Collaborative management is becoming a common method for natural resources management. However, in protected areas management, there are many issues to be resolved since the top-down approach led by the national government is still dominant, and it causes problematic issues for the coordination of development and protection. In recent years, efforts to introduce collaborative management and operation into the management of national parks have been made in various areas in Japan. In this working group, methods to solve various issues will be discussed by analyzing specific examples for collaborative management in terrestrial and marine protected areas in Asia.
There are various forms of collaborative management depending on the country and region. In this sub-theme, we would like to systematize these issues through a thorough examination of specific examples such as the organization and systems for management, the scope of stakeholder participation in management, the methods adopted for decision-making and consensus formation in the organization, and the methods adopted for securing the human/financial resources for collaboration, etc.
In collaborative management, local residents are the major actors, but the role that domestic/overseas NGOs can play as coordinators and the role of researchers as advisors are important. Based on case examples, the involvement of such third parties in collaborative management will be discussed. The roles of businesses, persons who undertake agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and the national and local governments are also essential for collaborative management. Examples of efforts undertaken by each actor will be therefore discussed as well.
The Aichi Biodiversity Targets advocates in its target 11 expansion of equitably managed systems of protected areas. As there is a hierarchy in communities, especially in communities in Asian countries, the involvement of the socially vulnerable and issues of equity need to be considered in order to ensure that the collaborative management is genuine. In this theme, the means of ensuring collaborative management will be discussed by focusing on the positioning and involvement of minority groups and the socially vulnerable.
As for an incentive to promote collaborative management, the realization of natural resources management and regional development needs to be considered, in which the desires of local residents through collaborative management are taken into account. The potential for collaborative management will be presented by comparing and examining successful cases in Asian countries. The way of environment impact assessment and land use plans will also be discussed for considering what kind of development are permissible in protected areas.
It is important to take proactive approaches based on scientific knowledge for restoring natural environments that have already been lost or deteriorated through developments. In the meanwhile, it is a very important issue in local communities to consider how to settle conflicts with wildlife.
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