PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AB5535 Project Name Support to Protected Areas Management Region AFRICA
Public Disclosure Authorized Sector Forestry (100%) Project ID P115963 GEF Focal Area Biodiversity Borrower(s) BENIN Implementing Agency CENAGREF Colonel Jean Yehouenou Tessi 01 BP 0227 Benin Tel: 229 95 42 04 75/21 30 72 82 Fax: 229 21 30 90 72 [email protected] CENAGREF
Public Disclosure Authorized Ferdinand Claude Kidjo 01 BP 0227 Benin Tel: 229 21 30 90 70/21 30 72 82 [email protected] CENAGREF Roger Des-Lanlo Responsable Cellule Ressources Benin
[email protected] Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Public Disclosure Authorized Date PID Prepared March 3, 2010 Estimated Date of May 2010 Appraisal Authorization Estimated Date of Board November 2010 Approval
Key development issues and rationale for Bank/GEF Involvement
Public Disclosure Authorized Context 1. Benin is a small country with a population of about 9 million people and a per capita income of US$570/annum (World Bank, 2009). The extreme Northwest part of the country is home to one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s best known parks, the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve (5,000 km2), commonly called the Pendjari National Park (PNB), which has an abundance of flora and fauna species. The PNB is part of the 50,000 Km2 W-Arli-Pendjari (WAP) system of protected areas. It is the largest and most important continuum of terrestrial, semi-aquatic and aquatic ecosystems in the West African Savannah belt and the most viable natural refuge available to most of the vulnerable and/or threatened animal species in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. The flooded areas along the rivers of both W and Pendjari National Parks are wetlands with international importance. Benin has recently added Pendjari National Park on the indicative list of natural World Heritage Sites to become one of the elements of the future trans-boundary WAP World Heritage.
1 = Pendjari National Park (PNB); 2,3,and 4 = W regional park
2. The PNB and the Benin W National Park are managed by the CENAGREF (Centre National de Gestion des Reserves de la Faune)/National Center for Wildlife Management, a public interest entity with administrative and financial autonomy, created in 1996. In 1998, CENAGREF drafted an Action Plan for the conservation and management of national parks outlining required approaches, budgeted actions, and implementation arrangements that led to the development of the PGCPN (Programme de Gestion et de Conservation des Parcs Nationaux/ Program for the Management and Conservation of National Parks).
Rationale for Bank/GEF Involvement 3. The GEF and Bank were actively engaged in the implementation of the PGCPN from 2002 to 2007, along with the European Union, the Dutch, French and German Governments. They jointly provided financial support to the Government of Benin to conserve the biodiversity in PNB and “W” National Park and their adjacent hunting areas and buffer zones. This included: (i) increasing the institutional capacity of the CENAGREF, (ii) developing alternative community livelihood schemes to take pressure off the parks' natural resources; (iii) improving basic infrastructure within the parks; and (iv) expanding environmental awareness and education.
4. The rationale for Bank/GEF involvement in the proposed project is to ensure sustainability of the results achieved by the PGCPN through the creation of a Conservation Trust Fund (CTF), along with the German Government through KfW and other potential donors, with the view to complement other resources coming from the public budget, sport hunting and tourism.
5. The proposed project is aligned with: (i) the Government Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and Growth Strategy for Poverty Reduction 2007-2009 which highlight biodiversity conservation as a national priority; (ii) the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS 2009- 2012) pillar 5 “Promoting balanced and sustainable development”, through “greater territorial equity, as a means of protecting the environment, and sustainable management of natural resources”, including biodiversity conservation; and (iii) GEF Biodiversity Strategic Objective 1 (SO1): “Catalyzing Sustainability of Protected Areas” and Strategic Program 3 (SP3): “Strengthening terrestrial Protected Area networks.
Proposed project development objective(s)
6. The Global Environment Objective (GEO) of the Project is to contribute to the sustainable management of the Northern Benin Savannah Ecosystems. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to secure long term funding to strengthen and consolidate the ongoing efforts for biodiversity conservation, sustainable natural resources management and eco-development in Northern Benin Savannah ecosystems.
7. The expected outcomes are: (i) Protected Areas Management Effectiveness Tracking Tools (PA METT) scores have improved by 20 points from baseline; and (ii) Increase in number of income generating activities developped at the Community level.
Preliminary project description:
The following four components are proposed:
8. Component 1. Strengthened management capacity in Northern Benin Savannah Ecosystems. The tentative budget is: USD2,250,000 as parallel financing from IDA Urban Environment Project currently under preparation. Pending full endowment of the CTF and sufficient returns on investments, IDA funds will serve as a “bridge” financing. It will fund: Technical Assistance, workshops and operating costs for the preparation and implementation of management plans for the Pendjari and W National parks, including business plans and making small grants to local communities.
