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Tourism in the Komodo National Park in Indonesia - home of the Komodo dragons


A multi-million dollar site is part of the Indonesian government's plans to boost tourism in the Komodo National Park. However, environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the famed Komodo Dragons, the world's largest lizards. Officials said no dragons, or other reptiles, had been harmed and their safety was paramount.

 

Komodo Dragons are only found in the wild on a handful of Indonesian islands where they are estimated to have roamed for millions of years. They draw visitors from around the world and in recent years authorities have grappled with how to manage conservation and tourism in the Komodo National Park.

 

Officials unveiled plans for a mass tourism development on neighbouring Rinca Island, which is home to the second-largest population of Komodo Dragons. The project has been nicknamed "Jurassic Park" after the dinosaur film franchise. The development, scheduled for completion by the end of 2021, is expected to include a tourist information centre and a jetty.

 

Save Komodo Now, a collective of environmental activists, earlier this year, told the BBC that the group is concerned that the planned development will affect the reptiles and the residents. Greg Afioma, a member of the coalition, said, "This kind of massive development disturbs the interaction of the animals. It will change their habitat," he said.

 

"No Komodo Dragons will become victims," said the Director-General of Nature Conservation and Ecosystems at the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry. He added that a team from his ministry would go to the island to ensure safety protocols were being followed to protect the dragons.

 

Indonesia currently has a Komodo Dragon population of about 3,000, according to government data. The Komodo Dragons can grow up to 3 metres (10 feet) long. Most of them - around 1,700 - live on Komodo Island, and around 1,000 more live on Rinca Island. These are the only two main places in the world where the Komodo Dragon is found in its natural habitat, with fewer numbers on other smaller Indonesian islands. The Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

I took the photographs of the Komodo Dragon at the London Zoo in July 2018.








 

The Komodo Verses: Dragon Poems (2012)


 

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author  of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce  (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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