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Assessment of Good Practices and Lessons Learned in Protected Area Management in Southeast Asia Implemented by

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Assessment of Good Practices and Lessons Learned in Protected Area Management in Southeast Asia

Implemented by

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Published by

Deutsche Gesellschaft fürInternationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

Biodiversity and Climate Change Project 3/F ERDB Building, Forestry CampusLos Baños, Laguna 4031 Philippines

T/F : +63 49 536 2865E : [email protected] [email protected] : www.giz.de www.aseanbiodiversity.org

Authors/ConsultantsDr. Titiek Setyawati, Retno Maryani, Adi Susilo

EditorsDr. Monina T. Uriarte, Agnes R. Pantastico, Rolando A. Inciong, Juanito F. Goloyugo

PhotosDr. Titiek Setyawati, Dr. Dicky Simorangkir, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

DisclaimerThe views expressed in this study report are those of the authors/consultants and do not necessarily reflect those of BMZ, GIZ, and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity or any other involved institution and organization.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction of this publication in full or in part or adaptation for local use for education and non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior permission from the publishers provided that the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and GIZ are fully acknowledged.

Reproduction of this publication for sale or other commercial purpose is prohibited.

Year of Publication: 2014

Assessment of Good Practices and Lessons Learned in Protected Area Management in Southeast Asia

Implemented by

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ACB ASEAN Centre for BiodiversityAHP ASEAN Heritage ParkAMS ASEAN Member StateASEAN Association of Southeast Asian NationsBCEC Bedogol Conservation Education CenterBPT Border Controlling UnitCITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and FloraCTRE Continual Tourism Related EducationEBM Ecosystem-based ManagementFAO Food and Agriculture OrganisationFFI Fauna and Flora InternationalFORDA Forest Research and DevelopmentGIZ Deutsche Gessellschaft für Internationale ZusammenarbeitGLNP Gunung Leuser National ParkGP Good PracticeIAS Invasive Alien SpeciesICRWG Indonesian Coral Reef Working GroupILCs Indigenous and Local CommunitiesINDECON Indonesian Ecotourism NetworkIUCN International Union for Conservation of NatureIUCN-WCPA International Union for Conservation of Nature – World Commission on Protected AreasJAAN Jakarta Animal Aid NetworkJPT Jungle Patrolling Unit

KETAPEL Kelompok Tani Pelindung Leuser (Leuser Protector Farmer Group)KNK Kenali Negara KitaniKYNP Khao Yai National ParkLCC Local Consultative CouncilLIPI Indonesian Scientific InstituteMOU Memorandum of UnderstandingNGOs Non-Government OrganizationsNP National ParkPAs Protected AreasPERHILITAN Jabatan Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara Department of Wildlife Conservation and National Parks POC Pew Ocean CommissionPTTEP Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, SingaporeRM Malaysian RinggitSA Indonesian Scientific AuthorityTDD Tourism Development DepartmentTHB Thai BahtTNGGP Taman Negara Gunung Gede PangrangoUBD Universiti Brunei DarussalamUNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganizationUSCOP United States Commission of Ocean PolicyWHS World Heritage Site

Acronyms & abbreviations

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We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all the support, assistance and contributions of many institutions and people in making this study successful. While it is impossible to identify all who have contributed during the process of developing this report, we would like to acknowledge the support of the following individuals and institutions whose contributions influenced the outcome of this report: the collaborative Biodiversity and Climate Change Project between the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH especially Atty. Roberto Oliva, Ms. Clarissa Arida, Mr. Norman Emmanuel Ramirez, Ms. Rhia Galsim, Dr. Berthold Seibert, Dr. Dicky Simorangkir and Ms. Victoria Agsunod.

The field survey would not have been a success without the tireless work of the officers and personnel of the host institutions, namely, Nandang Prihadi (Indonesian Ministry of Forestry); Dyah Murtiningsih, Firdiansyah, Agus Setiawan, Suwarna and Mayudin (Thousand Island National Park, Indonesia); Andi Basrul, Etty Nurwati, Genman Suhefti Hasibuan, Margo Utomo, Sapto Aji Prabowo, Adhi Nurul Hadi, Rahmad Saleh and Dodi Sumardi (Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia); Herry Subagiadi, Ardi Andono and Maulana Budi (Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, Indonesia); Ahmad Fitri bin Osman, Hasmadi Hamed and Chew Keng Lin (Taman Negara Johor, Malaysia); Muhammad Taufik Abdulrahman, Muhammad Azizi bin Mustafa, Noraini

Nasamuddin, Abu Ghasim Ismail and Zamri B Mat Ami (Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia); Yang Mulia Pangeran Omar Ali, Rahman Achmad, Kassim Ismail, Muhammad Khairul Ikhwan bin Jaya, Abdul Hady bin Shamsuddin, Omarul Islam Mahmud and Hajji Ramli Hajji Shahdan (Tasek Merimbun National Park, Brunei Darussalam); Hajjah Zaiani binti Hajji Noorkhan, Noralinda Hajji Ibrahim, Hajjah Kartini binti Hajji Musa, Hajjah Roslina Mohsin, Shahlinda binti Hajji Sukarlan, Hajjah Jamilah Hajji Abdul Jalil and Shahri Hajji Hussin (Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Brunei Darussalam); Rudi Iskandar, Rozizan, Irma and Sukarni (Ulu Temburong National Park and Selirong Forest Reserve); and Nattapong Banteng and Issaya Siriwachanawong (Khao Yai National Park, Thailand).

We thank Dr. Ani Mardiastuti and her team for the results of their work, Review and Analysis of the Management Effectiveness of ASEAN Heritage Parks (2013), used in this report.

We also thank Yusi Silitonga for arranging our field travels, Indra Bahri for his mapping works, the review team led by Dr. Monina T. Uriarte, and to all others for their support and active involvement throughout the study and production of this report.

Dr. Titiek SetyawatiIr. Retno Maryani, MSc.Ir. Adi Susilo, MSc.

Acknowledgement

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A good practice could be in the form of a technology innovation, a novel way of utilizing natural resources, an innovative method to establish such collaborative action among stakeholders, a new system of promoting such initiative or activity/program, or any combination of these that could provide positive results for the people and the environment, particularly for the social and economic situation.

This study assessed good practices and lessons learned on protected area management in Southeast Asia by collecting field evidences from ASEAN Heritage Parks and other selected protected areas. The study included the identification of a feasible strategy to achieve management effectiveness in protected areas. The four ASEAN Heritage Parks selected in this study were Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park in Brunei Darussalam, Taman Negara National Park (Pahang) in Malaysia, Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia and Khao Yai National Park in Thailand; and five protected areas, namely, Taman Negara Johor at Pulau (island) Kukup in Malaysia, Thousand Islands National Park and Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in Indonesia, and Ulu Temburong National Park and Selirong Forest Recreation Park in Brunei Darussalam. Visits to these protected areas were made mainly to collect information on good practices and lessons learned that can be shared among other protected areas.

The study identified a number of good practices that are categorized according to objectives and problems being adressed: (1) demonstrating the importance of a well-designed management plan; (2) ensuring protection of the park through effective law enforcement; (3) managing marine and terrestrial parks through ecosystem-based approach; (4) unifying conservation, community and travel through ecotourism; (5) demonstrating the importance of public-private partnership and collaborative management; (6) community-based restoration programs resulting in more involvement of local communities; (7) scientific and educational outreach supporting promotion of parks; and (8) ensuring sustainable protected area management through adequate funding. Each good practice is elaborated further through examples of on-ground implementation.

Good practices can be shared among protected areas with similar characteristics and facing similar conditions which may include, among others, political context, socioeconomic condition of local community, types of threats and pressures, funding availability to manage the parks, human resource capacity, and strong government commitment to safeguard the environment. The lessons learned from these good practices are something that must be understood by all stakeholders, especially the local community. These lessons learned carry messages on how park management can be improved.

Executive Summary

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I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1

II. MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTED AREAS AND ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ............................................ 2

III. ASSESSMENT OF GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN PROTECTED AREAS ....................................................................................... 5 Good Practices in Protected Area Management ........................................................ 5 Lessons Learned in Protected Area Management ...................................................... 7 Rationale ................................................................................................................ 7 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................. 8 Limitations of the Study ........................................................................................... 8

IV. CONDUCTING THE ASSESSMENT .................................................................. 9 Approach ................................................................................................................ 9 Data Gathering and Analysis .................................................................................. 12

V. GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS ........................................................................... 13 1. Demonstrating the importance of a well-designed management plan .............. 13 1.1 Strong commitment among stakeholders ensures effective management and compliance to global and regional agreements ............ 13 1.2 Good management plan with specific time frame and budget allocation is more responsive and adaptive .............................................. 15 1.3 Established park zonation contributes to reducing biodiversity loss ........ 16 1.4 Forest protection program ensures conservation of forest resources and biodiversity values ........................................................................... 17 2. Ensuring protection of the park through effective law enforcement ................. 21 2.1 Strict enactment of rules and regulations contributes to further protection of the park ................................................................. 21 2.2 Strong management system makes law enforcement easy to implement ..... 25 2.3 Transparency and information sharing on rules and regulations promote effective park management ..................................... 26 3. Managing marine and terrestrial parks through ecosystem-based approaches ... 27 3.1 Fresh water and marine ecosystem-based management ........................... 29 4. Unifying conservation, community and travel through ecotourism ................. 30 4.1 Building the ecotourism industry in collaboration with relevant stakeholders .............................................................................. 33 5. Demonstrating the importance of public-private partnership and collaborative management ............................................................................... 38 5.1 Partnership with local community minimizes encroachment .................. 39 5.2 Local cooperative management enhances commitment of ILCs .............. 40

Contents

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6. Community-based restoration program results in more involvement of local communities ....................................................................................... 43 6.1 Community development program improves local community livelihood . 43 6.2 Integrated protected area management addresses forest degradation ....... 45 6.3 Co-adaptive management leads to restoration of degraded forests .......... 51 7. Scientific and Educational Outreach Ensures Park “Advertisement” ................ 53 7.1 Enjoying the rainforest through the canopy walk ................................... 53 7.2 Enjoying the rainforest through the canopy walk ................................... 56 8. Adequate funding ensures sustainable PA management ................................... 58 8.1 Business partnership facilitates generation of funds for protected area .... 58

VI. OVERALL LESSONS LEARNED ............................................................................ 60

VII. FEASIBLE STRATEGY FOR STAKEHOLDERS .................................................... 62 1. Feasible Strategy .............................................................................................. 62 2. Good practices selection .................................................................................. 64

VIII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................. 65

IX. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 67X. APPENDICES ....................................................................................................... 69

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The ASEAN region harbors more than 20 percent of the global biodiversity, around 35 percent of the global mangrove forest, and 30 percent of the global coral reefs. However, the region is prone to rapid degradation mainly due to human interventions such as over-exploitation, illegal activities, and conversion, to name a few. Slowing this down requires a good strategy in identifying and designating a sufficient number of protected or conservation areas.

The ASEAN region primarily aims to accelerate the ASEAN Member States’ (AMS) economic growth, social progress, and cultural development, including the promotion of regional peace. It was founded on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration by the founding fathers of the five ASEAN countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines, Singapore, and Thailand. Many cross-regional issues were addressed by the AMS who agreed to take cooperative action in their national and regional development programs, utilizing as far as possible, the

resources available in the ASEAN region to expand all aspects related to their respective economy. Issues on natural resource protection and conservation were not yet in their agenda, as all ASEAN Member States were in their early stage of national development.

The story changed after a number of national and global reports on rapid deforestation rate throughout the Southeast Asian region were disseminated. Since early 80s, most natural ecosystems within the ASEAN region were prone to resource depletion and biodiversity degradation due to over-exploitation of natural resources, especially timber. Anticipating further loss of biodiversity, each government placed more attention on the development of protected areas (PAs) to ensure protection of biological diversity from threats. Protected areas are considered as the cornerstone of most biodiversity conservation effort because protecting one particular species without saving their natural habitat at the landscape level might be useless (du Toit et al., 2004).

I. Introduction

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Management of protected areas (PAs) in many developing countries involves not only the management of natural recources such as plants and animals, but more importantly, of people and communities that significantly influence the performance of the PAs. For many years as dominant rulers of the universe, people tend to perceive that they have the full right to utilize natural resources for their benefits and for the next generation. Today, as resources and biodiversity worldwide rapidly decline, natural and social scientists, conservationists, legislators, and human rights advocates are exerting efforts in reshaping the current degraded ecosystem and landscapes by transforming them into their original features through various management options and practices (Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2004), as well as those considered as protected areas to ensure the long-term conservation of biodiversity (du Toit et al., 2004).

Seventeen years after the establishment of the ASEAN, the 2nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in Bangkok on 29 November 1984 issued the Declaration on Heritage Parks and Reserves, a milestone that marked the commencement of the first group of heritage sites in the region. In 1985, Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN, followed by Vietnam (1995), Lao PDR and Myanmar (1997), and Cambodia (1999), making a total of 10 ASEAN Member States.

Since the establishment of 11 parks and reserves on 29 November 1984 as the first ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHPs), 33 AHPs have been named as of 2013 in Brunei Darussalam (1), Cambodia (2), Indonesia (3), Lao PDR (1), Malaysia (3), Myanmar (7), the Phillippines (5), Singapore (2), Thailand (4), and Vietnam (5). Figure 1 shows the graphical distribution by country. Myanmar has the highest number of AHPs, so far, among the ASEAN Member States. The newest AHP announced during the 4th AHP Conference held on 1-4 October 2013 in Tagaytay City, Philippines was the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve situated inside the University of Philippines Los Baños. All AHPs have been continuously managed by the respective AMS within their legal and regulatory frameworks as well as planning and management systems, which are aligned to AHPs’ planning and management guidelines.

ASEAN Heritage Parks are defined as“protected areas of high conservation importance, preserving in total a complete spectrum of representative ecosystems of the ASEAN region”. This has encouraged peoples in the ASEAN region to conserve their natural heritage to protect the bounty and diversity of living organisms, as well as maintain biodiversity in their respective state. ASEAN Heritage Parks are also established to increase sense of belongingness, create better public awareness, improve knowledge, generate

II. Management of Protected Areas and Asean Heritage Parks in Southeast Asia

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ecotourism and conservation programs, and conserve biodiversity, among others. These can be strengthened through a regional network or cooperation of the representative protected areas. Through this network, AMS could share experience in managing their natural heritages and improve their current management practices.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), an inter-governmental organization that facilitates cooperation on biodiversity conservation and sustainable management among AMS, is the secretariat of the AHP Programme. The AHP Committee, composed of representatives from the 10 AMS, provides technical expertise in developing a regional plan for AHPs, reviews and updates AHP

program and selection criteria, and reviews and recommends the establishment of new ASEAN Heritage Parks. Each individual AMS has the authority to manage its own AHPs.

During the 4th AHP Conference in the Phillipines in 2013, participants discussed a number of concerns on AHPs. These include issues on management effectiveness of terrestrial PAs, effective management of aquatic ecosystem, biodiversity and climate change, integrating biodiversity values, ecotourism, business and biodiversity, and indigenous and local community in protected areas. Most importantly, all participants shared similar expectation that AMS could establish a strong network through high profile PAs in order to strengthen biodiverssity conservation

MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTED AREAS AND ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Figure 1. List of ASEAN Heritage Parks and their approximate geographic locations.

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in the ASEAN region. AHP managers agreed to work together to effectively managed their AHPs so that they can contribute to global biodiversity initiatives.

In 2012, ACB, in collaboration with GIZ (Deustche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit), supported a study to review and analyzee the management effectivenes of AHPs. The final report contains a number of recommendations and lessons learned in AHP management (Mardiastuti et al., 2013). There were also information on some practices that support activities within the AHPs that are considered good management practices.

As a follow-up, this study on assessing good practices and lessons learned on PA management in Southeast Asia collected field evidences from a number of selected sites, which included four AHPs and five national parks. Good practices were identified and analyzed to determine lessons learned that may be shared, adopted, and replicated in other sites. As each of the PA has its own characteristics, good practices are highly variable. Assessment of these practices was based on the questionnaire developed following the International Union for Conservation of Nature-World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN-WCPA) framework.

MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTED AREAS AND ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

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A good practice can be defined as a good example, success story, frontline demonstration, or any other effective implementation activity and proper management to accomplish its goals. There are different goals set up by the manager under protected area management.

A good practice could be in the form of technology innovation, a novel way of utilizing natural resources, a method of establishing collaborative action among stakeholders, or a new way of promoting such initiative or activity/program, or any combination that could provide positive results for the environment and socioeconomic development. Thus, good practices shall be a practical implementation that can be replicated by others.

Good Practices in Protected Area Management

A good PA management practice proved to work well, produce good results, and recommended as a model does not merely imply “good” activity, but is generally an outcome of an assessed knowledge management relative to a particular need or management purpose in addressing problems.

There are a number of criteria in PA management that must be set up before we can classify a particular activity as a good practice. Referring to the IUCN-WCPA Framework, the six elements of management (context, planning, input, process, outputs,

and outcomes) need to be further divided into indicators in assessing progress in the management continuum. To help achieve this aim, there must be minimum good standard and practices for national and regional PAs as underlined in Goal 4 of the Regional Action Plan for AHPs (2007).

Good and best practices are often used interchangeably to show that successful experience is gained. These have been tested and validated, in a broader sense, and replicated and shared so that a greater number of people can adopt them. In brief, both terminologies share similar goals and have four key points: successful experience, tested and validated, replicated, and adopted (FAO, 2013). A defined set of criteria will help the observer to determine whether a practice is a “good practice”. Table 1 shows the different criteria used in assessing good practices in the sampled sites during the study, and results were used to generate good practices guideline for AHPs and PAs (modified from FAO, 2013).

The protected areas and heritage sites in Southeast Asian countries are faced with almost common problems that threaten the long-term integrity of their natural environment. The magnitude of the threats is commonly associated with the complexity of the PAs and proximity to human settlement as most people rely on natural resources. Common in most protected areas are threats of poaching, illegal timber harvesting and non-timber forest products gathering, and illegal hunting practiced by the community within the surrounding areas.

III. Assessment of Good Practices and Lessons Learned In Protected Areas

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ASSESSMENT OF GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN PROTECTED AREAS

Criteria Remarks/Questions to be Answered1 Effective Proved its strategic relevance as the most effective way in achieving

a specific objective. This may include validation of the process such as whether confirmation by the beneficiaries show that the practice addresses the needs properly. The good practice has been validated by the stakeholders/final users, and includes a brief description of the good practice validation process.

