PARTICIPATORY MONITORING and MANAGEMENT (PMM) Natmataung National Park, Chin State, Myanmar
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PARTICIPATORY MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT (PMM) Natmataung National Park, Chin State, Myanmar International experiences suggest PMM can be an effective approach to promoting meaningful cooperation in protected areas. It can empower local communities, provide quality information, and encourage biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in line with the local realities. Local communities communities. Members are encouraged Park-people to collect information on resources, have great knowledge discuss changes in their status and agree cooperation on solutions to problems relating to these of the biodiversity resources. Park rangers participate in National parks in Myanmar cover large meetings, enabling constructive dialogue and natural resources areas but have limited human and between park staff and communities. financial resources. They are home to and the potential Results are presented annually and important ecosystems and biodiversity. discussed with the entire village. solutions that can They also face challenges in terms promote conservation of protecting resources and meeting livelihood and development needs of Pilot in Natmataung and sustainable forest-dependent communities in and development. around the parks. Spectrum and Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division (NWCD) are pilot Local communities have great knowledge testing PMM in and around Natmataung of the biodiversity and natural resources National Park. The park has important and the potential solutions that can natural resources. It provides valuable promote conservation and sustainable ecosystem services and holds key development. biodiversity values. The park faces challenges that ultimately result in an International experiences suggest undermining of local livelihoods and that Participatory Monitoring and continued loss of forest, ecosystem Management (PMM) can be an effective services and fauna and flora. Natmataung approach to promoting meaningful has a history of strong community cooperation in protected areas. It attachment and customary ownership can empower communities, provide of the land both inside and outside quality information and encourage the park, along with significant local biodiversity conservation and sustainable dependence on use of forest resources. development in line with local realities. There is a need to further develop park management to provide opportunities Focus group and involvement of communities. PMM can contribute to this by: discussions • Providing reliable information on trends in resources The most effective PMM method for • Promoting co-management of promoting management actions is natural resources between park and the Focus Group Discussion method. local communities This involves establishing a volunteer • Serving as a platform for dialogue Community Monitoring Group (CMG) and cooperation between park of 7-12 persons in a number of park management and local communities. PMM is a cost effective way of obtaining information on the status of and trends in biodiversity and resources, developing community engagement and adapting the management of protected areas to the realities on the ground. The team picked two villages (Hlaing Toat non-timber forest products, forest areas, communities at which resource trends and Maw Chaun in Kampalet Township, wildfire incidence, water and access by will be discussed. The meetings will Hee Laung in Mindat Township) different people to areas regarded as involve CMGs, park staff and Spectrum interested in participating in the PMM customary village territories. staff. The community’s observations of pilot. They represent different areas of trends in resources and the discussions the park and both have strong forest and management proposals emerging dependence, close proximity to good Cost effective and from the monitoring will be entered quality forest and a strong attachment to into a pre-developed matrix. Between land inside the park. better adapted the quarterly meetings in the CMGs, management Spectrum and the Park Warden will Significant interest encourage follow-up on the key The implementation of the PMM pilot suggestions from the CMGs. from communities will provide important information for the park management. It is The pilot is expected to run for 18 The communities living in and around a cost effective way of obtaining months after which the results will be the park are poor. They have few information on the status of and evaluated and its possible extension to viable livelihood alternatives to shifting trends in biodiversity and resources, other communities and sites considered. cultivation and the use of forest developing community engagement Spectrum will follow and support the resources. There is a willingness to and adapting the management of pilot phase. It is expected and hoped cooperate on finding solutions to the Natmataung to the realities on the that the communities and the park challenges. There is also a keen interest ground. The involvement of park staff staff will be able to continue the PMM in having a platform for dialogue with in PMM ensures that information gets after this process. Results should be the park. People are very interested in used in park management and that evaluated continuously, learned lessons sustaining the forest and its resources. there is a continued dialogue between extracted, adaptations made and findings They know a great deal about the need communities and park authorities. The communicated to interested stakeholders. for good environmental management. park staff are interested in such new If the pilot testing is successful, it is ways of relating to communities. hoped to extend it as a tool for co- The team facilitated meetings in the two management in other protected areas. villages to inform communities about Monitoring of biodiversity in protected PMM. The team identified whether there The way forward areas is a government priority; however, was interest in participating and villages most parks (including Natmataung) lack selected participants. The groups decided The first quarter (three-month period) resources with which to do this. PMM has which resources were particularly of the PMM pilot program will consist been proven in a number of countries to important to them and what resources of communities monitoring the chosen provide accurate and reliable data, and to they wanted to monitor. The resources resources. During the next quarter, obtain results similar to scientist-executed include key fauna and flora species, there will be a meeting in each of the biodiversity monitoring programs. Biodiversity monitoring in protected areas is a government priority; however, most parks lack resources with which to do this. PMM has been proven in a number of countries to provide accurate and reliable data. and implementing guidelines to enable Link international its integration into park management processes & policy practice. development Local knowledge There are important international and engagement: processes to which the piloting of PMM could be linked, especially the key to success the Participatory Monitoring and Management Partnership (PMMP; www. Myanmar’s national park management pmmpartnership.com), which provides could benefit from experiences from a platform for learning and experience other parts of the world. The graph exchange among a growing international shows the cost efficiency of participatory community involved in PMM. and conventional scientific resource monitoring methods in generating The PMM pilot in Natmataung has resource management actions in eight the potential to provide important national parks in the Philippines. (a) information at a local and national park shows the total number of interventions government and community institutions level. If PMM expands to more parks, generated by each method for the same (Ambio 36: 566-570). Participatory the approach also has the potential to recurrent investment, (b) shows the monitoring is a powerful complementary contribute to national-scale biodiversity number of interventions that targeted approach that is capable of generating and natural resource monitoring. PMM the three most serious threats to the a much higher level of management has considerable potential but, if it is to natural resources of each site, and (c) interventions than conventional be scaled up and sustained over time, it shows the number of interventions monitoring, even where conventional will require a supportive national policy that led to policy change within local monitoring is already taking place. 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