Comparison Of National And International Protected Areas: Acadia National Park And Mount Fuji

Context

The purpose of this exercise is:

To be exposed to different approaches to protected area management;

To become familiar with the National Park Service’s mission, objectives, and management approach;

To build an in-depth understanding of a non-US protected area (pair exercise) and be able to compare that PA to a domestic PA;

To assess the differences between international and domestic protected area management.

This is an individual exercise that builds upon the work you and your partner did in the pair assignment. The goal of this final paper is to compare the international PA from the pair assignment with Acadia National Park. I expect that you will build upon your research for the pair assignment while also incorporating new research on Acadia National Park for a comparison between a domestic PA and an international PA. Because you have already done much of the work on the international PA, the bulk of your research/writing will be on Acadia National Park and then the comparison.

You need to address the following topics/questions for Acadia National Park in the body of the document. You also need to address the following topics for your international PA but this will largely be in the comparative summary table:

*Underlined questions indicate questions that were not on the pair assignment but that need to be addressed for both PAs.

(1) Introduction

Date of creation of the PA.

What was the purpose (objectives) for the establishment of Acadia?

What are the important historical dates for Acadia (i.e., administrative changes, funding changes, shifts in mission, new programs/management focus, etc.)?

What are the key conservation features (natural heritage—landscapes, ecosystems, species—and/or cultural heritage) of Acadia?

(2) Context

Description of the sociocultural, economic, and political context of Acadia (ethnic groups, communities nearby the PA, economic activities, political system of the country, role of the NPS).

How does the PA fit within the international IUCN category system and how does that designation relate to Acadia’s management agenda? What are the major threats to Acadia? What are the main pressures or issues (e.g. war, poverty, human impacts, corruption) affecting the PA?

(3) Management

List the organization(s) responsible for PA management. What are the major PA programs in Acadia (e.g. ecotourism, environmental education, monitoring, research, outreach, etc.)? What are the major management priorities in Acadia?

What role, if any, do NGs play in PA management (e.g. management, planning, training, funding, etc.)?

How is PA management/administration funded?

(4) Comparison and conclusion

Choose five key differences between Acadia and your international PA. How are they different? How are they similar? The points of comparison should be central to PA management, rather than superficial. For example, if your PA is an IUCN category 6 while Acadia is a category 2, explain the difference between each category and why that is important to each PA/how the category designation influences PA management.

Comparative Summary Table. Emphasis here on summary. You cannot hope to fit everything in this table so please choose the key elements of each section to include for both PAs. This is where the majority of the information from your international PA is going to be located. This table can be as long as necessary to summarize all of the information from the pair assignment. Key words, bullet points, and other forms of summary are expected. Feel free to alter the table to convey information (as long as you clearly address all points in a visually comprehensible way). The length of the table does not count toward your page limit.

In order to conserve the living and non living elements like biodiversity, culture, art, etc of a region the area got secured by the respective government or the governing authority. According to UN environment program, protected areas are considered the cornerstones of a particular conservative area (UN Environment Programme, 2019). The aim of protected areas to conserve biodiversity, culture, social capital, economic valuable goods, etc in order to provide services for betterment of the society, earning livelihood as well as millennium development goals. The aim of this research paper is to compare the basic elements of a national and international protected area (PA). For this purpose the considered national PA is Acadia National Park and international PA is Mount Fuji. The details about both the PA’s can help in understanding various approaches regarding protecting a conservative area, attain knowledge regarding missions and agendas of national park missions worldwide, and asses the differences between actions taken by national and international protected area authorities or governments (Ryall, 2014). In upcoming lines the description about national and international protected area is discussed and their in-depth comparison is done in text and tabulated form in effective and efficient manner.

In order to compare national PA with international PA, the Mount Fuji is considered.  Mount Fuji is a composite of few volcanoes, which is considered to be a Japanese symbol, which describes the physical, spiritual and cultural geographies of the region (Carmin Chappell, 2018).

