Performance People’s Republic of China: Evaluation Sanjiang Plain Wetlands Report Protection Project Independent Evaluation Performance Evaluation Report December 2015 People’s Republic of China: Sanjiang Plain Wetlands Protection Project This document is being disclosed to the public in accordance with ADB’s Public Communications Policy 2011. Reference Number: PPE:PRC 2015-15 Project Number: 35289 Loan and Grant Numbers: 2157 and 4571 Independent Evaluation: PE-783 NOTE In this report, “$” refers to US dollars. Director General V. Thomas, Independent Evaluation Department (IED) Director W. Kolkma, Independent Evaluation Division 1, IED Team leader G. Kilroy, Evaluation Specialist, IED Team members M. Dimayuga, Senior Evaluation Officer, IED C. Marvilla. Evaluation Assistant, IED In preparing any evaluation report, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Independent Evaluation Department does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. The guidelines formally adopted by IED on avoiding conflict of interest in its independent evaluations were observed in the preparation of this report. To the knowledge of the management of IED, there were no conflicts of interest of the persons preparing, reviewing, or approving this report. Abbreviations ADB - Asian Development Bank EIRR – economic internal rate of return FIRR – financial internal rate of return GEF – Global Environment Facility GIS – geographic information system ha – hectare HPFD – Heilongjiang Provincial Forestry Department HPG – Heilongjiang Provincial Government IED – Independent Evaluation Department IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature M&E – monitoring and evaluation MOF – Ministry of Finance NTFP – non-timber forest product PCR – project completion report PIU – project implementation unit PMO – project management office PPER - project performance evaluation report PRC - People’s Republic of China PVR - project validation report Currency Equivalents At Independent At Appraisal At Completion Evaluation (14 March 2005) (30 May 2013) (18 June 2015) CNY1.00 = $0.12 $0.16 $0.16 $1.00 = CNY8.3 CNY6.1 CNY6.2 Contents Acknowledgments vii Executive Summary xi Map xv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 A. Evaluation Purpose and Process 1 B. Expected Results of the Project 3 Chapter 2: Design and Implementation 5 A. Formulation 5 B. Rationale 6 C. Cost and Financing 7 D. Implementing Arrangements, Procurement, Construction, and Scheduling 7 E. Design Changes 8 F. Outputs 8 G. Consultants 13 H. Loan Covenants 14 I. Policy and Sector Framework 14 Chapter 3: Performance Assessment 15 A. Overall Assessment 15 B. Relevance 16 C. Effectiveness 18 D. Efficiency 20 E. Sustainability 22 Chapter 4: Other Assessments 23 A. Impact 23 B. ADB Performance 25 C. Executing and Implementing Agencies Performance 26 Chapter 5: Issues, Lessons, and Follow-up Actions 27 Appendixes 1. Project Framework and Assessment of Results at Appraisal, Completion, and Independent Evaluation 34 2. Appraisal and Actual Project Cost 60 3. Status of Compliance and Loan Covenants as of Independent Evaluation Mission 61 4. Planned and Actual Implementation Schedule 71 5. Financial Reevaluation 72 6. Economic Reevaluation 75 7. Environmental Impact Analysis 77 8. Survey and Focus Group Discussions—Methodology and Results 78 9. Evaluation of Land Acquisition and Resettlement Activities 99 10. Ministry of Finance 2010 Midterm Performance Evaluation 105 Acknowledgments This report is a product of the Independent Evaluation Department (IED) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Garrett Kilroy, Evaluation Specialist, led the evaluation, with support from Ma. Juana Dimayuga (Senior Evaluation Officer) and Christine Grace Marvilla (Evaluation Assistant). The team acknowledges the valuable inputs from consultants recruited for this study—Andrew Sillitoe and Shaojun Chen. The evaluation team acknowledges the support provided by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Resident Mission. The team benefited greatly from discussions with officials of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, and particularly with staff at the executing agency, the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, and in particular the Forestry Department, whose staff participated in the interviews and assisted in coordinating the wetland field visits in Sanjiang Plain. We appreciate, too, discussions with other development partners active in natural resource management within the PRC. We greatly appreciate the support from the staff and representatives of the Ministry of Finance for facilitating the joint evaluation activities for this evaluation. In particular, we acknowledge the valuable support of Geng Dali, and especially during the independent evaluation mission. This