Participatory GIS mapping of Mangroves and Landuse Pattern
Backyard mangrove nursery
Mangrove awareness field trips and education for schools
Attracting Public towards Conservation by Expeditions
On the premise of guaranteeing the ecological protection, sustainably develop the economy to improve the livelihood of local communities and residents
Environmental protection is closely related to human survival and development. It is the basis of economic and social development and stability, and also an important constraining factor. Seeking the balance between conservation and development is never easy. The traditional livelihoods in Wudalianchi area included agriculture, mass tourism and industry production, these all had negative impacts on the environment. The Management Committee made scientific and reasonable planning, and has been making the effort to guide and encourage industry transformation from traditional agriculture to organic agriculture, tourism agriculture, from mass tourism to eco-tourism, industrial park was constructed to mainly process mineral resources, carry out characteristic agricultural and sideline products and livestock products, transform from traditional production to intensive processing, supplemented by green food processing, warehousing and logistics. Local residents, with the help from the government and the Management Committee, transformed from high pollution industries to work in businesses with low impact on environment.
The Management Committee supports businesses/industries that bring benefits to the local while with minimum negative impact on the environment. Government funding has been invested to encourage and support local industries. Provincial agricultural science and technology park was built to expand demonstration area of national ecological aquaculture, so as to closely monitor the individual businesses to ensure green development. In addition, opportunities are provided to local businesses by initiating and hosting national and international events
Good intentions do not always come with the best practices and most preferable results. Despite the clear guiding ideology of putting conservation as the priority while promoting green development of the management committee, there are violations and wrong-doings. The comprehension and interpretation of the rules can be deviated due to different education levels. The park needs to be more pro-active in explaining and publicizing the rules, procedures and the importance of following them, so that violations or wrong-doings can be prevented beforehand. The park also needs to be smarter and creative in delivering the important messages, some misconducts are the results of not understanding.
The Internet allows people to have more choices. Without characteristics and uniqueness, Wudalianchi's products and industries can easily be submerged in a large number of options available nation-wide or even international-wide. The park should strive to explore its unique products and industries in order to stay competitive. This will help to guarantee long-term benefits for Wudalianchi.
Strengthen domestic and international cooperation and exchange, strength science popularization and public awareness, improve scientific research and monitoring capabilities
Wudalianchi Geological Park covers an area of 1,060 square kilometres, in the area it has a town, two farms, a township, a forest farm, three military farms, and some villages, with a total population of 56,730. The good management of the geological park depends not only on the supervision of the government, the implementation of the management committee, the cooperation of the local residents, but also relies on external support. Thus, Wudalianchi Geological Park reached out to various domestic and international research institutes, colleges and universities, and other stakeholders to carry out research projects, cooperation, and promotional activities, the goals are to 1) improve geological park’s research and implementation capacities; 2) learn and exchange management/development/research experiences; 3) leverage external capacity to achieve more for the best protection of the geological park while taking into account the sustainable development of the local communities.
All the outreach and collaboration are fully supported by the Management Committee. The park actively communicates with MAB Biosphere, other geological parks, IUCN Green List, various meetings and activities organized by biosphere network and world geo-park network, gives speeches/presentations. The park also constantly organizes and hosts international conferences, to make itself visible domestically and internationally, and to build partnerships.
Public facilities are also built and open to public.
Even though the park has the willingness and the actions to expand its influence and made it known in the world for its effective management, challenges are:
Funding for outreach and communications is limited to support all the activities the park wants to do. The park makes its best effort to prioritize the activities it plans and carries out the most important ones within its financial capacities, but has to give up some
The park locates in almost the north-most part of China, it needs extra time and effort to develop and build relationship with the outside than parks in more developed cities
The ways to reach out and make connections with external parties are meetings, talks and visits, they are good for getting to know new partners, but motivation for follow-ups are usually weak, thus the communications only stay at the surface. The park needs more in-depth relationship with external partners, to improve its academic level, as well as its capacity to better manage the area
Among the staff the park has, there is not enough talents experienced in media and marketing promotion
Promote relevant legislation and strictly comply with the regulations, formulate planning and management measures and implement them
In order to strengthen the protection of the park, make rational use of natural resources, and ensure the sustainable development of the park, a regulation on the protection of the park was issued and implemented in 2007. Wudalianchi Geological Park became the first geological park implementing protection and supervision with legislative support in China. A master plan was developed for the development of the park for 2007 – 2025, to formulate the development objectives of resource protection, tourism, agriculture and forestry. The park has formulated more than 100 regulatory work systems in 8 aspects, including atmosphere, water, geological remains, forestry, grassland and biology. A comprehensive inspection team of 120 people from departments of environmental protection, homeland, planning, forestry and others was also established. Since 2003, more than 20 cases of resource destruction have been investigated and dealt with, effectively reduced the impact of human activities on the environment of the core area and buffer zone. All these measures are to ensure the protection and development of the park have laws and regulations to follow, the management is rational, and the management is done by capable professionals.
