Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

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B I O L O G I C A L D I V E R S I T Y , P A R K S & P R O T E C T E D A R E A S
Although the overall objectives of taking a wider
approach are apparently sound, it may be useful to
establish subgroups to work on different themes,
inside and outside the proposed national park.
Examples include technical methods for environmental
remediation of damaged areas, economic development
promotion outside the park, tools for tourism
management, and infrastructure improvement.
Ultimately these should be integrated into a regional
management plan, and, where appropriate, into the
park management plan proper.
The technical support team, to the greatest extent
possible, should be chosen from local professionals,
and internships and training opportunities should be
provided wherever possible. Capacity development
within the community and in district-level institutions
should be a principal objective throughout the planning
and development exercise.
The planning process should be based in the villages
with the majority of the Round Table membership
from the region. Government members, and
staff, national experts, and advisors should be
expected to travel into the area to do the work.
Resources to facilitate participation and involvement
by local representatives may need to be provided.
Travel costs, living expenses, and honoraria should
be provided if at all possible. The value of the participation
should be acknowledged in tangible terms.
Existing councils and village structures and organizations
can be worked through and strengthened.
For technical planning subjects, this may require
training programmes, with a consequent cost in terms
of time and money. But again, dividends are
received in the long-term.
The private sector needs to be involved to the
greatest extent possible, including local, national,
and international ecotourism and adventure travel
companies. Great innovation in economic development
opportunities can be derived from this group.
The final step involves marketing. Oral presentations,
radio, and other media can let the world community
know what is going on. Once there is a consensus
on the basic tenets of the regional management and
park management objectives, the travel industry and
international organizations and NGOs need to understand
the strategy and become supportive.
164 SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY
These suggestions would help to transform the conventional
management planning process into a participatory
community-based initiative. The list of ideas is
not an exhaustive one, and there may be additions or
deletions resulting from the Round Table discussions.
1 3 . 3 . 5
Community Co-management of
B i o d i v e r s i t y, Parks & Protected Are a s
All this work must build on the successful, if varied,
community participation approaches that have been
used in the recent past. In 1978, the Government of
Pakistan imposed park status on the Khunjerab
region along the Chinese border. Ostensibly in an
effort to protect the Marco Polo sheep, an attempt
was made to end grazing of livestock by villagers in
Khunjerab and Shimshal Valleys by decree. Sixteen
years later, not surprisingly, a draft management
plan has been produced that is barely acceptable to
the Khunjurabis, while Shimshalis refuse to be
involved. The Government of Pakistan has no desire
to repeat this experience, and has adopted a participatory
model for its recent initiative for a Central
Karakorum National Park. This should continue in
the NWFP.
It is also important to remember that parks and
protected areas are important for reasons other
than biodiversity conservation initiatives. These systems
can be designed not only to protect biodiversity,
but also to complement and support local communities’
needs and aspirations. Indeed, legal
mechanisms for community co-management of protected
areas are increasingly common, so co-management
of parks and protected areas should be a
guiding principle and implemented wherever possible
in the NWFP.
Co-management approaches are being experimented
with in virtually every country that has a system
of protected areas, in both the industrial and the
developing world. Some of the most successful are in
Nepal—the Annapurna Sanctuary approach is being
replicated both domestically and in many other countries.
A study tour to these and other areas should be
an integral part of an institution-strengthening project
for biodiversity, parks and protected areas.