According to Britannica, the Mount Fuji Volcano was formed in 286 BCE due to an earthquake. The volcano was erupted during three periods which are Komitake, Kofuji and Shinfuji. It was an active volcano which was last erupted during the period of 1707 to 1708. Mount Fuji is beautiful cone shaped which is covered with snow mostly depicted in art and photographs, the most famous one was in the series of woodblock prints by Hokusai (Chakraborty & Jones, 2017). Since 1826, the image of Mount Fuji is used as the symbol of Japan, in various arts and crafts, photographs, documentaries, etc. It is also famous among climbers and sightseers worldwide. This is considered the most important region to make consider Mount Fuji as a protected area and must be maintained on frequently (National Geographic, 2019). Other then this UNESCO has identified almost 25 sites within the community of Mount Fuji like Mountain, peeks, temples, etc as sites of cultural interest.

The Mount Fuji was last erupted around 1700, at that time its ashes fell over to very vast areas, even some of on Tokyo as well which one of the big cities near Mount Fuji. It killed every bit of life present around it; its effects are still there. This is the reason; there is less availability of plans and animals on Mount Fuji. However there is the presence of some biodiversity, almost 35 species of mammals like Japanese Serow, Black Bears, foxes, squirrels, etc. are present on Mount Fuji (Caprar, Devinney, & Kirkman, 2015). On the other hand in plants one can find Veitch fir, Ontade, Miyamaoto Koyomogi, etc. on Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji with the presence of these species of plans and animals as well as some cultural factors became the political, economical, social and environmental elements of consideration for Japan as well as world.

Management

Mount Fuji is an international PA and is very much different from the national PA that is Acadia National Park. As in Acadia there is abundance of various types of species even the most deadly one also. The national part is not the symbol of the nation however is one of the protected areas, which encompasses many endangered, rare and deadly species. Mount Fuji is considered in the category V of IUCN, which focuses on protection of landscapes and values which are created by the traditional as well as current interaction of the biodiversity present all around it (IUCN, 2019). The management of Mount Fuji has some threat against the better prevision of Mount Fuji as the protected area. According to news articles of South China Morning Post in 2014, Mount Fuji is gradually turning in a site of trash dumping mountain (Dings, Abad, & Farnitano, 2017). The famous slope of Mount Fuji is now up to some extent covered with garbage. It is one of the most demanding threats which are present in front of the management team of Mount Fuji, which needed to be taken care of promptly (Ryall, 2014). Apart from the government of Japan, the region of Mount Fuji is also governed by some international nature conservation committees also like UNESCO, etc. The major funding for managing Mount Fuji comes from the Japan government and UNESCO as well. The main objectives of managing the Mount Fuji are to maintain it’s cultural, social, environmental, and political in Japan and worldwide. The major Mount Fuji protected area program are consists of educating people regarding the cultural value of the area, the conservation of biodiversity and harmful effects of dumping garbage on Mount Fuji (Christens & Dolan, 2011).

This study is done to compare the protective measures adopted to protect a national as well as an international protected area by their respected governing authorities. The aim of this study is to identify the basic deals of considered protected areas and then compare those deals to learn the difference among them, policies made for their protection and their implications on the lives of the people attached to those protected areas (FAO UN, 2011). The study focuses on analysing the art, culture, traditional and politics attached to identified two protected areas that are Acadia National Park and Mount Fuji. In upcoming lines the details of national protected area that is Acadia National Park is discussed and analysed in detail.

Comparison and conclusion

It is the national park which is established along the coastline of Atlantic Ocean in US. The park is spread in almost 47000 acre on Maine’s Mount Desert Island. It is famous for its woodland, glacier- sourced granite peaks, rocky beaches and various types of plant and animal species. Among wildlife there are bear, whales, moose, seabirds, etc. The national park have became a nature’s gateway for tourists, which incorporates Bar Harbor, some restaurants, shops, culture, art, etc near the park (National Park Services, 2019). These all factors have helped development of a nature based culture and art in that area. The people living in those areas are also following some traditional practices based on the culture of Acadia National Park.

The Acadia National Park is considered crown jewel of North Atlantic Coast as it protects the nature beauty of the coastline with rocky headlands, abundance of habitats, rich cultural heritage, etc. The region along Atlantic coastline, which was home for many species, became a protected area as a national park on 8th July 1916. The millionaire’s of late nineteenth and early twentieth century including John D. Rockefeller explored the Mount Desert Island and established boundaries to protect this biodiversity rich area. In order to conserve the natural serenity and natural beauty of the island an elaborate network of gravel paths is formulated.

