SE Asian park body meet to make regional action plan
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)