This letter responds to a petition on Change.org titled "Stop Deception in the name of Conservation" created by an individual named Cilfia Dewi. Through this open letter, WWF-Indonesia objected and regretted the misunderstanding caused by the petition.

WWF-Indonesia regrets that the petition, which has received the support of more than 12,000 people as of Monday, August 6, 2018 at 17.00 WIB, was misdirected, so that interested parties could not respond properly. Mistakes like this are also detrimental to the signatories of the petition because it will not achieve the goals as expected by the signatories. On that basis, WWF-Indonesia requests Change.org and the petition creator to rectify it.

Through this letter we also convey that the most authorized party to act is the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) as the manager of all national parks in Indonesia including Komodo National Park. Komodo National Park itself is under the Directorate General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation (KSDAE) to develop zoning plans, annual work plans, and long-term work plans including protection and management of utilization zones.

The #savekomodo petition originated from the issuance of the Decree of the Investment Agency (BPM) No. 7/1/IUPSWA/PMDN/2015 dated December 17, 2015 concerning the granting of a business license for natural tourism facilities in the utilization zone of Komodo National Park covering an area of 22.1 hectares and Decree of the Head of the Komodo National Park Office No. 169/T.17/TU/KSA/04/2018 concerning the ratification of the Annual Work Plan (RKT) for the third phase of natural tourism exploitation in 2018 on behalf of PT Segara Komodo Lestari.

WWF-Indonesia views that the petition should be addressed to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry cq. Directorate General of KSDAE cq. Head of Komodo National Park. WWF-Indonesia is not the party authorized to stop or cancel the permit that has been issued by the Komodo National Park Office.

WWF-Indonesia strongly supports the conservation of Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) and Komodo National Park as a whole through responsible management and utilization in accordance with applicable regulations.

(Also read:[OPEN LETTER] Thanks to Change.org and Petition Creators)

Jakarta, August 6, 2018