Problems of financing PAs are far greater in China than in Taiwan. This
reflects primarily the difference in economic development rates of the two
states. Only in the twenty-first century, after nearly two decades of very rapid
economic growth, is China able to allocate more resources to biodiversity
conservation, as seen in recent budget increases. Taiwan is not without fiscal
problems, and these do affect the incentives of reserve managers. When state
contributions shrink, they search for other revenues to support operations,
which may impair conservation objectives.
China has far greater problems of human resources and training of PA
personnel than Taiwan. This too reflects differences in economic development.
Fewer resources allocated to conservation units, especially by provinces and
municipalities, means fewer staff. It also expresses the more limited spread of
secondary and post-secondary education in China. Only within the last decade
have colleges and universities developed degree programs for this type of
environmental management.
Finally, the two systems differ in their treatment of local populations. In
China, most PAs are in rural areas where residents of experimental zones or
adjacent villages may be quite poor. This imposes serious obstacles on
managers who, by rigidly protecting plant and animal species, appear to
diminish livelihoods of residents. In these circumstances conflicts are
unavoidable. Taiwan is a comparatively rich state, and its managers encounter
fewer problems of this nature.
The interactions of minority populations with the PA system differ also.
A part of this difference is economic, as China’s minorities are poorer
than Taiwan’s aborigines. Yet the most glaring contrast is attributable to
political system differences. China’s approach to minority cultures has
been authoritarian and ‘top-down’. No system of co-management has been
applied systematically. Several pilot programs have developed to involve
minorities in PA planning, but most of these are sponsored by foreign NGOs
such as TNC, CI and WWF. This is not to suggest that Taiwan has found a
solution to the need for PA systems to partner effectively with cultural
minorities. In fact, most PAs in Taiwan are on lands once occupied by
aborigines, now displaced. Yet the democratic political process has made even
small populations, such as the aboriginal one, of political value. Parties
compete for aboriginal votes, which requires them to champion aboriginal
interests.
ENDNOTES
- Quoted in Erwin, J. (2003), ‘Protected area assessments in perspective’, BioScience, 53 (9),
819–22. - World Conservation Union (IUCN), 1994.
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