Wakatobi National Park is a marine park located in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was established in 2002. The name Wakatobi comes from a combination of the four main Tukangbesi Islands: Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Bi nongko. Since 2005, the park has been listed as a tentative World Heritage Site.

Location and topography

Wakatobi National Park is located southeast of Sulawesi, between 05°12’-06°10’S and 123°20’-124°39’E, bordered by the Banda Sea to the northeast and the Flores Sea to the southwest.

The park includes four large islands: Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko, along with many smaller islands such as Tokobao, North Lintea, South Lintea, Kampenaune, Hoga, and Tolandono. The highest point is 274 meters (899 feet) on Wangi-Wangi, followed by Lagole Hill (271 meters) on Tomia, Terpadu Hill (222 meters) on Binongko, and Mount Sampuagiwolo (203 meters) on Kaledupa. The water depth ranges up to 1,044 meters (3,425 feet).

Wakatobi National Park is the third-largest marine park in Indonesia. Jacques Cousteau once called the Wakatobi islands—then known as the Tukangbesi islands—"an Underwater Nirvana." The park covers the entire Wakatobi District and spans 1.4 million hectares, with 900,000 hectares containing tropical coral reefs. The islands form Indonesia’s largest barrier reef. The area is home to many fish, dolphins, turtles, and whales. The island group includes 143 islands, of which seven are inhabited by about 100,000 people. The Bajo people, who are seafaring nomads, live on many of Indonesia’s remote islands.

Flora and fauna

The Wakatobi Islands are located in the Asia-Pacific World Coral Triangle, within Southeast Sulawesi province. These islands are known for their clear waters and a wide variety of underwater life. The area is home to 942 fish species and 750 coral reef species (out of 850 found worldwide), compared to 50 in the Caribbean and 300 in the Red Sea.

The national park includes several habitats, such as mangrove forests, coastal forests, lowland swamp forests, riverbank vegetation, lowland rainforests, mountain rainforests, and coral reefs. The Wakatobi Archipelago has 25 groups of coral reefs, including fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls. A survey from 2003 identified 396 coral species from 68 genera and 15 families. Examples include Acropora formosa, Acropora hyacinthus, Psammocora profundasafla, Pavona cactus, Leptoseris yabei, Fungia molucensis, Lobophyllia robusta, Merulina ampliata, Platygyra versifora, Euphyllia glabrescens, Tubastraea frondes, Stylophora pistillata, Sarcophyton throchelliophorum, and Sinularia species.

Seabirds recorded in the area include the brown booby, common kingfisher, and Malaysian plover. Turtles found in the park are the hawksbill, loggerhead, and olive ridley.

Human habitation

The main town on the islands serves as the government center for the Regency of Baubau. In 2001, about 90,000 people lived on the islands. The population groups include 91.33 percent Wakatobi, 7.92 percent Bajau, and less than one percent from other ethnicities.

The Bajau people depend mostly on ocean resources for survival because many are nomadic fishers who rely on fishing for food. Some Bajau fishers use methods like fish bombing and mining coral, which harm the reef.

Conservation and threats

In 1996, the Wakatobi Marine Conservation Area was created. In 2002, the Wakatobi National Park was formed. It is managed by the Wakatobi National Park Authority (Balai Taman Nasional). In 2005, the park was listed as a candidate for World Heritage Site status. In 2012, it was added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

Wakatobi is a marine protected area with different zones that allow various levels of fishing and tourism. Coral reef areas are usually no-take zones, where fishing is not allowed. Open water areas are often traditional use zones, where local fishers can fish to earn a living. No-take zones cover only 3.2% of the total protected area.

Wakatobi has faced challenges with management and economic stability for local communities. When foreigners visit, they sometimes take advantage of local people. Near no-take zones, tour operators pay local villages for exclusive access to these areas for tourism. Villages that sign these agreements lose rights to the zones. The money is used to repair public buildings and provide electricity in villages.

Boundaries for leased areas are decided between village councils and tour operators without Park officials or fishermen present. While tour operators and village governments benefit from these agreements, the financial needs of individual fishers are often ignored.

Wakatobi has had some success in protecting coral reefs and increasing fish populations compared to unprotected areas. However, other important habitats, such as seagrass beds and mangroves, are not well protected. The park’s zoning also fails to fully protect migratory species, like the green turtle.

Although some areas report higher fish numbers, most fisheries in Wakatobi are still overused. Subsistence fishing provides 70% of the region’s protein. This dependence on marine resources, combined with a growing population, puts pressure on fisheries.

The reliance on marine resources has caused a divide between local people and conservationists. The park and conservation efforts are managed by parts of the Indonesian government, along with organizations like WWF and TNC. Local communities are not involved much, leading many fishers to ignore no-take zone boundaries. Limited funding for enforcement allows this issue to continue.

Indigenous communities, especially the Bajau, are seen by park officials as major contributors to conservation problems because of their history of overfishing and harmful practices, such as fish bombing and poison fishing. Bajau people often do not follow park rules due to their exclusion from park planning, distrust of government officials, confusion about the park’s purpose, and cultural values that differ from conservation goals.

Results of Established Protected Areas

In 2001, a small NTA (no-take-area) was created near the Island of Hoga. This area was set up by Operation Wallacea and local Bajau communities. It covers a 500-meter section of a reef with walls and a flat area near the reef. Studies show that about 80 to 90 percent of the area has stopped fishing activities.

After creating MPAs and NTAs in Wakatobi, scientists studied fish and coral reef health in the region. From July to August between 2001 and 2005, researchers recorded fish and coral data at four locations in the Kaledupa area of Wakatobi. These sites are:

• Hoga NTA
• Hoga lightly fished site (near Pak Kasim's resort)
• Kaledupa lightly fished site (near Langira)
• Sampela heavily fished site (near Sampela village)

The lightly fished sites are about 2 kilometers (4 miles) from villages, while the heavily fished site is close to a Bajau village where people depend heavily on marine resources.

The study took place from July to August between 2001 and 2005. Coral coverage and health varied across the sites. Hoga NTA had the highest number of living corals, while Sampela had mostly dead corals and sand.

Before the NTA was created in 2001, grouper populations were similar in the NTA and the lightly fished sites. The heavily fished site had 50% fewer groupers than the others.

Since 2001, the grouper population in Hoga NTA has grown by 31 ± 10% each year during the study.

At the Hoga lightly fished site, grouper numbers decreased for the first three years (2001–2004). In 2005, the population began to increase slightly.

The Kaledupa lightly fished site saw a yearly drop of 50 ± 10.5% in grouper numbers, making its population lower than the heavily fished Sampela site. At Sampela, grouper numbers increased, but overall, all four sites had a yearly decline of 14 ± 13% in total grouper population.