Which Indonesian national park is a UNESCO site famous for its Komodo dragons?

Komodo National Park is the Indonesian UNESCO site famous for its Komodo dragons.

Established in 1980, the park protects the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Padar, and numerous smaller islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands. It was created especially to conserve the Komodo dragon, or Varanus komodoensis, the world’s largest living lizard. The species can exceed three meters in length and is a powerful predator of deer, wild boar, and other animals.

Komodo National Park is not only a land-based wildlife sanctuary. About 60 percent of its designated area is marine, encompassing coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves, and exceptionally diverse coastal waters. This marine environment forms part of the Coral Triangle, one of the planet’s richest regions for marine biodiversity.

The park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. A common mix-up is confusing the park with Indonesia’s other major protected areas: Gunung Leuser is associated with orangutans, Ujung Kulon with the Javan rhinoceros, and Lorentz with highland and coastal ecosystems in Papua. Komodo’s defining species is unmistakable.