Designing and Managing World Heritage sites containing multiple protected areas experience todate

1
Designing and Managing World Heritage sites
containing multiple protected areas experience
to-date
N. Ishwaran Chief, Natural Heritage
Section UNESCO World Heritage Centre Kuching,
Sarawak, 21-23 October 2003
List
2
Challenges to merging in-country multi-sites with
WH identity
Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong Scenic Areas in China
loss of seperate tourism identity
3
Merger Difficulties in Sichuan Province China

• Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong WH in 1992
• The Committee suggested merger at a future time
  towards a Mt. Minshan World Heritage area
• In 2002 both are major tourism destinations
  Jiuzhaigou gt US 3m Huanglong gt US 1m
• No wish to loose identity biodiversity values?

World Heritage Convention
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Multi-sites WH areas

• Contiguous or not?
• Cluster or serial?
• Same Governance/Administrative regimes or
  different ones?
• Nature of use of land and resources and tenure
  structures in between PA units
• Opportunities for strengthening protection and
  biodiversity conservation options

5
Cluster (Serial) Natural/Mixed WH

• Multi-site WH areas
• not new transborder nominations of contiguous
  PAs happened from the early days of the
  Convention e.g. Mt. Nimba US/Canada site etc.
  (early 1980s)
• in country multiple sites Australia (Tasmanian
  Wilderness) happened quite early (1982) again
  contiguous PAs
• non-contiguous sites PAs as WH e.g. Ujung
  Kulon NP and Krakatau until now no real
  co-ordination relationship between UKNP and
  Krakatau
• About 50 of 172 natural and mixed sites are
  multiple PA sites (gt 500 PAs)

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Multi-sites Natural/Mixed WH

• Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, Brazil, 25
  PAs (1.69 million ha) - not contiguous - 1999
• Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, S. Africa, 13 PAs
  (239,566 ha) contiguous - 1999
• Tasmanian Wilderness, Australia, 22 PAs (1.38
  million ha) contiguous - 1982
• 3 Parallel Rivers of Yunnan, China, 15 PAs
  (939,441 ha) not contiguous - 2003

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Multi-sites WH area post- Berastagi

• A design (conscious!) factor aimed at increasing
  habitat connectivity
• Co-operation between units and improve
  conservation ecological networking and
  corridors?
• Credibility of the Listing keep numbers of
  sites down multi-sites in nominations increase
  the net area benefiting from international law
  worldwide

8
Multi-sites WH need for joint working
arrangements

• Two or more sites under a unified WH label
  opportunity for co-operation, networking etc
• Wet Tropics and Tasmanian Wilderness of Australia
  overall management plan and common management
  structures established and became effective
  after inscription on the List
• Intention/initiatives to create arrangements for
  joint management and work operations must be
  there at the time of inscription

9
Benefits of Multi-sites WH Area - Wet Tropics of
Queensland -

• Higher order National Park protection within WH
  area gt from 14 in 1988, to 32 in 2002.
• Conversion of 259,382 ha State Forest (of a
  total WH area of 894,420) into Forest Reserve in
  November 2002.
• Reduction of lease tenures from 143,140 ha in
  1992 to 90,146 ha in 2002.
• From a timber to ecotourism economy

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Atlantic Forest SE Reserves - Brazil

• A cluster of nearly 30 Pas of various tenures
  and sizes largest is 119,000 ha and smallest is
  93 ha
• 1,691,750 ha of which 468193 ha is core and
  1,223,557 is buffer
• A karstic relief protected under a special
  Federal decree - the Serra do Mar Mountain Chain,
  parallel to Brazils Atlantic coast.

World Heritage Convention
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Atlantic Forest SE Reserves - Brazil

• Management plans implemented in all PAs
• Threats include deforestation slash and burn
  mining for calcareous materials, gold and lead
• World Heritage identity no overall plans not
  very evident to staff and local communities
• World Heritage Biodiversity Programme for Brazil
  begins 2003 will contribute to building a
  common programme for this and other sites.

World Heritage Convention
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Pantanal Conservation Complex - Brazil

• A cluster of 4 PAs adding up to 187,818 ha a
  representative sample of Brazilian (only)
  Pantanal
• Reserve ownership I large NP (135,000 ha) and
  3 private reserves belonging to a Foundation
• NP has an Emergency Plan and a Mgmt Plan is
  being developed
• World Heritage Biodiversity Programme for Brazil
  will promote shared management/identity.

World Heritage Convention
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Cluster (Serial) Natural/Mixed WH areas

• The experience to-date
• Most sites have functional links and present an
  ecosystem justification for the approach
• Many sites do not have a joint management plan/
  structure at the time of nomination
• Development of joint management plan and common
  identity often focuses on World Heritage values
• IUCN Evaluation - cluster (serial) nominations
  can be deferred due to integrity questions

14
Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park and World Heritage
Area
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Cluster (Serial) Natural/Mixed WH areas St
Lucia Wetlands of South Africa

• Developing and Implementing and IMP
• Develop objectives, outputs and success
  indicators on World Heritage values for the whole
  area
• Allow scientific research to identify and
  discover new features that may have outstanding
  universal value in all parts of the area
• Restore lost or threatened values removal of
  plantations re-introduction of selected species
• Emphasize presentation of values to the public
  and visitors
• Build-in regular Effectiveness Evaluation over
  defined time periods

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Conclusions and future directions

• thematic and functional linkages - obvious to
  only to a few in the early stages
• Management must be encouraged to look at values
  of shared identity and working together
• Nature and content of joint planning and
  management - need to be worked out
• Building a shared WH identity long term
  tourism and public relations targets help more
  than others

World Heritage Convention