Partners in conservation? - Communities, Contestation and Conflict in Komodo National Park, Indonesia

Abstract

This thesis looks at situation of Komodo National Park, in Flores, eastern Indonesia where an international NGO, The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with a private company, has developed a 25 year Management Plan for the park amidst great opposition from local communities and local NGOs. I explore the bases for conflict and contestation of this plan and discuss how it fails to consider the real plight of park residents, penalising them instead and promoting the interests of the wealthy and powerful. Hajer puts forward the argument that environmental conflict provides a symbolic umbrella, an inclusionary device, that confines the political debate and ensuing discourse production to specific actors and institutions. Thus, the debate has become a discursive one, revolving around interpretation, rather than dealing with the physical nature of environmental problems. (Hajer 1995: 14). Despite the ensuing media attention due to the shooting of two fishermen in 2002 by patrol forces, I show how the use of multiple storylines continues to obscure the real issues of survival that continue to challenge park residents.