Integration of SNS and Communities into Protected Area Planning

Integration of Cultural and Spiritual Values into Protected Area Planning

Coordinator: Estuardo Secaira, The Nature Conservancy, Guatemala

Status: A methodology for including SNS in PA planning has been developed and tested with TNC. A follow-up phase on community conserved areas and sacred sites assessment and mapping is about to commence.

Description:

Planning is a crucial step, and a critical opportunity, for the inclusion of cultural and spiritual values in protected areas management. Estuardo Secaira, and his colleague María Elena Molina, through their work in the Guatemala Program of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), have been promoting the inclusion of tangible and intangible cultural elements in the TNC’s Conservation Area Planning Methodology (CAP), which has been applied in several protected areas. Management plans which include both natural and cultural elements are currently available in Spanish in pdf format for Tikal and Sierra del Lacandón National Parks. Power point presentations of the Methodology in general, and also about specific steps, are also available in Spanish, and a more general presentation is available in English.

A CAP Training Manual, which includes both natural and cultural elements, is being prepared in Spanish together with and an adaptation of an Excel Workbook developed for application of the CAP methodology. Experience continues to be gained in applying the methodology in the planning of additional protected areas, and a peer-review of plans that integrate natural and cultural elements will soon be conducted. This will present valuable opportunities for improving the methodology, and the production of updated materials for distribution.

Deliverables:

An Excel workbook that includes an adaptation, in terms of vocabulary, of the terms used in the methodology including tangible and intangible cultural elements (August 2005).
A training manual for the Conservation Area Planning Methodology, including tangible and Intangible Cultural Elements, written in Spanish. (November 2005)