NRM News Archive
Issue 20, May 15, 2001
Bunaken National Park Entrance Fee System Now 100% Operational
On May 3, 2001, the new Bunaken National Park entrance fee system became 100% operational with the opening of two entrance gates on Liang Beach and Bunaken Village. The entrance
fee system, as outlined in North Sulawesi Provincial Law No. 14/2000, requires that all foreign and local guests to Bunaken National Park are obliged to pay an entrance fee.
The entrance fee is based on a dual system, whereby foreign visitors are obliged to pay Rp 75,000 in exchange for an individually-numbered waterproof plastic tag (valid for
one calendar year), while Indonesian guests are required to pay Rp 2,500 for a one-day entrance ticket. Children under 7 are admitted free, while Indonesian school children
and university students receive a 50% discount. Residents of the park are exempted from the entrance fee system.
The Bunaken entrance fee system was actually initiated on a soft opening basis on 15 March 2001 at a gala event presided over by North Sulawesi's Vice Governor Freddy H. Sualang.
At the soft opening, the first 10 numbered entrance tags to Bunaken National Park were auctioned off to raise money for conservation programs in the park, with tag number 1
purchased for Rp 2,000,000 and the other numbers receiving Rp 500,000 - Rp 1,000,000. The main purpose of the soft opening, however, was to provide an opportunity for the members
of the North Sulawesi Watersports Association (NSWA) to begin participating in the entrance fee system while broader socialization of the program was completed in the North Sulawesi
tourism community.
This strategy turned out to be an extremely effective means of convincing the doubting members of the tourism community that the entrance fee system is viable and acceptable to foreign
guests. During the 6 week soft opening period, over 1130 tags were sold by NSWA operators, resulting in over Rp 100.000.000 in revenues to the Bunaken National Park Management Advisory
Board (BNPMAB). Guest response to the entrance fee system has been overwhelmingly positive, with several guests purchasing additional tags to take home as souvenirs. This resounding
success provided the NRM socialization team with the inertia needed to overcome initial resistance to the entrance fee system by many smaller Indonesian travel agents and charter boat operators.
Socialization meetings were convened with numerous stakeholders, including travel agents and tour operators, hotel managers, cottage owners within the park, non-NSWA dive operators,
glass-bottom boat operators, and charter boat operators. A broad-based support for the entrance fee now exists within the tourism community, and all those involved in bringing guests
to the park are now afforded two options for compliance with the entrance fee system. Operators can purchase lots of 10 to 200 tags at a time and resell them to their guests (filling
out and returning numbered receipts as tags are sold), or they can bring guests to one of the two entrance gates in the park to have guests pay directly at the gates.
A key factor in acceptance of the entrance fee system by both the tourism community and arriving guests was the guarantee that funds collected from the entrance fee would be used
directly within Bunaken National Park for conservation programs. This requirement was achieved by means of a pilot project agreement between the North Sulawesi government and the Ministry
of Forestry which provides (via Provincial Law 14/2000) that 80% of the funds collected are managed by the multistakeholder BNPMAB and used exclusively for conservation programs within the
park. This differs markedly with the centralistic management of national park entrance fees proscribed by National Regulation No. 59 / 1998, whereby 100% of these fees are considered
national non-tax revenues. The Bunaken entrance fee system is considered a two-year pilot project, but all indications to date suggest that this new decentralized system will prove far
superior to the centralized one described above and should be made a permanent system to provide sustainable conservation finance to Bunaken National Park.
Funds from the entrance fee system are already being committed to use by the BNPMAB, who recently approved a significant monthly budget for a joint patrol team composed of Bunaken villagers,
park rangers and water police and based on Bunaken Island. Other programs being considered for funding in the first year include plastic waste management for both Bunaken Island and the city of
Manado, conservation education programs for villages within the park, and possible reef and mangrove rehabilitation programs.
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM Program
flotsam@manado.wasantara.net.id
Issue 18, May 2, 2001
Bunaken National Park Joint Patrol System: A Winning Combination!
The ground-breaking Bunaken National Park joint patrol system is continuing to expand in size, effectiveness and professionalism. The joint patrol system, initially based upon a
memorandum of understanding between the North Sulawesi Watersports Association (NSWA),Bunaken National Park Authority (BTNB) and the North Sulawesi Water Police, has now expanded
to include 21 villagers from Bunaken Island.
