Real action on parks needed

Real action on parks needed

By Winarta Adisubrata

JAKARTA (JP): For more than a decade Indonesia has had a
National Conservation Plan and a National Conservation Strategy
and many management proposals pertaining to the further
maintenance of dozens of national parks. But what the country
needs now, more than anything, is the implementation of a program
to develop and professionally manage a system of national parks.
This should be in addition to the other categories of reserves,
such as Cagar Alam (strict Nature Reserves) and Suaka Margasatwa
(Game Reserves).

Based on more than a decade of lay observations, the lack of
real action over national parks is due to a scarcity of skilled,
professional manpower and sophisticated equipment, and
insufficient understanding on the part of planners, and a lack of
funding.

Gunung Leuser (in Aceh and North Sumatra), Ujung Kulon and
Gunung Gede-Pangrango (both in West Java), Baluran (East Jawa)
and Komodo in East Nusa Tenggara were the first five national
parks in Indonesia, declared in March 1980. Since then, many
conservation areas have been officiated as national parks in
almost every province.

Being managed for the enjoyment and benefit of the nation,
national parks are also intended to protect and preserve the
natural heritage of the nation.

According to "The National Conservation Plan For Indonesia"
(Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Bogor,
June, 1981, Field Report of UNDP/FAO National Park Development
Project INS/78/061) Indonesian national parks should conform to
the international criteria outlined for national parks by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN).

As stipulated by the IUCN, a national park is "a relatively
large area": (1) where one or several ecosystems are not
materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where
plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are
of scientific, educative and recreational interest or which
contains a natural landscape of great beauty; (2) where the
highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to
prevent or eliminate exploitation or occupation in the whole area
and to enforce effectively the conservation of ecological,
geomorphological or aesthetic features which have led to its
establishment and (3) where visitors are allowed to enter, under
special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural and
recreational purposes.

Indonesia is richly endowed with extensive wild areas, so it
is possible to enforce further criteria to ensure that only the
best areas are selected as national parks, and to ensure that
these will be of benefit to the local people.

According to Dr. John MacKinnon (1981), in Indonesia it is
possible to raise the size criteria for national parks to 100,000
hectares for national parks on the large islands, namely Sumatra,
Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Irian Jaya, and to 10,000 hectares for
the smaller islands, namely Maluku, Nusa Tenggara and Java.

To ensure that national parks serve a conservation function,
only areas rated as the highest priority in the National
Conservation Plan should be considered.

To achieve the desired levels of recreational and educational
use, national parks should all be reasonably accessible from
major population centers or tourist routes.

In the case of Indonesia, national parks must be clearly seen
to be in the regional interest so that their establishment will
constitute a benefit, rather than an added hardship to the rural
people living around them. Such benefits can include:
(1) preservation of a high quality living environment.
(2) Protection of water sources.
(3) Establishment, where necessary, of buffer zones.
(4) Job opportunities for working in the park or created by the
local tourism industry.
(5) Special developments around parks, e.g., schools, roads and
irrigation improvements.
(6) In rare cases where it is necessary to relocate people
further away from parks, they must be given compensatory land
holdings of at least the same value as their original land.

In 1981 MacKinnon judged the standards of management in
existing reserves as poor. Regretfully I have to say (based on my
personal observations in the Gunung Leuser National Park, as well
as in Pulau Seribu National Park) the present situation has not
improved much compared to that of 15 years ago.

Probably thanks to the strong commitment of the local people
and the near proximity of the tourist concentration in Bali, the
Bali Barat National Park enjoys better management than the others
I have observed.

To say the least, only minimum controls have been imposed on
agricultural expansion inside reserves. The list of violations is
still very long: timber and rattan stealing, poaching, grazing of
domestic animals and harvesting of fodder are the general rule
more often than the exception. Standards of upkeep of trails,
roads, buildings, files and equipment are poor.

In many cases, this lack of protection is due to the
inadequate budget allowed for the provision of necessary staff
and quarters and a lack of clear management planning.

One of the existing obstacles which can be overcome in the
near future is the fact that many management plans have been
written in English with expatriate assistance, so that few local
people ever read or understand them clearly.

Most management plans are too long with too detailed
information about the reserves, so that the overall strategy for
managing the park is obscured.

Another disappointing thing is the fact that management plans
have not been discussed much with the local administrations or
approved by Bappeda (Regional Development Planning Board) and
Bappenas (the National Development Planning Board) to guarantee
the proper support and financing needed for implementation.

Most Indonesian reserves are examples of ecosystems where the
emphasis is on protecting the whole ecosystem and its flora and
fauna.

Most plants and animals in Indonesia are best conserved in
this way but in certain cases the existing reserve system is
inadequate. In protecting (1) migrating species, (2) animals
whose ranges are so large they extend outside reserves, (3)
animals and plants so rare that adequate large populations cannot
be included in reserves, (4) species whose survival is threatened
by the arrival of competitive exotic species and (5) species
whose uncontrolled collection and exploitation is threatening
their survival. In these cases species-specific conservation
action may be required.

Three types of species conservation are envisaged:
A> In situ species conservation, where projects are designed to

improve protection of particular species in the wild or manage

reserves for the benefit of those species.
B> Ex situ species conservation, where species can be

propagated or bred in captivity for reintroduction to the

wild.
C> Translation or rescue operation, where species are moved

from one area to another.

Research is vital for conservation success, first to know what
to save and secondly to help design a strategy for saving it.
The overall aim of conservation is to preserve as much as
possible of the planet's genetic diversity for the enjoyment and
benefit of mankind. We clearly must know what that diversity is.
We need basic data both qualitative (species lists covering
distribution and richness) and quantitative (densities and
turnover) so that we can select areas for reserves.

To conclude my observations, its is worth noting that the
Island of Java now has less than 10 percent of its area covered
by forest and more than 75 percent of the country's 190 million
population inhabit only 5 percent of the whole land area of the
country.

We do not need a futurologist to tell us that the population
capacity of Java is under more pressure compared to other
islands. And the rapid growth of industrial, urban and
agricultural areas across the island increases the burden the on
the island. And if has not yet passed the limit, we will soon
have to accept that suddenly Java will become an overcrowded and
hectic city-island, not that different from the island-city of
Singapore.

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