Integration of an environmental management system (ISO 14001) in small/medium national parks

Abstract

INTEGRATION OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ISO 14001) IN SMALL/MEDIUM NATIONAL PARKS. South African National Parks have undergone an evolution of management style, which started with the protection of fauna and flora in 1898 to the present identification of the need for integrated environmental management. An environmental management system (ISO 14001) will address the environmental aspects and impacts of managing a national park. As the management of national parks becomes more complex in terms of environmental legislation and environmental obligations, it becomes more important to have effective management plans for each national park. This study was undertaken, to illustrate the usefulness of ISO 14001 in national parks. The aim was to compare the contents of the management plans of three small-medium national parks to determine if these plans conform to the applicable guidelines of the organisation and if they address the environmental obligations of managing the respective national parks. Only one of the three national parks studied has a management plan, which is out of date. These parks are presently managed using stand-alone operational plans. Despite conformance to the guidelines of the organisation, these plans do not address all the environmental issues of park management and in certain cases do not comply with environmental legislation. ISO 14001, an environmental management system, can address the shortcomings of the present stand-alone operational plans. The voluntary conformance and procedural approach of this environmental management system, makes ISO 14001 suitable for implementation in national parks, but the constraints experienced by small-medium national parks will need to be addressed Certain sections of the present stand-alone operational plans can be used in the environmental management system, but a number of the elements of ISO 14001 would need to be developed from the beginning. Finally, the implementation of ISO 14001 in a small-medium national park (Vaalbos National Park) was illustrated, using biota management as an example. It was found that an environmental management system was essential in order to improve the environmental management of Vaalbos National Park. However, owing to the constraints experienced by most small-medium national parks, the environmental management system for Vaalbos National Park will have to be kept simple. It is recommended that ISO 14001, first be implemented in the small-medium national parks. Implementation in small-medium parks would allow for capacity building of all relevant staff. South African National Parks should begin with working toward conformance to ISO 14001 and consider certification at a later stage.