NRM News Archive
Issue 34, November 13, 2001
Marine Protected Areas Lessons Learned Workshop
NRM/EPIQ, The Nature Conservancy and World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia worked with the Ministry of Forestry's Director General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation on
implementing a one-day workshop to review lessons learned in conservation management of marine national parks in Indonesia, and, from this, to make policy recommendations to better
support these approaches toward co-management. Attended by more than sixty participants from various government agencies including Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Finance and
Ministry of Marine Affairs as well as representatives from a broad range of local and national level conservation NGOs, the workshop provided a unique opportunity to learn about
the opportunities and constraints of marine national park management in Indonesia during this time of transition to decentralization. From these lessons learned, participants were
able to develop clear recommendations for necessary policy initiatives to decentralized co-management, including guidelines for co-management, conservation financing, joint
patrolling and zonation.
The morning session included three panel presentations, followed by discussion, on co-management experiences from Bunaken, Komodo and Bali Barat National Parks. With panels comprised
of the respective National Park directors as well as representatives from local government, community groups or NGOs, panel presentations focused on approaches to co-management, local
conservation financing mechanisms, joint patrolling operations and collaborative zonation processes. Due to differences in ecological as well as socio-economic operating environments,
approaches to co-management of these three National Parks varied. At the same time, a number of important themes emerged:
Co-management strengthens service delivery for conservation management. It enables National Park managers to tap into the rich and diverse technical and financial resources available locally.
Co-management offers flexibility. Site-specific in nature, co-management efficiently links available resources to address local constraints. From a financing standpoint, co-management
provides flexibility for reaching beyond regular budget processes to tap necessary financial resources for unplanned problems.
Financing co-management is possible though tapping into a range of local, site-specific financing opportunities. But such local self-financing mechanisms can only be sustained when there
is a clear link to user fee collection with local conservation management initiatives.
Joint patrol systems, including relevant government and community stakeholders, are effective in reducing illegal and ecologically damaging activities in and around a National Park. Local
stakeholders have a keen knowledge about the organization of such activities. Local stakeholders appreciate the cessation of illegal activities as it supports their sustainable livelihoods.
Participatory zonation is an effective strategy for balancing stakeholder aspirations with conservation management objectives of a National Park. There should be monitoring and evaluation
of participatory zonation agreements to ensure both objectives are met.
In the afternoon, participants divided into three working groups to develop policy recommendations for co-management, conservation financing, and joint patrolling and zonation.
Recommendations include:
The Ministry of Forestry's Director General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation needs to provide clear, written policy in support of site-specific co-management of National
Parks and other protected areas in Indonesia. Such policy should delegate clear support and responsibility to all National Park directors to develop flexible co-management structures
that reflect the site-specific opportunities and constraints of their National Park. Criteria for co-management includes excellence in technical service delivery, professionalism and
flexibility.
The Ministry of Forestry and Ministry of Finance need to assess and then revise relevant conservation user fees policies in order to clearly support local self-financing for conservation
management. A national policy on protected areas conservation financing should ensure local collection and distribution of a majority of user fees, with only a minority going to the central
government. Still, all finances should be accounted for and booked at the national level. Transparent third party monitoring and evaluation on financial management as well as conservation management impact is essential.
Clear guidelines and standard operating procedures are necessary for both joint patrol systems and participatory zonation processes.
NRM/EPIQ looks forward to working with PHKA, TNC, WWF and other stakeholders, both in the field and in Jakarta, in helping to realize these important policy initiatives.
Reed Merrill
Protected Areas & Forest Management Advisor
NRM/EPIQ Program Jakarta
reedm@nrm.or.id
Issue 35, November 28, 2001
Village Conservation Information Boards Installed in Bunaken National Park
The Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board (Dewan Pengelolaan Taman Nasional Bunaken or DPTNB) is proud to announce the completion of a cooperative project
with the Bunaken Concerned Citizen's Forum (Forum Masyarakat Peduli Taman Nasional Bunaken or FMPTNB) to install thirty permanent conservation information boards
in the villages of Bunaken National Park. Financed entirely by proceeds from the Bunaken entrance fee system, the 2m x 1m aluminum information bulletin boards were
installed by members of the FMPTNB in public gathering places in the 22 villages within the park. These large blue signs were identified by community members as an
essential strategy to more transparently communicate important conservation management issues to the 30,000 residents of Bunaken National Park.