The expansion to include village patrolmen began in March, and has produced excellent results to date. With significantly increased manpower and the benefit of local knowledge,
patrols are now operating 24 hours a day and have been highly effective in both socializing and implementing the new zonation system on Bunaken. Most importantly, both the core
conservation zones and the tourism use zones are now approaching true no-take zone status whereby no fishing is occurring within these zones. While the primary task of the joint
patrol system has been implementation of the zonation system and protection against destructive fishing practices, patrols are also responsible for compliance with the new Bunaken
National Park entrance fee system and for daily beach cleanups.
Other villagers have been generally accepting of the joint patrol concept, though several have complained about a need for greater training of the village patrolmen. In response
to this suggestion, NRM/EPIQ has provided several training sessions to thoroughly inform the village patrols on the rules of the zonation system. Recently (26-28 April), a three-day
patrol workshop for the joint patrol team was co-sponsored by NRM/EPIQ and the BTNB. Training modules included within the workshop included: endangered species identification, English
language lessons and proper methodology for checking entrance tags on foreign guests, proper methodology in writing official incident reports, and collection of evidence for prosecution
of violators. The training was very successful and included cooperation from the NSWA, regular and water police, and park rangers.
As of 1 May, management and funding of the joint patrol system (which now includes 7 park rangers, 2 water police officers and 21 village patrolmen) will transfer from the NSWA to the
Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board. Funding for the patrols will come from two primary sources: the Bunaken entrance fee system and grants from donors. To date, the Management
Advisory Board has been successful in attracting a US$ 11,000 grant from WWF-Wallacea to help support patrol costs for the rest of this year.
In a related development, a special undercover patrol undertaken by the BTNB and water police (and funded by the NSWA) has succeeded in capturing 8 blast fishermen in the act of reef bombing
in the southern section of the park on 19 April 2001. The blasters are being detained in jail while police try to ascertain the identities of the financiers of the operation. Blasting has become
the number one complaint of villagers from the southern section of the park, and while the villagers are supportive of the capture of their peers involved in the operations, they are also demanding
that justice be brought upon the businessmen and security forces funding the bombing. While the joint patrol system has made great progress, it seems there is still much work to be done.
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM Program
flotsam@manado.wasantara.net.id
Issue 10, March 07, 2001
New Bunaken Villager Patrol System Meets with Success!
Since June 2000, a joint patrol system forged by the North Sulawesi Watersports Association, Balai Taman Nasional Bunaken and North Sulawesi Water Police has been actively patrolling
the waters of Bunaken National Park. This system has greatly increased the patrol time in the park and has successfully apprehended blast and cyanide fishermen and illegal mangrove cutters,
and has generally been highly supported by the communities within the park. However, many villagers have suggested that direct villager involvement in the patrols could greatly increase their
efficiency, given that the communities have inside knowledge of most activities (legal and otherwise) in their immediate vicinity. Moreover, involving villagers in the patrol system has the
added benefit of serving as a form of socialization of the rules of the national park and especially the new zonation plan for Bunaken Island.
With the recent inauguration of the Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board, this plan to expand the patrol system to include villagers has received strong support and is now being
implemented with the help of the NSWA. Sixteen villagers from Bunaken Island have been recruited for the patrol system and have already received training from BTNB rangers and NRM staff on
the nuances of the new zonation system and ways of properly conducting patrols and approaching violators.
The patrol system is divided into teams of 4 villagers and 1-2 rangers or water police officers, with two teams on patrol during the day and two at night. The day teams include both a boat-based
unit and a walking unit, while night patrols are entirely boat-based. The teams are currently using borrowed boats from the NSWA, though a proposal has recently been presented to the WWF Wallacea
program for funding of the patrols that will include purchase of a boat devoted to the system. The advisory board is hopeful of a positive response from WWF in order to continue these patrols.
This village patrol system was inaugurated in conjunction with a socialization of the new zonation system that included distribution of a zonation calendar to every household on Bunaken Island and
installation of large zonation billboards in every village on the island. While the village patrol team has no authority to arrest violators, the accompanying rangers/police officers do, and the presence
of the villagers has greatly increased the enthusiasm of the park rangers.
The continuous patrol presence, in conjunction with the zonation socialization, has had an immediate impact on use patterns around Bunaken. Community awareness of the new zones and the specific rules
of the zonation system has increased spectacularly as the patrols continue to both report and educate violators.
On the whole, communities on Bunaken have responded to the village patrol system positively. There have been some problems of apparent jealousy on behalf of villagers not selected to join the patrols
and some questioning of the authority of the patrolling villagers. These issues will be addressed in an upcoming meeting of all parties involved in the patrol system called to improve the system before
it expands further to include villagers in the southern section of Bunaken National Park. Another step towards effective management of Bunaken!
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM Program
flotsam@manado.wasantara.net.id