2 Successful Successfully adopted and has a positive impact on individuals and/or communities. The beneficiaries’ livelihood, for example, has environmentally, financially, and/or economically improved. Guide question: How can they be improved?

3 Sustainable Meets current essential needs to achieve the primary goal (environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable). Guide question: What are the elements that need to be put in place for the good practice to be socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable?

4 Feasible It should be technically easy to learn and implement. Guide question: What are the enabling conditions (economic, social, and environmental) that must be in place for the good practice to be successfully replicated (in a similar context)?

5 Replicable It should have the potential for replication by other stakeholders elsewhere. The aim is to go further than the section “Innovations/ critical success factors” in specifying the requirements for replication of the practice on a larger scale (regional, international).Guide questions: What are the possibilities for extending the good practice more widely? Wwhat are the conditions that should be met/respected to ensure that the good practice is replicated, but adapted to the new context?

6 Adaptable Adaptable to similar objectives in varying situations.

7 Participatory Inherent participatory approaches are essential as they support a joint sense of ownership of decisions and actions. The different roles of all stakeholders – men and women – play as they benefit from the good practice should be explained.Guide questions: Who are the beneficiaries, target groups, and users of the good practice? Who are the institutions, partners, implementing agencies, and donors involved in the good practice, and what is the nature of their involvement?

8 Gender sensitive A short description of the good practice being addressed and the period during which the practice has been carried out explaining how gender was taken into account in both the challenges being addressed and the good practice itself. A description of the practice must show how actors – men and women – involved in the process improved their livelihoods.

Table 1. Criteria/considerations to determine good practices.

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ASSESSMENT OF GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN PROTECTED AREAS

Other factors also contribute to the susceptibility of the PA against human anthropogenic activities. These include building and road construction, mining, land conversion of other non-protected areas, and many other activities that could change biodiversity and landscape conditions. Thus, conflict always arises between the decision to protect the natural resources or to utilize them. Moreover, where there is a high rate of population growth and people tend to be immersed in businesses to give their families a better life, conflict of interest in using natural resources become increasingly serious. We clearly need to put as much effort to set up a strategy on how to address these issues.

Lessons Learned in Protected Area Management

Lessons learned in this study refer to knowledge or understanding obtained through hands- on experience that has a significant impact for PA management. The experience gained could either be positive or negative. Collection and dissemination of lessons learned will help abolish the same problems or failures that may occur in the future. All information from these lessons could be used by individuals/groups/organizations to improve or fix the process to avoid any possible failures and produce better results to achieve objectives.

Rationale

The rationale of this study is mainly to improve current management of protected areas in Southeast Asian countries and strengthen the network of PAs, especially those already granted AHP status. With increasing and continuing biodiversity depletion combined with rapid population growth and climate change issues, global efforts to conserve the remaining biodiversity through good PA management have been pouring in. The existing protected area networks such as the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme have urged the AMS to build stronger networking of protected areas to enhance biodiversity conservation in this region.

This study on good practices and lessons learned is especially suitable for all PA managers in order to strengthen/enhance their current management practices and exchange vital lessons and experiences in managing their parks with other park managers. Results of the study will also help various stakeholders, not only PA managers, but also government, NGOs, and local community to understand and develop a common vision with regards to protected area management.

Some good practices and lessons learned arising from this study can be communicated

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within the AHP network. This may be discussed during regular events such as AHP conferences, AHP committee meetings, and related events. Exchange of experiences will strengthen their capacity in addressing different situations, improving parks management, and eventually contributin to the global biodiversity conservation effort.

Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this assessment are to gain insights on good practices in AHPs and other protected areas; obtain lessons learned that can be shared among PA managers to

improve their management effectiveness; and provide feasible strategies for Southeast Asian governments and other stakeholders to take action and measures for replicating good practices among AHPs and other protected areas.

Limitations of the Study

This study poses some limitations such as the external validity or the generalization of the study. In fact, there were only four AHPs visited out of the existing 33 and five protected areas/non-AHP sites. Surveys and interviews were conducted within each site.

Important Notes!

• During the assessment process, a number of activities may be viewed as good practices. However, under this specific assignment, the definition of a good practice shall be limited to activity/approach/tool that can support the management achieve its objectives. Lessons learned shall be derived from these good practices.

• This assessment is designed to provide some examples of good management practices, implemented either by an AHP or non-AHP manager to meet their objectives and can be shared with others. In this exercise, good practices are those activities with the following characteristics: effective, successful, sustainable, feasible, replicable, adaptable, participatory, and gender sensitive as prescribed in Table 1. In addition, some good practices observed from this study were consolidated to develop a practical guideline for strategic planning and implementation.

ASSESSMENT OF GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN PROTECTED AREAS

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Approach

This study explored and assessed good practices and lessons learned through distribution of assessment forms to managers of the selected AHPs and other protected areas. Representative AHPs were selected based on the results of the study, Management Effectiveness of ASEAN Heritage Parks (Mardiastuti, et al., 2012). These AHPs were considered “good” in terms of management effectiveness as shown in Figure 2. Selected sites were visited to obtain hands-

on information and experiences on good practices and lessons learned.

Seven AHPs that scored above the average (74.8 %) based on the study were requested to accomplish the assessment form. Four AHPs and five non-AHPs were visited for direct assessment (Table 2). Data and information were analyzed to identify good practices and lessons learned which can be used by stakeholders to improve the management effectiveness of PA in general and AHPs in particular.

IV. Conducting the Assessment

Figure 2. Scores of Management Effectiveness of ASEAN Heritage Parks (n=17) presented in descending order with cut-off line (in red) to define best AHPs average score (Mardiastuti, et al., 2013).

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Seven AHPs that scored above the average (74.8 %) based on the study were requested to accomplish the assessment form. Four AHPs and five non-AHPs were visited for direct assessment (Table 2). Data and

information were analyzed to identify good practices and lessons learned which can be used by stakeholders to improve the management effectiveness of PA in general and AHPs in particular.

CONDUCTING THE ASSESSMENT

No. Name Country Reason for Designation STATUS1 Gunung Leuser Na-

tional ParkIndonesia Protection of unique ecosystems

from mountain down to coastal ecosystems and significance for conservation of orangutan, tigers, elephants, rhinoceros, and leopards

AHP/WHS

2 Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park

Indonesia Integrity between conservation areas, bufferzone, transition/corridor

Non-AHP

3 Thousand Island National Park

Indonesia Conservation and protection of marine ecosystem including marine tourism

Non-AHP

4 Khao Yai National Park Thailand Conservation of wild flora and fauna, ecosystem protection and ecotourism

AHP/WHS

5 Taman Negara Pahang Malaysia Conservation of wild flora and fauna, propagation of flora and fauna, ecotourism, and protection of livelihoods of indigenous people

AHP

6 Taman Negara Johor (at Pulau Kukup)

Malaysia Important bird area; preservation of mangrove forest; breeding area and protection for endangered wildlifes such as Leptotilos javanicus, Egretta eulophotus, and Pitta megarhyncha; source for aquaculture; feeding source for marine biology

Non-AHP/Ramsar

7 Tasek Merimbum Heritage Park

Brunei Darussalam

Conservation and protection of mangrove ecosystem and butterfly research and conservation, including education

AHP

8 Ulu Temburong National Park

Brunei Darussalam

Protection of tropical forest ecosystem and unique wild flora and fauna

Non-AHP

9 Pulau Selirong Forest Recreation Park

Brunei Darussalam

Protection of mangrove forest and natural resources

Non-AHP

Table 2. List of sites visited in the ASEAN region.

In the absence of a template for assessing good practices under IUCN-WCPA framework, this study modified a set of criteria to determine good practices developed by FAO (FAO, 2013). Table 3 presents the 15 questions to verify most information that were collected during

the field survey to document and identify good practice. This template was very useful during interviews with PA and AHP managers. Fact sheets of various types of good practices taken from the sites visited were developed based on the information collected using these 15 questions.

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CONDUCTING THE ASSESSMENT

Table 3.Template containing guide questions for assessing good practices in the PAs and AHPs

Element QuestionsObjective What is the aim/objective of this good practice?

Context What is the initial situation and challenge being addressed?What kind of practice is being implemented and for how long it has been practised?

Stakeholders and Partners

Who are the beneficiaries or the target groups of the good practice?Who are the users?Who are the institutions, partners, implementing agencies, and donors involved in the good practice, and what is the nature of their involvement (do they give money only or are they dirrectly involved in the field)?

Methodological Approach

What methodology has been used in order to address the initial issues and lead to a successful outcome, and finally to good practice?What was the process and in what way was it a participatory process?How long did it take to learn lessons and identify key success factors?

Validation Has the good practice been validated with stakeholders/final users?Please describe the good practice validation process.

Impacts What was the impact (positive or negative) of this good practice on the beneficiaries’ (all gender) livelihood?Did the beneficiaries’ livelihoods improve environmentally, financially, and/or economically? If yes, how?

Innovation and success factors

In what ways has the good practice contribute to an innovation in the livelihoods of the local community?What are the conditions (economic, social, and environmental) that need to be in place for the good practice to be succesfully replicated (in the same context)?

Constraint What kind of challenges were encountered in applying the good practices and how were they addressed?

Lesson learned What are the key messages and lessons learned from the good practice experience?

Sustainability What are the elements that need to be put in place for the good practice to be socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable?

Up-scaling and Replicability

What are the possibilities of extending the good practice more widely?

URL of the practice/website

Where can one find the good practice in the Internet? Any website?

Related resources that have been developed (include languange)

Are there any training manuals, guidelines, technical fact sheets, posters, prictures, videos and audio documents, and/or web sites available? In what language?

Keyword What are some keywords or tags that best describe the key issues being addressed and process being applied by the good practice?

Contact details What is the contact address of the people or the PA manager if we want more information on good practice?

Source: FAO (2013).

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Data Gathering and Analysis

Good practices were determined not only through field data collection from the selected sites, but also from collated information from secondary data. These include various published documentations, reports and other ACB documents relevant to this study, published literature, booklet, flyers, and information from websites of AHPs and protected areas. Other sources such as scientific journals and books relevant to the topic were also explored.

During field visits, the questionnaires were given to the respondents (Appendix 1). They were requested to identify the good practices based on criteria as listed in Table 1. Other information provided by the respondents was also recorded. The respondents were asked to tick the column if the practice complies with

the eight criteria. Practically, if six out of eight columns were ticked, then the practice could be considered as “Good Practice” or GP. One protected area, either AHP or non-AHP, could have one or more good practice/s and lessons learned. Grouping of a number of GPs with a very subtle distinction or almost similar problems being addressed was done to be more informative and beneficial.

Once the good practice is confirmed, it was written to contain the following:

• Title of the GP• Project site/location• Problem(s) addressed • Good practices (description of the

process)• Lesson learned from the GPs• Beneficiaries• Impact and outcomes

CONDUCTING THE ASSESSMENT

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Good practices are processes or methodologies that represent an effective way of achieving a specific objective. These have been proven to have worked well, produced good results, and are recommended as models. These can be innovative practices that contribute to the improved performance of an organization or group of persons. These may include success stories and lessons learned and some adaptive learning processes that focused on fostering improvements in quality and promoting continuous learning. They are generally replicable and applicable real life examples.

This section includes the good practices and success stories in ASEAN Heritage Parks and selected protected areas.

1. Demonstrating the importance of a well-designed management plan

A well-designed management plan refers to a plan with an achievable goal. It also contains the objectives or purposes of the management; general description of the area and geographical location; biodiversity richness including unique flora and fauna, size, habitat and types; infrastructure; budget allocation to maintain the park; human resources, threats and mitigation; conservation strategies; and a number of activities including ecotourism attributes. A set of activities which lead to the improvement of the park is also included.

1.1 Strong commitment among stakeholders ensures effective management and compliance to global and regional agreements

Management of protected areas, especially the AHPs, ought to comply to global and regional agreements/frameworks such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on Desertification, IUCN standards, and CITES. Global and regional agreements emphasize the conservation of valuable ecosystems and rich biodiversity in the parks. At the regional level, it should comply with the ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks and Reserve. Through this declaration, all AMS agreed to manage effectively the AHPs and give them the highest recognition as important conservation areas due to their unique biodiversity and ecosystem, wilderness, and outstanding values both for the present and future generations. At the local level, they should comply with local regulations and should represent ecosystems within landscape level.

Project site(s) / location

Taman Negara Pahangin, Malaysia

Problem(s) addressed

Ecosystems and biodiversity resources in Taman Negara Pahang are threatened. Major threats come from expansion of commercial

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plantations and utilization of mineral deposits within the park.

Good practice

The strong commitment among government agencies to comply with global and regional agreements ensures biodiversity conservation. The commitment involves both central/federal governments, together with local governments and other partners. It aims to maintain and sustain areas designated for protection for future generations. Taman Negara Pahang of Malaysia is one example of a good practice that is able to maintain protected zone for over 130 years. This makes the area the oldest protected area, even older than the jungles of Congo or the Amazon. The governments from the states of Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu have agreed and committed to maintain the area as protected zone through a Memorandum of Understanding. Support and services from the federal government were given in the form of provision of expertise, budget allocation, and development of diverse policies to facilitate coordination among government agencies, strengthening networking with global institutions and other partners, and promoting these AHPs in the global arena. As a result, any attempt to convert this valuable protected area diminished because the public opposed the plan to convert the area into an economic hub.

The existence of Taman Negara Pahang was challenged in 1971 when the Malaysian National Electricity Board proposed to build a dam on Tembeling River. The idea was abandoned in 1978, but it was revived again in 1982, only to be discarded in 1983 through the effort of the Malaysian

Nature Society that lobbied to the federal government. The dam would have flooded some 13,000 hectares, and would mean the excision of 32,600 hectares from the park. Up to now, Taman Negara still exists as among the popular eco-tourism destinations in the ASEAN region. Over the past few years, tourism has contributed around six million Malaysian Ringgits to Taman Negara. It provides sources of income for the Malays who live at the neighborhood of the park. Income from tourism is expected to increase in the future, and Taman Negara Pahang is expected to generate its own fund for the management of the park.

Lessons learned from the good practice

The government, working together with international institutions, NGOs, and other partners, was able to elicit stronger public support to maintain Taman Negara Pahang as a protected zone. The park continues to offer ecotourism services to the public. Trading environmental services is possible and proved to be profitable. It offers solutions for developing remote regions. In order to make trading happen, government facilitates and enables different interest groups to collaborate in attaining a common goal to preserve the conservation areas.

Beneficiaries

Local people and society as a whole.

Impacts and outcomes: Public awareness on the importance of protected areas and conservation measures was raised, thus ensuring biodiversity conservation. Development of remote regions was initiated and protected areas were maintained.

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1.2 Good management plan with specific time frame and budget allocation is more responsive and adaptive

A management plan contains achievable goals within a determined time frame. In general, the time frame can be long-, medium- or short-term. Such framing in management allows adjustments which are needed to comply with changes in environmental context such as political reform and/or socioeconomic development and progress. Most of the sited visited are managed by the government. Each area develops its management plan to fulfill requirements for government administration. Primarily, funding comes from the government, and the budget allocation should be prepared in advance. Proposal for long-term budget allocation are developed in advance in line with long-term program. Planning is elaborated on an annual basis. The ongoing process of decentralization requires the planning process to be more responsive to proposals from stakeholders and adaptive to ongoing process at field level.

Project site/location

Khao Yai National Park in Thailand; Taman Negara Pahang in Malaysia

Problem(s) addressed

Management plans for PAs were designed to meet their long-term goal of conserving unique ecosystems, biodiversity resources, wilderness, and outstanding values for both the present and future generations. Budget allocated for implementation of activities in the plan, especially to protect the site from harmful activities and to preserve its rich biodiversity, is often very limited.

The park is well known as a ‘cost center’ because it contributes little to regional/national revenue. The small budget is often not flexible to address field problems. Management is also known as being exclusively dominated by government, which hardly allows private and local partners to participate in the planning, utilizing, and controlling the area. Policy changes at national or local level may not be appropriate for the effective management of the park. In addition, livelihood situations which are rooted from poverty and land hunger may result into forest encroachment, unplanned wood cutting, and wildlife poaching. Flexibility is needed to conduct the management activities of protected areas and to use its allocated budget.

Good practices

In Khao Yai National Park in Thailand, long-term management plan has been developed for 2007-2016, including budget allocation planned by the national government. Budget for operational maintenance is requested annually subject to revision based on potential changes of activities.

In Taman Negara Pahang in Malaysia, the oldest protected area that has been managed for more than 100 years, the park offers equity and creates possibilities for opening up job opportunities. A long-term management plan is being developed, and this demonstrates the capacity of the park to generate income and contribute in developing the region. Better infrastructure is established in the PA, including better road networks and other facilities. Policies to design protected areas as tourism destination, and policies to privatize management to enable the park change from ‘cost center’ into a ‘profit center’, were put in place.

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Policies on privatization were implemented gradually and were enforced by law to allow active involvement of the private sector and local communities in managing tourism inside the protected area. Various sectors are involved in developing and implementing management activities. Few government agencies are involved in managing the Taman Negara; these are the Department of Wildlife and National Park Pahang, Department of Orang Asli Affairs, the Jerantut Municipal Council, Forest Department, Department of Irrigation and Drainage, and Ministry of Tourism. Cooperation among different institutions is important for conserving wildlife, and for protecting landscape and natural integrity. At present, Taman Negara is among the favorite destinations for ecotourism in Malaysia.

In Taman Negara Johor at the island of Pulau Kukup, the medium-term management plan for 2010-2016 has been developed. The plan indicates biodiversity richness and activities to conserve it. It is one of the five PAs under the management body called Perbadanan Taman Negara (State Park Body), which was established through an enactment signed by the Sultan of Johor in 1989. In the past, Pulau Kukup was threatened by illegal logging and utilization of mangrove trees for charcoal. At present, it is a show window for education on mangrove ecosystem. Through collaboration with Wildlife Department of PERHILITAN, the government of the State of Johor prevents illegal logging by enforcing forest patrol and facilitating business entities to participate and promote conservation activities.

