Nature tourism in Indonesia and Kenya
References
European Common Harlot wants to balance economic and ecological objectives
Wood and wood products, after oil, represent the second largest commercial deficit for members of the European Economic Community. Recently the 50-member European Environmental Bureau (EEB) held a workshop in Utrecht, the Netherlands, to discuss the theme, "A Forestry Policy for the European Community." In a recent communiqué from the EEB to the new members of the 198184 Commission of the European Communities, the EEB called for a new approach to solving Europe's economic problems that will balance economic and ecological objectives. Various sectors, from agriculture and energy to pollution control and fishing, are addressed. A copy of the communiqué is available free from: European Environmental Bureau, rue Vautier 31, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium.
Threatened European alluvial forests
The International Colloquy of Phylosociology, held in Strasbourg under the auspices of the Council of Europe, compiled a full inventory of European alluvial forests and made practical proposals for their conservation. The colloquy, which was organized by the International Society for Vegetation Science, was attended by about a hundred experts from Council of Europe member states together with Hungary and Australia.
In addition to their interest from the point of view of the structure of the ecosystem and its operation, riverside woodlands ensure the stability of river banks. Moreover, they are very productive, yielding high-quality produce, particularly tall and very broad trees. Their aesthetic value is indisputable. In spite of their importance, alluvial forests are seriously threatened by total destruction owing largely to canalization of rivers and watercourses, construction of dams, extension of gravel and sand pits and lowering of the water table. The colloquy's main demands were for:
· The shelving of projects for the construction of large river dams.
· The management of alluvial forests to maintain their natural composition.
· The transformation of the most representative alluvial areas into nature resources.
Oman's Sultan supports conservation
In a nation-wide radio and television address marking World Environment Day, Sultan Qaboos of Oman expressed his "personal concern and deep interest in conservation of the environment." He stressed that "all development should be directed toward the rational use of the world's resources to obtain the best possible quality of living for the majority of mankind. Conservation goes hand in hand with development to achieve this goal."
Sultan Qaboos is the chairman of Oman's Council for Conservation of the Environment and Prevention of Pollution, created in December 1979 to prepare a national conservation strategy and to consider proposals for land-use, resource exploitation and industrial development affecting the environment.
Recognizing that small countries especially are interdependent when it comes to conservation, the Sultan told the nation that Oman "did not hesitate to join with the other states of the Gulf region in the Kuwait Action Plan which takes, as its central objective, the protection and development of the marine environment and prevention of marine pollution."
Brazil creates new preserves
The Brazilian Government acted in July 1980 to preserve more than one million hectares of important ecosystems in the northern part of the country near the French Guianan border. One decree set up the 620000-hectare Cabo Orange National Park, which includes marine areas, mangrove swamps and savanna. Another created the 500 000 hectare Lago Piratuba Biological Preserve.
AID and the environment
The United States Agency for International Development (AID) has changed direction dramatically. Peter Freeman, a project designer for the agency's new $2.3 million, four-year programme entitled "Environment and natural resources expanded information base," said "AID realized that its projects were not really taking into account the degraded state of third world environments."
Previously AID had spent money almost exclusively on conventional development projects. After being sued by US environmental groups over this policy, the agency settled out of court in 1977, agreeing to include an environmental assessment of all of its projects. The new programme marks an attempt to ensure in advance that AID programmes are geared toward wise resource management and conservation.
In order to educate its own overseas personnel as well as to enable host governments for development projects to carry out long-term natural resource management and conservation programmes, AID has turned to the US National Park Service for assistance. Over the next four years the Park Service will produce a series of review papers, case studies and project design aids.
The new environmental thrust, however, is already in evidence. AID spent nearly $300 million during the last fiscal year on environmental activities, ranging from a $40000 grant to Tanzania for training park and game wardens to a multi-million-dollar watershed planning project in Panama.
Wildlife depletion in Liberia
A report by Philip Steele, conservation education officer in the Gambia, says that wildlife resources in Liberia have been so reduced that they may soon be exhausted completely unless action is taken.
The causes are various. Liberia lacks wildlife parks and reserves, and there is no protective wildlife legislation. Bushmeat is important to the people' but in many areas, particularly near the coast, it has all been shot out. Timber and mining concessions are everywhere. Shifting agriculture of the slash-and-burn variety often produces one rice crop, one sugar crop and then a fast-growing dense shrub as the land is abandoned. Hunting is very common.
However there is some reason for hope. Liberia's Wildlife Division has proposed five national parks whose forests, if properly managed, could provide a steady, substantial flow of meat. To provide bushmeat, Steele suggests domestication and breeding of such species as black duiker and cane rat.
