastline.

From a small field office in Labuan Bajo, on the neighboring coast of Flores, TNC maintains detailed monitoring of the park's flora and fauna -  both terrestrial and marine. Largely in recognition of this capacity, the navy signed a pioneering agreement to cooperate with the NGO on enforcing the law against destructive fishing. TNC will provide information on reef damage, and the navy has pledged the muscle to bring offenders to book.

In addition, TNC has recently begun to survey the area's whale and dolphin populations. With 13 species already positively identified, it  seems that the potential for commercial whale-watching could well be another asset.

It is also working with local communities to develop sound "sustainable" alternatives to the fast buck earned by destructive fishing. Mariculture is  central to this effort. For the past two years, TNC has been collecting a brood stock of those species, especially groupers, most sought after for the live reef fish trade. Next, it will build a hatchery to supply local villagers with fry, which they can rear in holding nets of their own and sell on. And if foreign buyers can be enticed directly into the area by a regular supply of high quality fish, the villagers could miss out the middlemen and see their prices rise. At present, fishermen are paid a princely Rp 120,000 per kilogram forlive mouse groupers which can sell for up to $150 per kilogram in the  restaurants of Hong Kong.

Most of TNC's target species have already been farmed successfully in Taiwan and to a lesser degree in Bali. Very simply, it is trying to replace one simple, effective and potentially devastating piece of technology, the "hookah" compressor, with a simple, effective and blissfully sustainable alternative. But even as TNC battles to secure funding for the project's next phase,alocal fish trader apes its best efforts. No more than 20 meters from the brood stock pens is a smaller but identical array of nets floated by large, plastic drums. These pens hold fish bound directly for Hong Kong. Most will have been caught by cyanide fishermen who first squirt poison into the reef, then rip away its coral fronds to retrieve their stunned, half-dead quarry. It is estimated that for every capture a square meter of coral reef is destroyed.

In the village of Seraya, just north of the park, another cottage industry is burgeoning: fish processing. Abdullah shows how low-grade tuna can be dried and preserved into a sort of fish bouilli which quadruples its value.He is praying that TNC can  develop markets to keep track of the supply. Although he is only 30, his painfully swollen joints -- the lasting effect of diving for too long with a hookah compressor -- make it difficult  for him even to cast nets. He is afraid that a return to diving might kill him.

To the local communities, these fledgling enterprises make sense of TNC's involvement in the park. "Of course we knew that blast fishing was wrong," said a fisherman of Komodo village. "But until very recently, we saw no other way." TNC's groundwork is just beginning to bear fruit. It is devoutly wished that the new government's focus on Indonesia's marine resources, for so long robbed and abused, can help it flourish.

With little care, the inhabitants of the Komodo area have lived alongside  an aggressive, predatory lizard for centuries. Their primitive wisdom may yet be the saving of a beleaguered but precious area of land and sea.


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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Environmental News Network
Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Blast fishing ring busted in Indonesia by John Ryan

After a dramatic boat chase late Sunday through the reef-studded waters of Indonesia's Komodo National Park, police and park rangers arrested 24 fishermen caught in the act of bombing coral reefs in the area. The fish bombing bust marks the first arrest this year in the Komodo area, one of the few regions of Indonesia where fish bombing is monitored with any regularity.

Fish bombing, or "blast fishing," is a common, though illegal, practice in Indonesia, a nation of 17,000 islands surrounded by coral reefs. Many marine experts consider bombing the greatest threat to the archipelago's reefs, home to 25 percent of the world's fish species. Despite the ban on blast fishing, such arrests are rare in Indonesia. Even where laws against such destructive fishing practices are enforced, fish bombers can quickly throw their bombs and other evidence overboard when they see police approach.

Authorities arrested the 24 fishermen, including 11 teen-age boys, near Siaba Island in the northeastern part of the national park. Police also confiscated three dilapidated wooden boats. A fourth boatload of fishermen escaped, according to Romi Akbar of the Indonesian Forestry Police who commands the "floating ranger station" patrol. Akbar said patrollers first heard a bomb explode near Siaba Island, then saw a second bomb send a plume of foam skyward, at which point they gave chase. After firing a series of shots into the air, the police finally detained the fishermen shortly before dusk Sunday. The arrested fishermen hail from Papagaran, a small village inside park boundaries, and Misa and Bajo Barat, two villages near Komodo.

