Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Public Disclosure Authorized Report No. 11208-VE STAFF APPRAISAL REPORT Public Disclosure Authorized VENEZUELA NATIONAL PARKS MANAGEMENT PROJECT Public Disclosure Authorized NOVEMBER 17, 1992 Public Disclosure Authorized Environment and Agriculture Operations Division Country Department I Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. CURRENCY EOUIVALENTS (as of June 1992)1/ Currency Unit = Bolivar (Bs) US$1.00 = Be 66.0 US$1 million = BB 66 million US$15,152 = Bs 1 million WEIGHTS AND MEASURES The metric system is used throughout the report. GOVERNMENT FISCAL YEAR January 1 - December 31 1/ Appraisal Mission. FOR OFFICAL USE ONLY GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS ABRAE Protected Areas (Areas Bajo R6gimen Administrativo Especial) CAIAH Amazonian Center for Environmental Research (Centro Amaz6nico de Investigaci6n Alejandro de Humboldt) CORDIPLAN Ministry of Coordination and Planning (Ministerio de Coordinaci6n y Planificaci6n) FAC National Guard (Fuerzas Armadas de Cooperaci6n) INOS National Institute of Sanitation (Instituto Nacional de Obras Sanitarias) INPARQUES National Institute of Parks (Instituto Nacional de Parques) IUCN International Union of Conservation MAC Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Ministerio de Agricultura y Cria) MARNR Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Ministerio del Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) NGO Non-Governmental Organization O&M Operations and Maintenance PCU Project Coordination Unit PROFAUNA National Wildlife Office (Oficina Nacional de Fauna) REA Rapid Ecological Assessment SADAMAZONAS National Service for the Environmental Development of the Amazon Region (Servicio de Desarrollo Ambiental del Amazonas) WWF World Wildlife Fund for Nature This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. VENEZUELA NATIONAL PARKS MANAGEMENT PROJECT Table of Contents I. LOAN AND PROJECT SUMMARY . 1 II. SECTORAL BACKGROUND . 4 Country Overview . 4 Natural Resource Management and Protection . 4 Biological Diversity . 4 Protected Areas.5. .......... 5 Legislative Framework . 5 Institutional Setting . 5 Sectoral Issues . 7 Experience with Previous Bank Lending . 7 Lessons Learned from Similar Projects . 8 III. THE PROJECT .9 Origin and Rationale for Bank Involvement . 9 Project Objectives and Design . 10 Details of Project Components . 11 Strengthening of Parks Management and Protection . 11 Environmental Research .................... 12 Environmental Education . 13 Institutional Development . 14 Project Organization and Implementation . 15 Participation by NGOs and Local Communities in Project Activities. 17 Environmental Impact . 18 Project Costs . 19 Financing Plan . 19 Procurement . 19 Disbursements . 21 Project Benefits and Justification . 21 Sustainability . 23 Project Risks . 25 IV. AGREEMENTS REACHED AND RECOMMENDATION . 26 This report is based on the findings of an appraisal mission which visited Venezuela from June 22 to July 10, 1992. The mission comprised Messrs. L. Coirolo (Mission Leader, Economist), F. Vita (Economist, FAO-CP), R. DuBois (Environmentalist, FAO-CP), P. Gutman (Environmental Economist, Consultant), J. Barborak (Institutional Specialist, Wildlife Conservation International), A. Grajal (Conservation Specialist, Wildlife Conservation International), G. Ledec (Environmentalist) and Mmes. C. Sobrevila (Ecologist) and G. Leiva (Secretary). - ii - ANNEXES, TABLES AND CHARTS Annex 1: STRENGTHENING OF PARKS MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION COMPONENT . 28 Table 1.1: Project Assisted Protected Areas . 33 Table 1.2: Proposed Locations of Fire Prevention and Combat Camps and Parks Covered by Region . 34 Annex 2: ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH COMPONENT . 35 Annex 3: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION COMPONENT . 38 Annex 4: INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING COMPONENT . 40 Chart 4.1: INPARQUES Organizational Chart . 47 Table 4.1: Existing Personnel in Project Protected Areas 48 Table 4.2: Additional Staff for Selected Personnel Categories under Project . 49 Table 4.3: Proposed Staffing Levels . 50 Table 4.4: Proposed Technical Staffing Needs Matrix - Resources Management Program . 51 Annex 5: PROJECT COSTS . 52 Table 5.1: Estimated Project Costs by Component . 52 Table 5.2: Annual Phasing of Project Costs by Components, Including Contingencies . 53 Table 5.3: Estimated Schedule of Bank Disbursements . 54 Table 5.4: Financing Plan . 55 Table 5.5: Allocation of Loan Proceeds . 56 Table 5.6: Procurement Implementation Schedule - Estimated Annual Contractual and Other Payments 57 Table 5.7: INPARQUES' Cost Recovery Program . 