NRM News Archive
Issue 39, November 07, 2000
Bunaken National Park Advisory Board Workshop Held in Manado
A two-day Bunaken National Park Advisory Board (DPTNB) workshop was held in Manado on 18-19 October. The workshop brought together relevant stakeholders
to discuss and build support for the structure, financing and monitoring of DPTNB as a decentralized, multi-stakeholder forum to support the Balai Taman
Nasional with conservation management of Bunaken National Park. The participants comprised representatives from villages located adjacent to the park,
local government officials, NGOs and local universities, and the North Sulawesi Watersports Association (NSWA). Additional resource persons included
the NRM/EPIQ PLS from Central Sulawesi, representatives from Forum Kemitraan Taman Nasional Lore Lindu and Yayasan Tanah Merdeka from Central Sulawesi,
a representative from APKSA and Plasma from East Kalimantan, Jakarta-based PKA officials and the NRM/EPIQ Law and Policy Consultant.
The workshop started with presentations of the current status of DPTNB and a request that workshop participants, as representatives of the Park's relevant
stakeholders, work together to build consensus on any differences regarding DPTNB goals and objectives, as well as to develop more detailed descriptions of
mission, vision, principles, tasks and next steps. Following brief presentations on forum and partnerships experiences from Central Sulawesi and East Kalimantan,
participants broke-up into three working groups and developed integrated contributions to overall workshop goals and objectives. During the second day of the workshop,
participants met in a plenary session to listen to and strengthen small-group presentations, and to then achieve consensus on DPTNB goals and objectives as well as
immediate next steps. While there were initially significant differences among some participants particularly regarding DPTNB structure and financing, general agreement
was achieved on this and all other issues by the end of the workshop.
The workshop was successful in bringing together diverse stakeholders to reach agreement on a number of difficult issues. Beyond excellent facilitation of the workshop
as well as honest yet respectful contributions from workshop participants, three additional variables enriched the workshop.
First, there was broad-based and informed community participation. Prior to this workshop, NRM/EPIQ worked with local community members on a two-day Forum Peduli Taman
Nasional Bunaken workshop on Bunaken Island. This event brought together more than 130 community members, government and non-government stakeholders to develop a democratic
community forum to provide community input and local support for management of Bunaken National Park. This forum includes representatives from each of the twenty-two villages
located in and around the park, as well as three major geographical divisions (southern coast, northern coast and park islands). 12 representatives attending the Manado workshop
came with a clear and unified vision of community aspirations regarding conservation and development of Bunaken National Park, and provided important inputs into the workshop process.
It is recommended that similar forums be established and strengthened in order to better integrate community aspirations into natural resource management policy and planning at the regional level.
Second, the workshop was enriched by the involvement of the NRM/EPIQ regional network. Partners from Central Sulawesi (FKTNLL and Yayasan Tanah Merdeka) and East Kalimantan
(APKSA and Plasma) provided empirically based input that was of great interest to and appreciated by participants from North Sulawesi. Formal presentations were well received and led to interesting
discussions. Moreover, informal interaction before, during and after the workshop contributed to new ideas and collaborations for on-going and future natural resource management
initiatives at the regional level. It is recommended that NRM/EPIQ continue to tap-into the regional NRM/EPIQ network of partners for future workshops and trainings. Sharing of Indonesian
experience resonates well with NRM/EPIQ partners. Given the on-going dynamic political situation in Indonesia, one of our greatest long-term contributions to decentralized natural resources
management might be this growing network of regionally based innovators developing site-specific experiments and then sharing their results with one another.
Third, the NRM/EPIQ North Sulawesi office did an excellent job with media coverage of the workshop, thus ensuring workshop results and process were extended to a broader public audience.
The workshop received excellent coverage in local newspapers as well as local television stations. Following the workshop, a number of participants participated in a one-hour radio talk
show on Manado's SMART FM. Ensuring such excellent media coverage is important for a couple of reasons. First, it contributes to an essential sense of broader-based consultation of new ideas.
This is especially important during the current Era Reformasi as the general public tends to react negatively to new ideas or change - regardless of being either good or bad - without broad
socialization. Second, use of the media enables NRM/EPIQ and our partners to reach a much broader audience for conveying messages of decentralized natural resources management.
