As part of the integration process of the projects managed by CATIE in El Salvador, on Thursday September 27 of the current year, a visit was made at the initiative of Dr. Romeo Solano, the Los Andes National Park, with the aim of strengthening the process of formulation of the Park Management Plan.
It is important to emphasize that with a visit and few interviews it would be inappropriate for the inadequate consultant to give opinions with little foundation regarding the process of management and administration that is being developed, so this report will try to establish more than a diagnosis of the process, be a general guide on the process of formulating a Management Plan or Master Plan for the Protected Area.
In order for the process managers to estimate the degree of success, or to correct the operational framework in order to obtain a Master Plan according to the reality of the area and highly participatory, bringing together all interest groups.
2. Analysis of the process:
2.1. General remarks:
In the visit carried out with officials of the CATIE-FIADES project, the non-existence of a Management Plan was identified, and a process for the formulation of the Management Plan is currently being initiated, which is the guiding document for territorial planning, management and development of protected areas. Contains policies, general guidelines, and programs for conservation management, research, management, and use of resources. Its validity, generally at national and international level, is five years (Five-year). Among the main characteristics of a Management Plan are:
1. Participatory:
The planning process for the elaboration of a Management Plan should be participatory so that various interest groups are involved, mainly at the local level. This process will give greater validity to the plan since the actions will have been discussed and known by the different groups.
2. Successive approaches:
The lack of sufficient information available in the preparation of the Management Plans has also been a limiting factor, however the information can be deepened and supplemented as greater knowledge of the area and its resources is acquired.
3. Realistic:
The actions proposed within the plan must be adjusted to local conditions and institutional capacities, always taking into account the period of validity of the plan.
The formulation of a Management Plan may be carried out by a multidisciplinary group of professionals or today called the ZAR of the Management Plan.
The first, albeit the most favorable, alternative for the formulation of a Management Plan is very expensive, which is why many protected areas go many years without being able to formulate the Management Plan because they lack the necessary financial resources to hire a multidisciplinary group, in As for the second option (Tsar of the Management Plan), it is favorable for small protected areas and in which the financial resources are not sufficient for the hiring of a multidisciplinary group.
During the visit and the talk with Eng. Emiliano Aguilar, a notable interest and willingness on the part of interest groups to have a National Park Management Plan was observed. For which they have begun with the collection of information that allows facilitating in the short and medium term with a duly structured and highly participatory Management Plan.
2.2. Legal framework:
The legal support for the formulation of the Management Plan is held by Decree No. 233 "Environmental Law of the Republic of El Salvador", establishes the Salvadoran System of Protected Areas in its Article No. 79, establishing a process framework for the conformation of new protected areas and consolidation of already existing protected areas in its Title II "On Ecosystems, Chapter I" On the systems of Natural Protected Areas ", of decree No. 17" Regulating the Environmental Law. "
In article 88, it states:
"The Ministry will support the formulation, approve and monitor the execution of the management plans of the conservation units, identified under the established guidelines."
Therefore, the formulation of the Management Plan is not only presented as a necessity to improve the planning and operationalization system of the conservation unit, but as a necessary and obligatory legal process to strengthen and improve the conservation unit.
It is important to mention that the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, developed a methodological format for the preparation of Management Plans, taken and modified from “Compendium on the Methodology for the Planning of Wild Areas” of Morales R and C. McFarland. Which was analyzed and improved through local NGOs such as; Salvadoran Association for the Conservation of the Environment (ASAMA) and the Association of Technical Assistance for Salvadoran Community Development (ASISTEDCOS). Which establishes a methodology and minimum content for the development and formulation of a Management Plan
2.3. Flowchart of the process of formulating a management plan:
After carrying out an analysis of the technical and legal framework of the process of formulating a Management Plan for the Los Andes National Park, which is presented below:
It is estimated that for the formulation of a Management Plan under the previous flowchart it takes 45 to 60 days to obtain a final document that, although it is necessary to carry out two more revisions, could be taken as the official Management Plan of the conservation unit, counting that said document must be reviewed and endorsed by the Ministry of the Environment.
3. Conclusions:
- The formulation of the Management Plan must have a comprehensive approach, trying to seek the unification of criteria of all interest groups, in search of consensus that will facilitate the subsequent execution of the programs and subprograms that they entail through the annual operating plans. the effective and efficient execution of activities within the conservation unit.One of the current measures such as the supplementation of information from FLORA AND FAUNA is of utmost importance, but it would be even more interesting and complementary not only to have a flora census and fauna, if not define a monitoring model of biological indicators that allow determining the progress of the conservation of the conservation unit. It is important to consider the various interest groups from the beginning of the execution of the Management Plan,This ensures a participatory model that allows broadening the horizon of planning and direct and indirect benefits provided by the Los Andes National Park. Within the process of formulating the Management Plan, a training program must be established for the directors of the unit of conservation that allows in the short term to have the necessary human resources for the subsequent modifications and updates of the Management Plans and Annual Operational Plans.} The Los Andes National Park combined with the three volcanic cones represent a favorable scenario for the development of development projects ecotourism and sustainable management of forest resources, which can currently be seen are completely underutilized or under-exploited.In general, the Los Andes National Park, combined with the three volcanic cones, could represent a protected area management model with a strong link in microregional strategic planning, a potential that is currently completely underused.
4. Recommendations
- Before the execution of the next Annual Operational Plan, the Management Plan must already be in place, in order to have an efficient planning system that allows us to really measure the level of impact that the project and the park administration have on the conservation of the area.Consolidate a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary group to capture all concerns regarding the management of the conservation area.Consider the Management Plan as or / and within a strategic plan for sustainable micro-regional development, with the participation of civil society (NGOs), municipalities, the state, private owners and communities.Begin with the process of formulating the Management Plan with a large start-up workshop that allows establishing, from the start of activities, the links with all the interest groups present in the protected area.
