Global Environmental Benefits of Project
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UNDP Project Document UNDP-GEF Medium-Size Project (MSP) Government of Turkey United Nations Development Programme PIMS 1988: Enhancing Coverage and Management Effectiveness of the Subsystem of Forest Protected Areas in Turkey’s National System of Protected Areas Brief description Forests are among the most significant of Turkey’s ecosystems in terms of biodiversity but are under-represented in the PA system. Despite their significance, the total extent of forest areas benefiting from some form of protection is less than 4% of the national forest cover. As part of a regional Mediterranean forest gap analysis aimed at identifying ecologically representative forest areas not covered under the protected area system, 9 important ‘gaps’ or ‘hot spots’ were found in Turkey in terms of forest protection. In 1999, as Turkey’s Gift to the Earth, the Government made a commitment to establish or extend protected areas at the nine identified forest hot spots. It is estimated that nearly half of Turkey’s forests are degraded due to intensive use of resources. Turkey’s forest biodiversity faces several threats including overgrazing, cutting, and encroachment. The root causes behind these threats include poverty in forest villages and lack of clear land tenure, which lead to ongoing disputes among stakeholders. However, the national system still does not include the 9 ‘hot spots’. The inclusion of these areas in the PA system, and the institution of effective conservation regimes geared to threat mitigation are fundamental to securing long term protection. The combined effect of inadequate PA coverage and management approaches that are not geared to effective threat abatement constitutes an over arching barrier to enhancing the management effectiveness of the PA system. The commitment to addressing the coverage gap and improving management effectiveness is clearly articulated in GoT’s decision to designate KMNP, and extend this effort to the other 8 forest hot spots in the country. While the Government is committed to expanding the PA estate to improve bio-geographic representation, it needs support from the international community to establish management systems and approaches attuned to conservation needs in these areas. The normative solution proposed by this project will fulfill this need, working to develop and demonstrate the efficacy of new management approaches. The project aims to enhance coverage and management effectiveness within the Forest Protected Areas sub system by demonstrating cost-effective management approaches in Kure Mountains National Park (KMNP) and then replicating to the remaining 8 forest hot spots. KMNP has been chosen as a demonstration site because: (i) it represents the best remaining example of the ‘deciduous and coniferous forests of North Anatolia’ ecoregion as well as the best remaining example of the highly endangered karstic mountain areas of the “Black Sea Humid Forests” ecotype; (ii) it is broadly representative of different socio-economic, ecological and institutional conditions at the other intended forest PAs, implying that the management paradigm developed there can easily be adapted for employment at the other sites once it has been tried and tested; and (iii) GoT has already taken several important steps in the recent past to secure the PA, including by establishing an on-site management presence. The project will contribute to achieving global environmental benefits by enhancing the management effectiveness and sustainability in 117,000 ha of land newly designated as forest protected areas in Turkey and indirectly influencing approximately an additional 1,076,838 ha of future forest protected areas covering globally significant forest ecosystems, through up-scaling and replication of best management practices. Expected project outcomes are as follows: Outcome 1: Cost-effective conservation management approaches for forest protected areas are designed, piloted and adopted; Outcome 2: Sustainable natural resource management approaches demonstrated in buffer areas; and Outcome 3: Lessons learned from demonstration work in the first established forest PAs are disseminated to the other forest hot spots in Turkey, contributing to the maturation of the PA system of Turkey. 1/ 124 Table of Contents SECTION I: ELABORATION OF THE NARRATIVE..........................................................................................4 PART I: Situation Analysis ................................................................................................ 4 Environmental Context ................................................................................................... 4 National Network of Protected Areas............................................................................. 4 Institutional context ........................................................................................................ 7 Policy and legislation context ......................................................................................... 8 Socio-economic context.................................................................................................. 8 Threats and root causes of forest biodiversity loss ....................................................... 10 Threats within KMNP................................................................................................... 10 Threats primarily emanating in the buffer zone and beyond ........................................ 11 Barriers to forest biodiversity conservation.................................................................. 12 Baseline conservation activities.................................................................................... 12 PART II: Strategy ............................................................................................................. 16 Project Goal, objective, outcomes and outputs..................................................................... 16 Global environmental benefits of project ............................................................................. 19 Sustainability......................................................................................................................... 20 Replicability.......................................................................................................................... 20 Stakeholder involvement ...................................................................................................... 21 Risks and Mitigation Measures............................................................................................. 24 PART III: Management Arrangements............................................................................. 25 Core commitments and linkages........................................................................................... 25 Consultation, Co-ordination and collaboration between IAs, and IAs and ExAs ................ 25 Implementation / Execution arrangements ........................................................................... 25 PART IV: Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and Budget .................................................. 27 PART V: Legal Context.................................................................................................... 31 SECTION II: STRATEGIC RESULTS FRAMEWORK (SRF)...........................................................................32 SECTION III: TOTAL BUDGET AND WORK PLAN ........................................................................................35 SECTION IV: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ...................................................................................................38 PART I: APPROVED PIF................................................................................................ 38 PART II: Other Agreements ............................................................................................. 45 PART III: Terms of Reference for key project staff and main sub-contracts................... 46 SIGNATURE PAGE .................................................................................................................................................50 Annex 1. Maps....................................................................................................... 51 Annex 2. Biodiversity Significance ....................................................................... 53 Annex 3. Socio-Economic Situation in Project Area and Stakeholder Participation Plan 73 Annex 4. Threats, Root Causes and Barriers ....................................................... 101 Annex 5. M&E budget......................................................................................... 105 Annex 6. Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool for Kure Mt ...................... 106 Annex 7: Draft partnership and co-operation protocol between Ministry of Environment and Forestry and WWF-Turkey ........................................................ 117 Annex 8. National Legislation of Relevance to this Project................................ 118 Annex 9. Incremental Cost Analysis ................................................................... 122 2 List of Acronyms APR Annual Project Report AWP Annual Work Plan BNRMP Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management Project DHKD Turkish Society for the Conservation of Nature DHKV WWF-Turkey EIA Environmental Impact Assessment FLR Forest Landscape Restoration FPA Forest Protected Area GDAEC General Directorate of Afforestation and Erosion Control GDEIAP General Directorate of