Abstract
As parks and protected areas have been installed worldwide to counteract increasing biodiversity decline, many parks still lack a simple yet effective tool to assess and contain human impact in these establishments. This paper reports on an application of WWF Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM) methodology to assess management effectiveness of Gaomei Wetlands Wildlife Refuge, a protected area established by Taichung County Government, Taiwan, in September, 2004. A four-stage management effectiveness evaluation process is applied, and three results are discussed. First, nine pressures and threats are identified, and 10 items for specific management improvement are suggested in the first participatory workshop. Second, in order to examine management effectiveness, all stakeholders are required to rate performances in a four-level ordinal scale through 14 criteria from five elements of IUCN-WCPA framework. Evaluation result shows the element of “inputs” had the highest score, especially in the criteria of “infrastructure”and “communication and information inputs.” The lowest performance is explored in elements “planning” and “process”; while the weaknesses criteria include “site design and planning” and “management planning.” Finally, quantitative analyses are used to test inter-rater reliability among stakeholders and to explain the relationships among the elements of management cycle. Discussion and suggestion based on the results are also mentioned in this paper.