The World Bank Meghalaya Community-led Landscapes Management Project (P157836) REPORT NO.: RES56033 DOCUMENT OF THE WORLD BANK RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF MEGHALAYA COMMUNITY-LED LANDSCAPES MANAGEMENT PROJECT APPROVED ON MARCH 13, 2018 TO INDIA ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES & THE BLUE ECONOMY SOUTH ASIA Regional Vice President: Martin Raiser Country Director: Auguste Tano Kouame Regional Director: John A. Roome Practice Manager/Manager: Christophe Crepin Task Team Leader(s): Pyush Dogra The World Bank Meghalaya Community-led Landscapes Management Project (P157836) I. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P157836 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 13-Mar-2018 30-Jun-2023 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency INDIA Government of Meghalaya Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The project development objective is to strengthen community-led landscapes management in selected landscapes in the state of Meghalaya. Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IBRD-88280 13-Mar-2018 16-Apr-2018 05-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2023 43.00 33.07 9.93 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No II. SUMMARY OF PROJECT STATUS AND PROPOSED CHANGES The World Bank Meghalaya Community-led Landscapes Management Project (P157836) The Meghalaya Community-Led Landscapes Management Project (MCCLMP) was approved on March 13, 2018. The project has the following three components: a. Strengthening Knowledge and Capacity building for Natural Resource Management (NRM)- to enable the development, assimilation, analysis, and dissemination of knowledge and skills to improve landscape management within the state. b. Comunity-led landscape Planning and implementation - this component entails planning and implementation of the landscape plans by communities in the selected very high/high priority areas c. Project Management and Governance - to support the strengthening of institutional capacity and knowledge management of implementing agency and project administrative support. In the last completed implementation support mission (ISM) in November 2022, the overall project has been rated Satisfactory, with Social Safeguards being Highly Satisfactory, Environmental Safeguards – Satisfactory, and Financial Management and Procurement – Moderately Satisfactory. In terms of achieving PDO indicators, the project has largely achieved its set targets and is progressing well and focussing on a) transforming 5,000 ha of degraded land into sustainable landscape supporting either afforestation/ reforestation, climate-smart agriculture/ horticulture, and b) collecting feedback on project effectiveness and satisfaction feedback against the village-natural resource planning. All major procurements and consultancy work have been completed, with a few under the pipeline to be completed by September 30, 2023. This restructuring is based on the request from the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, dated April 21, 2023. The request is a) Extension of the closing date up to June 2024; and b) a Reallocation of Loan Proceeds under the project disbursement categories. Rationale for Restructuring The essence of the project lies in the implementation of village-level natural resources management plans through Category 3 loan proceeds, routed through a government scheme titled – Grassroot-level Response towards Ecosystem Enhancement and Nurturing (GREEN). In addition to the Village specific NRM plans in 400 villages identified under the scope of the project, the GREEN scheme is being implemented on the Payment of Ecosystem (PES) model, wherein the State government of Meghalaya provides funds to the communities that propose to conserve their community-level natural resources and restore the ecosystem. Under the scheme Government of Meghalaya has committed to fund INR 2000 million (≈ USD 24.36 million) over the next 5 years and MCLLMP will fund the first year’s allocation of INR 500 million (≈ USD 6 million). The project requires significant community engagement which was severely hampered due to COVID-19. Currently, the project is in the final implementation stage. with a current disbursement of 73% and expected to be about 80 % by June 2023. The target of bringing another 5,000 ha (approx.) to sustainable landscape practices including sustainable forest management, agro-forestry, climate-smart agriculture, horticulture, etc. will benefit community and village infrastructure which is aligned with the PDO. The project has emerged as a lighthouse project to establish convergence with the largest Government program in rural development and the state is also envisaging extending the project activities across the entire state and emerging as a model State on indigenous community development and NRM in The World Bank Meghalaya Community-led Landscapes Management Project (P157836) the Northeast. The time gained will ensure satisfactory implementation and sustainability of the ongoing initiatives helping the village community. The project is proposing additional apportioning of loan funds of USD 5.70 million under Category 3, and correspondingly reapportioning funds from Category 1 – USD 2.89 million and Category 2 – 2.81 million, thus supporting to achieve the PDO targets. III. DETAILED CHANGES LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IBRD-88280 Effective 30-Jun-2023 30-Jun-2024 30-Oct-2024 REALLOCATION BETWEEN DISBURSEMENT CATEGORIES Current Current Actuals + Proposed Disbursement % Ln/Cr/TF Expenditure Allocation Committed Allocation (Type Total) Category Current Proposed IBRD- Gds,Ncs,Cs,IOC, 88280-001 Trng Part 2C, Prt 16,000,000.00 7,702,594.57 13,110,000.00 60.00 60.00 Currency: 3 USD Innovation 5,000,000.00 1,814,588.38 2,190,000.00 100.00 100.00 grants Part 1 A Village Grants under Prt 2A 21,880,000.00 21,948,758.01 27,580,000.00 100.00 100.00 and 2B FRONT END FEE 120,000.00 120,000.00 120,000.00 Total 43,000,000.00 31,585,940.96 43,000,000.00 The World Bank Meghalaya Community-led Landscapes Management Project (P157836)