It is recommended the NRM/EPIQ Outreach & Education Team work with NRM/EPIQ East Kalimantan and North Sulawesi offices, as well as the three PLSs to establish regular activities with local
media in support of decentralized natural resources management.
Reed Merrill
Protected Areas and Forest Management Advisor
NRM/EPIQ Program
reedm@nrm.or.id
Issue 37, October 17, 2000
Community Forum Supports Conservation of Bunaken National Park
NRM/EPIQ's efforts to foster true multistakeholder management in the Bunaken National Marine Park were greatly furthered on 13-14 October with an historic gathering of over 130
villagers from all 21 villages within the park's boundaries (no small feat given the amount of land and water separating the villages!). The combined seminar/workshop sought to bring
together villagers from throughout the park for the first time in one forum to discuss the most important park management issues according to their own local village perspective.
Local government officials, the head of Bunaken National Park and his staff, and various representatives of academia, the private marine tourism sector and environmental NGO's also
participated, but this was first and foremost a villager to villager meeting. Refreshingly, the villagers focused on the urgent need for better conservation management activities
(enforcement against bomb and cyanide fishers, zonation revision, and plastic waste management) - as opposed to the counter-productive cries for more unrestricted access to park
resources now commonly heard from Indonesia's other national parks!
In addition to sharing their views with the other stakeholder groups, the villagers had the primary task of discussing and actually setting up the "Forum Masyarakat Peduli TNB"
(Bunaken National Park Concerned Citizen's Forum). This forum will be the primary vehicle for direct villager involvement in management of Bunaken National Park, as the forum will
be allotted 3 of the 15 seats on the Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board.
The workshop ended with successful formulation of the forum, including election of officers for the forum and coordinators for the 3 regional branches of the forum
(southern mainland, northern mainland, and island branches).
The success of the forum was all the more exciting given that the forum was primarily organized by a new NRM/EPIQ SULUT partner, Yayasan Kendage U Ruata (YKUR).
YKUR is a true "home-grown" NGO, founded entirely by environmentally conscious youths from the islands of Bunaken National Park. YKUR did an admirable job of
orchestrating a productive and harmonious workshop with representatives from both Christian and Muslim villages within the park. NRM/EPIQ wishes both YKUR
and the Forum Masyarakat Peduli TNB continued success in their laudable efforts to realize true multistakeholder management of Bunaken National Park!
Reed Merrill
Protected Areas and Forest Management Advisor
NRM/EPIQ Program
reedm@nrm.or.id
Issue 31, September 05, 2000
Local Patrols Make a Big Catch in Bunaken
In a previous issue of NRM Headline News (Story #6, "Cyanide fishers go to
jail", Issue 23, June 21, 2000) we reported on the efforts of the North
Sulawesi Watersports Association (NSWA) to implement some creative
monitoring activities to preserve the reefs in and around the Bunaken
National Marine Park. One of those programs, a joint patrol system
undertaken in collaboration with the Bunaken National Park rangers and the
local marine police unit, has been running now for about three months and
has produced some impressive results.
In May and June, two cyanide-fishing teams were caught by the patrols and
sent to jail. The first team, consisting of seven fishermen, was cyanide
fishing for lobster at night on Bunaken Island. All seven spent ten days in
jail and were eventually released on probation, required to check in to the
local police station once a week for six months. Interestingly, members of
this first team provided information to the patrol members of a second team
of five cyanide fishermen caught in the act of cyaniding for Napoleon
wrasse, groupers and other reef fish on Mantehage Island (also within the
park's boundaries) on 28 June 2000. This second team was also sent to jail,
and their boats, engines, hookah compressor, dive gear and cyanide
containers were confiscated as evidence. Over one hundred captured reef
fishes, including juvenile Napoleon wrasse and groupers, were released. At
the present time, four of the five fishers have been released from jail due
to their young age (under 17), while the leader of the team remains in jail
and will be processed in court in the near future.
In July, the joint patrol team also intercepted a large shipment of illegal
mangrove wood being shipped from Mantehage Island to the city of Manado for
sale as firewood. The wood was confiscated and later burned, while the
owners of the boat await sanction.