Lessons learned from good practice

Consistent policies and support from various sectors such as public works, tourism, and

health and education have contributed in attaining the goals of protected areas. Well-prepared management plan with corresponding budget for implementing activities, plus the cooperation and contribution of various partners ensure good park management. Involvement of the private sector and local communities in the management of protected areas speeds up the development of remote regions. It helps the PA manager to focus more on conservation activities. Managers of protected areas should initiate and encourage entrepreneurship and should enhance capacity to communicate with various stakeholders.

Beneficiaries

Local regions, managers of protected areas, and society in general

Impacts and outcomes

Public support and sure funding for conservation activities resulted in long-lasting and effective management of protected area.

1.3 Established park zonation contributes to reducing biodiversity loss

Zonation demarcates certain management activities needed for particular locations. For most sites visited, park zonation was established based on management needs. Park zonation may be declared by the government in charge of managing protected areas, and zones could be formalized into decrees such as ministerial decisions. However, in many cases, formal zonation in protected areas is still absent, and others remain as imaginary zones.

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Project site/location

Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park in Brunei Darussalam; Thousand Islands National Park in Indonesia

Problem (s) addressed

Lack of effective management remains a challenge in preventing the protected areas from ongoing loss of biodiversity. There are often difficulties in defining the extent of allowable resource utilization in the protected areas especially when boundary between areas or habitat of endangered species and areas that could be utilized by local community to generate income is not well-defined.

Good practices

Zonation in Thousand Islands National Park, Indonesia was established by the Ministry of Forestry under Decree No. 05/IV-KK/2004 signed by the Director General of Forest Conservation. The decree divided the management of the national park into four different zones, namely, Core Zone, Protection Zone, Utilization Zone for Tourism, and Settlement Zone. Core zone is free from human activity and is managed solely for protection. Protection Zone aims to protect a particular resource such as coastal ecosystem including its mangrove and aquatic organisms. In the Utilization Zone, people are allowed to carry out some activities, including the collection of non-timber forest products to generate income. Settlement zone is mainly for human settlement and is managed by the local government. This zoning system is clearly shown in maps developed by the national park.

More specific zonation was adopted at Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park in Brunei

Darussalam. Three zones were set up mainly to protect the wetland ecosystem and flora and fauna, especially butterflies, inside the park. C1 is a complex intensive zone which includes parts of lakes and some allowed activities. C2 is a less intensive use zone that comprises majority of the lakes and pristine forest. C3, the main protection zone where hardcore research and education exercises are commonly carried out, is a protected area that has more virgin forests. The park’s headquarters, exhibition hall, multi-purpose area, and the butterfly garden are all located in C1. The interpretation trail located at 650-1,050 above sea level is found in C2.

Lessons learned from the good practice

Zonation could be site-specific depending on the characteristics of the PA and the main objective to be attained. Proper zonation solves problems in the park, especially in determining conservation and production areas, to ensure the protection and conservation of selected species.

Beneficiaries

Visitors and protected area managers

Impacts and outcomes

Effective management is ensured and biodiversity loss is minimized.

1.4 Forest protection program ensures conservation of forest resources and biodiversity values

All protected areas, either AHP or non-AHP, should have a forest protection program to prevent unexpected disturbance. The program includes protecting ecosystems and

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conserving endangered species of wild flora and fauna. Almost all protected areas studied were composed of tropical rain forests characterized by constant temperature, humidity, and high rainfall. These forests provide various types of habitats to protect myriad forms of plant and animal life unique to tropical forest. Protecting forest integrity and biological resources is the main mandate of the park authority. Thus, all activities ensure that forest resources and biodiversity values are preserved and well-maintained.

The program also includes forest patrols that could be combined with data collection and observations on wildlife tracks, water sources status, salt lick use, and evidences of threats from illegal activities such as hunting, tree cutting, and collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Results of activities undertaken could also be recorded. The key results could be used to guide subsequent patrolling and enforcement efforts. Prescribed burning is an effective method of wildlife management as it promotes new growth, which attracts various herbivores and their predator. Restoration has been undertaken in areas where the forest has been degraded. Many such areas lie near the park boundaries. The information gathered were carefully analyzed and stored in a database.

Project site/location

Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in Indonesia

Problem (s) addressed

Many PAs are being developed into destination sites for ecotourism. Management of the park faces challenges in providing satisfactory experience for visitors, while still maintaining its integrity. Lack of

knowledge and awareness on how to behave at the conservation areas may bring negative impacts to the park such as:

• Seed dispersal in the park due to intentional or unintentional introductions;

• Soil compaction leading to erosion especially on hiking track and camping sites;

• Disturbance of wildlife especially during breeding season tends to change wildlife behavior;

• Destruction of vegetation along the hiking tract and camping sites due to breaking of twigs and branches for firewood or tools when setting up a tent;

• Environmental pollution due to disposal of human waste especially near the site of water sources;

• Forest fires triggered by campfire, cigarette butts, and others; and

• Vandalism.

Good practices

Risks associated with mountain climbing vary from mild injury to severe accidents or even death. The risks are even higher when visitors violate rules and behave improperly. There are cases where visitors use unsuitable clothing and footwear or do not follow the designated track to the summit. To overcome these problems, the park authority immediately established a code of conduct and standard protocols for mountain climbers to minimize negative impact to the park and accidents. This also led to increased satisfactory experience by visitors. The park authority produced technical guidelines for staff in providing services for mountain climbers, including online reservation, setting quota, and regulations. Online

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booking or reservation could be done via the official website of the national park and in obtaining a variety of information, including climbing regulation, and climbing permits.

In Indonesia, Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park (TNGGP) is a famous destination for mountain climbing. It is not surprising that the most popular nature recreation in the park is mountaineering. Mountain climbers compose around 60 percent of park visitors. Accessibility to the area is easy with relatively simple climbing track leading to Gunung Gede and Gunung Pangrango summit. This activity is very popular among novice climbers, students, and groups of nature lovers from surrounding cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor, and Tangerang (Figures 3, 4 & 5).

Prospective mountain climbers have to make online reservation at least one month before the climbing date. Confirmation of reservation should be made not later than seven days; otherwise the reservation is considered cancelled if no confirmation is made on Day 7. Online reservation is accomplished by filling out a downloadable form from the official TNGGP website www.gedepangrango.org, and then sent via e-mail to [email protected]. A 30 percent down payment is required when making a reservation. Reservation is valid if it is provided with money transfer receipts or other forms of proof of payment. Redemption payment is made when claiming the climbing permit. Considering the environmental conditions, tourist facilities, visitor satisfaction, and the capacity of staff involved in the visitors’ safety, the park authority sets the maximum number of mountain climbers at three different climbing tracks to 600 people per day, divided into 300 people from Mandalawangi

Cibodas gates, 200 people from Gunung Putri Gates, and 100 people from Selabintana Gates. The system will reject any new prospective mountain climber when the quota is met.

The Park Authority automatically closes down the mountain climbing activities as needed, especially during heavy rainy season, for the safety of the mountain climbers. Likewise, mountaineering stops during very dry months or when there is no rain at all to avoid forest fire. Park authority posts an announcement at the online registration page and the system will reject any climbing reservation. All information regarding mountaineering could be read in the online registration page including procedures, rules and regulations, quota, etc. This is a very effective system in controlling the number of mountain climbers, thus minimizing negative impacts on the park. The system is easy to implement, can be replicated in other national parks, and less costly.

Lessons learned from the good practice

Online reservation is a very effective system in controlling the number of mountain climbers and minimizing negative impacts on the park. The system is relatively cheap, easy to implement, and can be replicated in other national parks.

Beneficiaries

Visitors and protected area managers

Impacts and outcomes

Prevention of fire and other forest destruction could be accomplished effectively while enhancing visitor satisfaction and sustaining protected areas.

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Figure 3. Camp ground for mountain climbers (left) and Pangrangro Mountain (right). Photo by Indra Bahri.

Figure 4. Track to the mountain top at Gudung Gede Pangrangro. Photo by Indra Bahri.

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Figure 5. The top of Mt. Gunung Gede Pangrangro. Photo by Indra Bahri.

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

2. Ensuring Protection of the Park through Effective Law Enforcement

Law enforcement refers to certain practices being designed largely to implement rules and regulations where any violation against the respected rule would be subject to punishment. It is expected that by implementing punishment, those who violate the rules will be wary. In the context of good management practice to accomplish the main objective or target of particular agency or company, one of the most important things to do is meeting the minimum requirement as set out by the agency. Most practices under this context mainly relate to activities engaging surveillance, patrol, and control to detect any violation or other criminal activities and further apprehend the offenders.

2.1 Strict Enactment of Rules and Regulations Contributes to Further Protection of the Park

A number of protected areas has shown good practices on law enforcement by enacting rules and regulations for protecting their conservation area and also apply penalties for offenders. For most sites visited, they issued a number of regulations containing restriction for human activities that are likely to disturb the natural ecosystems, thus altering flora and fauna species composition and reducing population size and many others. These rules and regulations are mainly to protect the park, not only from human disturbances but also for the benefits of visitors.

Project Site/Location: Taman Negara Pahang and Taman Negara Johor at Pulau Kukup in Malaysia; Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park and Gunung

Leuser National Park in Indonesia; Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park in Brunei Darussalam; Khao Yai National Park in Thailand

Problems Addressed: Rules and regulations were designed depending on socio-political and economic environment, which in turn, influence the process of formulation and hence, selection of means for its enforcement. Changes of global context such as open market economy and decentralization affect suitability of the rules for guiding management of the park. Due to the many activities in the park, there are sure possibilities that part of the park will be disturbed or destroyed, thus, affecting also the biodiversity resources therein. The rules and regulations shall give flexibility for managers of protected areas to adapt into new situations and make decisions.

Good Practices: Taman Negara in Malaysia has the longest experiences in keeping the rules set during colonial time. After more than 100 years from its initial assignment as Game Reserve, the park having the oldest tropical rain forest in the world, still maintains the old rules, but also has new regulations suited to the present situation.

Initially, the area was gazetted by the British authority as a Game Reserve of Tahan Mountain in 1925 covering an area of 9,240 hectares. The enactment in 1938/9 strengthened its status with the declaration as a National Park that encompassed the states of Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu. The creation of this park was due largely to the persistence of one man, Theodore Hubback, Chief Game Warden of what were then the Federated Malay States. He relentlessly pushed the colonial government for 15 years until the park was set aside for conservation

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in 1938. His enthusiasm was carried on by subsequent state and federal governments, and by the Department of Wildlife and National Park. The Park, which was named as a King George V National Park, after the King of England, has been renamed as Taman Negara after the country declared its independence in 1957. Now, the park covers a total of 4,343 sq. km, seven times the size of Singapore. Rules and regulations concerning management of national parks were established, and these included the Enactment Taman Negara (Terengganu); Enactment Taman Negara (Pahang); and Forestry Act, 1984.

Besides regulating management of protected areas, the rules also guide visitors with strict conditionality in visiting the park. For Malaysia, strict rules are applied to visitors coming to visit the canopy trail in Taman Negara and the Nature or Interpretation Trails, which is accessible from a number of points along the peninsular land. The trail has certain markers to prevent visitors from being lost inside the park. Regulations for walking into trails were provided by park officers, and these include not making noise during traverse, no littering, and many other restrictions to prevent damage to the environment. Strict penalties are also applied to those who break the PA rules, although according to the park ranger, it was very rare to find visitors in protected areas who got fines.

Also in Malaysia, Taman Negara Johor at Pulau (island) Kukup has transferred its management from federal government into the state body under the Sultanate Johor. The transfer of management has minimized encroachment and illegal logging activities. In the past, Pulau Kukup had been used as a charcoal production area. Such production

activities threatened sustainability of not only the mangrove forests, but it also threatened migratory birds from Russia and China. At present, minimum disturbances happen at the protected area, in particular with the support from Wildlife Department to prevent the area from animal poaching and other illegal activities. New regulations were developed and enacted to clean the area from plastic wastes that come from fish cultivation at the neighboring area.

In Brunei Darussalam, Tasek Merimbun, Ulu Temburong and Selirong Forest impose penalties for visitors who commit offenses such as entering the area without permit; killing and capturing animals; poisoning and disturbing animals; cutting, removing, destroying or setting fire to any object or plants, living and non-living, dead or alive; introducing any animal or plant into the park; damaging, erecting any building or other structure; and littering. The penalties range from administrative punishment, monetary fine, or imprisonment, as set out under Section 52 Laws of Brunei Chapter 46 Forest. All visitors must get permit from the Forestry Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Bandar Seri Begawan before entering the park. All of these rules and regulations, along with penalties, are clearly described in the fliers provided in the tourism center and at the entrance gate, so that they will be well-understood by all visitors.

In Thailand, law enforcement is a little bit different with what we found in other protected areas. Khao Yai National Park has been facing serious threats from illegal poaching and illegal logging. Thus, positive steps are being undertaken to control poaching. Preventive actions employed seemed relatively stricter than the other

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visited parks. The park rangers are being provided with guns and trained how to use them properly, in collaboration with local police. And they do regular patrol to detect any potential violation. Park rangers also learn the various anti-poaching techniques and wildlife law. There are cases that poachers have more powerful guns (AK-47) and are well-equipped with other weapons. In relation to this, the protected area manager exerts more serious effort to find better solutions to combat these issues. In some parts, the protected area manager tries employing some of the poachers as rangers. Surprisingly, this works as it provides some access to get inside information; it breaks the family poaching cycle; and it encourages other local communities in the nearby village to support conservation projects initiated by the parks.

In Indonesia, Gunung Leuser National Park (GNLP) also applies strict law enforcement. Declared as a World Heritage Site (WHS), it should be managed properly, thus, encroachment and illegal logging have to be minimized, to live up to the status of the WHS. The WHS status was used by GLNP Authority in approaching local government and local police to support the national park. An MOU to protect the park was signed by the different partners. With strong backup from local government and local police institution, GLNP authority carried out intense law enforcement. As a result 4 (four)

high-ranking officers in the local government (two persons from district offices, two person of local senator) were prosecuted because they established palm oil and rubber plantations inside the park. Previously, high-ranking officers would have never been touched by law, however due to the collaborative efforts of the various partners, the protection of the park was successfully ensured.

Lessons Learned from the Good Practice: Rules and regulations guide managers in the proper conduct of management and protection activities in the national parks. The rules also guide visitors and limit their activities inside the parks. Stricter enforcement of the rules and regulations, coupled with cooperation/collaboration among different agencies, ensure protection of valuable ecosystems and biodiversity resources therein; assure that livelihoods of local communities are not detrimental to the park; and harmful activities can be curbed, if not prevented, at the earliest time.

Beneficiaries: Local communities, visitors and national parks

Impacts and Outcomes: Biodiversity and valuable ecosystems are protected; more commitment and collaboration are given by the government and the various stakeholders; and these resulted to well- functioning protected areas.

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Box 1. Strict and consistent law enforcement in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

• Khao Yai National Park (KYNP) was established for conservation of wild flora and fauna, ecosystem protection and ecotourism. It is the largest national park in Thailand, covering 2,168 square kilometers and has rich flora and fauna. The seasonal and evergreen forests contain an extensive system of trails to allow visitors to explore its natural resources including wildlife. Historically, these tracks were created by elephants and this national park is the best place to see this iconic animal and other large animals in Thailand. This forest complex also serves as the best place for birdwatchers. One of the most fantastic attractions of this park is bird watching and many trails are available throughout the parks for visitors.

• Since its first establishment in 1962, Khao Yai National Park has been facing numerous threats from illegal logging, hunting and poaching. With its rich natural resources, this park is not spared from human interventions, especially of people living around the park. These people rely much on the natural resources in the park. Recent information indicates that some of these threats are escalated by outsider’s involvement to exploit the forest resources. One mostly sought resource is the aloe wood/agar wood (Aquilaria sp.). Khao Yai National Park is recognized as agar wood-producing site in Thailand besides Trat district situated in the Eastern part of Thailand. It is known to have the best aloe wood in the world.

• Extraction of high quality or pure agar wood (“oud oil”) is worth between 3,000 up to 8,000 Thai Baht (THB) per 12 milligrams. This is one main reason why people break the rules in this park.

• Park rangers were given authority to apprehend violators. In collaboration with local police, stricter law enforcement activities were undertaken.

• Strict regulation also applies to those who break other established rules and regulations in KYNP. For littering within the park area, one can get a fine of as much as 1,000 – 2,000 THB. This similar amount of money is also imposed to those who feed animals, collect flower or throw garbage inappropriately. Officers and park rangers always alert visitors. Rangers’ sub-stations were established around the forest complex to undertake surveillance and combat illegal logging. Illegal logging and poaching were the most serious threats to this park. Under the existing government regulation, the park rangers can strongly enforce the law and prohibit illegal activities in the park.

Source: Nattapong Banteng, Senior Officer, Khao Yai National Park

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

2.2 Strong management system makes law enforcement easy to implement

This practice is part of good governance. Good organization should be supported with adequate infrastructure, sufficient trained staff and workers, and budget allocation for implementing planned programs and financing administration. Clear standard operating procedures should be established to carry out all activities under the management plan, including establishment of procedure or mechanism to develop collaboration with local, national, and international organizations to maintain long-term sustainability of the conservation and protection program in accordance with the objective of the protected areas.

Project site/location

Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park in Brunei Darussalam and Taman Negara Pahangin Malaysia

Problem (s) addressed

Some of the AHP sites encounter disturbances in the form of encroachment, illegal poaching, and logging, which often happen at the borders of countries. Forest patrol teams are mandated to safeguard the park from any harmful activities. However, in many cases, they are not adequately equipped to run after and prosecute encroachers. Collaboration with other authorities is essential in order to prosecute illegal activities and to bring them to court.

Good practices

In Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park in Brunei Darussalam, regular patrolling turns out to

be an effective mechanism in controlling the possible existence of unsustainable human activities that may pose threats to forest integrity. Currently, the park has four forest rangers equipped with sufficient knowledge on patrolling. They are regularly sent to relevant trainings to update their knowledge. Recruitment of forest rangers is done through a competitive selection process carried out by the Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park. Once accepted, the newly hired staff receives adequate in-house training on how to protect and maintain the park, including physical training for safety and health reason. With this acquired know-how, staff and rangers have improved their capacity to enforce law and regulation. Tasek Merimbun works in close collaboration with the local police department in prosecuting violators. However, this incident is less likely to occur inasmuch as Tasek Merimbun has fully informed the staff and local community of the laws and regulations.