Included among Liberia's threatened wildlife are several rare species, among them the forest elephant, forest buffalo, pygmy hippo, Jentik's duiker and the royal antelope.
Changjiang flooding points to urgent need for reforestation
At least 750 people were killed and another 1.5 million made homeless this summer as a result of flooding on the upper reaches of the Changjiang River in China, according to local authorities. These authorities, supported by Chinese scientists, put the blame for the flooding on indiscriminate tree-felling, according to a report by Reuters. In Sichuan Province' where the bulk of the flooding occurred, the forest cover has been reduced to 19 percent of that existing in 1949 according to scientists.
Unusually heavy summer storms brought masses of water, soil and undergrowth, all of which were normally slowed or stopped by forest cover, crashing down hillsides and onto people's homes. An additional long-term threat was foreseen downstream in the prosperous, fertile and heavily populated Changjiang Valley, which could find its topsoil gradually being washed away by deforestation caused flooding.
The only solution, according to Sichuan First Communist Party Secretary Tain Qilong, was an urgent programme of reforestation. "Otherwise," he said, "we will be making a big mistake and will bring catastrophe on to the heads of our grandchildren."
New Indian environmental department
The Government of India created a new Department of the Environment (DOE) in November 1980, thereby fulfilling a pledge made by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi following her reelection in January 1980. An important role for DOE will be coordination of development policy among the various national and state government agencies affecting India's industrial, agricultural, natural resources and energy policies.
DOE, which will be headed by N.D. Jayal of the Department of Science and Technology, grew out of a committee on environmental planning within Mr Jayal's department which was created shortly after the Stockholm Conference. The new environmental department will oversee the designation of key wildlife and biosphere reserves in conjunction with Unesco's Man and the Biosphere project. Among the department's functions will be the training of environmental managers and lawyers.
Costa Rica is a leader in national parks
Costa Rica, despite its size (only 51 100 km2), has managed to create 28 protected areas, in addition to its forest reserves, which make up nearly 5 percent of the national territory. Added to the fact that this has been accomplished within the comparatively short period of one decade, the tiny Central American country has managed this "crash" programme with almost no outside assistance.
Five of the country's most spectacular parks are located in the volcanic mountain range that divides the country from the northwest to the southeast. The lowland parks are divided into dry and wet zones. Three of these areas encompass some of the finest beaches in Central America. The "wet" or "rain" parks include areas where the rainfall may reach 6 000 mm per year and include some of the finest intact examples of the world's tropical rain forests.
All the national parks and wildlife refuges grew so fast that Costa Rica is just getting down to really developing management and development plans. To date three master plans have been completed and there are three more in the works.
In collaboration with Panama, Costa Rica is committed to the creation of the region's first bi-national park, to be known as "La Amistad" (Friendship). The Costa Rica portion will probably be the largest national park in Central America. When the "La Amistad" Park is decreed shortly, Costa Rica will have nearly one tenth of its national territory dedicated to national parks and wildlife refuges.
IUNC Bulletin
Red Data Book monitoring unit established at Cambridge
A species conservation monitoring unit of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has been set up at Cambridge University. Its role is to act as a base for compiling data on mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fresh water fish and invertebrates for the "Red Data Books." The data will also be available for national or regional programmes for conservation of threatened species, for organizations financing conservation projects and for activities in connection with conventions such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Dealing with Mexico City's air pollution
To help reduce Mexico City's high index of atmospheric contamination, Pemex, the Mexican petroleum company, will mix methanol with gasoline for private cars and inject LP gas into fuel for fleet vehicles such as taxis' according to Manuel López Portillo, Under-secretary for Environmental Improvement of the Department of Health and Welfare. The official added that diesel-powered trucks and buses will also be assigned fuel with a lower sulphur content, thus reducing noxious emissions. Methanol and LP gas in gasoline have been proved to cut down on smog-contributing exhaust fumes.
The otter
A study by Norway shows that the future of the otter remains a subject of extreme concern. The reduction in the numbers of this species in Norway is attributed to hunting, drowning in traps, regulation of marshes, competition from minks and, finally, environmental disturbance due to excessive tourism.
Prize-winning wildlife films available
This year's annual International Wildlife Film Festival, sponsored by the University of Montana's Wildlife Biology Program, was held 10-12 April 1981 in Missoula, Montana, United
States. Films were submitted by national and local agencies, private organizations, universities and individuals. Awards are based on artistic quality, art form, intellectual and scientific treatments, content, message and the highest overall quality.