9. Component 2. Effective operation of the CTF for Northern Benin Savannah Ecosystems: The tentative budget is: USD950,000 of which USD200,000 GEF and USD750,000 parallel financing from IDA Urban Environment Project. This component will finance Technical Assistance for the development of: (i) the CTF Procedures Manual, including grant-making procedures and Investment Policy; (ii) communication strategy; and (iii) a fund raising strategy. The Component will also finance the salaries and operating costs of the CTF until it becomes fully operational. 10. Component 3. Endowment of trust fund for sustainable management of Northern Benin Savannah Ecosystems. This component will focus on the initial capitalization of the CTF through an endowment of USD14,510,450, funded as follows: (i) USD1,510,450 from GEF, (ii) Euro 1.5 million (USD2 million equivalent) from the Government of Benin, (iii) Euro 8,000,000 (USD11 million equivalent) from the German Government through KfW.
11. The European Union has indicated an interest in contributing to the strengthening of the fund’s capacity to operate, as a way to maintain long-term impact of its investment in W Park over the recent years. Preliminary discussions have also been initiated with the French Development Cooperation Agency and the French GEF (AFD and FFEM) for a potential contribution to the fund’s capital and process.
12. Component 4. Project management: Estimated budget of this component is USD1,190,050 of which USD190,050 GEF, and USD1,000,000 in-kind contribution from the Government of Benin. This component would focus on providing the organizational framework to support coordination and implementation of the sustainable protected area management, including for results-based monitoring and evaluation. Project Management will be ensured by CENAGREF.
CTF Implementation Arrangements and operation
13. The CTF will be a limited liability company created under the UK law. It will have a mixed public/private Board members with a private majority. The Board will be composed of a minimum of five members and a maximum of nine. It will be responsible for overall management of the fund. An Executive Director, with support from an Adminstrative Assistant and a liaison officer will be responsible for the implementation of the Board’s decisions, and daily management. An internationally recognized investment manager will manage the invested hard currency assets on the basis of guidelines provided by the Board. Potential Risks and Mitigation Risks Rating Management Strategy The trust fund will be established as a private charity. As such, it will be independent from the Government, and not directly affected by institutional and Poor governance and political changes. Daily management staff will be kept to three (Executive institutional instability of the Moderate Director, Administrative Assistant and Liaison Officer) competitively selected trust fund and will not be civil servants.
Returns on the initial endowment will be complemented with additional Return on initial capital from revenues from tourism, hunting and fishing, as well as contribution from the endowment fund insufficient Government budget. to cover the costs of core High management activities for Pending full endowment, a strategic exercise will take place on an annual basis the Northern Benin savannah to prioritize needs and allocate overall revenues accordingly. In addition, initial ecosystems capital is expected to provide a strong signal to other donors and will help to gradually raise the necessary additional funds to cover the gap. The process to create the trust fund has involved a number of partners which, so Other financiers reluctant to far, have all responded positively to the concept. So far KfW had made firm channel their funding via the High commitment to participate in the fund endowment. However additional funds to trust fund increase the Foundation from other EU partners still need to be committed. Little information is currently available on the probable impacts of climate change upon the West African savannah environment of the WAP System of Protected Areas. The whole system has good potential to mitigate climate change Climate change negative effects because of its immense surface and diverse landscapes. impact upon the key Low The PNB ecological monitoring system currently being set up will help with biodiversity and habitats assessing the level of impacts and adopting adequate measures, based on recent within the parks. and upcoming information. Especially the vulnerable RAMSAR sites in wetlands are closely surveyed. Keeping this monitoring system in place and extending it to other PAs should be one of the key activities to be funded in the future.
Safeguards 14. The project is a category B project. The Environmental Assessment policy OP/BP 4.01 is triggered because of the potential small-scale civil works associated with the implementation of participatory management plans. Some could be community micro-projects and rehabilitation of park infrastructures such as access routes, trails and ranger posts. An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) will be prepared, reviewed, approved and disclosed in-country and at the infoshop prior to appraisal. Tentative financing Source: ($m.) BORROWER/RECIPIENT 2.0 Global Environment Facility (GEF) 1.9 IDA 3.0 Germany (KfW) 11.0 Total 17.9 Contact point Contact: Salimata D. Follea Title: Operations Analyst Tel: (202) 473-4740 Fax: Email: [email protected]