Monday morning, a truck delivered 10 of the suspects from police headquarters in the port town of Labuanbajo to the dock where the seized boats lay. The fishermen were publicly shamed as a crowd of locals and idle law enforcement officials looked on. Stripped to the waist to identify them as prisoners, the fishermen were forced to walk on their haunches, hands behind their heads, while repeating the words "Saya melakukan bom," or "I use bombs." They then hauled evidence from their boats to the truck: three "hookah" air compressors used by the divers who gather dead fish in the wake of each explosion and thousands of limp, broken-boned fish. Police then escorted the suspects back to the police station, where they remain in custody.

Komodo National Park has better enforcement than most marine parks after its reef patrol program took effect in 1996. Dive operators working in the area and the Nature Conservancy's Indonesia Programme contributed funds to buy a boat to bolster park patrols against fish bombing, cyanide squirting and other destructive fishing practices.

The Nature Conservancy estimates that the patrols " a joint effort between park rangers, police and the Indonesian army " have reduced fish bombing in the park by 80 percent. The conservancy and other non-governmental organizations are also working to provide economic alternatives to destructive fishing in the vicinity of the park.

Famous for its dragons, Komodo is also the site of some of Indonesia's " and the world's " richest marine habitat. The park alone is home to nearly 1,000 species of fish as well as 250 species of reef-building corals.

 


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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October Monthly Update

Spice Island Cruises informs us that on October 15th, 1999 they will cease all operations in Indonesia, and more particularly, cruises between Bali and Darwin on due to the sale of their cruiseship Oceanic Odyssey. The management is currently looking at a number of replacement vessels and hope to be operational again in the very near future. Until that time, tourist arrivals in Komodo National Park will decline dramatically as Spice Island Cruises accounted for nearly 50% of all visitors. Their professionalism will be sorely missed in the Indonesian tourism industry.

On a different note, the film crew for the TV series Wild Things has just returned from Komodo where they were filming a new segment on the Komodo dragons featuring Lawrence Blair of Ring of Fire fame. The film crew worked aboard the chartered vessel Evening Star, and utilized divemaster Mark Heighes services to capture some amazing underwater footage as well. We look forward to viewing the new segments which are due for broadcast in the next few months.

Have you read the article on the Komodo Dragon by Caludio Ciofi in the March 1999 issue of Scientific American ? If you are interested in diving, checkout the September issue of Undercurrent (vol. 14, no. 9) for news of diving in Komodo.

Current Projects

The Friends of Komodo are currently at work on getting  the Komodo National Park Website online. We are in the preliminary stages of the organization of the first Komodo U/W Photo Contest scheduled for Oct of the year 2000. Our next project will be to setup an online store to sell Komodo Dragon related products all of which will be made in Indonesia. All proceeds will be used to further our primary goal of setting up a marine research station in Komodo National Park.

The Komodo Foundation is proud to welcome Dr Putra Sastrawan, presently the Vice Chancellor (and former Dean of Biology) of Udayana University in Bali, to the board of directors of the Komodo Foundation. Dr Sastrawan has been involved with research on Komodo island since 1969, and worked closely with Dr. Walter Auffenberg in Komodo during the research for his seminal study of the Komodo dragon.

For the past thirty years, Dr Sastrawan has continued his own research into the behavior and biology of the Komodo dragon and is the current director of the Komodo International Research Centre based in Udayana University. In 1998 he worked with Claudio Ciofi from the London Zoological Society on collecting saliva and blood samples from Komodo dragons in the wild as part of a program of DNA mapping for the species. He is currently engaged in research to determine the sex ratio at birth of Komodo hatchlings in the wild.

News Flash

1999 Award

Helen Fox is the 1999 ISRS/CMC Coral Reef Fellowship Recipient

The International Society for Reef Studies and the Center for Marine Conservation announced today that their 1999 Coral Reef Fellowship Award was made to Helen Fox, University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Fox will work in Indonesia's Komodo National Park where she will assess damage to coral reefs from dynamite fishing, also known as "blast" fishing. She will assess factors that affect recovery of blast sites and she will develop methods to help accelerate recovery of coral reefs damaged by this destructive fishing practice. It is well known that blast fishing causes widespread and devastating damage to coral reefs. Despite being illegal, blast fishing is reported to cause significant reef degradation throughout the South Pacific. Specifically, Ms. Fox will: 1) evaluate how coral cover at various spatial scales correlates with recruitment; 2) determine how rubble produced at the blast sites affects coral recruitment in various flow regimes; 3) manipulate substrate stability and rugosity to evaluate their effects on coral recruitment rates; and 4) construct successionals trends based on changes in community composition by comparing blast sites of known age with nearby unblasted sites. Komodo National Park is located in eastern Indonesia and includes areas where significant blast fishing previously occurred, but has declined dramatically in recent years due to management efforts. This is the third ISRS/CMC Fellowship award, with previous winners working in Belize and the Philippines. The award is for one year and is worth $14,000.


