KUPANG – Komodo National Park (TN) stated that the arrangement of natural tourism infrastructure at the Loh Buaya resort, Rinca Island, which is included in the Komodo National Park area is carried out to improve the quality of public services in a sustainable way. Head of the Komodo National Park, Lukita Awang, through the official Instagram account of Komodo National Park, Wednesday (28/10), said that increase in the quality of public services was carried out because he saw the increasing trend of tourists during the last five years which tended to increase.
“Of course, a more concentrated arrangement at one point will make sure implementation of ecotourism is safe for the long term,” he said.
Lukita said that the arrangement had also gone through a long process, which was related to licensing and scientific considerations. He also said that the Komodo National Park and his partners continue to check the development of arrangement every day to make sure that integrity of ecosystem and
preservation of Komodo dragon (Varanus Komodoensis) is not disturbed. The Covid-19 protocol is still being applied.
He explained that Komodo National Park has an area of 173,300 hectares (ha). That area 58,499 ha are land and 114,801 ha are water areas managed by a zoning system and a Resort-Based Management approach.
Loh Buaya Resort or Guard Post is one of 13 guard resorts in Komodo National Park. Loh Buaya itself has an area of 15,059.4 ha, 129.47 ha is the mainland tourism use zone or 0.22 percent of the total land area of Komodo National Park.
Loh Buaya is one a favorite destination for tourists who have a relatively short visit time because it is quite close to Labuan Bajo.
“These destinations tend to receive higher levels of daily tourist visits than other destinations in the region,” he added.
He explained more specific that there are about 60 Komodo dragons in the Loh Buaya valley, 15 of which live in the place which is being reorganized.
The Komodo National Park, together with Komodo experts from the Komodo Survival Program Foundation, continue to watch the status of population and keep Komodo dragon using the latest and reliable scientific approach.
Lukita Awang also added that Komodo dragon population for last five years was relatively stable. Therefore, he said, the area arrangement process had no impact on animal safety.
Guard and supervision by the ranger are also continuously carried out so that work accidents during arrangement will not occur. Komodo dragons will naturally stay away from the presence of other entities and can freely walk in their habitat without being disturbed.
Anang Fadhilah