Finally, two special operations of the patrol team in the less-visited
Arakan-Wawontulap southern section of Bunaken National Park (set aside for
its old growth mangroves and dugong population) also met with success. The
first special operation, though aimed at capturing one of the bomb fishing
teams active in the area, instead intercepted two illegal Filipino fishing
boats. Both boats were confiscated and the illegal crews are being processed
in court.
The second special operation, executed in late August, succeeded in
capturing a team of four bomb fishermen in the act of blasting a reef for
fish. All four fishermen were put in jail and await court trial, while their
boat, engine, hookah compressor, diving gear, eight unused fish bombs and 13
kilograms of blasted fish were confiscated.
All of these arrests have been well reported in local newspapers and
television stations in North Sulawesi, and the public response (especially
among residents of Bunaken National Park) has been overwhelmingly positive.
After years of weak or even non-existent enforcement in the park, the new
joint patrol system is finally providing residents and dive operators alike
with hope for an end to destructive fishing practices on Bunaken's reefs.
Operating costs for these patrols are funded by a voluntary "preservation
fee" of $5 per diver collected by the 13 member businesses of the NSWA. In
the near future, it is anticipated that this patrol system will receive
funding from the Bunaken National Park entrance fee system, which is
currently being finalized as a provincial law (PERDA) by the North Sulawesi
government. Finally, some GOOD news coming out of one of Indonesia's
national parks!
Mark Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM Program
flotsam@manado.wasantara.net.id
Issue 31, September 05, 2000
Making Efforts to Boost North Sulawesi Tourist Sector
Source: Jakarta Post, August 30, 2000
By Harry Bhaskara
MANADO. Even though this province first appeared on the international tourism map in
the 1970s much of its potential remains untapped. Part of the reason is that
the synergy between the government, the private sector and the people has
yet to reach optimum levels. However, an ongoing international conference
here hosted by the North Sulawesi Chapter of PATA (Pacific Area Travel
Association) may give the province the booster it needs. What does its
tourist sector need to do? The Jakarta Post talked to a number of the
province's leading tourist figures ahead of the conference.
Chapter chairman Jeremy Barnes said PATA had conducted a strength and
weakness analysis of tourism in the province covering tourist attractions,
infrastructure, support system and recommendations. The government's
response toward PATA's initiatives has been positive, he said, as it is
willing to include the private sector to make tourism a leading sector in
the province. Barnes, however, emphasized the need to re-evaluate existing
laws and regulations. "To enable the province to compete with other tourist
destinations, local or foreign, it needs to change laws and regulations," he
said. Laws on tourism should be made more accountable and transparent so
that one could get a very clear idea about what procedures one should go
through to get things done, he said. "You know, how you process your PMA
(foreign investment) or PMDN (domestic investment) papers," he said. Asked
to give an example of an outdated regulation, he said that Indonesia had
many islands and had cruising tourism potential -- but cruising permits only
last six months. It is not uncommon, he said, for tourists on a cruise to
spend one year or more in a country. A longer stay also means more income
for the government and for the people. "Imagine the marine tourism dollars
earned from the food passengers would consume for one whole year, the fuel
(for their ships), the docking fees and others," he said.
Markus Sigmann, general manager of Santika Manado hotel, lamented the
absence of an open air policy. "A number of airlines including Silk Air and
Royal Brunei intended to fly to more airports in the country but they were
not allowed to carry domestic passengers (while on domestic routes) because
of the policy," he said. Barnes also offered up an example of how
conventional and fundamental tourist services were not being provided in the
province. "Hotels here don't want to accept traveler's cheques because of
the high tax rate imposed on them by local banks. Can you imagine hotels not
accepting traveler's cheques?" he asked.
Indonesia expects to net seven million foreign tourists this year, with
North Sulawesi a major destination, but this target has yet to be adequately
supported. The Manado Post recently reported on a new instrument landing
system that was to be installed at Manado airport but, it was said,
relocated to Bali instead. Sources told the Post that the equipment is vital
for Manado airport, where pilots have so far relied on visual approaches.
"It is not uncommon for incoming flights to have to return to their original
airports because air visibility is poor," says Purwantono, executive manager
of Santika Manado hotel and vice chairman of PATA North Sulawesi Chapter.
Inadequate airport facilities are responsible for lost opportunities. Some
Japanese travel agencies that were keen to send tourists on a regular basis
to Manado by chartered flights have shelved their plans, Sigmann said. "The
landing system is our lifeline," Purwantono said, "if the airport fails to
install a new one we are finished."