In Malaysia, the Department of Wildlife Conservation and National Parks or PERHILITAN (Jabatan Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara in Malay) is mandated to manage and protect national parks, preserve wildlife, and the park in Peninsular Malaysia. The department was established under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which consolidated all the state game departments in Peninsular Malaysia. As of 2006, the department has been placed under the Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. All park visitors must get permits from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks through the park management at the site led by a superintendent. The park management makes sure that there is zero commercial exploitation, with the exception of subsistence hunting by the aboriginals, the Orang Asli people or Suku Batek. To

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implement this mandate, the department seeks support from other agencies, in particular the Immigration Office and Forest Service or Jawatan Kehutanan, in prosecuting illegal activities. Three enactments were put in place to protect the park from illegal activities. Protection is done mainly from the ground, which in the future, may be expanded with aviation control. There are two forest patrols, namely, the Border Patrolling Unit (BPT) and the Jungle Patrolling Unit (JPT). Taman Negarahas built five locations deep in the jungle to control encroachment. For each post, four forest rangers guard the park for 24 hours a day. Their duties rotate every three weeks. All forest rangers have adequate knowledge on laws and regulations and forest protection, particularly on human disturbance. They not only catch violators, but they also have the capability to disseminate or promote protected area’s law and regulation. They impose penalties and sanction violators. The rangers are not equipped with guns or senapan while patrolling; however, they work with the local Forest Service or military agency, which are the relevant authorities who can apprehend violators, especially if the case occurs at the border.

Lessons learned from the good practice

Park protection would be easier if the park established an organization with mandates to enact rules and regulations. This organization should be well-equipped and with well-trained staff, good infrastructures, standard procedures, and close partnership with other relevant agencies.

Beneficiaries

Park manager and protected areas

Impacts and outcomes

PA integrity is maintained; law enforcement is in place; and eventually, biodiversity conservation is ensured.

2.3 Transparency and information sharing on rules and regulations promote effective park management

Information related to typology of the PAs, its goal and management objectives, financial status, and source of funding, including monitoring and evaluation process, should be accessible to public and other stakeholders. They should have a good understanding of the rules and regulations in the park.

Project site/location

Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia

Problems addressed

Rules and regulations control certain activities. They allow the conduct of some activities and sometimes prevent certain activities from happening. Thus, rules on protected areas should be made known to the public, particularly the park visitors. Information about the rules and regulations inside the park are often absent or unavailable in written document; and some of these rules are not disclosed to the public.

Good Practice

Taman Negara Pahang considers information sharing as an essential component of effective management, much more for ecotourism. The park uses different kinds of media to inform the public. Some are made available

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through websites or Internet provided by the Department of Wildlife Conservation/PERHILITAN, and also by travel agencies who receive licenses from the Ministry of Tourism. Information is provided in two languages, English and Malay. Inside the park, information may be disseminated from visitors to other visitors, and this facilitates promotion of the park (Box 2).

Lessons learned from the good practice

Printed or online information is important for visitors who usually seek information prior to their departure. Posting rules and regulations in the official website is essential for park management.

Beneficiaries

Park visitors and park manager

Impacts and outcomes

Visitors in protected area become more disciplined. They are fully aware of the rules and regulations, and this triggers more interest to visit the park. High visitor satisfaction is attained.

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

3. Managing marine and terrestrial parks through ecosystem-based approaches

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is an environmental management approach that recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem, including humans, rather than considering single issues, species, or ecosystem services in isolation (Christensen et al., 1996; McLeod et al., 2005). The approach emerged due to its viability to integrate institutions and people across multiple sectors to collectively

manage and protect biodiversity and natural resources. The goal of EBM is to sustainably manage natural resources and biodiversity by maintaining ecosystem processes, functions and services.

The approach was originally applied for terrestrial ecosystem, often being used to address conflicts over endangered species protection, land conservation, water, grazing, and timber rights that historically happened in the US in 1980-1990. Recently, marine ecosystem-based management was developed in response to increasing recognition of the declining state of fisheries and ocean ecosystems (POC, 2003; USCOP, 2004; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Almost all sites visited in this study are mainly national parks that are established with specific purposes, whose first priority is to protect and safeguard the native biological diversity. Forest, habitat, and wildlife protection are the main mandates for their establishment.

Disruption of marine ecosystems resulting from climate change, overfishing, nutrient and chemical pollution from land runoff, coastal development, habitat destruction and other human activities, has been increasing recently (Levin and Lubchenco, 2008). There are very clear links between human activities and marine ecosystem functioning. This has become an issue of high importance because there are many services provided by marine ecosystems that are declining as a result of these impacts. These services include the provision of food, fuel, mineral resources, pharmaceuticals, as well as opportunities for recreation, trade, research, and education (Leslie and McLeod, 2007).

Guerry (2005) has identified an urgent need to improve the management of these

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Signboard at the entrance Information from tourist to tourist

Information on attractions and their locations

The “do’s and don’ts” at Taman Negara

Price list for attractions Golden Mahseer fish species

Source: Noraini Nasamuddin, Wildlife Officer, Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia

Box 2. Signboards and other information in Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia

“Do’s and don’ts” in Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia

• Visitors in Taman Negara Pahang do not fear disorientation since information is made available prior to their departure and during their visits to the park. Information ranges from types of ecosystems rich in biodiversity, rules and regulation in visiting the park, and rules about the attractions inside the park. Most of the information are written and accessible through Internet and printed materials.

• Information about the “do’s and don’ts” aims to protect and preserve animals, plants, and geological formation. They include 10 forbidden things to avoid and a reminder to “take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints, and do not litter.” The information on attractions and costs for each type of attraction are also available at the website and onsite. In addition to the fee charged for each attraction, visitors are also charged 5 RM for camera license and 10 RM for fishing license. Together with entry fee (1 RM), rides (5 RM) and frishing lodge (8 RM), the license fees from camera and fishing are considered as revenue for PERHILITAN that are re-allocated for conservation of the park. Information about protected and conserved flora and fauna are provided by sign boards and presentations.

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declining ecosystems, particularly in coastal areas, to ensure a sustainable future. Human communities depend on marine ecosystems for important resources, but without holistic management, these ecosystems are likely to collapse. It has been suggested that the degradation of marine ecosystems is largely the result of poor governance, and that new approaches to management are required (Olsson et al., 2008). The Pew Oceans Commission (POC, 2003) and the US Commission of Ocean Policy (USCOP, 2004) have indicated the importance of moving from current piecemeal management to a more integrated ecosystem-based approach (Guerry, 2005).

3.1 Fresh water and marine ecosystem-based management

Protected area management aims to maintain the fresh water and marine ecosystem. These wetland ecosystems have been experiencing overexploitation of its natural resources, thus further jeopardizing their long-term existence.

Project site/location

Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia and Thousand Islands National Park, Indonesia

Problems addressed

Mahseer is the common name used for the genera Tor, Neolissochilus, and Naziritor in

the family Cyprinidae. In local language, it is known as Ikan Kelah (Figure 6). Mahseers inhabit both

rivers and lakes, ascending to rapid streams with rocky bottoms for breeding. The species inhabits in clean water, and this can be used as an indicator for non-polluted area. Efforts to conserve mahseer population that has decreased rapidly can be combined with developing niche market for special tourism.

Good Practice

Sanctuary Ikan Kelah Lubuk Tenor at Taman Negara Pahang could serve dual functions: first, to conserve endangered fish species of Cyprinidae; and second, to generate more income for the protected area. Tourism has

a distinct character for segmented market as visitors can be grouped in accordance to their preferences.

Certain group of visitors prefers to have privacy and quietness compared to other groups. The park management responds to such demand by constructing Sanctuary Ikan Kelah Lubuk Tenor. The location of Ikan Kelah Sanctuary is relatively isolated from other mass attractions. It is newly constructed and is meant to accommodate specific visitors who demand full privacy inside Taman Negara Pahang.

Learning from experiences of the neighboring Kinabalu Park, addressing specific niche market may yield high revenue for the park, according to the park manager at Taman Negara Pahang. The revenue can subsidize management activities in the park, which later will enable the park to be self-sufficient. There is a plan for the sanctuary

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to be operated in collaboration with private entities or association of private entities.

Other good practices from Thousand Islands National Park were the successful conservation efforts initiated by Mr. Salim, who claimed to be the first Turtle Savior in Penjaliran Island, one of the islands in Thousand Islands National Park. He initiated the in-situ and ex-situ conservation in the park by conducting catch-and-release program of Sea Hawk Bill Turtle (Eretnocelis imbricata) and Green Turtle (Chelonia Midas). Most of the funding came from the government through the national park and some from donations. He also stimulated other local communities to save and conserve the turtle and mangrove in Pramuka Island. In the past 19 years, he has been working hard to collect the eggs of these turtles, saving them from pests, and having them hatched semi-naturally. They are allowed to grow and about 6,000 young turtles are released per year to the sea. Another heroic deed of Mr. Salim was his strong motivation to guard the conservation island and the core zone of Thousand Island National Park. This is an empty island of 2,475 hectares in the middle of the sea that is prone to piracy. He has been alone in safeguarding the island with only minimum and traditional equipment. In 2006, he was granted a national award, Kalpataru, a prestigious award that is given to people who work to save the environment through many ways.

Lesson learned from the good practice

Combining mutual programs, the conservation of Ikan Kelah and endangered turtles and facilitating visitors could be very efficient initiative to conserve endangered species and, at the same time, generate some income for the park.

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Beneficiaries

Visitors and protected area manager

Impacts and outcomes

Ikan Kelah could be conserved and at the same time attract visitors.

4. Unifying conservation, community and travel through ecotourism

The ecological friendly tourism or “ecotourism” refers to a responsible travel to natural or wild areas that conserve and safeguard the environment and improve or enhance the well-being of local people (TIES, 1990). The main principle of ecotourism is how to unify conservation, community, and travel in sustainable ways. From this principle, it is expected that people would participate in such activities to: (1) minimize impact; (2) build environmental and cultural awareness and respect; (3) provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts; (4) provide direct financial benefits for conservation; (5) provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people; and (6) raise awareness and sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate. Basically, the PA could develop a number of activities to support the ecologically friendly tourism program where domestic and foreign visitors could enjoy the scenery without disturbing or endangering the native biological diversity in the parks.

Both ecotourism and community-based ecotourism provide opportunities to improve local community livelihood. Community-based ecotourism program may cover activities such as forest trekking, riverboat

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Box 3. Protection of mangrove ecosystem in Malaysia and Indonesia.

• ACB, in its special report on wetlands (ASEAN Biodiversity Magazine, Volume 12, No. 1, January-April 2013), discussed in detail the status, challenges, threats, and importance of wetland in the ASEAN region. This includes peatland and mangrove ecosystems in relation to climate change. Mangrove ecosystem commonly extends along the coastal area where the sea water meets the fresh water at the river mouth. Much of the freshwater forest is established at the riparian area forming a continuous ecological corridor or buffer from up-stream to downstream area. This special edition discusses thoroughly the importance of mangrove including its status, challenges and threats in some ASEAN Member States.

• Asia has the largest hectarage of the world’s mangroves especially in Southeast Asia. Almost all ASEAN Member States have mangrove forests composed mainly of Rhizopora spp., Sonneratia spp., Xylocarpa spp., Bruguiera spp., and other related species. Indonesia itself has around 9.36 million hectares of mangrove forests, but 48

percent is reportedly ‘moderately damaged’’ and 23 percent as ‘badly damaged’. This country harbors the highest biodiversity in mangrove species in this region with 43 true mangrove species followed by Malaysia. In both countries, mangrove forests have experienced serious threats from extensive logging and land conversion for other land uses such as shrimp ponds and paddy fields. Unsustainable charcoal production often creates problems causing drastic reduction of mangrove species, which in turn affects aquatic organisms living underneath. Human pressure on coastal land and hunger of land for agriculture production increase threats to mangrove ecosystems in both countries.

• Efforts coming from grassroots to save mangrove forest across Southeast Asia are not without purposes as more people become aware of the benefits of mangroves. For example, active effort to initiate mangrove rehabilitation through establishment of new mangrove plantations along the beach and coastal areas in Thousand Island National Park was done in collaboration with private and public sectors. Community and public partnership has been effective in restoring damaged mangroves, and more people are interested in mangrove planting using a new method called “distance clump planting”. This activity started in 2005 in line with a large-scale program on critical land and forest rehabilitation movement initiated by the Indonesian government.

• One of the objectives of the program is aimed at rehabilitating mangrove ecosystem in Thousand Islands. The new technique was adopted considering the

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condition of soil properties in this area. This tourism-education program offers individual or group or company to allow them to plant mangroves as guided by the park staff. Planting mangrove is done in very close spacing so that one hectare may contain up to 5,000 stems in 10 clumps/planting squares. Size of the planting square is more or less five square meters (5m x 1m) with total stem of 500 per clumps, and the distance between clumps is one meter. Mangrove rehabilitation is mainly done in Pramuka Island. Planting in a group would not only be fun and enjoyable, but also effective in terms of speeding up the rehabilitation process. Groups who participate in the planting can put their names or company on the sign board staking in the planting sites.

• Another success story in replanting mangrove and restoring its ecosystem comes from Taman Negara Johor at Kukup Island (Pulau Kukup) in Malaysia. It is one of the six significant RAMSAR wetlands in Malaysia. The other five RAMSAR sites are located at lower Kinabatangan-segama wetlands, Tasek Bera, Pulau Sungai, Kuching Wetlands National Park, and Tanjung Piai. The whole island of Kukup has a total area of 647.5 hectares covered by mangrove forests. The forest serves as an important bird area (IBA) that provides feeding source for migratory birds from Russia and China before they reach their final destination in Australia. After flying thousands of kilometers from the cold season at their origin habitat, these migratory birds rest in this area especially during high tide and feed with baby fishes hidden inside the mud underneath the mangrove forests.

• Successful mangrove protection at Kukup Island was attributed, among others, to the changes of management system. In the past, Kukup Island was controlled by the forestry service, which allocated the area as a stock forest to produce high-quality charcoal from mangroves. Its enactment was signed by the Sultan of Johor. Its status was changed from that of a production forest into a protected area, with intention to prevent abrasion from sea water into villages in the surrounding area and to restore its ecosystem for IBA. Nowadays, Kukup Island serves as an educational site to introduce to the public the mangrove ecosystem, teaching how to establish a gene bank collection for mangrove species (26 types), and how to facilitate the public to participate in conserving mangrove species through its tree adoption program and application of CSR (corporate social responsibility).

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journey, village home stay, mountain hiking, and rehabilitation/restoration program. All these activities are intended to improve local community economy, protect the traditional and cultural heritage, and raise funds for promoting environmental protection. To capacitate local people, they are trained to improve their language, knowledge on guiding technique, hospitality, food preparation, and monitoring of wildlife, including biodiversity.

4.1 Building the ecotourism industry in collaboration with relevant stakeholders

Protected areas have the potential to generate income for the community through ecologically friendly tourism activities. This industry can be built in collaboration with relevant stakeholders to provide adequate information on the importance of enhancing and improving environmental and ecological integrity.

Project site/location

Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia

Problem(s) addressed

Lack of community awareness on the importance of protected areas, including the challenge to combat illegal logging, encroachment, and poaching often caused by economic limitation faced by the community.

Good practices

Tangkahan is a natural habitat where hundreds of plant and animal species live and build an amazing tropical rainforest

ecosystem. This forest provides sources of clean water and fresh air, possesses rich biodiversity, and offers stunning view. Tangkahan is located in the border of Gunung Leuser National Park. Local communities were formerly illegal loggers in the park. Given the beauty of the natural forest and close proximity to Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra Province, the National Park Management Authority convinced the local community to develop ecotourism destinations around Tangkahan. However, they have to give up their illegal logging activities. The main idea is to develop local tourism enterprise to reduce or stop illegal logging and generate green jobs for the community. To prepare the local community, they were provided with capacity-building activities related to ecotourism businesses. Trainings were conducted by NGOs such as Fauna Flora International (FFI), OIC, Indonesian Ecotourism Network, and many others. The management of the park then promoted Tangkahan as an ecotourism destination. The project began working with the younger people in the village who, in turn, told their illegal logger fathers about the long-term impacts of deforestation. The latter in turn told village elders.

The National Park Authority started to make guidebooks and signage. An information centre was established, and this raised the enthusiasm and confidence of the local people. They were convinced that the National Park Authority is serious because something is happening. Tangkahan has two rivers, 11 waterfalls, several hot water springs, and bat caves along its jungle tracks. The project created new loop trails for hiking, established white water river rafting routes, and developed caving and

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other adventure tourism options for foreign travellers. For domestic tourists, activities focused on educational tourism combined with traditional knowledge and river trips.

At the beginning, it was quite difficult to market the area, but gradually with the help of many travel agents, Tangkahan nowadays is well-known as ecotourism destination. The National Park Authority encourages the community to develop local policies for tourism management. Finally, Tangkahan community created the Tangkahan Tourism Institute (Lembaga Pariwisata Tangkahan or LPT) to control the tourism business. The LPT signed a landmark agreement with the National Park Authority to halt illegal logging and protect the park, while some 10,000 hectares of the park were put under the management of the community. The agreement marks the first initiative of the National Park Authority delegating to the local people the management of an ecotourism zone, at the same time, conserving the biological diversity of the park. Only 1,500 out of the 10,000 hectares managed by the community are open for ecotourism. LPT also develops cooperation with FFI to run the Conservation Respond Unit (CRU). CRU is a monitoring system using elephants to prevent illegal logging. The elephants also function as tourism gimmick to attract more tourists. The 5,000 villagers of Tangkahan are now official caretakers of Gunung Leuser National Park. The local communities are transforming their own livelihoods by turning illegal loggers into conservationists. They are helping to build Gunung Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra into one of the region’s premier ecotourism destinations. One significant result of the project is a new village regulation regarding forest conservation. The regulation, developed through a participatory process, is proving useful as a policy at the

local level and as legal tool to enforce logging laws.

Other successful results stemming from the project include a national park agreement on entrance fees and benefit distribution. Community members are directly involved in ecotourism activities, receiving income from tour guiding, river-crossing and interpretive services. The community also receives benefits from entrance fees and from food and beverage sales in the restaurant. Giving the community access and legally empowering them to participate in conservation and utility of the conservation area are firsts for Indonesia. These factors, alongside the benefits, proved vital in increasing community confidence in the National Park Authority and boosting the overall attitude toward ecotourism businesses. The project is unique because it was able to engage former illegal logging communities into becoming national park protectors. The centre of illegal logging has been converted to ecotourism destination.