was truly a good example of a joint evaluation between IED and the Ministry of Finance. The team is very grateful to officials of participating counties, nature reserve staff, and state farm staff for facilitating our field visits. The feedback from respondents in the Sanjiang Plain who participated in our questionnaire survey and focus group discussions strengthened the study and is much appreciated. The report was peer reviewed by Andrew Brubaker, Senior Evaluation Specialist, IED. The report was prepared under the overall guidance of Vinod Thomas, Director General, IED; and Walter Kolkma, Director, Division 1, IED. IED retains full responsibility for the report. Basic Data People’s Republic of China: Sanjiang Plain Wetlands Protection Project (Project Number 35289, Loan 2157, Grant 4571) At Appraisal Actual Key Project Data ($ million) ($ million) Total project cost 55.55 55.55 52.5152.51 Foreign exchange cost 9.41 9.41 6.46.40 Local currency cost 46.14 46.14 59.346.11 ADB loan amount/utilization 15.00 14.99 GEF grant amount/utilization 15.0 12.14 14.9912.14 ADB = Asian Development Bank, GEF = Global Environment Facility. Key Dates Fact-finding 15 April15 –April12 May–12 2004May 2004 Loan negotiations 20–2220 November–22 November 2004 2004 Board approval 14 March14 March 2005 2005 Loan signing 18 July18 2005July 2005 Loan effectiveness 9 December 9 December 2005 2005 First disbursement of loan 24 March 2006 First disbursement of grant 12 M24arch March 2007 Loan closing 30 May 2013 Borrower: People’s Republic of China Executing Agency: Heilongjiang Provincial Government Mission Data Number of Number of Person- Type of Mission Missions Days Fact-finding 1 92 Appraisal 1 54 Inception 1 21 Review 7 88 Midterm review 1 60 Special loan administration 4 15 Project completion review 1 25 Independent evaluation 1 13 Development Project Performance Report Ratings Objectives Implementation 31 March 2005 to 31 August 2008 Satisfactory Satisfactory 1 September 2008 to 31 May 2009 Satisfactory Satisfactory 1 June 2009 to 31 December 2010 Satisfactory Satisfactory 1 January 2011 to 30 August 2013 On Track Executive Summary The Sanjiang Plain wetlands, located in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, comprise one of the richest areas of globally significant biodiversity in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) but also one of the country’s most important food production regions. The area of the wetlands has been reduced by 80% from its original size since the 1950s due to multiple pressures, most notably drainage to reclaim land for farming. In support of these challenges and at the request of the PRC, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan for $15 million was cofinanced by a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of $12.14 million that was administered by ADB. The project’s main goal was to improve management of natural resources in order to protect globally significant species and sustain economic development. The purpose (outcome) of the project was to achieve an integrated conservation and development model to protect the natural resources (biodiversity, water, forests) of the Sanjiang Plain wetlands and their watersheds from continued threats while improving the well-being of local communities. This project performance evaluation report (PPER) was undertaken as a joint evaluation exercise with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of the PRC, with the MOF assisting in the desk review and the independent evaluation mission. The joint evaluation led to more issues being identified and more recommendations directed to the PRC than would otherwise have been the case. It was agreed in advance that the PPER would be prepared by the Independent Evaluation Department (IED) following IED guidelines. The executing agency was the Heilongjiang Provincial Government and the project management office (PMO) had been established within the Heilongjiang Provincial Forestry Department (HPFD). This evaluation adopted a mixed methods approach comprising a desk review of relevant project information; discussions with relevant ADB project staff; discussions with relevant state, provincial, and county agencies; a field mission including visits to four of the six project nature reserves; key informant interviews; focus group discussions; and a survey of affected people. A. Project Performance The project is rated successful on a scale of 4 categories (highly successful, successful, less than successful, and unsuccessful). The project successfully increased and improved upland forest cover, restored degraded wetlands, improved wetland hydrology, increased incomes of affected households through alternative livelihoods, undertook wetland conservation education, and established wetland management capacity.