58 Annex 6: PROJECT SUPERVISION PLAN . 59 Table 6.1: Key Annual Dates for Project Supervision . 60 Table 6.2: Bank Staffing Inputs and Skill Requirements for Project Supervision . 61 Annex 7: PROJECT PHYSICAL TARGETS, IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT . 62 Table 7.1: Project Physical Targets and Schedule of of Implementation . 62 Table 7.2: Indicators of Project Impact on National Park Sustainability . 67 Annex 8: REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS IN PROJECT FILES . 68 MAP: IBRD No. 24323 VENEZUELA NATIONAL PARKS MANAGEMENT PROJECT I. LOAN AND PROJECT SUMMARY Borrower: The Republic of Venezuela Executing Agency: Instituto Nacional de Parques (INPARQUES) Amount: US$55.0 million equivalent Terms: Repayable over 15 years, including 5 years of grace at the Bank's standard variable rate. Proiect Objectives The project would help to strengthen the capability of and Description: INPARQUES and other public environmental agencies to manage Venezuela's national and urban parks, natural monuments, and wildlife reserves; to intensify public environmental research, training and education efforts; to involve the private sector more actively in the protection/management of natural resources; and to improve the economic sustainability of the national parks and other protected areas. The main project components would include: (a) Strengthening of Parks Management and Protection; (b) Environmental Research; (c) EnvironmentalEducation; and (d) Institutional Development, including Project Administration, Training and Technical Assistance. Prolect Benefits: Support for national parks and other priority protected areas in Venezuela is justified from both a national and an international standpoint. Many of these areas contain the watersheds of major rivers and storage reservoirs which are significant for power, agriculture and water supply; and/or have recreational and tourism potential which could be further developed provided their natural resource base is protected and managed in a sustainable manner. By way of illustration, the present value of the watershed protection function of the national parks alone has been estimated at US$285 million p.a. or more. As a direct result of the project, the management and protection of a total area of approximately 110,000 km2 would be significantly improved. The capacity to manage all of Venezuela's protected areas (some 0.5 million km2) would also be indirectly strengthened as a result of the training, education and capacity building - 2 - activities of the project. From the international perspective, despite its relatively small size, Venezuela contains a vast array of neotropical ecosystems. The investment effort under the project would greatly enhance the prospects for survival of representative samples of almost one-tenth of the world's biological diversity and would thus also have important external benefits. Pro-ect Risks: Although there are no major project risks, implementation could be affected by some institutional weaknesses at the level of INPARQUES and counterpart funding constraints. INPARQUES is a well-established, autonomous entity with a good track record to date, but its present structure and skills mix do not fully reflect the extent to which its responsibilities have grown over the years. To address these institutional concerns, the project would support: (a) a decentralization of administrative and technical functions from INPARQUES' central headquarters to its regional and state offices and field units; (b) implementation of a plan of action to diversify INPARQUES' sources of financial support and thereby help to strengthen its financial sustainability beyond the project period; and (c) staff training and technical assistance. Also, building on successful past collaborative efforts between the Government and NGOs, domestic and international NGOs and local communities would participate in various project activities, thereby lessening some of the implementation burden on INPARQUES. Finally, the project implementation strategy places primary emphasis on the contracting out of project works to the maximum extent possible. With regard to funding, the level of cost sharing by the Bank would be somewhat higher (60%) than the average for other operations in Venezuela, given the strong environmental focus of the project. During negotiations, assurances would be sought that adequate counterpart funds would be provided to INPARQUES to meet the balance of project funding needs. -3- ESTIMATEDPROJECT COSTS AND FINANCINGPLAN L2cl Forefon 12Xi1 (US# MilLion) EstimatedProject Costs A. Strengtheningof Parks Manaaement and Protection 50.8 8.1 58.9 - Northern NationaL Parks (30.8) (4.4) (35.2) - Wildlife Reserves