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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komodo national park


courtesy of Asia Map,
asiamap@cbn.net.id
Click here to view the map.

Location:

Komodo National Park is located between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores in the Lesser Sunda Islands, at a distance of 200 nautical miles to the east of Bali. It has a total land area of 75,000 hectares and encompasses a number of islands, the largest of which are Komodo (34,000 hectares), Rinca (20,000 hectares), Padar, Nusa Kode, Motang,  numerous smaller islands, and the Wae Wuul sanctuary on Flores. A total of 112,500 hectares of the surrounding waters are also under the jurisdiction of the park rangers.

History:

In 1938 Padar and the south and west of Rinca were declared a Wildlife Sanctuary, but it was only in 1965 that the island of Komodo was formally included in the sanctuary. Komodo National Park was established by government decree in 1980 followed by the designation of Komodo National Park as a World Heritage Site in 1991.

Climate:

Komodo National Park has the lowest annual rainfall in all of Indonesia, with an abbreviated rainy season in the month of January. For most of the year Komodo is dry and hot, parched by arid winds from the Australian desert that blow from April through October. Maximum temperatures reach 43 C, with minimums of 17 C in August.

Topography:

Most of the Park is dry, rugged and hilly, a combination of ancient volcanic eruptions and more recent tectonic uplift of sedimentary seabeds. The irregular coastline is indented with rocky headlands and sandy bays, many framed by soaring volcanic cliffs.

Komodo island  is 35km long and 15km wide, and is mountainous on a north to south axis, with an average altitude of 500-600m. The highest peak is Satalibo (735m) in the north. Most of the island is lontar palm savannah with remnates of rainforest and bamboo forest at higher elevations. On Rinca the land rises gradually from the north coast to a plateau that ends at Mount Dora (667m) in the south.  The rugged south coast is very sheer as a result of volcanic activity in the distant past, as evidenced by the crater bay in which Nusa Kode nestles.

Fauna:

The Park encompasses most of the recognized habitat of the largest known lizard, the world famous Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis). The Park is also home to Sunda deer (Cervus timorensis), wild buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), wild boar ((Sus scrofa), the macaque monkey (Macaca fascicularis), and wild horse (Equus qaballus). All the large mammals have been introduced by man, but indigenous frogs, snakes and lizards abound on the island. The sole endemic species found on Komodo is the aptly named Komodo rat. Over 150 species of birds have been identified in Komodo National Park, many of which are migratory and more representative of Australasian than Asiatic species. Distinctive species include sulphur-crested cockatoos, imperial pigeons, white-breasted sea eagles and maleos. The seas surrounding the park teem with over 1000 species of fish and marine mammals.

Checklist of Animals in KNP Click here


courtesy of Asia Map,
asiamap@cbn.net.id
Click here to view the map.


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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photocontest.html0100644007727000017060000002765707706446342014732 0ustar seabelowseabelow The Komodo Foundation is proud to sponsor the first Komodo Underwater Photo Festival with hopes that this will become an annual event."> Komodo National Park | Underwater Photo Contest | Komodo Foundation

Komodo Photo Festival 2001

The Komodo Foundation is organizing an Underwater Photo Contest that is scheduled for the week of December 7th – 14th, 2001. The chief coordinator for the competition will be Michael Aw, a world renown diver and underwater photographer, and editor of Asian Geographic Magazine. Michael is a familiar face in Southeast Asia, having organized underwater photo competitions in Ambon, Bali and the Maldives as well as publishing a number of coffee table books on ASEAN dive destinations.

Judges for this competition will be Ron and Valerie Taylor, Australian underwater photographers who specialize in studying sharks in the wild. Our third judge is Mike Severns from Hawaii, and the author of Sulawesi Seas, a photographic book about Bunaken Marine Reserve.

