GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY 10690- Gt+ Public Disclosure Authorized Republicof Ghana CoastalWetlands Management Project Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized ProjectDocument August1992 Public Disclosure Authorized THEWORLD BANK GEF Documentation The Global Environment Facility (GEF) assistsdeveloping countries to protect the globalenvironment in four areas:global warming, pollution of internationalwaters, destructionof biodiversity,and depletion of theozone layer. The GEF is jointlyimplemented bytheUnited Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme. andthe World Bank. GEF Project Documents - identifiedby a greenband - provideextended project- specificinformation. The implementing agency responsible for eachproject is identifiedby its logoon thecover of thedocument. GlobalEnvironment CoordinationDivision Environment Department WorldBank 1818H Street,NW Washington,DC 20433 Telephorre:(202) 473-1816 Fax:(202) 522-3256 Republicof Ghana CoastalWetlands Management Project ProjectDocument August1992 THEWORLD BANK CURRENCYEQUIVALENTS Currency Unit = Cedi (C) US$1.00 = C395 C1,000 = US$2.54 WEIGHTSAND MEASURES 1 metric ton (m ton) = 2,205 pounds (lb) 1 hectare (ha) = 2.47 acres (ac) 1 kilometer(cm) = 0.62 miles (mi) 1 meter (m) = 3.28 feet (ft) ABBREVIATIONS DGW Departmentof Game and Wildlife EAP EnvironmentalAction Plan EPC EnvironmentalProtection Council EPCITS TechnicalSecretariat of the EnvironmentalProtection Council GEF Global Environnent Facility GET Global EnvironmentTrust Fund GERMP Ghana EnvironmentalResource ManagementProject IUCN InternationalUnion for the Conservationof Nature NGO Non-GovernmentalOrganization PNDC ProvisionalNational Defense Council WCG Wildlife Clubs of Ghana GOVERNMENTFISCAL YEAR January 1 - December 31 REPUBLIC OF GHANA COASTAL WETLANDS MANAGEMENTPROJECT Grant and Project Summary Grantee:lThe Republicof Ghana Beneficiary: Ministryof Lands and Natural Resources Grant Amount: SDR 5.0 million (US$7.2 million equivalent) Terms: Grant from Global EnvironmentTrust Financing Plan: Foreign Local Total .............. millions)..(US$ GET 3.1 4.1 7.2 Governmentof Ghana 0.1 1.0 1.1 Total 1/ 3.2 5.1 8.3 Economic Rate of Return: Not applicable Staff Apraisal Rert: No. 10691-GH Mm: IBRD No. 23746 Includes Duties and Taxes of US$0.5 million. REPUBLIC OF GHANA COASTAL WETLANDS MANAGEMENT PROJECT Backg=und 1. A growing concern for environmentalissues led the Governmentof Ghana to initiate the preparationof a NationalEnvironmental Policy Statementand a NationalEnvironmental Action Plan (EAP). In formulatingthe Plan, the EnvironmentalProtection Council (EPC), a Governmentagency establishedin 1974, secured the active collaborationof a wide range of individualsand institutionsin Ghana and among the donor community, includingthe World Bank. In the process, EPC generated widespreadawareness of the importanceof the issues involved and a consensusabout the need for effective action. The EAP has been completed and has been approved by the Committeeof PNDC Secretaries. The major environmental problems identified in the EAP includesoil degradationand soil erosion, deforestationand forest degradation, and degradationof the natural and built environrnentwithin the coastal zone. The strategy for addressingthese environmentalproblems is based on implementationof programs by sectoral agencies, whilst EPC has the lead responsibilityfor environmental policy formulation, monitoringand coordination. The developmentof mechanismsfor effective coordinationand the relationshipsbetween EPC and the sectoral agenciesare critical for successfulimplementation of the EAP. There are designatedinstitutional responsibilities for the managementof environmentalresources, and long establishedprocedures for the demarcationand gazetting of protected areas in Ghana. More detailed background informationis containedin Part II of this Memorandum. 2. The Ghana EnvironmentalResource ManagementProject, which includesthe Coastal Wetlands ManagementProject, is designedto assist Governmentwith the implementationof the EAP. As GERMP provides the frameworkfor the managementof the coastal wetlands, the objectives of the wider project are discussed first. 