Sigmann said the government seemed to be more supportive of those tourist
destinations with a stronger lobbying power, like Bali, Lombok and
Yogyakarta. "How can we compete with them?" Sigmann asked, adding that Bali
and Lombok had recently introduced a US$230 three-day/two-night package tour
with Silk Air. Sigman was the only person from Manado at the International
Tourist Bourse in Berlin last March, while Bali was represented by 80 people
and Lombok 15. "Not a single government official from Manado was there," he
said. Manado is like Bali was in 1985, he said, as it has a less than
adequate infrastructure. Sigmann gave the local government five years at
most to really improve the tourist industry. "In five years the mining
industry will likely stop. Unless the government succeeds in turning the
province into a major tourist destination its income will dwindle and there
will be thousands of people unemployed," he said.
Tourists visiting the province, he said, are often thrilled by its natural
beauty, but the government's promotion at events like the Berlin meet and
the London World Travel Mart in November is still lacking. Promotion of the
province's other potential areas of interest is also lacking. "The Sangihe
Talaud islands are largely untouched islands waiting to be explored," said
Steven Limogan, director of the Manado-based Maya Express travel agent and
chapter treasurer. Purwantono said he was fixing his eyes on 2003 when free
trade would come to the ASEAN region. "Rather than waiting for 2003 we had
better set our house in order now," he said, "so by 2003 we are prepared to
face new challenges."
The province's natural beauty is beyond question. It is home to one of the
world's best sea gardens, Bunaken. North Sulawesi's mountains offer exciting
highland tours. And its people are renowned for their hospitality. "People
here have an open attitude. They welcome visitors to come to their
province," Limogan said. The province's marine tourist sector has much room
for improvement. It has huge potential for cruising activities, in both
modern and traditional boats, and trips for divers which can be extended to
the Sangihe Talaud islands. To transform the province into a truly
international standard tourist destination, Purwantono said, the government
has to come up with more up- to-date regulations on these sectors. These
include a range of simple regulations from what flag a cruising ship should
fly to the taxes imposed by the government on watersports activities and
docking fees, he said.
Bruce Maxwell, editor of Asia-Pacific Boating wrote in the magazine's April
issue that it could take four weeks to obtain three-month cruising permits
for Indonesia. Comparing Indonesia with Thailand, Maxwell noted that in the
1980s less than a dozen yachts were anchored off Phuket's beaches whereas
now there are at least 1,000. PATA played a part in assisting Phuket to
become an attractive tourist destination. Sigmann said the local government
seemed to fail to understand that once tourist numbers increase the province
will get a better income and be able to increase the wages of its people.
"That's why it is frustrating for me. You want to help but you are not
getting the right responses," he said. Sources told the Post that hotels and
restaurants in Manado had contributed about half of the Rp 7.5 billion
(about US$891 million) earned from income tax since 1998. Despite that,
Purwantono said he felt the local government could have done more to support
tourism in the province.
Lombok once invited all foreign envoys and members of the foreign in Jakarta
to stay on the island for free, he said. "Tourism is a perishable business.
You have to keep on promoting even when business is sluggish," Purwantono
said. Limogan said if the government took aside 10 percent of this tax
income, it would be a significant help to develop tourism in the province.
"This fund can be used for human resources training, promotion and
maintenance," he said, "something which is actually an investment, but the
government always regards such expenses as a waste of money." Barnes said he
also felt the need for the province to have a central planning agency for
tourism development. "The Sangihe Talaud islands may have their own
concept, how about Gorontalo (a town to the southwest of Manado) and other
destinations?" he asked. "Without coordination and a central planning board
for promotion it is likely that tourism growth here will be inhibited," he
said.
Barnes said that tourism promotion in the province had not been updated in
recent years. Indonesia has been hit by negative publicity since 1997 at the
height of the economic crisis and any government would find it hard to
thwart such bad news. Still, one lesson to learn is that endowment of
natural beauty is one thing, exploiting it for the purpose of tourism is
another. In between, one needs to master the delicate game of putting all
stakeholders into synergy. It is the yawning gap between the global demand
and the local ability to answer it that needs to be closed.
[Courtesy of the Indonesian Nature Conservation List]
