SR20 Public Disclosure Authorized Draft Safeguards Diagnostic Review for Public Disclosure Authorized South Africa Development, Empowerment and Conservation in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Surrounding Region Public Disclosure Authorized May 2009 Public Disclosure Authorized TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations and Acronyms.......................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. I. Background ....................................................................................................................... 18 II. Project Description............................................................................................................ 21 A. Component 1: Hydrology and Ecosystem Functioning of the Lake St Lucia System 21 B. Component 2: Promoting Local Economic and Cultural Development ..............Error! Bookmark not defined. C. Component 3: Institutional Capacity Building ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.23 III. Basis for Selecting the Project for Piloting ....................................................................... 21 IV. Methodology and Process Followed in Determining Equivalence and Acceptability...... 28 V. Summary of Equivalence Analysis ................................................................................... 29 A. Environmental Assessment (EA) ................................................................................ 29 B. Natural Habitats (NH) ................................................................................................. 30 C. Physical Cultural Resources (PCR)............................................................................. 30 D.. General Conclusion..................................................................................................... 31 VI. Acceptability Assessment ................................................................................................. 32 A. Institutional Capacity .................................................................................................. 32 B. Processes and Procedures............................................................................................ 41 C. Critical Review of Outputs.......................................................................................... 50 D. Assessment of Outcomes ............................................................................................ 65 VII. Proposed Gap-Filling Measures Necessary to Attain and Sustain Equivalence and Acceptability for Use of Borrower Systems under World Bank Operational Policy 4.00 ................................................................................ 71 A. Equivalence ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. B. Acceptability .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. VIII. Proposed Timeline and Roles and Responsibilities of the Borrower and the Bank for Gap- Filling Measures................................................................................................................ 71 Annexes Annex 1: World Bank Operational Policy OP 4.00.................................................................... 75 Annex 2. South African Laws, Regulations and Procedures Applicable to the Proposed Pilot ............................................................................................................. 77 Annex 3 Equivalence Matrix Per OP 4.00 Table A1................................................................. 85 Annex 4. Prioritised Areas of Intervention for the Next Five Years ........................................ 100 Annex 5. Results of Stakeholder Consultation Workshop, St. Lucia, South Africa, November 13, 2008................................................................................................... 102 References ............................................................................................................................. 116 3 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS BAR Basic Assessment Report BC Biodiversity and Conservation, a Branch of DEAT BP Bank Procedures CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research DEAT Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism EA Environmental Assessment EAP Environmental Assessment Practitioner EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EIAR Environmental Impact Assessment Report EKZNW Ezemvelo Kwa-Zulu-Natal Wildlife EMF Environmental Management Framework EMP Environmental Management Plan EQP Environmental Quality and Protection, a Branch of DEAT GEF Global Environmental Facility GSLWP Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park IEM Integrated Environmental Management KZN KwaZulu-Natal Province NEMA National Environmental Management Act NHRA National Heritage Resources Act OP Operational Policy PCR Physical Cultural Resources PPAH Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook PoA Plan of Action ROD Record of Decision RPPF Resettlement Policy and Process Framework SDR Safeguard Diagnostic Review SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SEED Socio-Economic and Environmental Development SR Scoping Report TCPA Trans-Frontier Conservation and Protected Areas The Authority iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority The Park iSimangaliso Wetland Park ToR Terms of Reference UCS Use of Country Systems WHCA World Heritage Conservation Act 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Policy Framework. Under Operational Policy/Bank Procedure 4.00 (OP/BP 4.00), Piloting the Use of Borrower Systems to Address Environmental and Social Safeguard Issues in Bank-Supported Projects” issued in March 2005, the Bank has the authority to support pilot projects in which lending operations are prepared using the borrowing country’s systems for environmental and social safeguards, rather than the Bank’s corresponding operational policies and procedures. The advantages of using country systems (UCS) are to scale up development impact, increase country ownership, build institutional capacity, facilitate harmonization and increase cost effectiveness. These objectives were broadly endorsed at the Paris High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in March 2005 with respect to financial management and procurement, as well as environmental and social safeguards and strongly reiterated in the Accra Agenda for Action in September 2008. 2. During the past three years, the World Bank has approved seven of pilot projects under this program. On January 31, 2008 the Executive Directors of the World Bank approved a three- year extension of the pilot program accompanied by an incremental scaling up of the pilots from the project to the country-level, including support of activities at the sub-national level. 3. OP/BP 4.00 describes the approach, enumerates the criteria for using country systems, and specifies documentation and disclosure requirements and respective roles of the client country and the Bank. The Bank considers a borrower’s environmental and social safeguard system to be equivalent to the Bank’s if the borrower’s system is designed to achieve the objectives and adhere to the applicable operational principles set out in Table A1 of OP 4.00. Since equivalence is determined on a policy-by-policy basis in accordance with Table A1, the Bank may conclude that the borrower’s system is equivalent to the Bank’s in specific environmental or social safeguard areas in particular pilot projects, and not in other areas. Before deciding on the use of borrower systems, the Bank also assesses the acceptability of the borrower’s institutional capacity, implementation practices, and past performance in similar projects. Gap-filling measures must be implemented prior to project approval or, if carried out by necessity during project implementation, are subject to a time-bound legal agreement between the Bank and the borrower. The process and product of analyzing equivalence, assessing eligibility and identifying and agreeing on gap-filling measures is called a Safeguards Diagnostic Review (SDR). 4. This Draft SDR describes the scope, methodology, and findings of the equivalence analysis and acceptability assessment carried out in South Africa by staff from the World Bank. It also identifies and proposes gap-filling measures designed to ensure that applicable South African safeguard systems meet the equivalence and acceptability criteria of OP 4.00 throughout the project cycle and are adapted to extend their benefits beyond the scope of the project to the extent possible. The Draft SDR was conducted in collaboration with borrower, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority (the iSimangaliso Authority) and officials from the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT). This draft will be the subject of a stakeholder consultation workshop to be held in St. Lucia, South Africa on November 13, 2008 5 and the results of the workshop will be reflected in the final draft of the SDR to be issued prior to project Appraisal, currently scheduled for March 2009. 5. The overall objective of the project is to support the Authority to address the twin challenges of nature conservation and poverty alleviation through a transition from a conservation-in-isolation approach which, until recently, was the dominant mode of park management, to a management approach that seeks to balance conservation with socio-economic development. The specific objective of the project is to improve ecosystem functioning of the Lake St Lucia System through restoration