Bunaken Park, a model of dialog

Bunaken Park, a model of dialog

MANADO, North Sulawesi (JP): Fifteen miles from Manado, off
Sulawesi's northern coast, lies the Bunaken National Park -- an
80,000-hectare expanse of ocean, islands, mangroves, and some of
Indonesia's most dramatic coral reefs. What makes Bunaken unique,
though, is not so much its striking physical features, but its
innovative approach to park management. An approach that bids
fair to become a model for all of Indonesia as well as other
Asian countries.

Developing a national park is an intricate balancing act.
Inevitably, several groups hold an interest in the proposed park
area, each with a different idea of how the park should be
developed.

In Indonesia, the interested groups typically include the
Ministry of Forestry, the local government and the people living
in the area designated to become park land. The Ministry of
Forestry generally sees conservation as the primary role of a
park, while local government tends to emphasize tourism and
natural resources use.

Local residents think the park should protect their right to
traditional extraction practices (hunting, fishing, farming).
Trouble arises when, as is usually the case, the goals are seen
as mutually exclusive.

This perceived incompatibility makes cooperation between the
various parties difficult, and the Ministry of Forestry must
often shoulder the full burden of the park's development, with
minimal input from the local government and residents.

This approach can entail a host of problems, as it imposes an
undue financial strain on the Ministry, while depriving it of
valuable local partners.

Park management plans developed unilaterally by the Ministry
of Forestry tend to promote conservation, primarily by
designating large areas of the park off limits to tourism and
extraction by local residents.

The Ministry must then employ a sizable security force to
enforce these restrictions in the designated areas, resulting in
still greater financial and institutional burdens.

In Bunaken, the stage was set for the same complications. Over
10,000 people reside on Bunaken's five islands and another 10,000
on the mainland coastline, drawing their livelihood largely from
farming and from the sea, while the area's rich coral reefs
support a growing diving and tourism industry based in nearby
Manado.

When the area was declared a marine nature reserve in 1986,
anxiety soared over how this would affect the local parties.
Local communities and tourism operations alike feared they would
lose their access to the park's waters, as had happened with
other national parks in the region.

Different

Bunaken, though, was different. Park planners quickly realized
that Bunaken's large indigenous population, coupled with its
proximity to Manado, made management by exclusion virtually
impossible.

The planners set to work on an innovative strategy, that would
take into account all parties affected by the park's development.

The first step in this ambitious undertaking was to determine
the role each group played in the Bunaken area. Use patterns of
the park area were studied. Dialog was facilitated between local
communities, dive operators, and government officials to
determine the needs, hopes, and concerns of each group.

This discourse provided crucial information, and perhaps more
importantly, dispelled a number of misconceptions. For example,
government officials learned that less than half of the local
residents relied on fishing as their primary source of
livelihood.

With this revelation, conservation and extraction suddenly
seemed less in conflict.

This knowledge, garnered from dialog, was augmented by a
series of aerial photographs taken of the park area depicting the
location of different habitats, villages, dive spots, fishing
grounds, etc. These photos were fed into a computer and combined
through a process called Geographic Information Systeming, to
provide a complete picture of the various activities and
interactions occurring within the park, as well as a very
accurate map of the park area.

Though time consuming and labor-intensive, these efforts
provided an essential understanding of the groups using the park
and how they interact. The park planners were now in a position
to develop a management that would address the needs of all
groups. They realized, though, that the plan would ultimately
fail if it lacked the input and support of all players.

Planners, therefore, continued the dialog process in
developing the management plan.

The planners identified key figures among each of the groups
having an interest in the park. These people, which included
village heads, dive shop owners, and government officials,
provided the planners with crucial information on each group's
needs, concerns, and desires regarding park management.

This flow of information went both ways; successive drafts of
the management plan were passed on to the interested groups for
their comments, criticism and recommendations.

Meetings were held so that the various groups could meet face-
to-face and discuss the best arrangements for the park. Most
importantly, the management plan was not considered complete
until it had achieved the approval of every group that would be
affected by the park's development.

The result of this arduous process was a management plan
accepted by all groups in the Bunaken area. Naturally, each group
had to give up some rights and privileges in exchange for others.
But the current plan is a model of cooperation, in which each
sacrifices somewhat, so that all may profit.

Under the plan, for example, local communities receive
exclusive extraction rights in certain areas in exchange for
accepting limited access to zones designated for dive tourism.
Dive operators, in turn, restrict their operations to certain
areas and have installed mooring stations in order to prevent the
damage that boat anchors had previously done to the reefs.

Villagers and divers both agree to recognize certain "saving
zones", which are protected areas designed to help maintain fish
stocks. Such cooperative husbandry of marine resources serves the
Ministry of Forestry's goal of conservation, while at the same
time benefiting local fishers and divers.

Profit

There is room for synergy here as well. It is hoped that in
time the local communities will be able to profit from tourism by
providing home stays and selling handicrafts. Similarly, the
continuation of traditional activities in the area increases its
value as a tourist destination.

A final virtue of the Bunaken strategy is that it actively
engages all groups in the park's management. Local communities,
for example, have responsibility for policing their extraction
zones. Dive operations monitor each other and report infractions
to the local government.

By imbuing all groups with a sense of ownership and commitment
to the park, this participatory approach motivates all groups to
preserve and protect the park's resources. It also lightens the
financial and institutional burdens born by the Ministry of
Forestry for the park's management.

The Bunaken National Park is an example of how communication
and participatory planning can overcome seemingly irreconcilable
interests. The park's 25-year management plan has achieved the
support of all local groups in the Bunaken area and is now
pending approval from the Ministry of Forestry while some
problems remain to be worked out.

Passage of this historic plan will allow the Bunaken area to
be used and enjoyed by tourists and local communities for
generations to come. It is further hoped that it will become a
model for other national parks in Indonesia and throughout the
world.

-- Dean Carignan