Zusammenfassung:
The National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act of 1992 legislated the identification and classification of 17 protected areas in the country. This was amended by the Expanded National Integrated Protect Area System (E-NIPAS) in 2018 which increased coverage to more than a hundred. A processes evaluation of this policy augmentation was conducted by looking at three case study sites: the Masungi Georeserve, the Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape, and the Northern Negros Natural Park. Discussions with the management of several other protected areas in Luzon allowed for further analysis and result verification. Aside from expanded legislated coverage, results showed that E-NIPAS presented changes on how consideration is given to policy and management indigenous peoples rights, sectoral representation, sustainable financing, and ecological integrity protection and penalty provision. Cascading the intent of policy proved more difficult with bureaucratic limitations, and funding and manpower constraints impacting protected area management efficiency, biodiversity protection and conservation, critical area and buffer zone encroachment, and control of economic and destructive activities. Recommendations to enhance integrated protected area system management include the operationalization of workable models that enhance stakeholder partnerships in sharing ecological protection mandates, and arresting compromising activities within critical zones. Clear supplementary guidelines are needed to standardize area management and protection approaches, limiting arbitrary decision making among protected area management boards, superintendents and staff. Compartmentalization of area protection in terms of area size, resource provision, and management composition is also key. More detailed characterization of PAs, the crafting and implementation of area protection and business plans, and policy enforcement and legal followthrough are also critical in optimizing the management of the country's integrated protected area systems.