The Komodo Biosphere Reserve and National Park is situated between

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

and Sumbawa in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is renowned for its population of about 5,000 giant lizards, called '

Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant ...

s' (''Varanus komodoensis''). They exist nowhere else in the world and are of significant interest to scientists studying the

theory of evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

. In addition to

Komodo Island Komodo ( id, Pulau Komodo) is one of the 17,508 islands that comprise the Republic of Indonesia. The island is particularly notable as the habitat of the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard on Earth, which is named after the island. Komodo Island h ...

, the biosphere reserve encompasses the islands of Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous islets. It also includes one of the world’s richest marine environments with

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

Ecological characteristics

The biosphere reserve is situated in a transition zone between Australian and Asian flora and fauna habitats. Terrestrial ecosystems include open grass land,- woodland savannah, tropical deciduous (monsoon) forest, mangroves and quasi cloud forest. The marine area constitutes 70.2% of the biosphere reserve and is characterized by a combination of strong currents, coral reefs and islets, which make navigation around the islands in Komodo National Park difficult and dangerous. Komodo has one of the world's richest marine environments, including over 260 species of reef building coral, 70 species of sponge, ascidians, marine worms,

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, cartilaginous, over 1,000 species of bony fishes, marine reptiles ( green turtle and

hawksbill turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...

), and marine mammals (dolphins, whales, and dugongs). Notable species of high commercial value include

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

Napoleon wrasse The humphead wrasse (''Cheilinus undulatus'') is a large species of wrasse mainly found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, Napoleon fish, Napoleonfish, ''so mei'' 蘇眉 (Cantonese), ...

(''Cheilinus undulatus''), and

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...

s. The number of terrestrial animal species is important from a conservation perspective, as some species are endemic. The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis'') is among the world’s largest reptiles and can reach over 3.6 metres in length and weigh over 90 kg. In 1991, the Komodo National Park was declared a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

to protect the Komodo dragon. Many of the mammals are Asiatic in origin (e.g. deer, pig,

macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...

s, civet), while several reptile and bird species are Australian. These include the

orange-footed scrubfowl The orange-footed scrubfowl (''Megapodius reinwardt''), also known as orange-footed megapode or just scrubfowl is a small megapode of the family Megapodiidae. This species comprises five subspecies found on many islands in the Lesser Sunda Islan ...

(''Megapodius reinwardti''), the

lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo The yellow-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua sulphurea'') also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (about 34-cm-long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile yel ...

(''Cacatua sulphure'') and the

friarbird The friarbirds, also called leatherheads, are about 15 species of relatively large honeyeaters in the genus ''Philemon''. Additionally, the single member of the genus ''Melitograis'' is called the white-streaked friarbird. Friarbirds are found ...

Socio-Economic Characteristics

The Komodo Biosphere Reserve has a total population of 97,988 inhabitants of which 3,267 live in the core area (2011 figures). Resident populations include local communities such as the Komodo, Bima and Manggarai, and migrant communities such as the Bajo and Bugis. Descendants of the original people of Komodo, the Ata Modo, still live in the reserve, but their culture and language is slowly being integrated into that of the migrant communities. Population numbers have increased rapidly due to migration, resulting in rises in

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

, poaching and unsustainable fishing practices, which constitute threats to the biosphere reserve. People from local communities mostly obtain their livelihoods from farming, while the majority of migrant communities work as fishermen. Tourism has increased significantly in recent years, a trend that this likely continue. A primary objective of the biosphere reserve is therefore to promote the sustainable use of resources through ecotourism.

Sources

References

{{Reflist 1977 establishments in Indonesia Biosphere reserves of Indonesia Komodo National Park