- - 3 - Summryprepredby WCMZ / UCN (April19911 bsedonthe originl nomintionsubhnittedbythegovernmentofndonesik This originl nd slldocuxnents presentedinsupportofthis nomintionwill be vilble for consulttion t the meetings of the Bureu nd the Committee. 1. Dcxl!oN The ntionl prkis loctedinthe Lesser Sunds. tcomprises costl section of western Flors nd the islnds of Komodo, Pdr, nc nd Gili Motong rd the surrounding wters of the Spe Strights. 219,322h. 2. JuRm lxm Kmodo ws declred ntionl prk in 1980 nd extended to 219,322h in 1984 to include n expnded mrine re nd section of minlnd Flors. KmodowscceptedsbiospherereserveundertheUnescoMnnd Biosphere Progrmme in Jnury 1977. 3. DEM!tFTcApoN The generlly ruggedtopogrphyreflects thepositionof theprkwithin the ctive volcnic 'shtter belt' betwsen Austrli nd the Sund shelf. Kmodo, thelrgestislnd, hs topogrphydomintedbyrngeof rounded hills oriented long north-south xis. Tothe est is Pdr, smll, rugged islnd, the tcpcgrphy of which rises steeply from the surrounding se to between 200m nd 300 The second lrgest islnd in the prk, Rinc, is dominted by the 667m Uoro Or mssif, while to the north the steep-sided peks of Gunung Tumbh nd Dor Pj rise to 187m nd 351% respectively. The costline of llthreeislndsis generlly ruggedndrockydlthoughsndybechesrefoundinsmesheltered~~. The minlrxdcomponents oftheprklieinthe ruggedcostl res of westernflores, wheresurfce freshwteris more bundntthnonthe offshore islnds. Fringingrdptchcorl reefs reextensive ndbest developedonthenorth-esstcostofkomodondthesouth-westcostof Pinc nd Pdr Thepredominntvegettiontypes re opengrss-wcdlndsvnnh, minly of nthrpogenic originndcoveringsome 70% oftheprk, rrdtrupicl deciduous (monsoon) forest long the bses of hills nd on vlley bottoms. Other vegettion types include cloud forest bove 500m on pinncles tiridges ndmngrove forestinshelteredbys off Komodo, Pdr nd Rinck Extensivesegrss beds occurtothenorthof Rinc slnd. 21
(iii) SupeAtive nturl fetures The p&s lndscpe is regrdeds mongthemstdrmticinndonesi,withthe rugged hillsides of dxy svnn ndpocketsofthornygreen' vegettioncontrstingstrklywiththe brillintwhite sndy beches nd blue wters surging over corl. (iv) Hhittofthretemdspecie8 The prk is virtully the only plce in the world where the Komodo monitor exists in the Wild Being n islnd nd reltively isolted, it is one of the best loctions in which to ensure the long-term survivl of the species. 23
BAL LOMBOK SUMBAWA KOMODO sm nr A nr -\ / MU / LOCATON MAP - AR CONNECTON 0 2OOkm - - - * ROAQFERRYCHARTER p * TOWN/PPA OFFCE ASUANSAJO PUlAU PONGO WLLDERNESS ZONE LOHO BAHU? j/i?! O t$ MOUNTAN HEADQUARTETERS AND VSTOR COMPLEX l TOWN - EXSTNG TRAL --- PROPOSED TRAL --- NATONAL PARK i. 3 BOUNDARY -*-. -. l -.-.-GU OASAMP / -*-. ~ w-.i - N. -*. i GL MOTONG
i) UCN Dt Sheet ii) Additionl LitertureConsulted: None. iii) Consulttions: ndonesin Government Officils, R Slm, R Petocz, R Robinson, K Mctinnon iv) Field Visit: April, 1990, Jim Thorsell. - ndonesi is complex of thousnds of islnds, lthough there re only few dozen of substntil size. Kne30 (discounting the presence of the Kcmcdo monitor) is physiogrphicllyquitetypicl of the smll, lw-risingdryislndsinthe EsternLesser Sunds, nd lso quite similr to the lower elevtions of the lrger djcent islnds in the chin (eg. Sumbw nd Flres). ts terrestril species richness is moderte becuseitlcks extensive rin forest (though - of moist forest of erlier ers re interesting & diverse). Put wht it my lck in diversity it mkes up for in specil chrcteristics s Wllcen trnsition biot. n generl it is gocd representtive of these estern islnds, nd of Wllce, but of course very distinctive from the lrger, higher, wetter nd therefore (t lest originlly) hevily forested Greter Sundstothewest, KlimntnndSulewesitothe northnd rin/ppunewguinetothe est. Wht sets itimmeditelyprt from the mjority of ndonesin islnds is tht by comprison it is virtully uninhbited, with only bout 600-700 people living on ech of the two mjor islnds of the group, in essentilly only tw strictly defined loctions, whcse livelihoods re lmost exclusively oriented towrds mrine resource8, not terrestril ones. The mjordistinguishing feture of Romodothtsetsitprt fromll others is the existence there of the Komodo monitor lizrd. This, the world's lrgest lizrd, hs very restricted distribution centred on the prk nd long the northern position of the djoining min islnd of Flres. 25 m
