Privatizing park management: Is it workable ?

By Winarta Adisubrata

JAKARTA (JP): The state of nature conservation and park management in Indonesia can be broken down into two aspects: what is threatening them and what is being done about the threats.

A striking example of one such threat was reflected in a small news item in this newspaper on May 31, which mentioned that Komodo National Park and the seas near the island of Flores boast 900 marine species are endangered and in need of protection. Sad as it is, such news comes to us from almost everywhere in Indonesia.

Other major threats are transmigration, land clearing and logging, all of which reduce or alter natural habitat areas for wildlife outside Java. Indonesia has stopped exporting logs and now government only allows the export of timber-based products. However, transmigration and land use for plantations and industrialization are still used to support national and economic development. The logical consequence has been a reduction in the availability of pristine tropical forest as well as the domain of both plants and animal species, many of which are facing extinction.

Based on its National Conservation Plan, Indonesia has put 30 million hectares, or roughly 15 percent of its land area, under some form of protection. Many conservationists believe that if this many hectares can really be protected, most mammals, birds and reptiles will be conserved along with most plant life. The real problem is to protect areas on the ground that are protected on paper. But as usual it is always easy to say what needs to be done, and much more difficult to do it.

At present Indonesia has 31 national parks, together with hundreds of conservation areas. Though the Javanese tiger is already extinct, Java still has leopards, wild cattle and lots of deer and pigs. Ujung Kulon, by any criteria an excellent natural reserve area, is not the only national park in Java. There are also the Bromo Tengger, Meru Betiri and Baluran parks in East Java. There is the Merapi nature conservation area in Central area and some others in West Java.

These areas are under increasing pressure, but the challenge to the land-use planner is to make the advantages of preserving these areas as parks more apparent.

As an example, Cibodas is a very important water protection, or catchment area that feeds Jakarta and Bandung -- two of the biggest cities in Indonesia -- in addition to the whole population of West Java. Maintaining the Cibodas forest, which can best be done by making it a national park, helps agriculture in the surrounding areas.

This is the sort of linkage to productivity that will help meet Indonesia's needs, especially under heavy population pressure, as is happening in Java.

If we look at Irian Jaya, which is four to five times the size of Java but with a population of only two million people, we have great latitude to set aside areas without disturbing the local population. We may have to move a few people but such a small population probably would not adversely affect the reserve.

Or take the Dumoga reserve in North Sulawesi. It surrounds an area that has received a major loan from the World Bank. The water supply in this area is critical, and if the forest in the watershed area is cleared, there will be a big problem with dry season water flows. Protecting the area as a national park should be seen as a land-use tool for protecting the watershed area for the irrigation project in the lowlands.

Here again we have a linkage: If we clear the forest and try to farm the hillsides we will disrupt lowland agriculture. If we do not attack these problems in the short term, the situation will definitely get worse.

Among the most striking examples is Cibodas. Parts of the forests of Cibodas are being cut down for villas, golf courses and real estate. It is not impossible that some of the money would find its way into the pockets of local people. But when the rainy season comes we will have floods in Jakarta and during the dry season we will have droughts.

The present situation in the Cibodas and Puncak areas must alert us to what may happen next. We can only commiserate with Jeff McNeely, a WWF Indonesia Program official based in Bogor more than a decade ago, that we no longer have Prof. Emil Salim as minister of environment.

Emil, an economist with a reputation for honesty and fairness, came into the environmental field from outside, bringing with him a nationalistic and economic perspective. He has been able to effectively transmit environmental concerns to many, from cabinet members and the President to students and religious leaders. He has been very effective in showing that economic development and the maintenance of a healthy environment are inseparable.

This led to a statement recently by the deputy minister of environment, Dr. Surna Djajadiningrat, who said that privatizing national park management will help nature conservation in Indonesia.

Is such a policy workable?

Two things are likely to hinder it. First is profit making, the main motivation of any private enterprise. Secondly, the machinery to manage a park or any nature conservation area does not begin and end with the Ministry of Forestry.

Many international bodies -- like the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the United Nations Environment Program, the United Nations Development Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Worldwide Fund For Nature -- are also involved from time to time. Not to mention the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and others.

The routine job of park management demands huge funding as well as experience, expertise and staffing, all of which are badly needed in this country. Investment returns, if any, will be slow in coming.

However, there are some suitable non-profit bodies. The Audubon Society is an American, non-governmental organization with its own land to maintain its interest, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature, a world body with decades of experience in supporting developing countries through expertise and funding in the management and maintenance of conservation areas.

However, as non-profit organizations, neither have direct experience in managing national parks. Indonesia has had some experience, not in entrusting park management to any private company, but in making use of certain park zones as tourist destination areas.

When Rubini Atmawidjaya was director general of forest protection and nature conservation in the 1980s he challenged the private sector to make use of the productive zones of parks for tourism. Within the boundaries of Meru Betiri National Park in East Java, the Leuser National Park in Aceh and Bali Barat National Park, there are now simple cottage-style accommodation facilities run by private parties.

In Bali Barat park a travel agent has been given a special permit to bring in tourists for underwater sports like scuba diving and snorkeling while providing accommodations and guides. Tourists can also be taken to Menjangan Island, which is within Bali Barat park.

But overall, the management of our national parks as part of our efforts to conserve nature should remain the duty and responsibility of the government.

The writer the corresponding member of the IUCN's Commission on Education.