China PROJECT DOCUMENT
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United Nations Development Programme Country: China PROJECT DOCUMENT Project Title: Strengthening the effectiveness of the protected area system in Qinghai Province, China to conserve globally important biodiversity UNDAF Outcome(s): Outcome 1.2. Policy and implementation mechanisms to manage natural resources are strengthened, with special attention to poor and vulnerable groups UNDP Strategic Plan Environment and Sustainable Development Primary Outcome: Mobilizing environmental financing UNDP Strategic Plan Secondary Outcome: Mainstreaming environment and energy Expected CP Outcome(s ): Low carbon and other environmentally sustainable strategies and technologies are adopted widely to meet China’s commitments and compliance with Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Provincial capacities of key institutions are strengthened to implement global environmental commitments at regional level through integration of biodiversity and other environmental concerns into regional policies and programmes involved. Expected CPAP Output(s): Capacity to implement local climate change action plans for mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development built. Executing Entity/Implementing Partner: Department of Forestry, Qinghai Province Government, China Implementing Entity/Responsible Partners: Ministry of Environmental Protection (through umbrella project China Biodiversity Partnership and Framework for Action) UNDP GEF PIMS 4179 GEF Project ID 3992 Brief description As the fourth largest province in China, with a total area of 720,000 km 2, Qinghai serves as a significant store of the national biodiversity, exhibits some unique high altitude grassland, mountain, wetland, desert and forest ecosystems, and serves as a significant controller of the Asian monsoon system that affects the climate of 3 billion people. The province includes the headwaters of three of Asia’s major rivers – the Yellow, Yangtze and Mekong rivers. Although Qinghai lists 11 nature reserves totalling an impressive 31% of the territory, the existing protected area (PA) system lacks adequate balance – it shows significant gaps in ecosystem coverage and contains extensive overlap with other interests such as road construction, water diversion plans and herder community tenure rights. It also includes areas exhibiting serious land degradation resulting from a combination inter alia of overgrazing, engineering damage and climate change. Other problems facing the PA system include illegal gold mining and poaching, livestock fences interrupting wildlife migratory pathways, and aggressive pest control programmes aimed at small burrowing mammals but that also harm many collateral species. Qinghai’s PA system also lacks sufficient authority (legal status) to adequately plan and execute appropriate biodiversity conservation measures, which should incorporate the biological needs of species and ecosystems as well as the concerns and participation of local people and communities PRODOC 4179 Qinghai PA’s Page 1 Table of Contents SECTION I: Elaboration of the Narrative ...................................................................................................................................................................... 9 PART I: Situation Analysis .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Context and global significance ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Environmental context ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Global Significance of Qinghai’s Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Socio-economic context and land use ............................................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 1: Ethnic make-up of Qinghai Province, 1952-2008 (as percentage of provincial population, by year) ............................................ 12 Figure 2: Disposable income of urban and rural residents in Qinghai Province (in RMB per annum, by prefecture) ................................... 13 Figure 3: Herd numbers in Qinghai Province, 1990-2008 .............................................................................................................................. 14 Protected area system: current status and coverage ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Map 1: Qinghai’s Protected Areas (2000) (shaded blue) ................................................................................................................................ 15 Table 1: Qinghai’s PAs .................................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Map 2: Vegetation map of Qinghai Province (scale 1:4,000,000).................................................................................................................. 16 Table 2: Current Management Prescriptions for Different Zones within NRs .............................................................................................. 17 Map 3: Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve with 18 units (in 6 large blocks), each with 3 different management zones ...................... 18 Institutional context ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 18 Policy and Legislative Context ....................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Threats, root causes and impacts .................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 4: Average annual temperatures in Qinghai Province, 1961-2008 ...................................................................................................... 21 Figure 5: The Asian monsoon pattern ............................................................................................................................................................. 22 Long-term solution, and barriers to achieving the solution ............................................................................................................................ 22 Map 4: Qinghai PAs over WWF regions ........................................................................................................................................................ 26 Table 3: Major dates in the timeline of developing the new Contract Conservation model in Cuochi village .............................................. 28 Stakeholder Analaysis .................................................................................................................................................................................... 29 Table 4: Key stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities in the project ................................................................................................. 29 Baseline Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 30 PART II: Strategy ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34 Project Rationale and Policy Conformity ....................................................................................................................................................... 34 Project Goal, Objective, Outcomes and Outputs/activities ............................................................................................................................. 36 Table 5: Project Demonstration Communities ............................................................................................................................................. 44 Project Indicators ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 50 Table 6: Project objectives, outcomes, indicators and targets ........................................................................................................................ 50 Project Risks ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 52 PRODOC 4179 Qinghai PA’s Page 3 Table 7: Risk Table ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 52 Incremental reasoning and