two parks as pilot projects, and a review of these experiences provides valuable lessons for 

national park management elsewhere in Indonesia. 

3.4  Lessons Learned: The National Park Management Planning 

Process  

3.4.1  Management Planning Guidelines  

Management of a national park in Indonesia officially commences with the development of a 

twenty five year management plan, which is expected to strictly adhere to the MoFr's  National 

Park Twenty Five Year Management Plan Guidelines .  These rigid guidelines present a 

detailed table of contents for a three volume management plan: 

BOOK 1: 

The National Park Management Plan, which includes a comprehensive set of 

activities and budgets, mainly focusing on a first Five Year action plan 

BOOK 2::  Data Projection and Analysis, which provides information and analysis to 

justify the overall plan 

BOOK 3: 

Site  Plan, which includes maps and figures for management zones, 

infrastructure and site development. 

Government guidelines also stipulate the management plan review and approval process at the 

national and provincial levels.  Upon review by a forum of related agencies at the provincial 

level, the management plan containing the best alternatives should be acknowledged by the 

Head of the Provincial Development Planning Agency and be evaluated by the Head of the 

Provincial Office of the MoFr.  Each national park management plan would then, in theory, be 

approved and endorsed by the Director General of PHPA. 

MoFr national park management staff place great emphasis on the production of an approved 

Twenty Five Year Management Plan.  This document provides the basis for both increased 

access to funds for the national park and, more importantly with UPT status, independent 

budgetary status from other protected areas in the region. Thus, the Twenty Five Year 

Management Plan is perceived as a blueprint for management, providing the budgetary 

guidelines for each national park's Five Year Management Plan (RKL) and annual budgets 

(within the RKT). 

The concept of standardized management plan guidelines does have its merits. The use of 

guidelines attempts to ensure that certain sets of standardized baseline data are collected and 

relevant government agencies are consulted.  Most importantly, the guidelines ensure that 

comparable sets of information are presented in the same format for each park.  This provides 

the opportunity for decision makers within PHPA to monitor and manage the national parks 

within an overall system.  This could be particularly useful for maximizing the efficiency of both 

financial and human resources allocations.  

However, the current management plan guidelines are also fraught with problems and 

constraints.  NRMP proceeded with design and production of two management plans, but the 

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