3. Nl?EGRT!Z The min concern over Komodo hs been the lck of dequte protective legisltion Although the history of protection goes bck to 1938 nd the re ws declred ntionl prkin 1980 by Ministeril Decree, there ws no legisltive uthority for its existence. n 1990, however, mjor new comprehensive conservtionlwws pssedwhich will provide, when comhinedwithimplementingregultions, solid legl bsis. All ndonesinntionl prks, includingkomodo, which currently owe theirexistencetoonly (reversible) ministeril decree, re in the process of being redeclred on the bsis of the ntionl lw, elevting the legisltive mndte to the prlimentry nd presidentil level. Althoughthe specificimplementingregultions hve yet to be finlised, there is momentum for them nd high potentil for getting good, specific regultions which will replce the confusing series of edicts, designtions, decrees whichdte fromer1ydutchcoloni.l times. This process is expected to be completed for Kon&o by the end of 1991. Although the mngement pln for Komcdo ws proposed in 1979, it is quite specific nd dequte to guide current decisions. A revision wouldbe wrrnted soon, prticulrly in the light of the fifteen-fold growth in tourism since it ws prepred. The boundries oftheprkencompss theminfetures ndre considered dequte. The two reserves on Flres slnd, both of which hrkmr some Komodo drgons re, huwever, best left out of the Prpe=-tY. Both these res, Mbeliling Nggorng nd Wy Wuul-re not undernymngementregime t present ndre onlyttchedtothe &mod0 office for dministrtive ese. Occsionl. cpture of drgons for zoo purposes tkes plce nd the long-term survivl of the species onfloresis notssuredeventhoughthesetwcisoltes my hve role in providing genetic vriety. There is n extensive mrine buffer zone to the prk, in which prk stff hve uthority to regulte the type of fishing permitted nd to some extent even the presence of outsider fishermen This uthority over lrge buffer zone hs gret del to do with gins in nti-poching (of deer, monitorpreyspecies). n generl the buffer is veryprogressivemngement rrngement which (s it becomes better nd better ptrolled) cn become very significnt in long term protectionof the prk nterms of mngementtthelocl opertionl level, Komodo rnks s one of the best in ndonesi Mrleseens highdespite chronic low slryproblerns ndmotivtionndworkhbits of stff re gocd. The current prk director hs ggressively pursued unorthodox wys of insuring smll portions of tourist revenues re recycled into prk mintennce. He lso ggressively continues the trdition of close coopertionwithplice ndmilitryofficils to ddress., R cc re c - 1 26
ptrol issues nd especilly the poching of deer nd dmging fishing prctices. The growingpopulrityof KcmcdoNtionl Prks destintion for dventure trvel hs focused PHPRs ttention on this prk, nd hs hd mjor influence on keeping good stffing nd routine budgets. A minor problem is the existence of perling sttion on Rinc slnd. This ctivitymynotbedn@ngbutthepermnentstructures built to operteitre obtrusive ndinviltionof prk regultions. The mjor mngement issue, s suggested bove, is the incresing touxismndsingulrfocusonthekcnb3dodrgons. The chllengewill be to broden the interest of visitors to other nturl ttrctions (prticulrly the mrine environment) through interpretive progrnnnes rd pproprite fcilities (eg. nture trils). There re number of mintennce requirements nd equipment needs (eg bots) s most fcilities were