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The Need for a Planning Framework to Preserve the Wilderness Values of Sibayak Volcano, North Sumatra, Indonesia 135

the area; an inventory of natural assets; identification react to the damage or the risks and creates the
of possible or existing impacts and establishment difficulty of effectively conducting sustainable
of standards and indicators. Some frameworks management practices for the park. Clearly there
have additional components that include is a need for the collection of baseline data on
identification of the cause of impacts and tourist activity, preferences and biophysical data in
appropriate management action to reduce order to provide a basis for monitoring change
impacts. The ultimate objective is to accommodate and assessing recreational impacts on the volcano.
demand for certain activities within a park while Such data then need to be fed into a comprehensive
ensuring conservation of important natural and adequately funded visitor management
systems. strategy. From this, the source and extent of the
Whatever specific planning framework, or threats to Sibayak can be identified and
combination of frameworks, is selected, the key to addressed.
successful implementation is in the quality of data Because of the likely increasing number of
gathered. Without information about biophysical domestic visitors to Sibayak, socio-cultural issues
features and ecological processes of a park, who may then shape the choice of a visitor management
uses it, how it is used and exactly what impacts system. Cochrane (1996) noted that Indonesians
take place over a given period, a planning generally have a preference for crowds rather than
framework cannot be effectively applied. This small group or solitary experiences of natural
relates both to comprehensive baseline data and areas. In the past, Indonesians have generally not
consistent collection of data on an ongoing basis placed much emphasis on nature observation and
as part of the management process. appreciation when visiting natural areas. This may
A one-off inventory of what a park contains stem from a dominance or history of subsistence
and how it is used may be sufficient to provide a lifestyles that have been prevalent in Indonesia,
foundation from which a planning framework can where people view nature as a resource for
be devised. However, the ongoing implementation survival more than a place for reflection and
of a planning framework relies on consistent and aesthetic appreciation – although this attitude may
accurate monitoring both of indicators and be changing as a greater middle class emerges in
management practices. Monitoring is the central Indonesia. Thus, any planning framework applied
plank of any planning framework without which to Sibayak may need to take into account the
it is ineffectual. That is, a planning framework relies strong emphasis domestic visitors have on
on a management structure with the capabilities to socialization rather than on aesthetic appreciation
gather and analyse information over a long time in natural areas.
period. In addition, systems must be in place to One approach for Sibayak may be a system to
evaluate management of the framework to ensure determine the level of acceptable impact on the
appropriate and effective implementation. environment through a combination of the Limits
of Acceptable Change (LAC) and Visitor Impact
Issues associated with applying Management (VIM) planning frameworks
a tourism-planning framework (Newsome et al, 2002). The contribution that
to Sibayak could be made by these frameworks is that of
providing a means for determining what
The current lack of a coordinated approach to environmental and social conditions are acceptable
visitor and park management (using a planning and by assisting in identifying appropriate
framework) means that uncontrolled recreation/ management actions to achieve defined end-state
tourism is degrading the Sibayak volcano conditions. The reasons for such a choice are that
experience. Unfortunately, the extent of the threat VIM and LAC rely on minimum to moderate
has not been accurately determined because the stakeholder input (McArthur, 2000) and that
lack of a planning framework has resulted in an tourism planners in Indonesia have stated that
absence of monitoring procedures. This also government should make decisions for the benefit
makes it difficult to gauge exactly how people of society at large (Timothy, 1999). Moreover,

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