As word spread like wildfire of the threat to the Komodo dragons in Indonesia, tourists from all over the world are seen flocking the Komodo Island in Indonesia to see them, before they go extinct.
Visitors are being charged a whopping $1000 for the special rights. The new ‘fee’ was announced on Oct 7 to reduce over-tourism as well as to save the island’s signature species.
If this initiative works, it could be seen as a model for the world’s most ecologically sensitive sites. Besides, the local community will also wake up and notice the benefits of the global ecotourism boom.
Statistics reveal that the island is home to about 5000 Komodo dragons that are said to be aggressive, venomous predators. They grow to 3 meters long and weigh more than 170 kg and known to occasionally attack humans.
Thanks to the Komodo dragons, the Komodo Island might soon become a tourist attraction. Till recently, Komodo - the 370 square kilometres mountainous rock in the middle of the Indonesia archipelago - was barely known to the world. For centuries this sparsely populated island was known solely to the Indonesian locals.
In 1980 the Indonesian government established the Komodo National Park to protect the dragons, which led to the local inhabitants go up in arms over resource access, indigenous rights as well as tourism.
Data shows that in 2018, 176,000 people visited Komodo, up from 44,000 in 2008. This influx has led to various issues like trash piling up; poaching on the rise, and locals unhappy with the government granting development rights to outsiders. Meanwhile, statistics reveal that the dragon population is also declining gradually.
According to reports, the government had decided to isolate Komodo Island in 2020 as an area only for the dragons and relocate the residents. But, public pressure against the move made the government change its mind and impose the membership fees instead.