3. The Ghana EnvironmentalResource Managementproject would aim to strengthenthe capacity of both governmentand people to manageenvironmental resources. The project would, therefore, focus on improvingresource managementcapability through reorganizing and strengtheningthe institutionsinvolved in environmentalresource management,in particular the EnvironmentalProtection Council and its TechnicalSecretariat (EPC/TS). The project would aim to support the TS to fulfill its role in environmentalmanagement, that is, the coordinationof action to ensure that developmentis consistentwith the sustainableuse of environmentalresources, the monitoringof the environmentand the creationof public awarenessof environmentalissues. In parallel, the project would aim to develop environmentalmanagement skills in sectoral and local governmentagencies through staff training. Developmentof the managementsystem would be supportedthrough the provision of an improved enviromnentalinformation system, based on a demand driven approach, and the creation of links between suppliers and users of information. The objective would be to provide a better understandingof environmentalrelationships, and early detection of environmentalpollution or degradation. Disseminationof environmentalinformation would be one other importantobjective of the project, within public sector agenciesat national and district levels and the public at large by means of public informationand awareness campaigns. Other project objectivesare to assist the users of environmentalresources to invest in the maintenanceof environmentalassets through adoption of improvedpractices for the sustainableuse of those resources. In particular the project would support the introduction of improved land managementpractices through communityinvolvement in the planning and implementationof measures to minimizeland degradation. Specificattention would be paid to the fragile coastal wetland ecosystemsand it is these activitiesthat would constitutethe Coastal Wetlands ManagementProject to be financedby GEF. Project Objectives 4. The main objective of the project wouldbe to maintainthe ecologicalintegrity of key coastal wetland areas, by involvingthe people who derive their livelihood from these ecosystemsin the planning and implementationof managementprograms. The objective would be to identify and monitor the commonresources that benefit human and avian populations, and manage them to maintain critical bird habitat, without unduly restricting the options of people to derive benefit from the resources. The project would aim to develop capabilities at both governmentand communitylevel for the implementationof the proposed program, to provide for baseline and monitoringstudies, and to undertakestudies of options for development,that would be compatiblewith sustainableuse of the environment. Project Description 5. The project is classed as a GEF Type 2 project, that is, although only concessional assistance from GET would make the project attractive in a country context, the project would result in substantialglobal benefits. The GET contributionof US$7.2 million would represent about 20 percent of the total costs of the wider Ghana EnvironmentalResource Management Project, of which it forms an integralpart. 6. GEF funding would provide for the managementof five coastal wetland sites that have been registered under the Ramsar Convention, to which Ghana is a signatory. The five sites are the Muni, Densu Delta, Sakumo, Songor and Anlo-Ketalagoons. Project funding would be targeted at three groups of activities: (i) Program Management- Support would be provided to the Departmentof Game and Wildlife (DGW) of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resourcesfor managementof the coastal wetlandsprogram. This would includethe appointmentof a coastal wetlands coordinator,an educationofficer and site wardens, together with necessary training, field equipmentand transport. Funds would also be availablefor base-line surveys and regular monitoringof ecologicaland socio-economicconditions in the coastal wetlands, includingthe status of lagoonal fisheries. This monitoringwould be undertaken through local consultancies,using the specialist skills available in the universities and elsewhere, and would be closely linked to the regular monitoringof environmental quality, supportedunder GERMP. Studiesof the environmentalimplications of various developmentoptions in the Volta Basin, includingthe wetlands below the Akosombodam, would be financedunder GERMP and linked with studies to develop a national wetland conservationstrategy. The project would support public awarenessprograms through provision of training in environmentaleducation to staff of DGW and of the Wildlife Clubs of Ghana (WCG), an NGO. The project would also financeproduction and disseminationof education materials, sponsor workshops and underwrite extension activitiesto be organized by WCG. (ii) Site Demarcationand Management- Finance would be availablefor boundary surveys and demarcation. The project would also finance the constructionof observation points, an educationand research center at Songor, simple on-site educationcenters at other - 3 - sites, habitat enhancementand communitydevelopment activities. The wetlands program would be linked to communitybased land and water management,supported under GERMP,