Fao/Global Environment Facility Project Document
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FAO/GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY PROJECT DOCUMENT Countries: China Project Title: Demonstration of Estuarine Biodiversity Conservation, Restoration and Protected Area Networking in China GEF Project ID: 4175 FAO Project ID: 609231 FAO Project Symbol: GCP /CPR/045/GFF GEF Agency: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations- FAO Other Executing Partners: State Oceanic Administration of China; Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Ocean and Fisheries; Shandong Provincial Bureau of Ocean and Fisheries GEF Focal Area: Biodiversity Operational Programme: GEF Strategic Programme: BD-SP 2; BD-SP 4 Duration: Five years Estimated Starting Date: November 2012 Estimated Completion: October 2017 Financing Plan: GEF Allocation: USD 3 516 400 Co-financing: State Government (cash) USD 50 300 State Government (in-kind) USD 648 304 Province of Guangdong (cash) USD 6 025 100 Province of Guangdong (in-kind) USD 747 035 Province of Shandong (cash) USD 3 352 600 Province of Shandong (in-kind) USD 789 527 FAO (cash) USD 139 300 FAO (in-kind) USD 92 914 Sub-total Co-financing: USD 11 845 080 Total Project Budget: USD 15 361 480 Operational Focal Point Endorsement: Fangyu Liu Date of endorsement: GEF Operational Focal Point September 30, 2009 International Department Ministry of Finance China China: Demonstration of Estuarine Biodiversity Conservation, Restoration and Protected Area Networking in China _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY China has more than 1,500 rivers with significant basin drainage areas (> 1,000 km 2) that run into the sea. All have formed discrete estuarine ecosystems, three of which are defined as large (i.e., greater than 450 thousand km 2 in area). Despite the significance of these highly productive and biologically rich systems the recent rapid growth in residential, commercial and industrial sectors in coastal areas and associated maritime transport centers particularly in the larger estuaries, have adversely affected most of China’s major deltas. Major threats to the country’s estuaries include: the reduction of freshwater inflows due to upstream diversions and impoundments; pollution loading associated with local and offsite industrialization and urbanization; non-sustainable use of natural resources (e.g., fishery resources); and habitat loss due primarily to urban and industrial expansion. In contrast to the country’s terrestrial ecosystems, the collective response to these threats in China’s estuarine ecosystems is still nascent in its development and faces a number of constraints. These include: (i) policy failures and gaps; (ii) lack of inclusion of biodiversity conservation criteria in local, regional and national socio-economic development plans; (iii) an absence of effective inter-institutional coordination mechanisms; (iv) monitoring mandates and efforts disbursed across a number of institutions with low levels of collaboration and sharing of data that constrain obtaining an accurate understanding of the “health” of these ecosystems; (v) low capacity to manage estuarine and marine protected areas (MPA); and (vi) lack of awareness and recognition of the significance of estuarine biodiversity by decision and policy makers and the public at large. As China has made significant gains in the reduction of poverty and begins to reach economic standards comparable to the West, there has been a notable shift towards addressing other priorities including the improvement of environmental quality. For the conservation of estuarine wetland systems now is a propitious time to act and support conservation actions contributing to the development of experiences that can be up-scaled and applied to other estuaries both in China and the region. The goal of the Project is to improve existing efforts to conserve biodiversity in China’s major estuarine ecosystems. The Project’s specific objective is to mainstream the conservation of estuarine biodiversity in economic development sector plans and develop a series of “best practices” based on experiences derived from project supported field activities focusing on the creation of protected area networks and wetland conservation and restoration in the Yellow and Pearl River Estuaries. This would be achieved through: (i) addressing policy gaps and/or institutional failures serving to reinforce government efforts to create and conserve estuarine ecosystems; (ii) strengthening of individual marine protected areas (MPAs) to better achieve their conservation objectives; (iii) creation of new MPAs where gap analysis indicates that examples of critical habitats and species remain outside of conservation protection; (iv) establishment of MPA networks composed of existing and / or the inclusion of new protected areas; (v) restoration of degraded wetland habitats; (vi) facilitating closer collaboration and improved data collection and interpretation among agencies responsible for monitoring ecological conditions in the two Estuaries; (vii) building institutional capacity; (viii) promotion of increased public awareness of the long-term significance of biodiversity resources in these two deltaic ecosystems and the role MPAs and networks play in their conservation and management; and (ix) the development and dissemination of a series of “best practices.” This goal would be achieved through the potential, additional phases of which the present Project would represent the initial phase. The Project directly supports priorities identified under the China Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2010), National Wetland Conservation Program (2002-2030), National Wetland Strategy Circular # 50 (2004), 4 th State Report to the CBD (2008) and the China- Biodiversity Partnership and Framework for Action (2007-2017). The Project will be executed in five years with a total estimated budget of USD 15.4 million provided by the following sources: (i) GEF: USD 3.5 million; (ii) Government of China (SOA): USD 0.7 million; (iii) Shandong Province: USD 4.1 million; (iv) Guangdong Province: USD 6.8 million; and (v) FAO: USD 0.2 million. i China: Demonstration of Estuarine Biodiversity Conservation, Restoration and Protected Area Networking in China _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary (i) Glossary and Acronyms (iv) 1. BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................... 6 1.1 General and Sectoral Context ......................................................................... 6 2. RATIONALE .............................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Problems and Issues to be Addressed ............................................................ 8 2.2 Project Justification – Incremental Reasoning .......................................... 11 2.3 Project Consistency with GEF-4 Biodiversity Stretegy ............................. 14 2.3 Project consistency with FAO’s Comparative Advantages and Strategic Framework ........................................................................................................... 15 2.4 Consistency of the Project with National Priorities and Plans ................. 16 2.5 Past and related work –coordination with related initiatives ................... 18 3. PROJECT FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................... 20 3.1 Project Goal and objective ........................................................................... 20 3.2 Project Components, Outputs and Outcomes ............................................ 20 3.3 Expected Global Environmental benefits ................................................... 26 3.4 Alternative Strategies Considered –costeffectiveness analysis .................. 27 3.5 Sustainability ................................................................................................. 28 3.6 Assumptions and Risk .................................................................................. 28 3.7 Fiduciary Risks .............................................................................................. 30 4. IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS .................. 31 4.1 Institutional Arrangements ........................................................................... 31 4.2 Implementation Arrangements ..................................................................... 32 5. FINANCIAL AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT .................................... 44 5.1 Financial Plan ................................................................................................. 44 5.2 GEF and Government Inputs ....................................................................... 45 5.4 FAO Input ....................................................................................................... 45 5.5 Financial Management and Reporting on GEF Resources ........................ 45 5.6 Procurement and Contracting ..................................................................... 47 6. OVERSIGHT, MONITORING, EVALUATIONS AND REPORTING ............. 49 6.1 Oversight and reviews ................................................................................... 49 6.2 Monitoring and Evaluations ........................................................................ 50 6.3 Reporting Schedule ......................................................................................