Indonesia's Komodo National Park — made up of three rugged volcanic islands — is the last remaining natural habitat of the famed Komodo dragon, of which only 3,000 remain.

The park was on the brink of depletion from human activity just over a decade ago. But The Nature Conservancy and its partners have employed creative strategies at Komodo National Park that protect biodiversity and enable people to benefit from the park in sustainable ways — including ecotourism and alternative livelihoods.

A Park on a Collision Course

The Indonesian government established Komodo National Park in 1980 to protect the dragon. 

The 500,000 acre reserve encompasses sparsely grassed mountains, tropical savannas, dense woodlands and white sandy beaches — and its boundaries today extend to coral reefs and seagrass beds that provide habitat for more than 1,000 species of fish.

This is the heart of the Coral Triangle, the richest marine region on Earth.

But the park was on a collision course by the mid-1990s despite its protected status. Overfishing, blast fishing, overhunting, unregulated tourism development — the park’s life-sustaining resources were being depleted at a rate and scale that simply could not continue without permanent, irreparable loss.

It was clear that a balance had to be struck between the current and future needs of the people who depend on the park’s natural resources, while also protecting the natural heritage that is a keen source of pride for all Indonesians.

Rigorous Science and Local Partnerships

In 1996, the Indonesian government invited The Nature Conservancy to help. 

Drawing on decades of experience with protected area management, the Conservancy focused its efforts in Komodo on rigorous scientific research and close collaboration with local partners and communities.

Today the Conservancy and its partners are employing creative strategies that protect biodiversity and enable people to benefit from the park in sustainable ways:

• Carefully managed ecotourism;
• Alternative livelihoods for local people; and
• Collaborative protection strategies, such as anti-poaching patrols.

Jobs, Schools, Doctors — and Nature on the Rebound

So the Conservancy and Indonesian partners recognized the need for an enterprise solely charged with increasing and improving sustainable ecotourism at the park. The Conservancy joined with the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) to create Putri Naga Komodo (PNK). 

This new company was sanctioned by the Indonesian government to manage ecotourism in the park and use all revenues to steward biodiversity and to develop alternative, sustainable livelihoods so that local people have genuine options other than destructive practices.

The Conservancy and GEF each pledged $5 million in funding to launch the joint venture and carry it through 2012, when the venture is expected to be self-sustaining.

PNK has already made dramatic progress:

New state-of-the-art facilities

• PNK created a low-impact, eco-friendly visitor’s center on Komodo Island with trails and information panels.
• A restaurant and market for local handicrafts were also completed in 2007. Construction will begin soon on similar facilities on Rinca Island.
• Tourism has increased almost 30 percent over the last year.

New funding for conservation

• PNK has raised more than $500,000 since May 2006 by levying a modest conservation fee on park visitors.
• New lines of merchandise and the auction of Komodo-inspired artworks from an upcoming Indonesia National Art Gallery exhibition will bring in even more revenue for conservation and sustainable community development programs.

New jobs

• PNK has created new jobs in the park — including naturalist guides, dive buddies and souvenir producers.

New businesses

• PNK has allocated more than $1 million thus far to help people living in the park develop legal and reliable sources of income, including wood carving and textile weaving.
• PNK has provided seeds and technical assistance to help local people establish sustainable seaweed farms.  It has also built a facility to breed high-value reef fish — such as grouper and wrasse — as an alternative to fishing threatened wild fish populations.
• Plans are in the works for a souvenir production facility that will generate new lines of eco-friendly merchandise — and more jobs for local people.

New schools and doctors

• PNK allocated funds to build five new schools, dig three new wells and launch a free mobile doctor service for villagers living in and around the park. 1,000 people have already received medical care from this initiative.

A new community forum

• PNK established the Forum for Community Communications in 2008 under the guidance of local government. Forty-nine community representatives now have a formal opportunity to assist in park management.

Blast Fishing Down, Coral Reefs Recovering

Through PNK, the Conservancy is also helping Indonesian partners protect the spectacular coral reefs that attract tourism income and harbor fish that sustain the region’s residents:

• The Indonesian government has banned fishing with dynamite, cyanide and gill nets — which indiscriminately strip whole swaths of ocean habitat. It has also banned the use of compressors and steel bars to shatter coral reefs in order to extract abalone.
• And using data provided by Conservancy scientists, the government has established no-take zones to protect fish spawning areas, giving species room to regenerate and replenish populations even beyond the park’s waters.
• Local people are permitted to engage in low-impact fishing for subsistence and commercial take in designated zones.

To ensure that the government’s regulations are followed, the Conservancy organizes teams of partners — park rangers, local police and members of the Indonesian Navy — to patrol the park weekly by speedboat. Larger “floating ranger station” boats, funded by PNK, provide a more permanent presence at vulnerable sites.

The results of these efforts? Blast fishing has been reduced by more than 90 percent and coral reefs have recovered by more than 60 percent, according to monitoring of 185 sites by Conservancy scientists. 

Creating Hope for the Coral Triangle

The exciting progress at Komodo National Park offers great promise for our work throughout the Coral Triangle. With creativity, close partnerships and an unwavering commitment to meet the needs of people, as well as nature, our communities can thrive alongside the wild beauty, plants and animals that sustain and inspire us.

Nature picture credits (left to right): Photo © Jez O'Hare (Children in Komodo National Park, Indonesia); Photo © Christopher J. Crowley (Komodo dragon in Komodo National Park, Indonesia)