We expect to raise US$5000 for prize money as well as $20,000 of dive equipment and packages from local dive operators. A turnout in excess of forty competitors is expected.

Prizes will be awarded for the following categories:
Novice
Big is Beautiful
Macro
Wide Angle
Best of Show
Rangers Cup
Fuji Award

During the competition the contestants will be on live-aboard dive boats which will move between the various dive sites in Komodo National Park. 
Kararu Dive Expeditions “Sea Safari III”
Dive Komodo “Evening Star”
Grand Komodo Tours “Nusa Tara”

Fuji Film Indonesia will sponsor three rolls of film per day for every competitor and Kararu will donate the use of E-6 processing equipment for the duration of the competition. Winning photos will be used by the Komodo Foundation for promotion, and blow-ups will be donated by Fuji Film Indonesia to Komodo National Park for permanent display in the park. These photos will also be published as a calendar for the year 2003. All proceeds from the event will go towards funding marine conservation in Komodo National Park.

A film festival of documentaries about Komodo will be screened nightly during the course of the festival at the ranger station in Loh Liang, which will serve as the official base for the competition. People other than divers will be encouraged to participate in the event, and activities will be organized to stimulate interest in other aspects of the Komodo experience : whale watching; bird watching; nature walks; ocean kayaking etc.

Registration Form

Name :
Email Address (Required) :
Address :
City :
State / Province :
Postal Code :
Country :
Telephone :
Fax :
Arrival Date :
Flight :
Are you planning other tours in Indonesia :
Where :
Do you need assistance with booking : Yes No
Payment Method :
Name on the Credit Card :
Card Number :
Expiry Date :
Comments / Requests :


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The Komodo Foundation
PO BOX 195
Ubud Bali 80571 Indonesia
E-mail : info@komodo-national-park.com


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photocontest_old.html0100644007727000017060000003020507617222401015534 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | Underwater Photo Contest | Komodo Foundation

Komodo Photo Festival 2001

The Komodo Foundation is organizing an Underwater Photo Contest that is scheduled for the week of December 7th – 14th, 2001. The chief coordinator for the competition will be Michael Aw, a world renown diver and underwater photographer, and editor of Asian Geographic Magazine. Michael is a familiar face in Southeast Asia, having organized underwater photo competitions in Ambon, Bali and the Maldives as well as publishing a number of coffee table books on ASEAN dive destinations.

Judges for this competition will be Ron and Valerie Taylor, Australian underwater photographers who specialize in studying sharks in the wild. Our third judge is Mike Severns from Hawaii, and the author of Sulawesi Seas, a photographic book about Bunaken Marine Reserve.

We expect to raise US$5000 for prize money as well as $20,000 of dive equipment and packages from local dive operators. A turnout in excess of forty competitors is expected.

Prizes will be awarded for the following categories:
Novice
Big is Beautiful
Macro
Wide Angle
Best of Show
Rangers Cup
Fuji Award

During the competition the contestants will be on live-aboard dive boats which will move between the various dive sites in Komodo National Park. 
Kararu Dive Expeditions “Sea Safari III”
Dive Komodo “Evening Star”
Grand Komodo Tours “Nusa Tara”

Fuji Film Indonesia will sponsor three rolls of film per day for every competitor and Kararu will donate the use of E-6 processing equipment for the duration of the competition. Winning photos will be used by the Komodo Foundation for promotion, and blow-ups will be donated by Fuji Film Indonesia to Komodo National Park for permanent display in the park. These photos will also be published as a calendar for the year 2003. All proceeds from the event will go towards funding marine conservation in Komodo National Park.

A film festival of documentaries about Komodo will be screened nightly during the course of the festival at the ranger station in Loh Liang, which will serve as the official base for the competition. People other than divers will be encouraged to participate in the event, and activities will be organized to stimulate interest in other aspects of the Komodo experience : whale watching; bird watching; nature walks; ocean kayaking etc.