A Management Committee was set up in 2000 to be in charge of planning, conservation, park development, scientific research and tourism, to ensure implementations are in compliance with regulations and rules. Monitoring and assessment are conducted. Revenues are from government financial support, ticket income and national special funds, thus Wudalianchi Management Committee has long maintained an independent status to stay unbiased. All the decisions made are guaranteed fair and are on the premise of priority of ecological protection.
Since Heilongjiang Province was the first one in China made legislation to rule the protection and management of the park, there had been inevitable imperfections in the process of making and implementing the laws and regulations. Although over the years, the Management Committee has made the effort to modify and improve the regulations and the procedures, Wudalianchi locates in a remote area, the closest big city is Harbin, outreach and exchange are not as easy and convenient as those that locate in easy-to-access areas, thus there is improvement, but it could be more. Wudalianchi would like to be more pro-active to establish academic/research collaboration, engage more experts/partners to provide valuable economic, social and protection experiences (or even lessons learned) in achieving the balance between ecological protection and human development. It is always efficient to learn from others and avoid the wrong paths.
In addition, due to the same reasons, it’s not as easy to recruit staff with the capacities the park needs as in other more developed areas.
Vulture house: venue for discovery, vision (camera placed near the nest) and education for young people. The creation of an interpretive trail and discovery around the griffon vulture has been staged around the lives of these birds and interpretive panels to attract the attention of the general public, especially children . Ornithological tours (free or guided). Tourist services such as accommodation and support draw profits from these trips. The tour professionals, who are trained by officers of the National Park, can enhance a hike with the theme of birds of prey and take advantage of the regional and touristic Pyrenees National Park brand. This recognition can lead to increased activity.
Balancing preservation and enhancement of the natural heritage Promotion of knowledge around raptors. National Park and partners can educate, inform, and pass on their knowledge to economic actors and local decision makers so that they can develop tourism products. (implementation of training / awareness, exchange days for professional accompaniment and tourists). Development of tools and media popularization around raptor knowledge Technical and financial support to local businesses for the definition of a project and the content of interpretation.
The development of tourism tools around the theme of raptors is part of the economy in rural and mountain areas. The resources dedicated to the awareness or the dissemination of knowledge are essential. Before raising awareness it is important to gain knowledge. Knowledge is provided by staff of the National Park and its partners and then transferred to the tourism actors to take ownership of the topic. But it is also necessary to manage the interactions between raptors and certain tourist activities (disturbance in the nesting activities such as hiking, climbing, aerial activities, ...). Human resources made available by the National Park are important in the development of this activity. They are necessary in terms of knowledge, training, and technical support. The establishment of tools such as cameras or GPS are expensive, thus financial resources are important.
Once protected areas and Business Mentors are matched, they are brought together on a 10-day Residential Training Programme, set within an inspiring and relevant protected area setting. This aims to: build relationships between Business Mentors and protected area managers that allow for effective ongoing mentoring and collaboration; develop business and leadership skills that enable protected area managers to perform better in their roles and manage the protected area more effectively; build a clear action plan for enhancing management effectiveness; provide an opportunity for networking between African protected areas; and build a shared understanding of the importance of effective protected areas, and the possible impact of business decisions. Following the residential training, protected areas and their mentors work together in a mentor-mentee relationship for at least 12 months. Mentoring from this point is usually conducted remotely, although mentors sometimes visit their site to support the roll-out of business planning activities.
Business Mentors deliver the training, which is guided by an 11-step business planning process and a Business Planning Toolkit (developed by Shell Foundation and UNESCO). In parallel, Earthwatch learning professionals provide training and coaching in leadership and management skills to both protected area managers and Business Mentors. The Residential Training Programme builds strong relationships that continue into the remote mentoring period. Committment to the implementation of action plans through ongoing colloaboration and partnership.
Developing the less tangible ‘soft skills’ of protected area staff (e.g. leadership and communication skills) is just as crucial to success as the business planning content. The ESN Residential Training Programme includes activities and discussions that develop protected area manager confidence, capability, competence and skills that influence their ability to put the learnings into practice.
ESN training and mentoring is delivered to protected areas by Business Mentors recruited from ESN business partners. Business Mentors have a range of business planning experience and expertise; for example, working in finance, marketing, operational management and human resources. They must also demonstrate the requisite personal and professional leadership attributes to perform as successful mentors and trainers.
Business Mentors will first attend a Mentor Development Course which will train them to apply their existing skills and knowledge to a protected area context. Trained mentors and protected area managers are then brought together on a Residential Training Programme, set in an inspirational natural setting where they will have the opportunity to share their experience and build the mentoring relationship.
ESN Business Mentors have the leadership attributes and well-rounded business experiences required to become good mentors. Business Mentors undergo an immersive and intense week-long training programme, which helps them to develop their skills and understand the protected area context.
The protected area application process is conducted prior to the mentor application process. This allows mentors to be identified that match the specific business needs of the protected area. Mentors are selected through a competitive application process to ensure that the enabling factors are in place.