Lessons learned from the good practice

The project shows that green job such as ecotourism business is able to replace illegal logging. It takes quite a long process before green job can bring revenue to the community and make the local people confident that it is profitable. The project is smart by approaching the young generation instead of the older ones. The young generation brings ripple effects to their parents.

In 2002, the local community succeeded in preventing illegal loggers from entering the park. In 2003, the monitoring unit caught local people using electricity to catch fish in violation of the village rules and regulations.

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These cases showed to the National Park Authority that the local community is able to conserve nature if they are given opportunity and trust to manage the national park.

Tourism activities have significantly reduced illegal logging activities, poaching and

encroachment because activities mainly take place inside the forest. CRU patrols the park regularly and contributes to the reduction of illegal logging. The use of elephants also brings impact as tourism gimmick to attract more visitors in Tangkahan (Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11).

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Figure 8. Interview with Gunung Leuser National Park Staff (above), with Tangkahan tourists and CRU staff.

Figure 9. Conservation Response Unit (left) and Visitor Center (right) at Tangkahan, Gunung Leuser National Park.

Figure 10. Elephants as tourist attraction.

Figure 11. Tangkahan Forest (left) and river boats run by local community (right).

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Beneficiaries

Local community and National Park

Impacts and outcomes

The former illegal loggers are now forest protectors. This lessens the park rangers’ burden in patrolling the park because of community protection. Conservation

awareness of the local community is raised, as well as the capacity of the community to protect the forest. As a consequence, encroachment, illegal logging, and poaching in Tangkahan are only memories of the past. Community also earns extra income from ecotourism business. Conflicts among local community are also reduced due to enhanced coordination among them.

Box 4. Illegal loggers transformed into forest protectors.

Thousands of hectares of Tangkahan, part of Gunung Leuser National Park, was slowly destroyed because of illegal logging. Tangkahan population do not need a magic potion to bury the chainsaw and axes to conserve its forests. They have a simple reason – a better future for their children.

Living in the forest border with various types of high-priced wood in front of their eyes is a treasure. Okor Sembiring, Njuang Pinem, and others carry chainsaws and axes to cut down trees. They allow logs to float to Batang Serangan River, and they get easy illegal money. “I could earn at least two million rupiah in just a week,” said Okor as he recalled his past.

Similarly, Njuang Pinem, since the early 1990s, along with five of his colleagues, cut down every meranti tree. In one month, he claimed he was able to get five tons of wood ready to be sent to the wood barons in Tanjung Pura. According to him, his illegal activities were costly because he has to bribe the security forces to let go of the wood. It was only in year 2000 that Njuang stopped this activity. He felt sorry for the other villagers in downstream villages of Batang Serdang River such as the Namo Sialang, Musam, and Bamban villages that were affected by his illegal logging activities. “We were aware that forest destruction will lead to disaster for our communities especially for the people living downstream. Our work was only enriching the logging baron in the city, while we had to pay the consequences of nature’s destruction,” said Njuang.

Okor even had a worse fate. He was jailed for two years for his illegal logging activities and exhausted his savings during the process. He was worried and afraid to do illegal logging again. “I do have a piece of land, but I think if I die, my three children will divide the land into three small pieces. They will be poorer than me,” he said.

Njuang and Okor then strived to change Tangkahan by not depending on illegal logging. With the help of NGOs and Gunung Leuser National Park Authority, they established an alternative livelihood through ecotourism.

Through many years of hard struggle, the village congress was finally held in 2001. The congress produced a legislation that prohibited any forest and wildlife exploitation activity as well as established the Tangkahan Tourism Organization (Lembaga Pariwasata Tangkahan or LPT), which manages ecotourism activities. LPT is chaired by Njuang. Even when local logging firms increased their fees in an attempt to sway the villagers, they did not take it. “I am proud because I am keeping the forest for my children.” The people are also keen on keeping logging out since its disappearance also decreased conflicts in the region.

Source: pempasa.blogspot.com

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Box 5. Community-based ecotourism in Thousand Islands National Park and Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, Indonesia.

• Thousand Islands National Park was designed mainly for marine biodiversity conservation and thus, almost all programs are related to natural resources management. The park offers plenty of attractions for exploring the fascinating corals through educational study tours up to opportunity for the public to learn how corals can be cultivated (“coral transplantation”) for commercial purposes. Cultivation was done in collaboration with local community. Other tourism attractions such as diving and snorkeling, white sand, beach cottage, sea grass rehabilitation, birds rehabilitation and translocation, mangrove rehabilitation, sea turtle conservation, boating and fishing, and others are supported by private and public investors in collaboration with local community. Local government receives a fair income from benefit-sharing scheme from these community-based tourism businesses.

• Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park is a mountain complex flourishing with rich biodiversity

and provides a wide range of environmental services, particularly water. It is surrounded by community villages. This park is in close proximity to major cities, easily accessible, and is an ideal location for educating government officials and city residents. One unique initiative called Educational Outreach Program for local communities was developed by a consortium of three institutions, namely, the government (The Gunung Gede National Park), a local NGO (ALAMI Foundation), and an international organization (Conservation International Indonesia). They shared different responsibilities: the national park plays a key role as the authority in the area; Conservation International acts as fund raising facilitator, and the ALAMI Foundation serves as developer of conservation education programs focusing on local communities to reduce encroachment and poaching. They set up the Bedogol Conservation Education Center (BCEC) in 1997. It is located within the utilization zone of the National Park. Day-to-day operations are run by volunteers recruited from nearby villages. They help deliver educational materials, thus achieving the objective of the center. Trainers come from a group of park staff, local community, and nature interpreters. In implementing their program, two approaches were adopted: first, “low volume, high value” approach that focuses on the use and respect for traditional knowledge and local values, and second, “reservation system” approach emphasizing on visitors’ spending their days in the center. These approaches ensure full control of access to the park by the center and thus, impact of visitation can be adequately monitored. Partnership between and among the three different institutions is the key to success of this program. It created a local system that enables them to establish a self-regulatory instrument and enhance their capacity building. High dedication of volunteers from local villages has helped market the program especially the attractive features of community-based conservation and education tourism. This type of partnership helps maximize resources and ensures effective management of the protected area. Share-funding, in some ways, also helps sustain financial budget for this program.

Sources: Personal communication with Moh. Firdy (Thousand Island NP) and Ardi Ardono Gunung (Gede Pangrango NP), Indonesia

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5. Demonstrating the importance of public-private partnership and collaborative management

Most success stories in managing certain areas for special purposes depend on how the manager embrace all relevant stakeholders to work together in accomplishing their management objectives/targets. Co-management, collaboration, cooperation, and partnership are among the management formations that were initiated to ensure that objectives are attained. These eventually contribute to forest and biodiversity conservation.

5.1 Partnership with local community minimizes encroachment

This type of program puts emphasis in providing the local community more access to natural resources under the supervision of the park authority. Such partnership allows more intensive communication with the community. Likewise, incentives for the local community are established to ensure more involvement in park management. Project site/location

Khao Yai National Park, Thailand; Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park, Brunei; Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia; Thousand Islands National Park, Indonesia

Problem (s) addressed

It is commonly perceived that PAs are associated with poverty of the communities around the parks. Limited access to attain benefits from the park and marginalization of the group from managing the park are among the main reasons that result in forest

encroachment. Involving community in management and decision-making proves to minimize encroachment and, in turn, helps lessen the tasks of park managers.

Good practices

In Thailand, Khao Yai National Park was established to conserve the native biodiversity including flora and fauna. The tasks of conserving forest and wildlife are not undertaken by the government alone. The government works together with NGOs and the general public to promote conservation. Khlong Pakang Gaur Conservation Group is composed of local people who come together to help protect Khao Yai’s Gaur population around Sub-station 4 Khlong Pakang. Khao Paeng Ma Gaur Conservation Group is a group of local people from the Khao Paeng Ma who assists the research institute and runs ecotourism activities for visitors. Khao Yai National Park also works with large company such as Exploration and Production Public Company Limited SG Singapore to stimulate public participation in the conservation of Thailand’s natural heritage. Its program includes building community networks, energizing volunteer groups, and supporting youth and family camps inside the natural heritage sites.

In Brunei Darussalam, Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park has established long partnership with four task groups, namely, Local Consultative Council, Tourism Development Department, Forestry Department of Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, and Royal Brunei Police. Under these partnerships, a number of programs involving the local community were developed such as the Youth Camp Program, research and education, butterfly

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Figure 12. One active resort agency ("Sunshine") and a resort managed by Brunei Darussalam Forestry Department.

conservation, and many others. Tasek Merimbun has less experience from the local community’s threats as they are mainly occupying areas far from the parks. Some people around the park sell souvenirs and groceries to tourists. These activities indicate some local community involvement in the park.

Ulu Temburong National Park is Brunei Darussalam’s first national park, and is well-known as the best-preserved rainforest in Borneo. Forest area covers about 550 km2, and about 37 landscapes are characterized by a range of wilderness habitat from lowland forests to mountain forest with an elevation of almost 2,000 meters above sea level. The Forestry Department enacts strict preservation rules to protect the area from any type of inappropriate resource utilization. It is also a perfect destination for ecotourism, as well as open opportunity for local community livelihood improvement. With these valuable investments under the Brunei forestry sector, the Forestry Department has been expanding its partnership with private companies, though in limited capacity. It collaborates with local community through tender and medium-term agreement (Figure 12).

One cooperation includes management of ecologically-friendly tourism facilities located within and around Ulu Temburong National Park. Aside from financial benefits, private and public partners gain experience and competence in implementing effective forest conservation and protection management (Brunei Darussalam Forestry Department, 2011). Part of its forest is also dedicated for Kuala Belalong Rainforest Field Study Centre managed by the University of Brunei Darussalam. Most students who intend to learn more about tropical rain forest go to this place. In Malaysia, the local community of Taman Negara Pahanghas has diverse interests and array of expectations related to tourism. At Taman Negara Pahang, these interests are boat services, restaurants and resorts services, and nature services guides. These services were bundled into an Association of Tourism Agency (Jawatan Pelancongan Asosiasi Badan Turisme). The association’s membership grew from 60 in 1995 to 100 at present. The objectives of the association are to maintain the interests and achieve standardized knowledge and skills for all members as evidenced by the licenses issued by the Ministry of Tourism. The association

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helps monitor the collaboration between the Taman Negara Pahang and the Department of Wildlife Conservation. It also serves as the bridge for the community in communicating with park management. Through the association, the manager of Taman Negara Pahang communicates the program and design future activities proposed by stakeholders.

Lessons learned from the good practice

Community members will volunteer to protect the park that provides economic benefits for them. This collaboration with park managers will lessen the burden. Strong support from the local community will reduce threats to the park, while support from the association will improve the park’s promotional program.

Beneficiaries

Government, local communities, and protected area manager

Impacts and outcomes

Communities around the park participate voluntarily in park protection. Park integrity could be achieved painlessly. Local community generates more income not only in working directly in the parks, but more opportunities are provided to improve livelihood such as working in the resorts, restaurants, and engaging in some tourism services. Better management system has improved ecological and biodiversity values and staff capacity.

5.2 Local cooperative management enhances commitment of ILCs

This activity covers various types of cooperation among stakeholders at local level in the form of collaboration between local community and protected area management, or between local NGOs, community, and protected areas.

Project site/location

Ulu Temburong National Park in Brunei Darussalam, Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, Indonesia

Problem (s) addressed

In the beginning, the local community surrounding the parks perceived PAs as an area dedicated only for the benefit of nature and wildlife protection. Thus, people were less interested in working with the national park management. Threats were mostly forest encroachment and illegal resource collection (non-timber forest products).

Good practices

Ulu Temburong National Park during the end of 2008 launched a program called “Cuti-cuti Temburong,” meaning, a Holiday in Temburong. Initiated by the local tourism agency KNK (Kenali Negara Kitani), the initiative offers attractive programs like ritual performance for the harvesting season involving local community and indigenous people. Local communities are allowed

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Source: Mr. Zamri, the President of Local Guide Association at Taman Negara Pahang

License of local guide Mr. Zamri, president of the Local Guide Association

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Box 6. Association of local stakeholders in Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia.

• Local community leadership plays an important role in maintaining good relationship between park managers and associations of local people. In Taman Negara Pahang, the association of local communities was established in 1995, with Mr. Sabri as the first elected president. In his administration, the organizational structure was formed and rules and regulations for the association were formulated. Mr. Hamzah Hamid was the second president and his secretary was Mr. Ali Asyra Abdul Rahman. In year 2008, Mr. Zamri was elected president after serving as secretary since 2005.

• Under the leadership of Mr. Zamri, the association was recognized as a legal organization officially registered and numbered 897/1995 in the government list. During his presidency, standardized knowledge and skills for local guides were set. The certified guides were issued licenses by the Ministry of Tourism. Mr. Zamri developed the network and was designated as head of Jawatan Pelancongan Daerah under the supervision of the Governor and the head of JKKK, Jawatan Kuasa Kerja Kampung. He maintained good relationship between the management of Taman Negara (National Park) and the local community. He initiated the cleaning of the park twice a year. This activity was done jointly by park management and the local community. Regular meetings with representatives from local communities and management of Taman Negara Pahang were scheduled every two months to solve problems concerning the management of the national park and discuss new proposed activities. One of the problems that occurred several times was the intrusion of elephants into farmlands by crossing the Tembeling River. Due to good relationships, the local community did not complain about the disturbances on their farmlands or ask for compensation. Request for financial compensation happened only if people met accidents because of elephants.

• Capacity of local guide is improved by obliging local guides to take up Continual Tourism-Related Education. The association holds the one-day course twice a year for local guides, with the Ministry of Tourism providing 75 percent or 75 RM of the total cost. The guide is awarded a license or a certificate after completing the course. The course covers specific topics such as tigers, their habitat, behavior, food, threat, etc. Capacity-building activities are also provided to local indigenous people who live inside the Taman Negara. Only one person from the 500 people that belongs to Suku Batek is licensed as a local guide (Aswin). More members are expected to join.

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Box 7. Participatory approach involving government, public, and NGOs in the rescue of White-bellied Sea Eagles in Kotok Island, Thousand Islands National Park, Indonesia.

One way to contribute directly to the conservation and protection of White-bellied Sea Eagles is by establishing close collaboration with various stakeholders in the area. These include a group of conservationists doing voluntary work under “JAAN” (Jakarta Animal Aid Network) Foundation in Kotok Island, one of the islands in Thousand Islands National Park, Indonesia.

JAAN is a non-profit group of animal lovers dedicated to improve animal welfare in Indonesia. Founded in 2008, a number of volunteers who joined the group believed that “no animal should have to live in captivity.” They work to help stop illegal wildlife trade. A number of activities are carried out to promote better animal care to the public and government. These include wildlife trade monitoring, wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and release, campaign against illegal sale of protected wildlife, nature conservation, primate welfare, rescue of domestic animals, sterilization, and adoption and promotion of responsible pet ownership. This participatory approach is considered effective in implementing the animal rescue program in Kotok Island that requires adequate long-term funding.

One iconic bird of Jakarta, the White-bellied Sea Eagle (Elang Bondol or Haliastur indus) formerly often seen flying in the blue sky of this park, was greatly reduced in number since 2005. This drastic population decline attracted the attention of JAAN members who agreed to cooperate with the national park to develop and implement a rehabilitation and translocation program by virtue of a Memorandum of Understanding. Darmadi, who does voluntary work for JAAN in Kotok Island, explained that some of this raptor species cannot be immediately released in the wild due to physical impairment. They still have to be treated and kept in the Sanctuary and Nature Education Center at Kotok Island. Local and international donors are funding the program.

Source : Thousand Islands NP and Darmadi, JAAN, Kotok Island

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

to directly engage with tourists, which stimulated a sense of belonging to the parks. Local people start to know how to value resources so that they are able to have a long-term commitment on the natural resource conservation program they developed together with the park authority.

Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in Indonesia harbors rich biodiversity resources and values and provides scenic beauty and clean water sources for some cities surrounding the parks. Since the park is close to villages and is easily accessible, Gunung Gede Pangrango has become one of the most favorite places to visit in Indonesia. Consequently, the local community is keen to earn money by doing business around the park. In fact, the National Park Authority developed a well-designed zonation plan where people are allowed to use the limited zone. Both parties mutually agreed to limit public access to the PAs in order to keep the forest and biodiversity intact. They also received routine information and campaign from local and international NGOs and local scientists doing research in this site to improve community awareness and attitude towards management of PAs, particularly in water conservation. One good example is the development of simple micro-hydro programs to generate or supply local electricity by using waterfall energy from the park.

Lesson learned from the good practices

People who proactively contribute to conservation and protection efforts develop a deep sense of belongingness and receive direct benefits or incentives especially in improving their livelihood. Direct contact or invitation to cooperate with the park

management will motivate people to support all conservation and protection programs.

Beneficiaries

The National Park, local community surrounding the parks, nearby cities, and visitors

Impact and outcomes

Improved local community livelihood, assured clean water and protected watershed, long-term water supply to community around the park, and protected endemic flora and fauna of the national parks.

6.0 Community-based restoration program results in more involvement of local communities

This conservation or restoration program is designed to engage more involvement of local communities to develop their sense of belongingness to their environment and natural resources. However, the integrity of the park’s resources is continuously threatened by major human activities such as shifting cultivation, livestock production, population growth, and infrastructure development, including house and road construction and non-timber forest product harvesting (ACB, 2010).

6.1 Community development program improves local community livelihood

This program covers activities that address common threats to PAs by developing alternative livelihood sources for local income generation. Development of the

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

program may involve local community from designing/planning process up to the implementation phase.

Project site/location

Thousand Islands National Park, Indonesia

Problem (s) addressed

In Indonesia, Thousand Islands National Park is confronted by human disturbances. The park is a group of small islands located in Java Sea not far from the northern coast of Jakarta. Instead of a thousand islands, the actual number of the small islands is only 110, of which 40 are dedicated for marine tourism. These islands indeed offer excitement, fun, and outdoor vacation for those who love adventure. Located very close to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, these islands are prone to human disturbance as they are accessible during good weather. The most common threats for these islands are coral theft, sea turtle’s egg collection, and mangrove destruction in shrimp farms.

