Presentation during Tourism Workshop at World Conservation Congress, Jeju, South Korea, September 2012

1. Public-Private
Partnerships for Tourism
Management in Protected
Areas
Jim Barborak
Director, Center for Protected Area Management and Training
Colorado State University
Member, IUCN/WCPA Tourism Working Group

2. Cantareira State Park, Sao Paolo, Brazil:
An example of the challenges we face

3. Background
 Success in conservation requires public and political
support and people support what they know and love
 Governments, NGOs, and communities often lack
entrepreneurial know-how, tourism know-how and
capital needed to successfully manage PA tourism
 There is pressure by communities, businesses, and
governments for PAs to generate more economic
benefits and more revenue to fund PA management
 Many PAs, particularly in developing regions, do not
fulfill tourism’s potential to generate employment and
income and build public awareness and support
 Number of national and international tourists to PAs
and economic importance of the sector increasing

4. Institutional Options for
PA management
 PAs managed/owned by regional, local governments,
intergovernmental authorities
 PAs managed/owned by local, regional, natl, intl. NGOs
 PAs managed/owned by indigenous tribes
 PAs managed/owned by communities
 PAs managed/owned by private businesses/companies
 PAs managed or owned by universities, research
centers
Global tendency: hybrid and comanagement
approaches!
Ownership, management authority, service provider,
and management category are separate but related
concepts!

5. Partnerships: Key to PA success
• Larger, more complex PAs increasingly use a wide
range of institutional options, including permits,
contracts, concessions, cooperative agreements
and co-management accords
• Partnerships can lead to investments in PA
tourism infrastructure and programs
• Successful partnerships can stimulate more public
support for conservation, financial benefits for PA
agencies and economies, and improved
livelihoods for local communities
• Successful partnerships can privatize costs and
risks but socialize benefits of tourism in PAs

6. Values of Tourism Public-Private
Partnerships Long Recognized!
• Tourism concessions in US parks for +/- a century!
• Partnerships was a theme as long ago as the 1992 World Parks Congress
(Venezuela)
• The tourism sessions at the Last World Parks Congress agreed that more
work on the subject is warranted
• Major donors (IFC in Mozambique, Indonesia), IDB in Brazil, World Bank,
GEF, UNDP, USAID, interested in topic and increasing investment
• CBD specific has more equitable distribution of costs and benefits of
biodiversity conservation as a goal and poverty alleviation is a global
development priority
• CBD partnering with Semeia Institute of Brazil for a global study on the
subject and a workshop at the CBD COP in Hyderabad
• Tourism to PAs is growing in many parts of the world
• Demand for PAs to generate revenue for their own budgets and to
produce more tangible economic benefits locally and nationally is growing

7. Some challenges
 Local actors often lack the entrepreneurial
expertise and capital to successfully participate in
co-management such as concessions
 There is no substitute for strong government
institutions; they help guarantee success of
innovative private and community conservation
 There is widespread distrust of the private sector,
NGOs and among key actors and stakeholders—
building trust difficult and time-consuming

8. Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve,
Costa Rica: Private-Private
Partnerships!
 Owned/managed by NGO
 Nearly 100K visitors/yr
 Endowment and robust business
plan
 Restaurant managed by local
restaurateur
 Guiding managed by local guide
association
 Gift shop generates much
revenue—NGO now manages gift
shops at several national parks!

9. Results of Ongoing Studies on Concessions
Identified key components to ensure success
in tourism concessions and agreements in
protected areas:
 Qualifications of bidders
 Legal responsibilities of responsible entities
 Financial responsibilities of entities
 Environmental responsibilities of entities
 Social responsibilities of organizations
 Ongoing monitoring and evaluation

10. Moving towards best practices in tourism
PPPs in PAs
Qualifications
 What type of legal entity is created or involved: a private
company, consortium, trust, individual, etc.?
 How can you ensure that the potential
concessionaire/permitee has sufficient experience and
capital?
Legal aspects?
 Who owns the land and the infrastructure?
 Who retains control and stakes in improvements ?
 How are risks and unforeseen events managed?
 Who is responsible in case of complaints/ accidents?
 How are transactions controlled and audited?
 What are the consequences of rescinding agreements?

11. Financial/legal aspects
 How long does the agreement last? Can it be amended/extended?
 What payment does the partner make? Based on income, # users?
 If there is competitive bidding how do we ensure that the best offer wins?
 How do we ensure that the partner fulfills the terms of the agreement?
 What are the consequences of environmental damage caused by the
concessionaire or lack of fulfillment of key clauses in the agreement?
 Under what conditions can agreements be rescinded?
Environmental Aspects
 How to ensure that infrastructure and its operation comply with
environmental standards?
 What are the consequences when this does not happen?
 Who monitors what when where why and how?
Social Aspects and Equity
 How can we ensure benefits for local communities?
 How can we ensure that initial benefits are maintained and expanded
and monitor this?

12. Some key lessons learned to date
Partnerships can encourage capital
investment , improve visitor services and
generate increased revenue flows to PA
agencies and economies
PPP can expand tourism and recreation
opportunities for national and
international visitors leading to greater
public and decision maker support for
PAs and more environmental awareness
Partnerships between concessionaires and
local communities can lead to gradual
transfer of ownership, build local
capacity and responsibility and reduce
PA-community conflict
PAs with greater public use and expanded
stakeholder base and public tend to
resist threats better than areas off the
“mental map” of the public, press and
decision makers

13. What have we achieved since
Barcelona four years ago?
– Global Review published (Wyman et al)
– Creation of a PA Tourism Partnerships
Bibliography: laws, policies, tenders, case studies
– Global workshop in California sponsored by
USNPS and CSU with IUCN/WCPA and UNESCO-
WH support
– Regional workshop Southern Africa (Maputo)
– Brazil workshops Sao Paolo and Curitiba
– New policies, laws and tenders in many nations
(Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile)

14. Looking forward
• Best practices manual on PA tourism published
• Best practice manual on PPPs for IUCN WCPA
published
• More regional training and best practice workshops
• Use major conferences to discuss progress, challenges
World Wilderness Congress Spain 2013
World Parks Congress Australia 2014
National and regional PA conferences

15. • Promotion in Europe by PanParks
• Technical assistance missions (USNPS, USFS,
south-south)
• Incorporate training materials in PA training centers
and online
• Implement pilot projects funded by major NGOs,
bilateral and multilateral development banks,
tourism enterprises
• Work with UNESCO, other partners to incorporate
strengthen PPS at WH sites
• Produce and disseminate case studies, best
practice documents, bibliographies
• Key area of activity for IUCN WCPA Tourism
Working Group