Jakarta – At least one island near Jakarta still boasts of dazzling corals and plenty of fish, and the people owe the Suharto family for its conservation. For years, Pulau Pemagaran in the Thousand Islands area north of Jakarta Bay was one of the former ruling family's quick getaway spots.

Mr Probosutedjo, Suharto's half brother, has the lease to Pemagaran, and elite troops used to patrol its perimeter zealously with orders to keep intruders out. Now, the island teems with recreational divers, who come for one of the best coral gardens around and perhaps also for a chance to spot Mr Suharto's fugitive youngest son Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra.

Pemagaran's fate, however, is looking uncertain after the government unveiled plans to reclaim ownership of privately held islands in the area and turn them into resorts. The Thousand Islands will soon become an official regency under Indonesia's decentralisation programme.

And local legislators say private owners – businessmen and politicians who bought long-term leases during the Suharto era – need to give up their hideaways for the benefit of the nearly 20,000 regular folks who live and work on the islands.

Environmentalists and those who are familiar with the islands' ecology, however, express concerns that further development would destroy the coral reefs and fish still living there. Their worry is that the government and the local people would focus too much on development and not enough on conservation.

Divemaster A. Wahab of Aquapro in Jakarta reported that although Pemagaran's coral garden is still thriving, many of the reef systems around less-protected islands have been destroyed long ago.

"Pemagaran has a good variety of table, brain, fire and fan corals, and also plenty of fish species, damsels, angels and wrasses. But it's a fragile system and easy to destroy. It won't last if more people come, if they build more resorts," he said. The biggest reason for Pemagaran's current state, Mr Wahab said, is that it was off limits to fishermen and tourists for so many years.

Indeed, a recent report from the United Nations' Environmental Programme said that 80 per cent of Indonesia's coral reefs are threatened by illegal fishing and tourism. Unesco, the UN's educational, scientific and cultural organisation, has also studied conditions around the Thousand Islands.

That report revealed disappearing islands and reef systems due in part to human activities. "It is ironic that the Suharto family may have inadvertently conserved Pemagaran," Mr Wahab said.