Managers and senior staff of Asean region’s best nature parks gathered in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, recently to share good practices in effective parks management.
Through a Regional Learning Workshop on the Effective Management of Protected Areas organised by the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), the 11 managers and senior staff involved in the management of Asean Heritage Parks and protected areas learned the elements and principles of ecotourism, as well as policies and standards of ecotourism as practiced in selected AHPs.
They shared experiences and lessons learned on recreation, tourism, and ecotourism.
Funded by the government of Japan through the Japan-Asean Integrated Fund and conducted in cooperation with Sabah Parks and the Biodiversity and Forestry Management Division of the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS) of Malaysia, the workshop equipped the participants with awareness and understanding on networking strategies for effective implementation of database management and strategies to promote their parks.
It also familiarized the participants with the Asean approach in parks management and on how multiple stakeholders manage protected areas through participatory processes.
Highlighting the opening ceremonies were welcome messages by Dr. Jamili Nais, director of Sabah Parks; Undersecretary Dato Wan Mazlan bin Wan Mahmood, Biodiversity and Forestry Management Division of KATS; and ACB Executive Director Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim.
Resource speakers included Dr. Filiberto Pollisco Jr. and Rolando Inciong, ACB Programme Specialist and Public Relations Consultant, respectively; Dr. Nasrul Bin Menhat, head of Protected Areas Unit, Biodiversity and Forestry Management Division, KATS; Dr. Maklarin Lakim, deputy director, Sabah Parks; Yassi Miki, park manager, Kinabalu National Park; Sithisack Paninhuan, deputy director, Nam Ha National Protected Area; Dr. Rogelio Andrada II, head, Botanic Gardens, Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystem; Alain Quesea, chief, Tourism Division, Department of Tourism, Philippines and Dr. Ratchada Pongsattayapipat, director, Sanga Sabhasri Research and Development Center, Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden.
The participants crafted their respective countries’ communication, education and public awareness strategies in promoting and advocating biodiversity conservation through their nature parks, focusing on engaging different sectors of government and society and emphasizing that conservation is a shared responsibility.
Participants visited the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park and the Kinabalu National Park. Both nature parks are known for good practices in implementing sustainability mechanisms, ecosystem-based approach, multistakeholder cooperation and biodiversity information management.
Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park
The Tunku Abdul Rahman Park is a state park in Gaya Bay, 3 kilometers offshore from Kota Kinabalu. Named after Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, it was gazetted in 1974 as Sabah’s second national park.
The park, which covers an area of 50 square kilometers, comprising five islands, their surrounding reefs and sea, has good programs to protect fauna, flora and marine ecosystems.
Geologically, the islands are part of the Crocker Range but became isolated from the massif when sea levels rose after the last ice age. There is also a jungle trail located at Base Camp in Pulau Gaya. The trail that stretches around half a kilometer is enough to generally educate visitors on various aspects of the marsh jungle.
The names of the islands are symbolic of their history and early discoverers. The islands are Pulau Gaya (big), Manukan (fish), Mamutik (shell collection), Sapi (the sound of a mowing buffalo) and Sulug (commemorating the ancestry of the Sulu peoples of Sabah).
Initially, the park covered two islands—Gaya and Sapi. In 1979, the park’s boundaries expanded to include three other islands: Manukan, Sulug and Mamutik.
The administrative center of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park is in Manukan Island, although each of the five islands has its own administrative offices.
Kinabalu National Park
The Kinabalu National Park, with a total area of 75,370 hectares, is an outstanding example of a diverse landscape that appeals to adventurous travelers, tourists and researchers alike.
Its headquarters and several substations along its boundaries offer easy access to the challenging Mount Kinabalu Summit Route, various botanical gardens, nature trails and waterfalls. Researchers venture further into its deep rainforest to discover even more of the park’s rich biodiversity and ecosystems.
Mount Kinabalu is one of the youngest volcanic mountains in the world and was formed within the last 10 million years to 35 million years. Standing at 4,095 meters, it is the focal point of the park and one of the most accessible mountains in the world.
The different vegetation zones at Kinabalu National Park range from lowland dipterocarp forest to lower montane oak-chestnut forest, upper montane or cloud forest and subalpine meadow near the summit plateau of Mount Kinabalu.
The botanical sites contain a variety of flora and fauna that ranges over four climate zones from rich lowland dipterocarp forest to alpine meadow plants, and finally the stunted bushes of the summit zone.
The mountain is also known for its many carnivorous plants and orchid species, most notable the Nepenthes rajah. It is also home to a multitude of endemic animal species, including the Kinabalu Giant Red Leech and Kinabalu Giant Earthworm. The park also plays host to a variety of birds, insects, mammals, amphibians and reptiles.