Earlier the automobiles were not allowed near the park, the roads were only for horse drawn carriages. However the governing authorities of national park now allowed the tourists as well as explorers to reach to some extent of the park but not the park completely, by their automobiles. Acadia National park has very vast boundaries, which are spread almost all over the Mount Desert Island. The tourists and explorers today can reach to park and its various wonders by a well formed and managed route for walkers, horseback riders, joggers, cross-country skiers, bicyclists, etc but not by automobiles (BRETOS & MARCUELLO, 2016). It is so because fuel can hamper the biodiversity of the national park. In this section the context of Acadia National Park with respect to its place in the lives of people in neighborhood as well as the art and culture it shapes (Liddicoat, 2002). The tradition that is followed by the traditional people living at the island from a very long time is also analysed in this study. The context also discuss about the political implications of the national park on the region as well as country. Later in the next section the management committee and their function with respect to the productive management of the Mount Fuji is analysed by covering all the aspects of national and international management committees.

Acadia National Park is established for conserving the biodiversity of Mount Desert Island, which is very vast in nature and needed to be protected for betterment of nature. The presence of wildlife and later the national park at Mount Desert Island and the places near it has influenced the culture, art and tradition of those places to some extent. The culture of the island build upon the traditions adopted by the Wabanaki named Native American people. These people were called Maine and inhabited Mount Desert Island for almost 12000 years, which is a very long time (Grandori, 2010). These people have influenced the art and culture of the area as well.

The formation of park, civilian crop conservation program, fire of 1947, carriage roads, Hancock country trustees and shipwrecks all of them in together have shaped the cultural, social, political and  environmental aspects of Acadia national Park of US. The culture and art of the region is displayed by the museum made in the national park. It is also preserved by the shops, restaurants and people established near the national park. The park is preserved and managed by US authorizes now on continues basis (Groot, 2016). There are some other managing bodies also that are present internationally, which looks after various aspects of Acadia National Park.

Acadia National Park is very vast, which is the home for many plants and animals and some other organisms which cannot be seen with naked eyes. There are some threats that the park is encountering form last decade (Ono, Hongo, & Yamamoto, 2016). The most influential threat is the threat of rapidly changing environmental factors which can impact the culture and wildlife of the part to great extent. Due to increase in global warming the temperature conditions in the park got changed from quite some time, which leads to melting of glaciers of the park. The introduction of new species in the park also leads to scarcity of the available resources, which ultimately leads to death of some animals. The exposure of park to city and its life like use of automobile near it, increasing pollution, politics regarding it etc also adversely impacting the conditions of the park (National Park Services, 2019a).

In order to manage natural and cultural species of the planet, the proper planning is needed. The planning is followed by a proper execution step, which must be controlled by the officials on regular basis to deliver desired results of conserving the protected area and its species. Planning, execution as well as controlling together resulted in a single process that is effective management of Acadia National Park. Acadia National Park is very vast which encompasses various animal and plant species. This is the reason which enforces proper management of the park by the officials. The officials of the park have taken many steps in order to manage various resources available in the park as well as near it (National Park Sevices, 2019b). Some management plans such General management plan, Schoodic General Management Plan Amendment, Visitor Use management Plan for Haut District and places near it, Climbing Management Plan, Sky resources plan, cultural resources and integrated pest management program. There are some other management programs as well which is implemented by national or international governing bodies on the wildlife care of the park (Schmitt, 2016).

In the categorical list of IUCN, the Acadia National Park comes under second category, which encompasses steps towards preservation of natural biodiversity and the ecological structure which must support environmental processes (IUCN, 2019a). It also facilitates promotion of education and recreation of knowledge related to it for the explorers and students. It plays a big role in landscape/seascape category of IUCN. This category is unique from other categories as it facilitates ecological integrity and education while other category focuses on providing just conservatism and protection (IUCN, 2019b).