Good practice

To protect these natural resources and improve local community livelihood, park management initiated a community-based conservation program where people are

proactively involved in the conservation and restoration program. Among others, the activities involving the community are conservation of coral trough, a “coral transplantation” program the park initiated in 2003. In 2005, 25 fishermen collaborated with coral exporters as their foster parents. Some of these exporter companies were granted permits. Nineteen agreements were established between them and the fishermen. This program is one of the park’s efforts to help the national park speed up the coral ecosystem recovery (Figure 13).

Coral transplanting is not complicated as local communities were trained to develop their own business partnership with exporters. Trading is allowed only for transplanted and labeled corals so that a buyer knows these are produced in an environment-friendly manner. Partners of the company should also follow fit and proper test audit procedures to determine whether they are capable of sustainably managing coral transplantation business. Audit is done by the Indonesian Scientific Institute (LIPI) as the Indonesian Scientific Authority (SA), together with the Indonesian Coral Reef Working Group (ICRWG). Audit results are submitted to the Director of Biodiversity Conservation under the Nature Conservation and Forest Protection Directorate General, Ministry of Forestry.

Figure 13. Transplanted coral and coral production house owned by the local community.

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Those who meet the standards will be granted a permit or recommendation for coral utilization.

Almost all coral products are exported due to a significant overseas demand compared to local demand. Demands mostly come from United States of America, Europe, and some ASEAN Member States. Thousand Islands National Park management carries out the monitoring and evaluation for both local community or fisherman and their partners to determine their performance. There are a number of criteria to be met: (a) administrative documents; (b) contract agreement and its implementation; (c) violation; (d) partnership; (e) technical application; and (f ) utilization. Results of evaluation will be used to present the performance of the partnership. Until recently, overseas demand remains high and types of coral requested vary, but so far, only 24 coral species are allowed for trading based on the regeneration capability of each species, including the capacity of the coral transplanter (community who do coral transplantation) to produce corals. This activity is managed sustainably so as not to exceed the carrying capacity of the environment and to avoid over-exploitation. A guide book for coral transplantation is available, including types of corals allowable for trading (Buku Panduan Jenis Jenis Karang Hias [A Guide to Corals], 2010).

6.2 Integrated protected area management addresses forest degradation

This program is developed to address issues of forest degradation due to various conflicts of interest between and among protected areas, local communities, and commercial businesses. Practices cover program on

restoration of degraded ecosystem by adopting inter-disciplinary approach and collaboration between local government and communities living within and around the protected areas.

Project site/location

Cinta Raja, Sei Serdang, Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP)

Problem addressed

Sei Serdang forest was identified as degraded orangutan habitat. Habitat degradation started in the past when the status was still a wildlife sanctuary. Illegal logging, forest encroachment for plantation and agriculture were out of control. Encroachers were not only from local communities, but also from big oil palm companies. For the survival of orangutan and other wildlife, UNESCO and GLNP worked together to restore degraded habitat at Sei Serdang, Resort Cinta Raja-Batang Serangan, Langkat District, North Sumatera Province (Figure 14).

Good practice

Several preliminary studies were conducted to successfully produce an integrated restoration program. Studies covered community ecology and socio-anthropological aspects to determine the best approach to restore ecosystem. Community ecology is considered an important aspect in finding out the best technique in restoring the ecosystem by duplicating the natural succession process. Senior scientists from the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) and Forestry Research and Development (FORDA) engaged with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry in supervising this research and education program. Socio-anthropological factors were

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

considered in identifying key solutions to land encroachment by local people. Results recommended a number of solutions, among them: “If the palm oil companies keep operating inside GLNP, people who occupy the forest land will not or will be reluctant to abandon the forest.” The GLNP used this finding in resolving the encroachment problem.

The project restored 27 hectares of destroyed oil palm plantation by involving local encroachers. The restored area was a former oil palm plantation inside the park where the boundary was clear and recognized by the local community (Figure 15).

Seedlings used for restoration were collected from the surrounding forest. The trees

planted were monitored, and database was developed to observe the restoration progress. The database for trees comprise of date and size of planting, location, species name, and growth rate while fauna data include direct observation of wildlife, foot print, and bird sound.

The restoration program is considered successful and the restored area was again filled with many wildlife species such as Thomas leaf monkey, orangutan, pig-tailed macaque, Sumatran elephant, bearded pig, hornbill, Sumatran tiger, and sun bear.

Lessons learned from the good practice

The key success of the restoration program is the constant presence of the team to

Figure 14. Map of Cinta Raja, Sei Serdang, Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP)

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Figure 15.

monitor the project regularly and to care seedling intensively. Engaging local encroachers contributes to the successful implementation of the restoration program. The local encroachers as workers also earn some extra money from the project. The project continuously provides jobs for the local people. After planting is completed, the seedlings planted need to be nurtured. The integrated restoration project also needs to be monitored for years, not only to determine the survival of the planted trees, but also to observe what animals start using the area. The project needs to hire the local community for a long period, thus providing long-term extra earnings. Beneficiaries

Gunung Leuser National Park and local communities

Impacts and outcomes

A modest hut was established in Cinta Raja for GLNP personnel. This shows positive impact of management strategy on the whole park. The hut became a symbol of authority and indicated that the park is managed and supervised. Since the local encroachers are involved in everyday work with park personnel to restore the forest, the people slowly started to abandon their land. They are ashamed and reluctant to continue occupying portions of the park. Even though the restored area was only 27 hectares of former oil palm plantation belonging to a big local company, the impact is significantly larger than the restored area covering hundreds of hectares. As shown in satellite imageries, it is quite difficult to differentiate a restored from a natural area (Figures 16, 17 and 18).

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Figure 17. Restored area (left) and planted trees by forestry officials (right).

Figure 18. Gate to Ecosystem Restoration Area (left) and Restoration hut (right) at Sei Serdang, Gunung Leuser Park, Indonesia.

Figure 16. Forest succession at restoration site in Sei Serdang 2008-2013, Indonesia (Source: UNESCO, Jakarta).

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Box 8. Community restoration program at Sei Betung, Gunung Leuser NP, Indonesia.

The former pristine forest, home of orangutan and elephant, was encroached by private sector for oil palm plantation. The National Park Authority cut down all the palm trees at the site and invited Sumatra Orangutan Conservation Foundation - Orangutan Information Centre, an NGO, to restore the forest for orangutan habitat. Applying similar system at the Cinta Raja Resort, the project hires local people as workers. Using the local community greatly helps because it gives them economic incentives for protecting the park.

Accordingly, oil palms absorb lots of water and dries up rivers. Villagers spend RP 600,000 (around US$ 60.00) monthly on water. However, floods are common during the rainy season. This condition made the communities realize the importance of saving the forest. The restoration project gains support from the local community, not only because they are hired as workers, but also because they are looking forward to a better future without any water shortage problem. The local communities subsequently created and organized the KETAPEL (Kelompok Tani Pelindung Leuser or Leuser Protector Farmer Group).

The project started in 2007 and targeted to plant 165,000 seedlings in 2013. The seedlings were collected by local people from the wild, and these included a variety of tree species such as meranti (Shorea sp), damar (Agathis sp), cengal (Hopea sp), merbau (Intsia bijuga), ingul/suren (Toona surenii), pulai (Alstonia scholaris), rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), jeluak (Mallotus barbatus), and cempedak (Arthocarpus champeden). Most of the species planted were food of the orangutan.

While implementing intensive replanting and maintenance, this restoration program also conducted an inventory of mammals and birds since they are seed dispersal agents capable of speeding up the restoration process. The project was considered a good example of a successful restoration program on a small scale. Its positive impact is felt by the Sei Betung community.

Cutting down oil palm trees

Soil filling by local community

Tree planting Photos by Ahmad Azhari

Source: http://elti.fesprojects.net/2011RestorationConferencendonesia/ahmad_azhari.pdf

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Box 9. Impacts of restoration activities on biodiversity.

Bird diversity in Sei Betung restoration area

Frugivorous birds are important seed dispersal agents in speeding up the restoration process. Fruit-eating birds fly over wide areas dispersing seeds on many different species in different areas. In June-July 2012, a study on bird diversity in Sei Betung restoration area was conducted to compare the restored area to the nearest primary forest (the edge and middle parts of the jungle). In total, 1,542 birds consisting of 90 species from 28 families were recorded at the study site. The study observed 726 birds from 45 species at the restored area, 493 individual birds from 62 species at the forest edge, and 323 birds from 61 species in the middle part of the forest. Shanon-diversity index at the forest, either edge or middle jungle, are high (>3.5), while at the restored area is medium (H’=3.1).

Calyptomena viridis Chalcophas indica Hyphothymis azuera Ceyx erithacus

Birds in both restored site and primary forests are important as seed dispersal agents from forest and forest edge to the restored area. Birds observed at both sites include Wreathed hornbill (Aceros undulatus), Emerald dove (Chalcophaps indica), Black magpie (Platysmurus leucopterus), Short-toed coucal (Centropus rectunguis ), Greater coucal (Centropus sinensis), Lesser coucal (Centropus bengalensis), Buff-romped Woodpecker (Meiglyptes tristis), Rufous woodpecker (Celeus brachyurus), Red-breasted parakeet (Psittacula alexandri), Yellow-vented bulbul (Phycnonotus goiavier), Cream-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus simplex), Black-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps), Red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), Ashy tailorbird (Orthotomus ruficeps), Rufous-tailed tailorbird (Orthotomus sericeus), and Magpie robin (Copsychus saularis).

Hypogramma hypogrammicum

Cyornis superbus Ficedula dumetoria Arachnothera flavigaster

Source: Sihotang, D.M., P. Patana, E. Jumilawaty. 2012.

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6.3 Co-adaptive management leads to restoration of degraded forests

Management of protected area needs to develop new legal, administrative, and institutional arrangements to address contemporary political, economic, social, and cultural situations. Enhancing management effectiveness of PA could be done by empowering local community through involvement in various management and conservation activities. Local government, together with local community, are encouraged to develop an integrated management plan to include provisions for alternative livelihood.

Project site/location

Sarongge, Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, Indonesia

Problem(s) addressed

The issue of encroachment at Sarongge started when Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park (Figure 19) received an ex-forest production area from the State Forest Enterprise of Perhutani to enlarge the national park area. When given to the park, the ex-production forest was already encroached by the local community for vegetable farming area. Restoration was carried out by converting the farming area into a forest. Since July 2008, the park authority has been implementing the tree adoption program. The farmers have to end their farming activities and engaged into raise seedlings for a three-year planting. In return, the park authority gave them funds to raise rabbits and goats. The main idea is to change land-based to non-land-based livelihood of the farmers. Tree seedlings raised are open for adoption by visitors. Visitors plant their adopted tree seedlings.

Figure 19. Sarongge village and community activities in Gunung Gede National Park, Indonesia (Photo by Zahra Firdaus, 2013).

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Good practice

To attract tourists to come to Sarongge, the park built camping grounds with jungle trekking activity. Camping Ground Sarongge was built on two hectares of the vegetable farming area in the park. The camping ground was established with tents, tree houses, kitchen, and public toilets. This place is intended as an educational center with jungle trekking. The visitors could spend two hours trekking to see Kihujan trees or four to five hours trekking to see the Cihelang waterfalls.

To adopt a tree, a visitor needs to pay RP 108,000.00 (USD 10.00)/seedling. The money collected from the tree adoption program is being managed by the local community, and the income is divided as follows: 50 percent for the farmers, 35 percent for tree maintenance, and 15 percent for management (ceremonial, mapping, reporting, etc.).

Each tree or block of trees planted by visitors receives a tag with the adopter’s name. The tree is mapped, and coordinates provided that allow adopters to monitor their trees through Google Maps. Each adopter receives a certificate of adoption and regular reports on the progress of trees planted.

Tree adoption is available either to individuals or companies. Adopted trees are intercropped with vegetables for three years. A one-hectare land could accommodate 400 adopted trees, thus collecting a total of RP 43,200,000 (4,320.00USD) for two designated farmers for three years. The money is used to breed rabbits, sheep, and honey bees. After three years, the adopted trees overgrow vegetables.

Farmers then leave their vegetable farms and concentrate on their new sources of revenue: breeding rabbits and goats and raising honey bees.

At present in Sarongge, more than 60 hectares have been planted with 24,093 adopted trees. Planted tree species are endemic to the park such as suren (Toona sureni), rasamala (Altingia exelsa), manglid (Manglieta glauca), saninten (Castanopsis argentea), etc. Currently, Sarongge village produces approximately 100 rabbits each month. Meanwhile, the 40 starting goats are breeding. Currently, there are 200 goats. Today, these programs raise the well-being of farmers far better than farming inside the park.

Lessons learned from the good practice

Change from land-based to more profitable non-land-based livelihood has greatly contributed to the restoration of the degraded sites. The PA manager monitors and makes sure that the trees planted are raised properly. Some farmers try to make trees grow slowly so that they can keep vegetable farming longer. This practice should be monitored and corrected.

Beneficiaries

National park and local community

Impacts and outcomes

The program has successfully restored the encroached land. From vegetable farming, farmers are now into tree farming. Farmers are happily leaving the encroached land for new non-land-based livelihood.

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7. Scientific and Educational Outreach Ensures Park “Advertisement”

Most protected areas and conservation zones are dedicated mainly for educational purposes. The allocation of these conservation areas, in general, is based on the representativeness of a piece of landscape that has a unique ecosystem or protected rare, threatened or endangered flora and fauna. As such, those who intend to learn more about the natural ecosystem would likely to visit this place. There are cases where some of the parks were established to protect degraded forests, but still have forests left with a number of surviving flora and fauna.

7.1 Educational outreach and public awareness save important biodiversity resources

One of the most important activities for effective conservation in protected areas is raising awareness and promoting understanding. Without understanding, the mission to undertake conservation will be difficult. Educational outreach is among the key tools for raising public awareness, in addition to interpretation and community engagements. Together with program partners, certain kinds of strategies need to

be developed with respect to raising public awareness. Combining a few strategies will be an ideal situation where each is tailored to a priority and specific group of the population. Often, a coordinated long-term awareness-raising campaign is more effective than a short-term campaign. Methodologically, sound approaches to raising awareness may be applying sufficient exposure and interpretations developed through social science researches that have an effect on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.

Project site/location

Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park, Brunei and Thousand Islands National Park, Indonesia

Problem(s) addressed

The Parks need to be recognized and publicly known. Therefore, raising awareness is an important program in getting public support and commitment.

Good practice

In Brunei Darussalam, PA management is under the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, except for Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park (TMHP), which is under the Museum of Brunei. TMHP is the only

Figure 20. As an AHP, Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park focuses on educational outreach, promotion and advertisement on biodiversity conservation, research, and creating harmony with local community.

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park with ASEAN Heritage Park status in Brunei. It is situated in the western part of Brunei Darussalam and is mainly covered with wetland or mangrove forest ecosystem. Since 2010, a number of collaborations have been established with other ministries. TMHP is both a natural and cultural heritage of Brunei. Thus, it is now referred to as the gateway to Brunei’s past and culture. TMHP is a wildlife sanctuary, conservation spot for flora and fauna, recreational centre, and a venue for research and education. It is the first site declared as a national park, and is considered the biggest wildlife sanctuary among the three other parks in Brunei Darussalam: Pulau Berambang (721 hectares), Pulau Siarau (393 hectares), and Pulau Pilong Pilongan (two hectares). The park also has camping sites established mainly for researchers, students, and tourists.

TMPH is purposively designated for protecting the mangrove ecosystem and traditional culture of local community and indigenous people. As an AHP, the park focuses on educational outreach, promotion and advertisement on biodiversity conservation, research and creating harmony with local community. The creation of the Butterfly Garden, Information Gazebo, and mangrove tour are some activities supporting effort to increase public awareness on the importance of maintaining biodiversity.

The most prominent activity during the past two years was the initiation of collaboration with the Ministry of Education in conducting youth programs for the purpose of enhancing awareness among the young generation to safeguard their local biodiversity and natural ecosystems. The first Art Retreat was held in June 2012 in collaboration with the Art Gallery

Section, Brunei Department of Museum, and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). This event aimed to give participants the opportunity to experience and take inspiration from the natural beau ty of Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park and allow the students to record it eternally within a piece of artwork. Amazingly, at the end of this event, about 80 paintings were produced by 21 participants, and some of them were successfully sold out.

In Indonesia, mangrove rehabilitation program initiated by the Thousand Islands National Park Management offers a good opportunity for the public to learn the importance of mangrove forest in order to save the mainland from sea abrasion. Mangrove forests are located in between mainland and coastal ecosystem, and their presence mostly depends on ebb and tide. This ecosystem is dominated by Rhizopora sp. The mangrove rehabilitation program in the island started in 2003, which involves local community and other stakeholders such as donor organizations. The program became a major attraction due to its unique technique, which allows visitors to directly plant mangrove under the guidance of the national park staff. During the planting activity, the visitors could feel the atmosphere of collaborative rehabilitation and togetherness, which brings more fruitful outcomes. More mangrove seedlings are planted and more mangroves are saved.

Another program that attracted visitors in Thousand Islands National Park is the sea grass (“lamun”) rehabilitation (Figure 21). Seagrass is a flowering plant species that has gone through a long evolution of living and surviving in the sea. Seagrasses look like

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

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real grasses at a glance. To learn more about the biology and life cycle of seagrasses, the public or visitor can join the lamun planting program. People love to see this attraction due to the unique technique in planting seagrass. The required materials include a piece of toilet paper or tissue, lamun, and a metal frame. Similar to mangrove rehabilitation, working in a group is more fun or people often make it more appealing by performing group competition. Lamun is one of the lesser-known sea resources, and most people have never heard of it. Their presence and benefits are also ignored. Introducing lamun to visitors or to the public through this unique and easy technique is considered an effective way of increasing public awareness on the importance of lamun in the ecosystem and as a plant.

Another unique attraction in this island is the Brahminy Kite (Haliastur Indus) translocation. This bird has long been used as the mascot of the country’s capital and is commonly known as “elang bondol”. Up until 2005, people can easily see them flying around this island, but nowadays, sighting them seems impossible. To save them from extinction, the national park, in collaboration with faunal lovers’ agency such as JAAN (Jakarta Animal Advocacy Network), has developed a program for Brahminy Kite and Sea Hawk rehabilitation and translocation in Kotok Island. Considering the rapid decrease of their population, both species, including their habitat, need to be conserved.

