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.