FINAL VERSION FOR APPROVAL - Sdn Bhd - WWF Malaysia

Gunung Stong State Park Preliminary Management Plan
maintenance budgets, these facilities will quickly degenerate into a general state of disrepair,
providing negative perceptions to protected area management.
6.6.2 Entry Fees
This is a significant revenue base for protected areas in Malaysia, and includes park entrance
fees, permits for cameras and for fishing. In Sabah and Sarawak, and other countries, such as
Indonesia and Thailand, differentiated fee structures are practised, but not in Peninsular
Malaysia. In this system, foreign visitors are charged more than locals, the reasoning being
that locals pay taxes, some of which are allocated for protected area management. In
Peninsular Malaysia, there is some resistance to the practice of this system, due to perceived
sensitivities from international visitors. In view of the current costs of living, entry fees of
RM1.00-3.00 per person, as imposed by our protected areas are long overdue for review, as
some have not been raised for the last 50 years.
6.6.3 Activity Fees
The application of zoning within the park can give rise to several tiers of fees. Apart from the
entry permit of RM2.00, it is suggested that the visitors who wish to go deeper into GSSP be
charged an additional RM3.00 to enter the limited use areas such as summits and campsites.
The lack of recreational space in the cities will mean that there is more value in visiting
protected areas, and the additional charges is a useful screening tool that limits the numbers
and at the same time, reduces the impact on these limited use areas. Fees could also be
imposed on the use of cameras and professional filming within the park (see Section 6.5.6).
Perhaps additional fees could be imposed once visitors exceed a certain volume of, say,
25,000 per annum.
6.6.4 Privatisation of Services
GSSP management should only focus on planning, operations, and enforcement. Services
and operations of accommodation, restaurants and merchandising should be parceled out to
concessionaires, with certain conditions spelled out so as not to compromise conservation
objectives and quality of their operations. In this respect, perhaps guiding duties and the
operations of the Baha Camp above the waterfall could be privatised to the BAT Guides, as a
recognition of their efforts in pioneering the trails, and promoting ecotourism in the region (in
the absence of any institutional support) for the past 20 years (see also Section 4.1). This is
especially critical during the first five years, when staffing, funding, and operational
constraints may not create ideal management conditions for GSSP.
However, apart from Taman Negara National Park, Mulu National Park, Kinabalu Park, and
Gunung Ledang State Park, visitor numbers to other protected areas are too low to attract
bigger private operators. Initially, GSSP should start small: inexpensive accommodation,
small souvenir stalls that are low-cost, low capital, and that provide additional income
generating opportunities for locals. Large-scale expansion should be justified by the demand,
and not otherwise; in this respect, GSSP management should not fall in the trap of large-scale,
capital intensive infrastructural expansions when demand indicates otherwise. Nevertheless,
expansion should only be limited to the development zone and outside GSSP.
6.6.3 International Development Aid
There are several sources of grants from international aid agencies but the amount available
has been on a decreasing trend. The fact that the country has over-qualified itself out of the
potential recipient list due to improved economic standards, is partly a contributing factor.
Usually, the grants are tied to specific research and development projects conducted in
collaboration with local and foreign agencies and NGOs. Examples of donor agencies are
GEF, DANIDA, JICA and UNDP.
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