It is important to compare the two considered protective areas among them one is within US and another is outside it. The internal protected area is Acadia National Park and international protected area is Mount Fuji. It is important to understand differences among them as to know the protective measures adopted by various government and analyze the measures adopted by US to protect Acadia National park is according to the laws as well as is enough to protect the park for upcoming generations. The comparative analysis of two most famous protected areas that are Acadia National Park of US and Mount Fuji of Japan is done effectively and displayed in upcoming paragraphs productively, with a systematically arranged table showing the comparison among two considered protected areas.

The details of Mount Fuji and Acadia National Park are discussed in above lines, however in this section the comparison among them and their protection related factors has been made in the following lines:

1. Mount Fuji is situated in Japan and considered as their symbol, which is depicted in many arts and photographs. On the other hand Acadia National Park is considered as the symbol of nature preservation.
2. Acadia National Park was developed in 1916 and Mount Fuji was initially created in 286 B.C due to a big earthquake.
3. Mount Fuji is a sleeping volcano, which was last erupted in 1707-08, whereas Acadia is a national park, which demonstrates the preservation not destruction.
4. Mount Fuji has the threat of turning into a complete garbage dumping area; where as in global warming is the major threat in front of the Acadia National Park (UN, 2019).
5. Acadia National Park consists of water, rocky landscape, and various plants and animals. Whereas Mount Fuji is a very big cone shaped sleeping volcano which comprises many sculptures made from the erupted lava.
6. The IUCN category of Mount Fuji is V and of Acadia National Park is II. Category V talks about the landscapes and their features, whereas II category talks about the features of national parks as the protected areas in worldwide.

Conclusion

There is presence of many types of wonders on earth. They have the capacity of providing something effective to all the living things present on the earth. It is important to protect those wonders form many aspects. In this study the measures taken for protecting Acadia National park of US and Mount Fuji of Japan are identified and analysed. The study also helps in comparing the protective measures adopted by management authorities of both the considered protected areas. The comparison also identified many other basic elements about bother of the protected area as well as its impact on the life of the people living in or around them. The study presented the comparison of both of the protected areas in text as well as tabulated form. It is expected by the governing authorities of both the protected area to implement some measures which can control the garbage dumping on Mount Fuji and get a hold on increasing temperature of the Acadia National Park and the region surrounds it. It has been recommended to reader that they must initiate some steps to conserve Acadia forest in turning a high pollution area just like a city as well as preserve the symbol of Mount Fuji for upcoming centuries.

Sr.No.	Particulars	Mount Fuji: International PA	Acadia National Park: National PA
1.	Country	Japan	United States (US)
2.	Date of Creation	286 B.C	1916
3.	Purpose of Establishment	Volcano came into existence due to earthquake.	Protection of wildlife of Mount Desert Island.
4.	Key Biological and Cultural Features	Biological: Less existence of Biological life, however Japanese Serow, Black Bears, Foxes, Japanese Beech plant, Nikko Fir Etcetera, etc. Cultural:  Symbol of Japan, presence in art and photographs from a very long time, etc.	Biological: Seal, Whales, Herons, Sandpipers, Harlequin Ducks, Wood Lily, Reed Canary Grass, etc. Cultural: Wabanaki people’s Tradition, Shops and Restaurants, etc.
5.	Context of Surroundings	Cone shapes, Five months in a year peak covered in Snow, The ashes are covering the ground of the Mount to a great extent even to Tokyo.	Abundance of Wildlife, Hugh rocky landscape, streams, etc. Spread over 47000 acre across Mount Desert island.
6.	Designated IUCN Category	Category V: Protected Landscape/Seascape.	Category II: National Park.
7.	Major threat to Management	Base of Mount Fuji is turning into a garbage dumping area.	Global Warming and environment degradation Threat.
8.	Managing Organizations	Japan Government and UNESCO.	US Government and International Nature Governing Bodies.
9.	Major Management Objectives	Manage the Tourists, climbers, shops, restaurants, and cleanliness of the region.	Preserve the culture and wildlife of that region, avoid environment degradation and reduce global warming.
10.	Major PA Programme	Protect the culture of society of Mount Fuji, Educating the people about the importance of not dumping garbage on Mount Fuji.	Pest Management Program, Crop Conservation Program, Wildlife Education Program, Management of Global Warming Program.
11.	Funding Source	Government of Japan and some international bodies.	Government of US and some international bodies.

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