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Box 10. Young Naturalist Programme in Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park, Brunei Darussalam.

• A campaign program called Young Naturalist Programme (YNP) was launched for the first time in June 2013 in Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park. This event was organized by the Department of Museum under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, in collaboration with Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park. The program is aimed at bringing the young generation closer to nature, especially in understanding their inter-connectedness with natural environment and its importance for the long-term existence of humans. This is also one of the efforts of the government in promoting people awareness on local biodiversity conservation, protecting the rich native flora and fauna, and keeping intact the mangrove forest ecosystem that compose the major part of Tasek Merimbun forest complex.

• A large group of Year 11 students from five schools joined the program and spent four days and three nights in the camp inside the park. The objectives of the program were to (a) promote and advertise TMHP and its natural biodiversity richness heritage; (b) stimulate the young generation to love their natural environment and not to take it for granted; (c) provide learning and education facilities that offer knowledge on culture, arts, music, wildlife, etc.; and (d) learn how researchers do their work. YAM Pengiran Muda Omar Ali, Curator of Natural History and Chairperson of the Young Naturalist Programme, said Tasek Merimbun is the best place for the public and students to learn about the importance of preserving Brunei’s cultural and natural heritage, as well as increase their awareness. The park also provides adequate facilities and infrastructure including a research laboratory and accommodation for both local and international researchers and students. The YNP is planned in Tasek Merimbun annually.

Source: Presentation by YAM Pengiran Muda Omar Ali, Curator of Natural History, and Manager of Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park

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Lessons learned from the good practice

A combination of education outreach, capacity building, and participatory approach could be used as park “advertisement” to the public.

Beneficiaries

Community, visitors, and park manager

Impacts and outcomes

Public and student awareness on rehabilitation, conservation, and importance of mangroves, sea grasses, brahminy kites, and sea hawks is greatly enhanced.

7.2 Enjoying the rainforest through the canopy walk

This program covers activities to provide stakeholders with knowledge and information through hands-on experience and in-site learning process. Target audience varies from grassroots to specific audience and thus, most programs are designed for certain groups with similar interest, i.e., policy makers, students, lectures, religious

group, arts, and many others.

Project site/location

Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia and Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei Darussalam

Problem(s) addressed

People are less engaged with nature and are less interested in protecting natural resources due to lack of direct interaction with nature itself. People tend to ignore damages brought about by their activities in utilizing resources. They also tend to ignore the deteriorated environment they left behind.

Good Practice

Taman Negara Pahang provides visitors with procedures and the rules and regulations for each of the attraction it offers. To ensure the safety of visitors, facilities are checked regularly by the accredited committee. The Canopy Walk is situated 1.5 kilometers from the Park’s headquarters. It is one of the three found in Malaysia and is regarded as one of the longest in the world. The walk stretches about 530 meters

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Figure 21. Lamun and mangrove rehabilitation.

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GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

in length and 40 meters above forest floor with nine platforms constructed on tree top. It provides a very good bird’s eye view of the rainforest’s main canopy layers. Originally built up for research purposes, the walk has become the highlight of the trip to Taman Negara Pahang and a popular place for bird enthusiasts. One way to reach the Canopy Walk is by boat about five minutes from the entrance gate of Tembeling River (Figure 22). Canopy Walk is one of the most popular attractions for visitors of all ages. The journey starts with climbing a foot path constructed from composite fiberglass introduced in late 2012. Standardized construction was applied to ensure safety and quality of the path. After walking about 10 minutes, one arrives at the entrance gate of the Canopy Walk.

In Brunei Darussalam, Ulu Temburong National Park was established for natural tropical dipterocarps, watershed, and biodiversity protection. The park offers

plenty of attractions for visitors who love to enjoy scenic beauty, jungle trekking, boat tour, diving, and other environmental services provided from the forest. Canopy Bridge was constructed for visitors who want to enjoy forest view from tree canopies. Lodging and other tourism services such as tour guiding provided by local people are available and managed in cooperation with private/public company, the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, and the Ministry of Tourism. The PA management has implemented strict rules for visitors by imposing penalties/fees for those who commit offences.

Lesson learned from the good practice

Viewing the rainforest from the canopy walk triggers some excitements and awakens interest and motivation to directly interact with nature. It also allows people to see

Figure 22. Tembeling River and footpath to canopy walk in Taman Negara, Pahang, Malaysia.

Figure 23. Tourist attractions in Ulu Temburong National Park including Canopy Bridge.

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how environmental services need to be maintained appropriately. Attractive features such as canopy walk and bird watching attractions likewise stimulate and challenge people to find out more about the values of nature.

Beneficiaries

Scientific community, policy makers, students, and researchers

Impact and outcomes

Improved knowledge on the importance of maintaining environment and natural resources was observed, as well as improved awareness and high appreciation of nature.

8. Adequate funding ensures sustainable PA management

Sustainable financing in the context of PA management system can only be achieved if there is adequate capacity to self-generate additional revenue at the institutional level. In this case, management plan of the park should take into account market value or PES (Payment for Environmental Services) for water, carbon, ecotourism, and scenic beauty offered by the parks. There should be a robust management system or approach to harmonize efforts in protecting the area, and at the same time providing incentives to local community or other relevant stakeholders. When it comes to implementation, it is equally vital to enhance and improve institutional capacity to properly manage financial resources and conduct necessary legal and regulatory reforms to maintain reliable compliance (Flore et al., 2008).

8.1 Business partnership facilitates generation of funds for protected area

Maintenance of protected area requires adequate budget that can only be obtained through development of various financing mechanisms. The fastest way to formulate or mobilize fund raising is through establishing partnership with private sector. The most common and attractive business commodity inside the protected area is tourism.

Project sites/locations

Taman Negara Pahang National Park in Malaysia, Ulu Temburong National Park in Brunei Darussalam, Thousand Islands National Park, and Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia

Problem(s) addressed

Protected areas receive less attention from commercial/business entities compared to production forests. Thus, it is faced with challenges on how to retain the forest or natural resources without damaging the environment. Fund generation and mobilization are quite difficult to establish because these need serious commitment, implementation, transparency, and accountability.

Good practice

In Indonesia, WWF has initiated a project aimed at creating a new community conservation regime in 1994. The project intended to guard the restricted condition under which local agriculture operates while

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

59

GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ASEAN HERITAGE PARKS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

generating income for local community from non-timber forest product utilization. The project likewise has to deal with illegal activities in the area. NGOs such as the Leuser International Foundation supported some programs to combat illegal logging and generate local income (McCarthy, 2002). Gunung Leuser National Park has also received some capacity-building support. This support led to an impressive performance in the conduct of law enforcement and strict control against illegal activities in the protected area. However, when the project ended, Gunung Leuser National Park suffered from lack of funding, thus ongoing activities were not properly implemented.

A number of scientists engaged in cost-benefit analysis are interested in undertaking priority research activities to promote sustainable financing mechanism to achieve protected area management effectiveness.

Lessons learned from good practice

Funding mobilization will be easier through business partnerships particularly for

those who have developed profit sharing scheme. Adequate funding is vital and should be assured to ensure the long-term sustainable PA management. Intact biodiversity, sustainable equity-based and transparency in various aspects including a mechanism for profit sharing should always be considered.

Beneficiaries

The national park, relevant agencies, and local community (incentive-based management)

Impacts and outcomes

Financial condition of the PAs should be secured, especially for those who have developed financial planning under a certain period of time. Financial stability is more evident if supported by proactive members by undertaking various types of activities supporting PAs’ program.

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VI. Overall Lessons Learned

There are questions which might be worth considering and shared among protected areas. In what way has the good practice contributed to an innovation in local community livelihood? What are the conditions (economic, social, and environmental) needed to be in place for the good practice to be successfully replicated (in a similar context)? What are the impacts or benefits of good practices? What are the challenges encountered in applying good practices? Are they easily addressed? Are good practices being validated by stakeholders or final users? What methodology was used in addressing the initial issue that led to a successful outcome and good practice? What was the process and in what way was it a participatory process? How long did it take to learn lessons and identify key success factors?

These questions can be used as guides on whether good practices are actually valid and worthy to replicate in order to improve and enhance management practices in protected areas.

Summary of lessons learned taken from all protected areas:

1. The presence of active collaboration between the national park management and local government plays a significant role in shaping the national park performance.

2. Strong support from local community or sustainable relationship with community surrounding the PAs greatly determines the success in managing the park. In some cases, the protected area manager may need to bring the collaboration into a formal agreement. In gaining their

support, the PA often needs to find innovative actions through partnership and collaborative actions with local people by involving and hiring them as park rangers, informers, and volunteers, and even involving them in the conduct of forest inventory and forest survey. Good communication and relationships with community will help park management to focus more of its works on conservation activities rather than dealing with conflicts.

3. Effective management can be done by involving and engaging partners and initiating partnership with all stakeholders. Support from society or the wider public may prevent PAs from being converted into economic-oriented activity such as exploitation of mineral deposits.

4. A consistent policy is fundamental in maintaining a PA for a longer time. It also requires a common understanding and a common goal among government institutions either at the national/federal, provincial and district/state, or local levels. Decentralizing certain management activities and privatizing certain responsibilities in some cases proved to be successful in developing some activities like ecotourism. However, agreement on tasks and responsibilities being transferred should be clearly defined and enforced in a consistent way.

5. Environmental education should not be exclusively applied for a certain group of people or ethnic group. It

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should not only be for students from states, but also for school children living next and in the outskirts of the park. It should also be for those who might be illiterate or have limited access to information. Education should be accessible to build capacity on ecotourism. Education may include not only about rich flora and fauna, but also preventive actions to take, safety measures, and risks for any accident that might happen. Environmental education should be so designed such that audience and visitors will fall in love with biodiversity and take care of it.

6. Community-based involvement should be encouraged such that local community can become lecturers to visitors. Traditional knowledge should be introduced and transferred. It is important for the local community to have

standardized knowledge and skill so that they can be certified, and license given to them by authorities.

7. Implementation of forest protection program should be backed up by support from relevant institutions especially on budget sharing. Collaborative patrol should be done not only with army or military agency, but should also involve the participation of local people. Such collaboration may facilitate changes from an authoritarian approach in protecting the area of AHP into a more “army that loves to do exercise, not using weapon and bullets...”

8. Convert protected area from being a “cost center” into a “revenue center” with mechanism for sustainable financing. Some success stories may be selected from AHP cases such as privatizing tourism management, or applying PES scheme.

OVERALL LESSONS LEARNED

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The study Management Effectiveness of ASEAN Heritage Parks (Mardiastuti et al., 2013) suggested various regional strategies and directions more specifically focused on the following nine strategic themes: (1) information exchange, (2) partnership, (3) law enforcement, (4) land use system, (5) capacity building, (6) planning, (7) ecotourism, (8) local community/indigenous people, and (9) aquatic ecosystem. In addition, the existing Regional Action Plan for ASEAN Heritage Parks 2007 was also used as basis for developing further strategies. Mardiastuti et al. (2013) further emphasized the important role of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, in a regional context, in helping ASEAN Member States develop and manage the AHPs more effectively.

1. Feasible Strategy

Based on the field visits and interviews with a number of respondents in nine selected PAs, all nine strategy themes offered from previous study were feasible adaption, except for aquatic ecosystem, which probably cannot be generalized. Some PAs may share similar situations and problems, but this does not happen always. The 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Hyderabad, India clearly stated that the main threats to biodiversity – covers, species, habitat, and ecosystem – include emerging threats such as invasive alien species (IAS) and climate change.

Both threats of IAS and indirect climate change are mainly driven by (a) economic and population growth; (b) demand for food and agriculture products, goods and services; (c) demand for exotic meat, traditional and herbal medicine; (d) demand for wild fauna for pets and ornamental plants; and (e) increased tourism in pristine area or intact primary forest. Thus, IAS threatens both

aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. At Khao Yai National Park, Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park, and Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, the introduction of IAS is being monitored by forest managers especially during regular monitoring schedules. Eradication and control program is available.

In the PAs visited in this study, various programs and efforts have been initiated to appropriately establish and manage them. A well-maintained ecosystem will be able to provide adequate resources for local communties in terms of sustainable livelihood, food security, and health care.

All activities and ecosystem conservation programs mentioned, either inside or outside the conservation areas, require continuous support and need to be integrated with other relevant species and habitat conservation programs. The key point is, managing ecosystem should simultaneously manage habitat and species contained therein. Thus, it is imperative for forest managers to identify the degraded ecosystem being used by priority species or endangered species.

In all the nine PAs, the situations and conditions of the institutional, human, financial, and physical resources for adressing the management effectiveness of the PAs and for providing best or good management practices for lesson learned are varied. For example, Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia and Khao Yai National Park in Thailand share similar threats due to their rich biodiversity. These attract more illegal loggers, poachers, and those involved in forest encroachment. In Indonesia, most of the PAs were found to be under-staffed, under-resourced, and inadequately equipped relative to the large size of the areas they manage and types of threats.

VII. Feasible Strategy for Stakeholders

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Elements of a feasible regional strategy based on findings of assessment on best practices and lessons learned from nine selected protected areas

Six feasible strategies for adressing problems of management effectiveness in the protected areas were developed as follows:

1. strengthen law enforcement2. Strengthen capacity building3. develop a well-designed ecosystem-based management plan4. build a strong public-private partnership/collaborative management5. promote public awareness and information exchange/sharing6. secure sustainable fund

FEASIBLE STRATEGY FOR STAKEHOLDERS

Technical cooperation projects such as those of international non-government organizations and local NGOs help the park in curbing illegal activites. They provided the respective park’s law enforcement team with capacity-building services and other support. Lack of capacity had, in some instances, prevented promising control efforts developed in pilot site trials from being extrapolated into wider scale. Law enforcement in Gunung Leuser is different from the one being implemented in Khao Yai where capacity building is continuously provided by the government, thus ensuring the long-term investment on the integrated control of illegal activities in and around the park.

Considering these facts, a three-pronged strategy is pursued based on best practices findings identified during this study. The additional three operational components were nevertheless applied in an integrated manner, taking into account many obvious connections and overlaps with any one of the other strategy themes suggested by previous study done by Mardiastuti et al. (2013). The strategy and goals of these operational components are, among others, (1)

ecosystem-based management to maintain the ecosystem’s integrity and its biodiversity; (2) sustainable fund to maintain long-term security of best management practices to achieve the main goals of protecting the forest area, while also generating income for local community livelihood; and (3) public awareness and access to information to expand knowledge among stakeholders and educate them on the importance of saving the planet for the sake of the next generation. Taking into account the previous strategies suggested by Mardiastuti et al (2013), this study considered the following strategies to be implemented in all AHPs: (1) build up law enforcement; (2) strengthen capacity building; (3) have a well-designed ecosystem-based management plan; (4) build public-private partnersip/collaborative management; (5) promote public awareness and information exchange/sharing; and (6) secure sustainable fund.

Effective management implemented at the four selected AHP sites (Taman Negara Pahang National Park, Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park, Gunung Leuser National Park, and Khaoi Yai National Park) has produced a number of best practices that

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can be replicated in other protected areas. Management practices at the selected sites shared almost similar feature with other non-AHPs, which include community-based ecotourism, ecosystem-based conservation, law enforcement, educational outreach, and partnership and collaborative management practices, although practiced in different scale. The stakeholders as beneficiaries of the effectively managed PAs, are expected to work hand-in-hand with the national park.

2. Good practices selection

Using the concepts of good practices in PA management is a practical approach in utilizing the results of management effectiveness in a strategic and systematic way. This can be done through the establishment of assessment or criteria for good practices. In this study, a number of good practices showed similarity in their context, process, and results but they have different names in common practice. These cases illustrate the potential of developing criteria for assessing good practices and the need for appropriate judgment on whether such practices can be generalized, or develop

standards for good practices in a particular area, i.e., community-based ecotourism, educational outreach, and many other practices.

Selection of good practices within different types of protected area will result in a more efficient dissemination of the results of management effectiveness assessment, thus enabling faster implementation of practical, eco-efficient, and cost-effective solutions for forestry business and society, especially for stakeholders who expect instant and immediate results from whatever they have invested. For this reason, a process of selecting the best among the good practices available is established (Figure 24). In this way, promotion or campaign on knowledge-based, sustainable and competitive development can be accomplished.

As described in the previous section, a good practice can be in various forms such as technological or social innovation, new technique in natural resource utilization, a new tool for management effectiveness, and new ways of collaboration, or it can be a combination of these.

FEASIBLE STRATEGY FOR STAKEHOLDERS

Figure 24. Good practice selection process.

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Chomitz et al. (2007) reported that national parks cover about one-seventh of the world’s forests, and their number has been increasing rapidly over the past two decades. The review indicated some threats in these conservation areas, which tend to be significantly lower than those happening outside of the protected areas. This means that PAs perform well in safeguarding their natural resources and in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystems from human disturbances. All of the selected protected areas studied also pose almost similar conservation issues and threats from illegal activities and pressure from high number of visitors. However, the degree of threats varies from one park to another.

It is very clear that protected areas with ASEAN Heritage Park status share a similar objective – conserving natural ecosystem and their wildlife. These further attract tourists to come and visit the parks in an ecologically friendly manner. This practice is called ecotourism. Most activities also involve local communities and indigenous people.

This study took nine conservation areas as samples, where four of them are AHPs (Tasek Merimbun National Park in Brunei Darussalam, Taman Negara Pahang in Malaysia, Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia, and Khao Yai National Park in Thailand) and five non-AHPs – Kukup Island (Taman Negara Johor) in Malaysia, Thousand Islands National Park and Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in Indonesia, and Ulu Temburong National Park and Selirong Forest Recreation Park in Brunei Darussalam). Visits to these PAs were mainly to collect information on good practices and lessons learned that can be shared among other protected areas. Most of the programs in these parks are based

on conservation, education, recreation, partnership, and research themes.

Good practices observed and lessons learned across the AHPs and non-AHP sites showed similarity in terms of conservation and community involvement. Most program designs are based on the objectives of the management plan regardless of the different templates they used. Good practices that are categorized according to objectives and problems being adressed were identified as (1) demonstrating the importance of a well-designed management plan; (2) ensuring protection of the park through effective law enforcement; (3) managing marine and terrestrial parks through ecosystem-based approach; (4) unifying conservation, community, and travel through ecotourism; (5) demonstrating the importance of public-private partnership and collaborative management; (6) community-based restoration programs result to more involvement of local communities; (7) scientific and educational outreach supports promotion of parks; and (8) ensuring sustainable PA management through adequate funding.