Registration Form

Name :
Email Address (Required) :
Address :
City :
State / Province :
Postal Code :
Country :
Telephone :
Fax :
Arrival Date :
Flight :
Are you planning other tours in Indonesia :
Where :
Do you need assistance with booking : Yes No
Payment Method :
Name on the Credit Card :
Card Number :
Expiry Date :
Comments / Requests :


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| Further Information | FAQ about Komodo |


Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id


Copyright ©1999-2002 Komodo National Park Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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Sponsor Name :
Email Address (Required) :
Address :
City :
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Postal Code :
Country :
Telephone :
Fax :

Payment details

Card Type :
Name on the Credit Card :
Card Number :
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Comments / Requests :

Yayasan Kawan Komodo
A/C No. 6041000122
Bank Duta Cab. Denpasar
Jl Hayam Wuruk No. 193
Denpasar, Bali
Indonesia


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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store.html0100644007727000017060000002106207706446353013317 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | On Line Store
KK 001S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Komodo Dragon
Sizes: S, M, L, XL. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 15.00
KK 002S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Tropical Fish
Sizes: S, M, L, XL. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 15.00
KK 003S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Angelfish
Sizes: S, M, L, XL. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 15.00
KK 004S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Komodo Dragon
Children sizes: 4,6,8,10,12. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 12.00
KK 005P    
KK 006H 100% Cotton Hat w/ embroidered logo
Adjustable velcro band. Ship wt 250 gm

US$ 12.00

KK 100C Carved mahogany wood Komodo I. 12 in
Shipping weight 500 gm
US$ 25.00
KK 101C Carved mahogany wood Komodo I. 20 in
Shipping weight 1000 gm
US$ 60.00

The following charges apply for shipping orders to USA :

  250gm 500gm 1000gm 2000gm
Surface     US$ 20.00 US$ 30.00
Airmail US$ 10.00 US$ 15.00   US$ 55.00
EMS US$ 20.00 US$ 25.00 US$35.00 US$ 55.00
DHL   US$ 75.00 US$ 90.00 US$ 120.00
DHL Jumbo Junior Box 413mm X 340mm to 10kg US$ 150.00

Please make payments via International Money Order favor of :

The Komodo Foundation
PO Box 195
Ubud, Bali 80571
Indonesia

Or by bank transfer to :

The Komodo Foundation
A/C No. 6041000122
Bank Duta
Denpasar, Bali
Indonesia


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PO BOX 195
Ubud Bali 80571 Indonesia
E-mail : info@komodo-national-park.com


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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store_old.html0100644007727000017060000002137707617222401014151 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | On Line Store
KK 001S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Komodo Dragon
Sizes: S, M, L, XL. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 15.00
KK 002S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Tropical Fish
Sizes: S, M, L, XL. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 15.00
KK 003S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Angelfish
Sizes: S, M, L, XL. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 15.00
KK 004S 100% Cotton T-shirt silkscreen Komodo Dragon
Children sizes: 4,6,8,10,12. Ship wt 250 gm
US$ 12.00
KK 005P    
KK 006H 100% Cotton Hat w/ embroidered logo
Adjustable velcro band. Ship wt 250 gm

US$ 12.00

KK 100C Carved mahogany wood Komodo I. 12 in
Shipping weight 500 gm
US$ 25.00
KK 101C Carved mahogany wood Komodo I. 20 in
Shipping weight 1000 gm
US$ 60.00

The following charges apply for shipping orders to USA :

  250gm 500gm 1000gm 2000gm
Surface     US$ 20.00 US$ 30.00
Airmail US$ 10.00 US$ 15.00   US$ 55.00
EMS US$ 20.00 US$ 25.00 US$35.00 US$ 55.00
DHL   US$ 75.00 US$ 90.00 US$ 120.00
DHL Jumbo Junior Box 413mm X 340mm to 10kg US$ 150.00

Please make payments via International Money Order favor of :

The Komodo Foundation
PO Box 195
Ubud, Bali 80571
Indonesia

Or by bank transfer to :

The Komodo Foundation
A/C No. 6041000122
Bank Duta
Denpasar, Bali
Indonesia


| Home | Komodo National Park |
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| Further Information | FAQ about Komodo |


Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id


Copyright ©1999-2002 Komodo National Park Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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Click one of the small icon pictures below to see the enlarged version. After viewing press the "back" button on your browser to return to this page.

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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

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yayasan.html0100644007727000017060000002731707706446365013644 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | About Komodo Foundation

About the Komodo Foundation

We at The Komodo Foundation are dedicated to promoting, protecting and preserving Komodo National Park. We feel that Komodo is one of the natural wonders of the world and is every bit as amazing as the more famous and glamorous Galapagos Islands. Regrettably, the main difference between these two World Heritage Sites is the level of protection afforded the park – Komodo is woefully under funded and shockingly over exploited. More particularly, the park’s marine resources are devastated daily by bombs, poison and tools as crude as crow bars. This wanton destruction needs to be stopped immediately.