Films may be rented or purchased directly from distributors or producers and the Festival Committee makes available a list of films from this and past years, including names and addresses of producers and distributors.
Write to: Wildlife Film Festival, Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA, telephone: (406) 2345272.
IN KENYA'S AMBOSELI GAME RESERVE how to attract tourists
"Indonesia has more species of plants and animals than any other country in the world." So it was asserted by an Indonesian TV film made to promote nature conservation in that country. At the same time, the island of Java is one of the most densely populated regions of the earth and the demands of the urban population for space and recreation could threaten the fragile ecosystems that surround them.
Contrary to the popular conception of tourism in developing countries as being the prerogative of foreigners, native Indonesians show a keen interest in the natural amenities of their own country. At present there are 36 locations of natural recreation covering a total of 134 619 hectares in Indonesia. In 1980, of the 301000 tourists who visited the Kuningan Regency, 296 725 were domestic tourists and only 4 275 were foreign. The beautiful nature reserves of western lava provide the perfect escape for dwellers in the densely populated urban areas.
The environment is a valuable resource with its own role to play in the economy. The magazine Conservation Indonesia quotes the headman of a village in Bada as saying: "Last year we collected rattan to pay our taxes. It took two weeks of hard work and we can't collect there again for another eight years. But this year we raised the same amount of money from a party of tourists who stayed one night in the village and hired our horses for four days. We still have our horses and there will be another party next month."
The claims of recreation ant conservation have to be balanced carefully, which calls for astute management. Cibodas is the oldest and most visited nature reserve in Indonesia. Unfortunately, being easily accessible from Djakarta it reveals the damaging impact of uncontrolled visitors on a fragile mountain area. In 1978, there were 30 000 visitors to the reserve, which covers only 1040 hectares, and they left a trail of erosion, litter and destruction of plants. What aggravates the situation is that the influx of tourists is not uniform throughout the year or evenly spread within the reserve but tends to be concentrated in certain popular areas of the reserve and at peak periods such as weekends and holidays.
In contrast to Indonesia where tourism is mainly domestic, Kenya is a country without a large urban population but whose economy is heavily reliant on foreign tourism. In fact, tourism in Kenya has for many years featured among the top three foreign exchange earners, along with tea and coffee, and brings in some $200 million a year. As a result, the country is all the more aware of the dangers of over-exploiting this resource. The trouble is that where environments are fragile, such as in arid and semi-arid areas, the more tourism succeeds, the more it may destroy the very basis of its own existence, an attractive landscape.
In the Amboseli National Park this problem has become particularly acute. A study undertaken last year by W.R. Henry, an American environmentalist, into the effects of tourism on the wildlife population noted that there are a number of management options open in determining visitors' use of a park. He found that tourists tend to show most interest in lions and cheetahs, causing a disproportionate degree of disturbance to these animals and largely ignoring other species. Furthermore, certain easily accessible areas are heavily visited, with a corresponding impact on the wildlife unless the decision is taken to open new areas of the park by building roads and encouraging visitors to disperse. In short, a balance has to be made between providing an amenity for visitors and avoiding damage through over-intensive use. 'A park", Henry concludes, "does not have a single capacity (the absorption of tourists), but rather a whole range of them, each leading to a different set of consequences."
The Kenya Government has a pragmatic approach to the subject' aiming to preserve national parks in a "reasonably" natural state.
The damaging effects of intensive tourism can be mitigated by good management. Clearly marked boundaries and control of entry into nature reserves are essential. Then a system of zoning needs to be established to protect particularly fragile or rare ecosystems while allowing visitors access to other wilderness areas. Further more, the establishment of a buffer zone helps to protect the fringes of the nature reserve from encroachment and ensures an alternative supply of forest products to local inhabitants who otherwise relied on the reserve. Locals should be taught to appreciate the economic value of a nature reserve and prompt compensation for damage caused by animals is an important element in this.
Ultimately it is education which will ensure the preservation of nature reserves. Educated visitors with a true appreciation of nature will not damage the reserves they visit but will help provide the political will to maintain and pay for them.
Conservation Indonesia, Newsletter of the World Wildlife Fund, Indonesia Programme, 3(6), December 1979.
CRITTENDON, ANN. 1975. Tourism s terrible toll. International Wildlife, 5(2): 4-12.
HENRY, W.R. 1980. Relationship between visitor use and tourist capacity for Kenya's Amboseli Park. Ph. D. dissertation. Colorado State University.
P. WILLAN
Rome
