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This project is funded by the European Union Clima East Ukraine’s pilot project “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands” Inception Report KYIV 2013 Clima East: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands project 00086272 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 4 1. INTRODUCTION / PROJECT DESCRIPTION & START ....................................................... 5 1.1. Project context and objectives ................................................................................................................ 5 1.2. Project scope ............................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3. Project start, relevance and country ownership .................................................................................... 6 2. INCEPTION PHASE RESULTS ........................................................................................... 6 2.1. Clima East Regional Launch Event .......................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Stakeholders involvement and participation ......................................................................................... 7 2.3. Project implementation approach /pilot site ......................................................................................... 8 2.4. Project Management Arrangements ...................................................................................................... 9 2.5. Inception Workshop ............................................................................................................................... 10 2.6. Public outreach and visibility ................................................................................................................. 10 2.7. Quality Management Mechanism ......................................................................................................... 11 3. INCEPTION PHASE CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................... 13 4.PROJECT RESULTS AND RESOURCES FRAMEWORK........................................................... 14 ANNEXTURE .......................................................................................................................... 17 Annex 1. Key project stakeholders ...................................................................................................................... 17 Annex 2. Agenda of the Project Inception workshop ........................................................................................ 20 Annex 3. List of participants of the Project Inception workshop ...................................................................... 22 Annex 4. Press -release of the Project Inception workshop .............................................................................. 26 Project Inception Report 2 Clima East: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands project 00086272 Acronyms ATLAS Corporate business platform of UNDP AWP Annual Work Plan CO Country Office EC European Commission ENP European Neighbourhood Policy ENPI Eastern Neighborhood Partnership Instrument EU European Union GHG Greenhouse gas GIS Geographic Information System ICDU Institute for Community Development (Ukrainian NGO) LPAC Local Project Appraisal Committee M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NIM National Implementation Modality NGIS National Green Investment Scheme of Ukraine NGO Non-Governmental Organization NPD National Project Director PAC Project Advisory Committee QPR Quarterly Progress Report RCU Regional Coordination Unit of UNDP in Bratislava RLP Regional Landscape Park (protected area type in Ukriane) RTA Regional Technical Advisor CSO Civil Society Organization SEIA State Environmental Investment Agency of Ukraine SLM Sustainable Land Management TOR Terms of Reference PB Project Board PIU Project Implementation Unit USAID United States Agency for International Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme USD United States Dollars UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Project Inception Report 3 Clima East: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands project 00086272 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Clima East Ukraine’s pilot project “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands” is a part of the larger EU-funded project package assisting the Eastern Neighbourhood Partnership Countries and Russia in approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The main aim of the package is to show through pilot projects the feasibility of ecosystem-based approaches to climate change, meaning that intact ecosystems can have a strong and cost-efficient positive effect both on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Ukrainian project deals with peatland ecosystems. Peatland ecosystems are characterized by a substantial accumulation of organic matter in soil (peat), and theses large stores of carbon and nitrogen are especially vulnerable to global climate change. The destruction or drainage of peatlands does not only release CO2 and N2O but also destroys important ecosystems that are essential for biodiversity. Therefore the objective of the pilot project in Ukraine is to demonstrate how within one landscape certain areas of abandoned degraded agricultural peatlands that emit carbon can be restored, while adjacent areas can be protected at the same time to increase carbon sequestration The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the UNDP. The project is envisaged for 4 years (2013-2016) and its total budget is 2,601,296.00 USD, out of which EC financing is 1,800,000.00 EUR (2,337,660.00 USD), and the UNDP share totals to 100,000.00 USD. The project is implemented by UNDP Ukraine. The project National Implementing Partner from the Government side is the State Environmental Investment Agency of Ukraine, which has been among the initiators of the project proposal. Other key national project partners include: Chernihiv oblast (regional) state administration (Beneficiary), Nizhyn rayon state administration (Recipient), ICO “Institute for Community Development” and All-Ukrainian NGO “Association of protected areas of Ukraine” (national NGO partners). Additional key national partner – the State Water Resources Agency of Ukraine – has been identified during the project inception phase. This document provides an overview of key activities that have been carried out during the project inception phase, identifies changes that have occurred from the time of the Project Document formulation, updates context specific information and provides an outline of activities that should be undertaken moving forward. The inception phase of the project started in June 2013 after official signing of the Project Document on June 10, 2013 between UNDP in Ukraine and the State Environmental Investment Agency of Ukraine (on behalf of the Government of Ukraine). The inception phase was completed after the project Inception Workshop held on September 12, 2013. The project inception workshop was held on 12 September 2013 in Chernihiv and 54 participants from national and local authorities, international organizations (EU, UNDP, USAID), all-Ukrainian and local environmental NGOs, academia, neighboring countries and media. During the inception period important progress has been made and the following outputs delivered: - Key partners have been engaged to the project implementation. - The project has become fully operational. - Project inception workshop was conducted on 12 September in Chernihiv. - Work with the pilot communities (villages) aimed at the development of a socio- economic model for peatlands re-wetting on private and public lands has started. - Project launch caught wide media coverage. Project Inception Report 4 Clima East: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands project 00086272 1. INTRODUCTION / PROJECT DESCRIPTION & START 1.1. Project context and objectives Project context In Ukraine up to 1 mln ha of peatlands were drained during the last century that turned peatland- based wetlands from sink to source of carbon. The economic value of drained peatlands has dropped soon after the melioration. During the last decades the ownership of drained peatlands has partially changed from state to private and the land is mostly neglected. As a result, drained peatland-based ecosystems with mixed, private-public structure of land ownerships are sources of GHG emissions with very low use for local development. Moreover, limited experiences are available for peatlands rehabilitation at ecosystem level with respect to climate change mitigation, local communities’ development and biodiversity conservation. The aim of the “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands” project as a part of the Clima East pilot projects package is to demonstrate the relevance of nature management techniques for climate mitigation and adaptation. The project objective is to create a model of peatlands restoration to produce cost-efficient positive effect both on climate change mitigation and adaptation, ecosystem’s health and local economy. Project rationale Drained peatlands release CO2 and N2O up to many hundreds of years after initial drainage. Emissions do not end with the termination of land use, but continue until all peat is