JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Indonesia’s Komodo dragons, the world’s largest lizards, are on the verge of extinction due to the impact of global warming, a new report said.
The Komodo monitors are included as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species — the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
The report said that the animal is “increasingly threatened by the impacts of climate change”.
It is estimated that 30 per cent of the Komodo population will shrink in the next 45 years due to the rise in the global temperature and sea surface.
This is despite the Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s claims that the population of Komodo dragons rose to 3,022 in 2019, up from 2,897 in the previous year, according to its data.
The Komodo dragons are endemic to Komodo Island and its neighbouring islands in East Nusa Tenggara province.
In 1980, Indonesia set up the Komodo National Park aimed at protecting the world’s heaviest reptile.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has included the park in its World Heritage Site list.
The construction of a tourist attraction called “Jurassic Park” near the national park has sparked concerns among UNESCO and various environmental organisations, alarmed that the potential new development will further cause the population of Komodo dragons to dwindle.
Tourism infrastructure projects in the protected Komodo habitat should urgently and temporarily be halted by the Indonesian government to preserve the area’s “outstanding universal value,” said the World Heritage Committee (WHC), which is under UNESCO.
Such projects, said UNESCO, must be put on hold until the IUCN carries out supervision on the revised AMDAL (environmental impact assessment).
UNESCO also urged Indonesia to invite IUCN to examine the environmental impact of the tourist site’s construction.
Conservationist Mr Doni Parera said that despite its “late warning”, UNESCO’s statement has set “the momentum for us, and especially for the government, to review what has been done to the Komodo National Park”.
“If we agree that the park is a world heritage site, we must realise that every single change in the park must firstly obtain approval from local communities who inherit the site,” he said in a discussion on the public’s reaction to the UNESCO warning, held by the Walhi East Nusa Tenggara chapter, on 5 August.
Indonesia is expected to deliver the latest report on the status of conservation-related properties and their records on 1 February 2022 when the WHC convenes at its 45th session.
