business planning process in ro-cnpa planning... · input to pa business plans in romania’s cnpas...

“Improving the Financial Sustainability of the Carpathian System of Protected Areas Project”

Alin Bîrda

Maramures Mountains Nature Park, Romania

Sinaia, November 13th, 2013

Business planning process in RO-CNPA

Inputs to the PA business plan

PA Business Plan

MMNP Financial

Plan

Programs’ Management

Costs

Programs’ Financial Needs

Existing Financial

Gaps

Financial Options

Breakeven Point &

RR

Investment priorities

Marketing and

communications

MMNP Economic Value & Impact

MMNP Management

plan

Ecoregional plan

Ecological gap

analysis

Natura 2000 Guidelines

CBD/UICN Guidelines

Hot Spot Guidelines

Capacity Gaps

assessment

Goals Object Prog

Romania Biodiversity

Strategy

PA Management Plan

Source: Marlon Flores

13 November 2013 Sinaia, RO-CNPAs Business planning– Alin Bîrda 2

Input to PA business plans in Romania’s CNPAs



Park’s Business Plans and the private sector

Business partnerships are defined as “win-win” strategic alliances between PA administrators and public agencies or private enterprises, which aim at:

achievement toward PA conservation goals

improving funding to PAs

increasing profits to business partners

contributing to the “greening of the image” of the partner institution/enterprises

4

• financial needs - financial options - how to implement it • includes private sector – partnerships - reporting

13 November 2013 Sinaia, RO-CNPAs Business planning– Alin Bîrda

Screening and selection of revenue mechanisms

• Screen to identify most suitable revenue options to fill gaps • Analysis of complexity vs. impact is useful for screening and programming

• A detailed feasibility assessment (FA) is best for complex market-based

options

a) Identifies two or more operative models to implement a revenue option

b) Supports selection of the best operational model

c) Clarifies if a financial option is not feasible and should be dropped


6

Screening of revenue options (E.g. Payments for ES)

A. Identification of goods and services (G/S) of PA

A B

C Note: Investor could pay for pre-investment studies

C. Determination of the financial mechanism to tie investors to the identified goods and services (taxes, fees, royalties, concessions)

B. Search for potential customers (investors) for the identified G/S



Non-market mechanisms

1. Potential government contributions to support forest compensation to farmers.

2. Cost-effective entry fee policy that will include diversified tourism-based entry fees and partnerships with existing tourism attractions (steam train Mocanita, cable car in Bucegi, “Dragos Voda” zoo, Bear’s Cave in Apuseni etc.).

3. Partnerships with the toll road administration.

4. Commercial usage of the park logos for partners who wish to associate their product with one or more of the Romanian CNPAs (bottlers of spring and mineral water, producers of timber and NTF products, food producers, suppliers of outdoor equipment, garment manufacturers, tourist operators.

5. A multiyear partnership for forest management; the partnership for forest management is also promising; it will work under an “adopt a hectare of forest” and it is expected to bring important corporation such as the Ursus brewery.

6. Partnership with local pensions through the parks’ web site.

7. Fund raising partnerships that sponsor sport and cultural events.

8. Voluntary contributions in kind to support the reintroduction of the European Bison or other species.

9. Creation of a Romanian CNPAs Trust Fund, to eventually manage an endowment and sinking fund supported with defined revenue streams; besides the establishment of the trust fund, the Project’s business development unit (BDU) will need to work on establishing adequate transfer mechanisms for eventual resources that will be managed by the trust; it is assumed that the trust will be able to transfer money to the recently created Association of PAs and subsequently the Association will be able to transfer money (donations) to the PAs; the establishment of this fund will be complex and will take time.

10. Donation boxes that could be placed in strategic places such as the Bran Castle area, banks, shopping centres, hotels and restaurants, shop chains, bus stations, tourism information bureaus; and in international, national and regional airports.


Market-based mechanisms

1. Collection of entry fees to the park; impact will be managed by a strict visitation management strategy.

2. Recreational activity fees (guided tours, accommodation, horseback excursions, boat trips etc.)

3. Tourism-related concessions are another pillar of the BP; these include operations of a visitor centre where in addition to information being provided, sales of handicrafts, food and souvenirs takes place.

4. Direct sale of products with park logo (t-shirts, maps, posters, cups etc.) and direct sale of office services (printing, scanning, topographic measurements etc.).

5. Partnerships with local farmers for sustainable cultivation and distribution for organic natural products particularly for medicinal plants.

6. Special operation permits charges are also envisaged in the BP; a permit issued by PA is required for commercial photography and filming and also for all the activities in the park area that need an environmental approval by Ministry of Environment (gravel extraction, constructions, timber processing, micro hydropower, cattle farms, fish farms, mining sites restoration etc.).

