Head of Komodo National Park Authority Refuses to Sign Petition Rejecting 1,000 Tourist Quota

The head of the Komodo National Park Authority (BTNK), Hendrikus Rani Siga, has rejected signing a petition against the policy of a 1,000-tourist daily quota to the Komodo National Park area in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). This position by the man known as Hengki responds to demands from tourism actors who held a demonstration rejecting the 1,000-per-day quota policy at the BTNK office on Monday (13/4/2026). At that time, the protesting crowd displayed banners with the petition rejecting the tourist visit quota to Komodo National Park. Hengki emphasised that he is merely a technical implementer of the policy set for Komodo National Park. His response to the tourism actors’ rejection aspirations awaits instructions from the Central Government, namely the Ministry of Forestry. “I am a technical implementer,” Hengki stated firmly. He mentioned that the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) will hold a hearing with the Forestry Minister to discuss the tourist visit quota to Komodo National Park. Hengki is waiting for instructions following that hearing. “I will currently wait for further instructions tomorrow; after that meeting, there will certainly be instructions regarding what I must do,” said Hengki. It is known that hundreds of tourism actors in Labuan Bajo held a rally rejecting the 1,000-tourist-per-day visit quota to Komodo National Park on Monday (13/4/2026). They conveyed their aspirations to the West Manggarai DPRD and BTNK. They also conducted a long march in the middle of Labuan Bajo town. Previously, BTNK implemented a visit quota policy of 365,000 per year for Komodo National Park starting from 1 April 2026. That quota is allocated on average 1,000 per day. The remaining quota that does not reach 1,000 per day during the low tourist visit season is distributed proportionally during the peak tourist visit season. During the peak season, the quota can be given more than 1,000 by adding the remaining low season quota. “We still have an annual quota. We distribute the remaining quotas throughout the months in one year proportionally, referring to last year’s data on which is peak season and which is low season,” explained BTNK Head Hendrikus Rani Siga. For the peak season quota allocation, he said, it refers to last season’s tourist visit data during peak season. It is known that the highest daily visit during last year’s peak season was the visit to Padar Island on 22 July 2025, reaching 1,755 tourists. “If we refer to last year, there is also the figure. We have last year’s peak season data on how much it was. Thus, the approach from there is to distribute the remaining quota proportionally for the peak season,” explained Hengki.