Exchange programmes - IUCN

� the Guidelines for Financing Protected Areas in East Asia (Athanas et al., 2001);
and
� the Guidelines for Tourism in Parks and Protected Areas in East Asia (Eagles et
al., 2001).
A great deal of information about other protected areas can be found by those with
access to the Internet. There is a global source of protected area data at the UNEP-
WCMC web site (see Reference section), and much other Internet-based information is
available from other park systems. Such information can provide new ideas and tools to
help address local issues. Indeed, access to Internet information on protected areas may
be sufficient to avoid the need to set up an exchange altogether.
It is a priority for WCPA in East Asia to help its members, and protected areas
managers generally, to have better access to such information.
Finding the funds
The financing of a protected area exchange can be costly, depending on the number and
complexity of activities and tasks engaged in and the location of the partner(s). Many
protected area agencies in East Asia have little or no available funds for such a project
and a few are struggling simply to stay operational. Mongolia, for example, is able to
allocate only about US$1 million to the management of their entire growing protected
area system. There is definite need here, and in other nations, to identify potential
funding sources.
Protected area managers wishing to engage in an exchange or exchange programme
should first seek what available funds there might be from their respective agencies, but
more realistically should actively seek external sources of funding. Another option is to
develop an exchange with minimal costs, focusing perhaps on information and experience
exchanges via the Internet. Such relatively simple kinds of contacts may help
form the “critical mass” of interest that is required to develop more complex (and
expensive) exchange programmes. As interest and enthusiasm grows, so it should
become easier to identify funding sources.
The account below is a summary only. The reader is recommended to seek more
detailed advice from two other IUCN publications:
� Financing Protected Areas: Guidelines for Protected Area Managers, (IUCN,
2000).
� Guidelines for Financing Protected Areas in East Asia, (Athanas et al., 2001) –
which provides additional, regionally-relevant information on financing projects
such as exchange programmes.
Both reports provide detailed descriptions of funding sources that may be accessed
and the financial mechanisms that may be used to develop one or more exchange
programmes.
Core funding/protected area agency budget allocation
Recommendations for protected area exchanges in East Asia
The starting point should be the protected area management agencies themselves,
although this type of core funding is often difficult to obtain, as governments may not
have big or flexible enough budgets to support such an initiative. Even if the support is
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