SE Asian park body meet to make regional action plan

CISARUA, West Java (JP): The Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas for South East Asia (CNPPA-SEA) started a five- day meeting here yesterday aiming at developing a regional action plan for effective management of protected areas.

"There are two types of regional action plans developing. But there is no right answer as to which is the best approach for South East Asia," an executive of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), David Sheppard, told the five-day meeting.

CNPPA is a specialist group under the IUCN.

The first action plan, according to Sheppard, focuses on the key issues concerning protected areas and strategies needed to address the issues. The model is used in the European Action Plan for Protected Areas.

The second is an action plan which emphasizes on specific activities that members will undertake in order to develop effective management of protected areas. This model is used in the Action Plan for Protected Areas in North America.

"Unless there is a broad base of interest, commitment and energy, however, there is no point in developing such an action plan," he said.

Commission chairman Effendy Sumardja said the meeting is also expected to come up with an elaboration of the role of the commission in implementing programs which have been formulated in some previous international conventions.

The regional action currently being drawn up will be developed after the 1992 Caracas Action Plan, he said.

This particular action plan has four key objectives, including to help policy makers in planning protected areas, and to increase investments in protected areas.

Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumatmadja noted in his speech the need for partnership between conservationist and industrial and entrepreneurial groups.

"Economic prosperity comes with potential threats to the sustainable use of biodiversity and the local people dependent on it," Sarwono warned.

He called for a more open relations between industrial groups and conservationists.

He also said that in the last two decades the Southeast Asian countries witnessed a significant growth in the number and acreage of protected areas.

"We can't say with confidence, however, that the increase has been matched by improvement in our capacity to manage. Most protected areas remain understaffed and underfunded," he said.

Another speaker, Soemarsono of the Ministry of Forestry, said that Indonesia now has 33 national parks, 79 natural recreational parks, eight grand forest parks and 12 hunting parks. There are also 177 protected nature reserves and 47 wildlife sanctuaries, 24 zoos, one safari garden, two birds parks, one oceanology site, one butterfly garden and 131 animal breeding farms.

The meeting, attended by 140 participants, is jointly organized by the ministry of forestry, the office of the minister of environment, the World Heritage Center of UNESCO and the IUCN. (alo)