7. Fee for service contracts; parks are staffed by professional people with a range of skills related to the environment and conservation (environmental studies, monitoring studies, management planning consultancy)

8. Payments for environmental services (watershed protection, carbon sequestration)


Investment opportunities for the private sector

1. Partnerships for payment of PA Entry Fees

2. Sale of Commercial rights to the use of PA logos

3. Outsourcing of Vanatori Bison and Zoo operation

4. Carbon Offset Partnerships

5. Sponsorships and donations

6. Business Concessions within PA visitor centers

7. Commercial Permit Charges at market rates

8. Fee for Service Contracts

9. Regional Alliances

10. PA Trust Funds

11. Timber Certification

12. Web Site Advertising

13. Special Events (Cycling and Recreational)

14. Promotion of cultural events

Source: CFA Guide


Results

• The business partnerships in the lower left hand side are the ‘low hanging fruit’ and would most likely be the options to be implemented with a relatively low transaction cost.

• The options in the upper left hand corner offer the greatest benefit at the lowest cost and should therefore be preferred.

• The low priority quadrant in the lower right hand corner contains strategies that are not attractive in a cost benefit sense and may be dropped from consideration – despite being socially beneficial

• Finally, the upper right hand quadrant contains options that may require longer term preparation and policy work. – due to their high potential impact, preparatory work could be could

be worthwhile at an early stage.


How do we approach our prospective Business Partners?

• Preparation and presentation are the critical elements in developing a new business relationship.

• Preparation can often be the hardest part • Preparation requires research and due diligence to help

develop a sales pitch tailored to the needs of the potential business partner.

• Best practice principles must always be applied to making presentations in order to have any affect.


Steps to Approaching Potential Partners 1. List Potential Partners

• Create a list of companies in your field and others that you think will benefit from doing business with your agency

• These could be businesses with which you've always wanted to do business, or with whom you're familiar from meeting their representatives at networking events or even just market based knowledge.

• Develop a database to store and access information about each potential business relationship.

2. Background Research

• Conduct research on the history and internal workings of each company.

• This can consist of obtaining information from the company's website or articles in news publications that may indicate certain business trends or the direction of corporate leadership.

• Investigate a company's legal history for business violations, fines, and proceedings regarding criminal negligence and fraud.

• Develop and apply a set of selection criteria and apply this to your analysis for deciding the list of potential partners

3. Create Understanding

• Develop a complete understanding of the products and services your agency is able to provide to a potential business partner.

• Prepare a business proposal that summarises what you intend to offer, the likely financial results and the key executives from the agency to be involved

• Understand the type of business products and services that the companies identified specialize in so you can analyse how your business would fit in if there was a business relationship.

• Find out the companies' marketing strategies as well as the type of customers they target with their marketing efforts.

12 13 November 2013 Sinaia, RO-CNPAs Business planning– Alin Bîrda

Steps to Approaching Potential Partners

4. Establish Contact

• Contact an executive who you know or who has a primary decision-making role with the company.

• Let them know that you would like to set up a meeting with them and their colleagues to discuss setting up a potential business relationship with their firm

5. Presentation Preparation

• Prepare for the presentation with your colleagues.

• Create an outline and decide who will present which sections of the presentation.

6. Making the Presentation

• Meet with the company executives and present your proposal for doing business with them.

• Provide them with information about your company, including pamphlets, brochures and work samples.

• Importantly provide them with documents that support your business proposal and presentation.

– Visual aids are a key factor to making a clear and concise point to the corporate heads

7. Follow Up

• Attempt to schedule a follow-up meeting once the preliminary meeting is over.

• Check to make sure if they are still interested in doing business with your firm and ask them if they have any additional questions or inquiries about your company.


Conclusions and recommendations

Implementation viability: • Park administrations have reduced staff with appropriate skills to manage

implementation of the BP; it is recommended to enlarge the personnel structure with qualified, dedicated staff.

• Park administrations are relative new and have limited instruments to develop business partnerships and to monitor them; it is recommended that national policies regarding natural capital management should enhance park administration attributes – parks’ administrations should have a leading role in resource management on park territory

Financial returns: • Significant net revenue is directly related to the “goods and services” involved in the

determination of the financial mechanisms. Legal and regulatory framework is restricted to park administration role in managing the goods and services on park territory. Non-material goods such as park logo still have minor impact on Romanian economic agenda; it is recommended a change in the legal and regulatory system to permit park administrations to manage the resources in the PA according to the management plans and the conservation interest; it also recommended a strong, solid and continuous campaign to promote the protected areas and their vital role in the society.

Conservation benefits • Protected areas are under pressure in a developing economic environment

(hydropower, mineral extraction, forest exploitation etc.); it is recommended to careful select the potential customers and to create partnerships with the real eco-friendly ones.


Thank you

and

Questions?

Alin Birda

[email protected]

Maramures Mountains Nature Park


mailto:[email protected]

business planning process in ro-cnpa planning... · input to pa business plans in romania’s cnpas...

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