The Karimunjawa National Park (KNP), located at the northern coast of Central Java, Indonesia, was the first Marine Park recognized in Indonesia back in 1986 and has since been an important area for conservation and marine biodiversity protection. The KNP is under control of district government agencies and managed by the KNP Authority (KNPA). Assistance in any form to the KNPA is provided by local NGOs and the Wildlife Conservations Society. The first zoning of the KNP took place in 1999, but due to social-economic changes the park was rezoned in 2005 and 2012. Rezoning is essential to the Adaptive-Co-management approach by the KNPA which allows a participative method to involve locals into the management. But still, due to various stakeholders from national down to local level and their diverse interests in terms of biodiversity conservation, tourism and local development, four main areas of conflicts remain: Large and small-scale fishing, mariculture development, water pollution from infrastructure and uncontrolled tourism. The last two even deteriorate under the exploding domestic and regional tourism markets since 2009. Unsustainable land and resource use are neglected and ironically follow the national vision to build and promote Karimunjawa as the 'Eco'-Resort Island of Indonesia. |