Skip to main content

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

Website

Martinasblogs

Publications

Facebook

Paris Website

Animal Website

Flower Website

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES 

 

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).

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more