Information included in the first round of postings includes the first issues of the DPTNB News and the FMPTNB News , which explain in layman's terms the process
leading up to the formation of these two multistakeholder organizations, their composition, purpose and mode of operation. These two issues are full of color photographs
(to increase villager interest) and have been laminated to withstand the elements. Additional information included in the first round of postings include an announcement
and explanation of the Bunaken National Park entrance fee system, a detailed yet easy to read financial report from the DPTNB for its first 6 months of operation
(including monthly reports of entrance fee receipts), laminated excerpts on villager conservation activities from the newspaper insert Lestari, and information on
protected marine species within the park. When possible, postings are printed on brightly colored cardboard in order to increase viewer interest.
Postings will be changed every 2-3 months, with new issues of the DPTNB News, FMPTNB News and DPTNB financial reports, as well as information on the park zonation
revision process, patrol system successes and challenges, and other pertinent park news. Villager reaction to date has been overwhelmingly positive, and both the
DPTNB and FMPTNB are convinced that this method is an excellent communication tool at Rp 30 million for the 30 permanent information boards, or only $100 each.
This is an excellent means for communications and ensuring transparency in natural resources management as well as for broader development issues, and it is hoped
that the government and other development projects consider adapting these community bulletin boards to ensure informed and transparent good governance at the local level.
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM/EPIQ SULUT
erdmann@nrm.or.id
and
Reed Merrill
Protected Areas and Forestry Management Advisor
NRM/EPIQ Jakarta
reedm@nrm.or.id
Issue 35, November 28, 2001
UNEP Regional Workshop on Networking of Marine Protected Areas in the East Asian Seas
The NRM/EPIQ Bunaken team is proud to report that Ms. Meity Mongdong was selected as one of two Indonesian representatives to give a presentation at the UNEP-sponsored
Workshop on Networking of MPA's in the East Asian Seas held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from 8-12 October 2001. Meity was one of 21 participants that gave reports on the
status and management of MPA's in 8 Asian countries including Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. Meity's presentation
focused on Bunaken National Park's co-management strategy and was well-received by the participants.
While the results of the workshop will soon be available on-line, two particular observations by Meity are of note to NRM Headline News. Firstly, Meity says that she has
a new-found appreciation of the great progress made in Bunaken after witnessing many well-known marine professionals from the region complain about the lack of management
in their own parks (many of which are significantly smaller than BNP).
Secondly, Meity was intrigued by a lively debate regarding the relative merits and drawbacks of small (less than 2 hectare) community-based MPA's versus large (tens to
hundreds of thousands of hectares), often centrally-managed MPA's - the marine equivalent of the well-known SLOSS (Single Large Or Several Small) debate in terrestrial
conservation circles. This debate has particular relevance to Indonesia at this time, when several large institutions appear to be favoring the small community marine
reserve approach based upon an apparent belief that large MPA's are much more difficult to manage and often face significant public opposition. A good case study for
Indonesia is the Philippines, where there are reportedly almost 100 small municipal MPA's and relatively few larger MPA's (with Tubbataha being a notable example).
Indeed, the increasing prevalence of Philippines fish poachers in Indonesian waters suggests that the Philippines MPA strategy has not been altogether effective!
Meity reports that several Philippines representatives argued strongly for the small community reserve approach, citing the strong community support that is often
achieved and the resulting efficacy of management. On the other hand, many marine scientists present at the meeting pointed out that current ecological theory on reef
organism life histories and recruitment dynamics suggest that such small reserves, even if relatively high in number, cannot maintain viable populations of many important
reef species. While small community reserves are an excellent MPA marketing tool to increase village awareness and participation in marine conservation and possibly to
increase local fish catches, networks of large reserves (on the scale of tens of thousands of hectares) are critical for the survival of rare, widely-spaced or highly mobile reef species. A commonly-cited example are groupers (fish), which can travel up to 10km or more to spawn in large aggregation sites. Without large reserves that include the entire home range of such groupers (including the spawning aggregation sites), there can be no effective protection of grouper stocks.
It would seem appropriate that the debate raised at the Kota Kinabalu workshop should be revisited in Indonesia for the purpose of formulating this country's future
MPA network strategy. The current focus on small community reserves is certainly important and should continue to be encouraged - but not to the exclusion of large reserves.
These large MPA s, while often presenting a much more complex management situation, are an essential component of Indonesia's marine conservation efforts.
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM/EPIQ SULUT
flotsam@manado.wasantara.net.id