provided in 1982 nd re in need of repir or replcement. / 1 The centrl concernoverthe nomintionofkon&ohs beenthesingulr focus oftheprkonone species -the Komodomonitor. There re thousnds of islnds in different prts of the world tht re home to endemic species of plnts (eg. New Cledoni with 2474), or nimls such s birds (Solomon slnds nve 14). Other islnds re exceptionl fortheirgedlogicl fetures, corl reefs orscenery. The chllenge withkcmodoistodetermineits prticulrimportncetoscience ndto conservtion in the globl context of other islnds. Certinly, themostdrmtic rgumentforkomoddsimportncet0 scienceis thepresence of veryimpressive &remrkble niml - vrnus s -whichoccurs lmostnowhereelse. Evolutionry influences such s isoltion, lck of competitors or predtors, hrsh environment, rising nd flling se levels, climtic chnge, volcnism impcts ndothers hve llctedinvrious wys, bothsubtle nd obvious, toshpetheqmcdomonitors currentmorphlogynd ecologicl sttus. As lbortory forstudyingsuch chnges, Rxnodo Ntionl Prkrnks highlymong fewsimilrres lredyrecognized for their unique evolutionry history, the Glpgos nd Hwiin rchipelgoes being the best exmples. The monitoritselfis only the most obvious element of the fun; itsem likelythtultimtely otherveryimportntquestions will beddressedinthis eccsystem, including how the presence of unique top crnivore hs ffected the evolutionry nd ecologicl history of other elements, tihcwthe environmentitselfhs chngedoverthe exbemely long period (millions of yers) this sortofvrnidhs existed. 27
Obviously, continued effective mngement of the re s reserve or prk is crucil to eventul scientific study of these issues. The size, ppemnc e ndbehtiourofthe KomcdoMonitoritselfis truly impressive both in the technicl nd scientific sense s well s its impct on visitors. Although much exggertion of the lizrd's ggressiveness ndthrettohumns hs keen spred, nd its linkge to drgonmythologyexploited, the fct remins tht V. komodcwsb is unique mong the mrld's lizrds in its lrge size, predtoryhbitsndbehviourchrctexistics. scientists nd zoo keepers whohvestudiedthespec.ies lsoconsideritoneofthemcst intelligent reptilesintheworld Theimportnce of KomodoNtionl Prktoconsemtionis subjective judgement, since it cn be rgued tht loss of smller, lmet unnoticedspecie cnbejustsimpcrtnt loss ofmoredrmtic OXSS. And it my be suggested tht focusing effort on lrge trcts of ndonesi'slestdisturbedlnds ofhighspecies diversitywill hve greter pybck in numbers of.rre fom protected or genetic diversity mintined. Bothpoints zevlidbutthereis still substntil conservtionwreness vlue (bothwithin1ndonesi. ndoverses) to reltively modest projects which concentrte on the drmtic or symbolic lifeform for which ndonesins lredy hve considerble pride ndsympthy. The Komdo monitor is one such species (s is the Jvn rhino t Ujung Kulon, nother World Heritge nomintion). Aside fmmthe monitors uniqueness there is thewhole complex of flor nd fun of the Komdo group whichis n excellent representtion of the evolutionry richness of this region AlthoughAlfredRussell Wllce nevervisitedkomod0, norwerethe Komodonmitors knownto science in his dy, it could be speculted tht hd he lmown the story hemuldhvehdevenmore convincingevidence of the fctors governing nturl selection. n ny cse, Komodo hs, in ddition to thedrgon, numberofothernturl fetums includingits mrine environment, its flor, ndintct nturl scenery whichcomhineto mke.it prk of memorble qulity. The cnclusionis thtkomu2ontion.l Prkthus meets criteri (iii) (superltive nturl fetures) nd (iv) hbitts for nimls of outstrrding universl vlue. The conditions of integzity for both re met. KomdoNtionl Prkshouldbeinscribedon-the~~dHe~tge List. Theboundries shouldencompss theoffshoreislndgrows ndnotthe buffer zone or the reseme-on Flres slnd. The ndonesin uthozitiesshould beenc~~toc~etethegzettemerrtprocess ndreportbckon progress bythedecembermeetingofthecomnitte 28