The Komodo Foundation is currently working towards protecting the marine environment by raising funds to purchase a patrol boat to donate to the park rangers for use as a floating ranger station. In addition we are donating radios and other equipment to facilitate a communication and surveillance network. The Komodo Foundation is also working closely with The Nature Conservancy and the private sector to install boat moorings to protect coral gardens in the park.

This work is pursuant to our charter as an Indonesian non-profit organization:

  • To provide a continuously updated website  for Komodo National Park and the Komodo Dragon, the national symbol of Indonesia.

  • To promote awareness amongst the local inhabitants within the park and      adjoining areas of the importance of the conservation of the indigenous flora, fauna and marine resources within Komodo National Park.

  • To provide funds to maintain an effective patrol and enforcement policy within the confines of Komodo National Park.

  • Construction and maintenance of trails, rest stations and information centers in designated areas of Komodo National Park.

  • Establishment and maintenance of a marine research station within Komodo National Park.

  • Sponsorship of an annual underwater photography contest in Komodo National Park.

Sponsorship / Donation Form

Sponsor Name :
Email Address (Required) :
Address :
City :
State / Province :
Postal Code :
Country :
Telephone :
Fax :

Payment details

Card Type :
Name on the Credit Card :
Card Number :
Expiry Date :
Comments / Requests :

Yayasan Kawan Komodo
A/C No. 6041000122
Bank Duta Cab. Denpasar
Jl Hayam Wuruk No. 193
Denpasar, Bali
Indonesia


| Home | Komodo National Park |
| Travel Info | The Komodo Dragon | Marine Reserve |
| Bulletin Board | Photo Gallery | Resources / Links |
| About The Foundation | U/W Photo Contest | Online Store |
| Further Information | FAQ about Komodo |


The Komodo Foundation
PO BOX 195
Ubud Bali 80571 Indonesia
E-mail : info@komodo-national-park.com


Copyright ©1999-2002 The Komodo Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Site hosted and maintained by
Sea Below

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Komodo National Park
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yayasan_old.html0100644007727000017060000002757307617222401014466 0ustar seabelowseabelow Komodo National Park | About Komodo Foundation

About the Komodo Foundation

We at The Komodo Foundation are dedicated to promoting, protecting and preserving Komodo National Park. We feel that Komodo is one of the natural wonders of the world and is every bit as amazing as the more famous and glamorous Galapagos Islands. Regrettably, the main difference between these two World Heritage Sites is the level of protection afforded the park – Komodo is woefully under funded and shockingly over exploited. More particularly, the park’s marine resources are devastated daily by bombs, poison and tools as crude as crow bars. This wanton destruction needs to be stopped immediately.

The Komodo Foundation is currently working towards protecting the marine environment by raising funds to purchase a patrol boat to donate to the park rangers for use as a floating ranger station. In addition we are donating radios and other equipment to facilitate a communication and surveillance network. The Komodo Foundation is also working closely with The Nature Conservancy and the private sector to install boat moorings to protect coral gardens in the park.

This work is pursuant to our charter as an Indonesian non-profit organization:

  • To provide a continuously updated website  for Komodo National Park and the Komodo Dragon, the national symbol of Indonesia.

  • To promote awareness amongst the local inhabitants within the park and      adjoining areas of the importance of the conservation of the indigenous flora, fauna and marine resources within Komodo National Park.

  • To provide funds to maintain an effective patrol and enforcement policy within the confines of Komodo National Park.

  • Construction and maintenance of trails, rest stations and information centers in designated areas of Komodo National Park.

  • Establishment and maintenance of a marine research station within Komodo National Park.

  • Sponsorship of an annual underwater photography contest in Komodo National Park.

Sponsorship / Donation Form

Sponsor Name :
Email Address (Required) :
Address :
City :
State / Province :
Postal Code :
Country :
Telephone :
Fax :

Payment details

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Yayasan Kawan Komodo
A/C No. 6041000122
Bank Duta Cab. Denpasar
Jl Hayam Wuruk No. 193
Denpasar, Bali
Indonesia


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Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id


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komodo national park
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Resources / Links
About The Foundation
U/W Photo Contest
Online Store
FAQ about Komodo
Further Information