Komodo National Park | Komodo Watch

Komodo Watch

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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.

Check out our Komodo Forum for news and discussion on Komodo dragons and the Komodo National Park click here

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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