Go4BioDiv Booklet 2012

Hermansyah Hermann, 30Komodo, Indonesia38I work and live in Komodo National Park. My parents originated fromKomodo Village. I fully understand that my home is a World Heritage site,which has lots of unique features and importance in term of biologicaldiversity. It is important to maintain the ecological integrity of my site,to keep the balance of nature and ensure environmental sustainability.Saving the area, the ecosystems will sustain the benefit for people livinginside the park and the surrounding area.However, my site faces some major problems: blast fishing, cyanidefishing, and rock mining, for example. By putting good managementpractices and a plan into place, those problems have reduced. A growingchallenge is tourism, though. Komodo is one of the favourite destinationsfor cruise-ship tours. Mass tourism will harm the area if not managedproperly.I think, youth can play an important role in the site’s conservation.There are a range of activities which young people can do in coastalcommunities for marine biodiversity conservation: for example conductingmarine conservation campaigns, supporting the establishment of newprotected areas, or the management of existing sites and locally-managedmarine protected areas.