Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
for natural heritage; as such, any indigenous and local communities are ignored, or
even evicted, for the sake of biotic preservation.
A different approach, one celebrated in this chapter, recognizes the importance
of protected areas also for the communities that live and survive in and around them,
and for the economic benefits that they generate for the same. This chapter outlines
the linkages between community livelihood and ecotourism activities as an alterna-
tive practical solution in protecting natural resources, with a focus on Komodo
National Park (119°30¢E; 8°35¢S), a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site,
located in the lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.
Komodo National Park
Komodo National Park (KNP) is located in central Indonesia between the islands
of Sumbawa and Flores, at the border of the provines of Nusa Tenggara Timur and
Nusa Tenggara Barat. The Park was established in 1980 and designated as a Man
and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1986 and as a World Heritage Site in 1991.
KNP was primarily established to conserve the unique Komodo dragon (
Varanus
komodensis
) - a large carnivorous lizard - and its habitat.
KNP includes three major islands - Komodo, Rinca, and Padar - along with
numerous small islands that together total 1,800 km
2
. Of these, 35% is terrestrial
and 65% is marine. This area of Indonesia is part of the Wallacea Region, an area
known to scientists and conservationists as the Coral Triangle. This area, where
the Pacific and Indian Oceans converge, is the only equatorial region in the world
where there is an exchange of flora and fauna between oceans. It is the heart of
the world's marine biodiversity, containing the richest coral diversity in the world
and is home to many highly diverse and threatened marine habitats, including
fringing and patch coral reefs, mangrove forests, sea grass beds, sea mounts,
semi-enclosed bays and deep-water habitats. The park encompasses 510 square
miles (1,320 km
2
) and harbors more than 1,000 species of fish, some 385 species
of reef-building coral, and 70 species of sponges, and endangered marine species such
as Dugong (
Dugong dugon
), dolphins (10 species), whales (6 species) - including
the blue whale (
Balaenoptera musculus
) and sperm whale
(Physeter macroceph-
alus
) - and marine turtles such as the hawksbill turtle (
Eretmochlys imbricate
)
and green turtle (
Chelonia mydas
) (Sumardja
1981
; Robinson and Bari
1982
;
Walpole
1997
).
There are approximately 4,000 people inhabiting four settlements (Komodo,
Papagaran, Rinca and Kerora) within the Park. An estimated 15,000 people live in
fishing villages directly surrounding the Park. Park inhabitants derive their income
mainly from a pelagic lift net (
bagan
) fishery, which targets squid and small schooling
pelagic fish. This fishing method does not affect the sedentary marine ecosystem in
the park and therefore does not conflict with the park's conservation objectives.
Additional income and food is derived from hook and line fishing, trap fishing, reef
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