All sample sites shared similar ways in running their activities by developing long-term and annual management plans, while budget allocation was commonly proposed annually to the government. In some cases, national parks have successfully developed partnership to ensure implementation of conservation programs according to the objective of the protected areas. Park management also encourages participation of local community as they mostly live inside and around the parks. In some cases such as in Taman Negara Pahang, Ulu Temburong National Park, and Tasek

VIII. Conclusions and Recommendations

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Merimbun National Park, local community involvement in the conservation program seems prominent as most of the parks’ tour guides or forest rangers come from the locals.

With regard to safeguarding the protected areas, the major driver of biodiversity loss comes from a series of human activities such as illegal timber cutting, illegal hunting, and poaching.

There are distinct examples of protecting mangrove forest that has a fairly open access such as in Selirong Forest Recreation Area. In the western part of the lake, a number of villagers from the Malaysian border, develop basic and simple settlement. Regular patrol to monitor their activities becomes the major program in the park. This practice is also demonstrated in Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park where a regular patrol is set up to monitor and control the activities of the neighbourhood settlement. Based on field observations, results of regular and consistent monitoring of the border could prevent and reduce conflicts as well as human disturbance on the natural ecosystem. The mangrove forest in both parks are in good condition as indicated by the presence of proboscis monkey, flying lemurs, short leaves macaques and dense mangrove tree species (Rhizopora apiculata, Bruguiera sp. and Xylocarpus sp.).

Based on the above identified best practices, six feasible strategies were proposed: (1) strengthen law enforcement, (2) develop capacity building strategy, (3) develop a well- designed ecosystem-based management plan, (4) build up public-private partnersips/collaborative management, (5) promote public awareness and information exchange/sharing, and (6) secure sustainable fund (sustainable financial mechanism).

Assuming that conservation schemes are the main targets of the protected area management at the regional scale, the highest priority for further study is in looking at ways forward. Stakeholders around the region would likely develop their strategy into more practical approaches. The ACB, in this case, could initiate development of new programmes concentrated on gathering and disseminating information and on raising level of awareness. It is important to review the status of all AHPs and develop effective forum for sharing lessons learned among country member states. This should include formulating clear and concise good practice guidelines for wider improvement of management effectiveness, and collating and publishing all these information in a simple, engaging way that would be accessible to all stakeholders.

To provide more information and enable sharing of knowledge and experiences among AHPs, this study needs to be expanded to explore more in-depth information on good practices and lessons learned from some selected sites.

Some feasible strategies were also offered for stakeholders to enable them to take immediate actions from the available lessons learned and make some improvements to achieve the PA management objectives.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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IX. References

ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, BirdLife International, Haribon Foundation, and Sabah Parks (2008). Regional Action Plan for ASEAN Heritage Parks and Protected Areas. Philippines.

ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, 2010. The ASEAN Heritage Parks: A Journey to the Natural Wonder of Southeast Asia. Los Baños, Philippines. 310 pages.

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), 1990. Uniting Conservation, Community and Sustainable Travel.http://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism.

Bickford, D., Supriatna, J., Andayani, N, Iskandar, D., Evans, B.J., Brown, M Rafe, Townsend, T., Umilaela, Azhari, D and McGuire, J.A. 2008. Indonesia’s protected areas need more protection: Suggestions from island examples. In: Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods in Protected Areas: Case Studies from Malay Archipelago, eds. Navjot S. Sodhi, Greg Acciaioli, Maribeth Erb and Alan Khee-Jin Tand. Cambridge University Press.

Buku Panduan, 2010. Jenis jenis karang hias hasil transplantasi yang diperdagangkan di Taman Nasional Laut Kepulauan Seribu. Direktorat Jenderal PHKA. Kementerian Kehutanan. Jakarta.

Borrini-Feyerabend, G., Kothari, A and Oviedo, G. 2004. Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas: Towards Equity and Enhanced Conservation.

IUCN, Gland, Switzertland and Cambridge, UK. xviii+111pp.

Brunei Darussalam Forestry Department. 2011. Sustainable Forestry in Brunei Darussalam. Forestry Department. Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources. Brunei Darussalam.

Chomitz, K.M, Buys, P., De Luca, G., Thomas, T.S. and Wertz-Kaounnikoff, S. 2007. At Loggerheads: Agricultural Expansion, Poverty Reduction, and Environment in the Tropical Forests. World Bank. Jakarta, Indonesia. 284p.

du Toit, J.T., Walker, B.H., and Campbell, B.M. 2004. Conserving Tropical Nature: Current challenges for ecologist. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 19, 12-17.

Dennis, R. A., E. Meijaard, R. Nasi, and Gustafsson, L. 2008. Biodiversity conservation in Southeast Asian timber concessions: A critical evaluation of policy mechanisms and guidelines. Ecology and Society 13(1): 25. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss1/art25/

Forda, 2013. Monitoring And Evaluation Report On Forest Restoration Project In Sei Serdang, Gunung Leuser National Park. UNESCO.

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GIZ and ACB, 2013. A Scoping Study on Climate Change and Biodiversity of Protected Areas and Key Ecosystems in Southeast Asia. GIA-ACB and ASEAN.

GEF (Global Environment Facility) and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 1998. Development of Best Practices and Dissemination of Lesson Learned for Dealing with the Global Problems of Alien Species That Threatened Biological Diversity. http://gefonline.or/projectDetailsSQ.,cfm?projID=465

McCarthy, J.F. 2002. Turning in Circles: District Governance, Illegal Logging, and Environmental Decline in Sumatra, Indonesia. Society and Natural Resources. Taylor and Francis.

Firdaus, Z. Sarongge, “Pilihan Tepat Liburan Keluarga”. Photo. Mongabay, July 29, 2013 (http://readers-blog.mongabay.com)

Hocking, M., Stolton, S., and Dudley, N. 2000. Evaluating Effectiveness: A Framework for Assessing the Management of Protected Areas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x+121pp.

Mardiastuti, A., Simarangkir, A.R., Kusrini, M.D, Buchori, D., and Suryadi, I. 2013. Management Effectiveness of ASEAN Heritage Parks: A Study Report. Deutsche Gesellschaftt fȕr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, Biodiversity Climate Change (BCCP), the Philippines.

Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B and Kent, J. 2000. Biodiversity hot spot for conservation priorities. Nature, 403, 853-858.

Rijksen, D. H. D., and M. Griffiths 1995. Leuser development programme masterplan, sup- ported by the European Union. Report prepared by the Integrated Conservation and Development Project for Lowland Rainforest in Aceh.

Sihotang, D.M., P. Patana, E. Jumilawaty. 2012. Identification diversity of bird species in restoration area at Sei Betung Resort, Gunung Leuser National Park. North Sumatera University

UNFPA. 2000. The State of the World Population. The United Nation Population Fund. New York, NY: The United Nation Fund.

Vitousek, P.M., D’Antonio, C.M., Loope, L.L., Rejmánek, M., and Westbrooks, R. 1997. Introduced species: A significant component of human-caused global change. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 21, 1-16.

REFERENCES

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IX. Appendices

No. Elements/indicators Criteria to determine good practices (gp) a) Good practices(gp) b)

Lessons learned (ll) c)

Comment d)

A. Context (where are we now?) Assessment of important threats and the policy environment

A.1 Legal status of PAsShare your gp and ll to gain the legal status of the pas.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A.2 Geographic locationShare your gp and ll to establish easy access to the Pas

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A.3 Border security and safetyShare your gp and ll to resolve any conflict arising along the border of the PAs.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A.4 Mechanism to control unsustainable human activities in the PAs Share your gp and ll to develop mechanism to control unsustainable human activities in the PAs.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B. Planning (where do we want to be?) Assessment of protected area design and planning

B.1 Management planShare your gp and ll to develop and implement management plan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B.2 Park zonationShare your gp and ll to define and implement zonation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B.3 Regular work planShare your gp and ll to develop and implement regular work plan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B.4 MapsShare your gp and ll to develop reliable maps

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B.5 Division of working areaShare your gp and ll to divide your working area for effective management

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B.6 Planning for land and water useShare your gp and ll to develop planning for land and water use for effective management

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B.7 Park regulationShare your gp and ll to implement park regulation properly

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Appendix 1. Assessment Form

70

No. Elements/indicators Criteria to determine good practices (gp) a) Good practices(gp) b)

Lessons learned (ll) c)

Comment d)

B.8 Park designShare your gp and ll to establish a well-designed park so that it could cover all representative ecosystem within the pas

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B.9 Alignment with regional action plan (rap)Share your gp and ll to align the PA program with existing RAP

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C. Process/implementation (how do we go about management) assessment of the way in which management is carried out

C.1 Budget managementShare your gp and ll to manage adequate budget for all components of PA management (i.e. salary, operational cost, infrastructure and equipment)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.2 ResearchShare your gp and ll to develop research program to support PA management

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.3 Resource managementShare your gp and ll to manage available resource in the PA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.4 Education and awarenessShare your gp and ll to develop education and awareness program

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.5 Indigenous people (ip) involvement (if any)Share your gp and ll to engage ip in any activity relevant to PA management program implementation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.6 Local community (lc) involvement (if any)Share your gp and ll to engage lc in any activity relevant to PA management program implementation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.7 Monitoring and evaluationShare your gp and ll to carry out monev

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.8 Visitor facilitiesShare your gp and ll to establish proper accommodation for visitors

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

APPENDICES

71

No. Elements/indicators Criteria to determine good practices (gp) a) Good practices(gp) b)

Lessons learned (ll) c)

Comment d)

C.9 Commercial tourism operationShare your gp and ll to operate commercial tourism

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.10 Fee collection and contributionShare your gp and ll to manage share from fee for government and PA operation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.11 Promotion and information disseminationShare your gp and ll to promote and disseminate information to stakeholders

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.12 Capacity buildingShare your gp and ll to increase staff capacity (i.e., staff training)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C.13 Collaboration with othersShare your gp and ll to establish collaboration with other institution

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D. Inputs (what do we need?) Assessment of resources needed to execute management

D.1 Resource inventoryShare your gp and ll on how to collect adequate information to manage the area

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D.2 Law enforcementShare your gp and ll to enforce rules/regulations through the responsible person

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D.3 Staff quantity and qualityShare your gp and ll on how you could provide PA with adequate number of staff and with adequate quality

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D.4 EquipmentShare your gp and ll to provide adequate equipment to support PA operation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D.5 InfrastructureShare your gp and ll to maintain infrastructure so that it can support the entire PA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D.6 Current budgetShare your gp and ll to provide balance or equal allocation of budget for all components

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

APPENDICES

72

No. Elements/indicators Criteria to determine good practices (gp) a) Good practices(gp) b)

Lessons learned (ll) c)

Comment d)

D.7 Budget sustainabilityShare your gp and ll to sustain budget for managing the PA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D.8 Funding from other sourcesShare your gp and ll to establish partnership and get adequate source of funding (fund raising activity - if any)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

E. Output (what were the results?) Assessment on the implementation of management programs and actions, delivery of products and services

E.1 Habitat for wildlifeShare your gp and ll to provide a wide array of ecosystem/habitat to support a number of wildlife

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

E.2 Environmental servicesShare your gp and ll to provide a wide array of ecosystem/habitat to support a number of wildlife

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

E.3 Prevention of catastrophic eventsShare your gp and ll to develop mechanism to prevent catastrophic events

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

E.4 Prevention of encroachmentShare your gp and ll to develop mechanism to prevent encroachment into the PA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

E.5 Prevention of illegal logging/resource extractionShare your gp and ll to develop mechanism to prevent illegal logging activity and other resource extraction (mining, and others)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

E.6 Prevention of poachingShare your gp and ll to develop mechanism to prevent poaching in the PA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

E.7 Stakeholder supportShare your gp and ll to develop mechanism to attract stakeholders support

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

APPENDICES

73

APPENDICES

No. Elements/indicators Criteria to determine good practices (gp) a) Good practices(gp) b)

Lessons learned (ll) c)

Comment d)

F. Impacts/outcomes (what did we achieve?) Assessment of the outcomes and the extent of their achieved objectives

F.1 Economic benefitsShare your gp and ll to generate local community income or creating economic benefit to community surrounding the PA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

F.2 Condition of valuesShare your gp and ll to maintain or enhance PA condition (i.e. increase population of protected wildlife, and others)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Notes:A - Check (✔) the column underneath the number that corresponds to the eight (8)

criteria of good practices. For example: E 1. Habitat for wildlife. If your effort to maintain the habitat of certain protected wildlife in your area is successful, and if you think that this can be proven to be relevant in achieving the primary objectives of your PAs, you must put check (✔) mark under number 1. If this is also successfully adopted and has positive impact to stakeholder, you must put check (✔) remark under number 2, etc.

B - If six (6) out of eight (8) criteria are met, you could decide that this particular practice can be categorized as “Good Practice”. In this case, you should name the good practices (if any).

C - Describe knowledge, experience or information that could be used and shared (either positive or negative) for improvement

D - Provide any necessary comment or a qualitative judgment. Respondent could add any useful information that could be shared with other PA managers (i.e., good practices or successful activities).

74

No. NAME POSITION OFFICE /ADDRESS

1 Hadi Nurul Hadi National Park Officer Leuser National Park Medan, North Sumatera Indonesia

2 Genman Hasibuan National Park Officer Leuser National Park Medan, North Sumatera Indonesia

3 Sapto Aji Prabowo National Park Officer Leuser National Park Medan, North Sumatera Indonesia

4 Ardi Andono National Park Officer Gede Pangrango National Park at Cibodas West Jawa

5 Maulana Budi National Park Officer

6 Ahmad Fitri Bin Osman Ranger Jabatan Perhilitan Negeri Johor

[email protected]

7 Hasmadi Hamed Ranger Jabatan Perhilitan Negeri Johor

[email protected]

8 Muhammad Azizi Bin Mustafa

Wildlife Officer HQ Perhilitan

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

9 Muhammad Taufik Abdulrahman

Wildlife Officer HQ Perhilitan

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

10 Noraini Nasamuddin Wildlife Officer Taman Negara Pahang

Kuala Tahan, Malaysia

11 Abu Gashim Ismail Superintendent Taman Negara Pahang

Kuala Tahan, Malaysia

12 Zamri B Mat Ami President Guide Taman Negara Pahang

Kuala Tahan, Malaysia

13 Chew Keng Lin Manager of Kukup Island (Taman Negara Johor)

013-6186678 Johor, Malaysia

14 Kassim Ismail Natural History Section Brunei Museum Department

15 Ms. Hajah Zaiaini binti Haji Noorkhan

Acting Director, Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation, Ministry of Development, Bandar Seri Begawan BB 3510

Brunei Darussalam, Tlp: +6732383222/382102 loc. 500/510, Fax: +6732 383 644Email: [email protected]

16 Ms. Noralinda Haji Ibrahim

Senior Forestry Officer, Forestry Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources

Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Jalan. Menteri Besar, Bandar Seri Begawan BB 3910 Brunei Darussalam, Telp: + 6732 381687, Fax: +6732381912. Email: [email protected]

17 Mrs. Hajah Khartini Binti Haji Musa

Senior Plant Breeder, Department of Agriculture

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, Telp: +6734240336, Fax: +6734240339, Email: [email protected]

APPENDICES

Appendix 2. List of persons visited and interviewed in the four AHPs and five non-AHPs

75

No. NAME POSITION OFFICE /ADDRESS

18 Shahlinda binti Haji Sukarlan

Forestry Officer, Forestry Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources

Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Jalan. Menteri Besar, Bandar Seri Begawan BB 3910 Brunei Darussalam, Telp: + 6732 381687, Fax: +6732381912.Email: [email protected]

19 Haji Jamilah Haji Abdul Jalil

Acting Deputy Director Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Jalan. Menteri Besar, Bandar Seri Begawan BB 3910 Brunei Darussalam, Telp: + 6732 381687, Fax: +6732381912.Email: [email protected]

20 Shahri Haji Hussin Senior Forestry Officer Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Jalan. Menteri Besar, Bandar Seri Begawan BB 3910 Brunei Darussalam, Telp: + 6732 381687, Fax: +6732381912.Email: [email protected]

21 Sukarni Forest Rangers Ulu Temburong

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

22 Irma Forest Rangers Ulu Temburong

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

23 Rozizan Forest Rangers Ulu Temburong

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

24 Rudi Iskandar Forest Officer at Forestry Department

Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Jalan. Menteri Besar, Bandar Seri Begawan BB 3910 Brunei Darussalam, Telp: + 6732 381687, Fax: +6732381912, Email: [email protected]

25 Muhammad Khairul Ikhwan bin Jaya

Ranger Tasek Merimbun [email protected] Brunei

26 Abdul Hady bin Shamsuddin

Officer Tasek Merimbun [email protected]

27 Omarul Islam Mahmud Ranger Tasek Merimbun [email protected]

28 Haji Ramli Haji Shahdan Museum officer [email protected], Brunei

29 Prince Omar Ali Curator of Natural History

Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei

30 Rahman Ahmad Museum Officer [email protected]

31 Dr. Am Azbar Taurusman Senior Scientist from FPIK IPB

[email protected]

32 Sulaeman M Scientist from FPIK IPB Bogor Agriculture University

33 Roslinah Mohsin Officer Forestry Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources

[email protected]

APPENDICES

76

No. NAME POSITION OFFICE /ADDRESS

34 Ms. Dyah Murtiningsih Head of Pulau Seribu National Park

[email protected]

35 Agus Setiawan Forest Ranger NP of Thousand Island Indonesia

36 Suwarna Forest Ranger NP of Thousand Island Indonesia

37 Mayudin Forest Ranger NP of Thousand Island Indonesia

38 Firdiansyah National Park Officer NP of Thousand Island Indonesia

39 Mr. Nattapong Banteng Vice Head of Khao Yai National Park

Khao Yai National Park, Pak Chong, Thailand

40 Ms. Issaya Siriwachanawong

Staff of R&D Division, Khao Yai National Park

[email protected], [email protected]

APPENDICES

Biodiversity and Climate Change Project Deutsche Gesellschaft fürInternationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH3/F ERDB Building, UPLB Forestry CampusLos Baños, Laguna 4031, Philippines T +63 49 536 2865F +63 49 536 2865M (+63) 918 945 7704E [email protected] www.giz.de www.aseanbiodiversity.org