PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: PIDC127 Public Disclosure Copy Project Name Environmental Resources Management and Conservation Project (P124625) Region AFRICA Country Zimbabwe Sector(s) Forestry (45%), General public administration sector (20%), Sub-national government administration (20%), Central government adminis tration (15%) Lending Instrument Specific Investment Loan Project ID P124625 Focal Area Multi-focal area Borrower(s) Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management Implementing Agency WWF Environmental Category B-Partial Assessment Date PID Prepared 18-Nov-2011 Estimated Date of Appraisal Completion 25-Jun-2012 Estimated Date of Board Approval 23-Aug-2012 Concept Review Decision Other Decision Among others, the concept review meeting: (1) authorized the project team to continue with project preparation; (2) discussed the safeguards category of the project and agreed to rate the project as category B; and (3) agreed to rate the overall risk as Substantial. I. Introduction and Context Country Context Zimbabwe is heavily dependent on its natural resources (NRs) for its economic development and the wellbeing of its population. Two major sectors, agriculture and mining alone accounted for more than one-fifth of the GDP in 2010. Not only is the economic recovery now driven by the performance of those sectors that are based on the exploitation of the natural resource base but also the future economic development of Zimbabwe depends to a large extent, directly and indirectly, on the sustainable management of its natural resources. Public Disclosure Copy The bulk of the country's population is poor (lives on less than $1 per day) and has very limited livelihood opportunities outside subsistence farming. The dependence of the poor on natural resource exploitation is more pronounced in rural areas where 70% of the population and the majority of the poor live. In the face of economic hardships, cutting trees for firewood and charcoal, timber and wildlife poaching, clearing forests for farming and other means of resource extraction have become important activities for livelihood support. The unsustainable use of natural resources is endangering sustainable economic development of the country. The GOZ policy objective for the environment sector, inter alia, are to : (i) conserve biodiversity and maintain the natural resource base; (ii) promote equitable access to and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources; (iii) encourage sustainable development by minimizing irreversible environmental damage, pollution, etc.; (iv) promote public participation and sense of responsibility; and (v) establish and support an effective institutional framework. The proposed project is consistent with the government policy and is designed to support the implementation of the sectoral policy. Sectoral and Institutional Context Zimbabwe faces a number of daunting problems in the environmental sector. These include: (i) deforestation and forest degradation; (ii) land, air and water pollution; (iii) soil erosion; and (iv) contamination and pollution from poor mining practices with toxic waste. In addition, Zimbabwe is faced with frequent droughts and there is a wide consensus that droughts would become more frequentand intense as a result of climate change (CC). There are also signs of reduced water replenishment and intensification of groundwater exploitation that has increasingly become the main source of water supply both to the urban and rural residents. The overall impact of these problems has been to increase loss of biodiversity and putting land degradation on Public Disclosure Copy accelerated path. Zimbabwe was making rapid strides towards the achievement of Ensuring Environmental Sustainability (Goal 7 of the MDG) before the onset of the economic crisis but is now off track to meet this goal. The country lost more than 20 percent of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005, an average loss of 312,900 hectares per year. Zimbabwe's natural resource base has undergone considerable degradation over the years with an accelerated loss of biodiversity. Reasons for this include population growth; poverty; agricultural expansion; and continued reliance on wood fuel and uncontrolled expansion of invasive species. Inappropriate land use and non compliance with recommended natural resource conservation measures and legislation have worsened the situation albeit to varying extents in the different land tenure categories. Land degradation has significant impact on the GDP, at national level, and has a major ramification at local level especially at communal farm. Degradation of the Natural Resources (NRs) is estimated to have reduced productivity by as much as 13% of the full national potential. A 2009 study concluded that human land use, concentrated in the heavily-utilized communal areas to be the main force behind the alarming rate of degradation of the NR . The use of wetlands for agriculture (among others) has further exacerbated land degradation. Climate change will have a major ramification on livelihood of the population and on the natural resource base, especially on agriculture sector and food security. Climate change is manifesting itself through frequent draughts and increased temperature (the six warmest years on record for Zimbabwe have occurred since 1987 and that four of those years were recorded after 1998). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change predicted that CC will turn the low-lying areas of southern Zimbabwe into a non-maize-producing area, as exemplified by reduced maize production in Masvingo Province. There has been a noted shift in agricultural seasons, as evidenced by late onset and sometimes late secession of the rainy season. As a result communities are now heavily dependent on wetlands for food production. Environmental resources management is further complicated by institutional weaknesses and lack of reliable information. Zimbabwe lost its highly trained and experienced sectoral work force during 2000s. The situation has created tangible weakness in the required mid-level sectoral specialists across most of the public and private sector institutions involved in natural resources management (or broadly the environment). The immediate impact of this (coupled with neglect of the environment sector experienced during the economic crisis) resulted in lack of enforcement of existing laws and regulations. Available information is at best partial and lacks the rigor to provide a complete picture on the state of the environment or to support the task of policy formulation. In some cases, such as in studying and piloting for climate change adaptation and mitigation, there are a number of initiatives but there is no mechanism to systematically capture these disbursed and uncoordinated initiatives. Public Disclosure Copy The project area is located in North Western Zimbabwe specifically in the Hwange-Sanyati Biological Corridor (HSBC -- covering 5,697,137 hectares). HSBC is one of the of the four biodiversity hotspots in Zimbabwe and the Government is committed to ensure that the ecological integrity and biodiversity are protected and that local communities can continue to benefit from wildlife gaming and tourism activities. Hwange National Park has not deteriorated as much as other parks in the country due to the proximity to Victoria Falls that is able to bring some tourists to the park. . The HSBC is rich in biodiversity and consists of a mosaic of land uses under different tenure arrangements. The region is home to three national parks; three Safari areas; five gaze tted forest areas; 13 communal lands in addition to private and resettled lands and covers seven districts. In terms of rehabilitating degraded land the project will focus on the Sanyati catchment located at the North East border of the HSBC. The catchment is characterized by widespread illegal mineral panning activities, land and water pollution, unsustainable cultivation of wetlands and stream banks. There are also important initiatives and successes in environmental management. Zimbabwe has gained significant experience in Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) approaches. The Community Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) and the Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE) are the two most prominent organizations with operational and advocacy experience. An assessment of CBNRM conducted in 2010 reported that historically: "Many wildlife producing wards recorded successes in sustaining the habitats for wildlife; and the populations for buffaloes, elephants, lions and leopards remained stable. In addition, CBNRM is contributing to management of the buffer areas of 800,258 hectares of gazetted forests. Woodland management projects are making contributions in terms of protecting watershed areas through beekeeping activities. Veld fires and over-harvesting of biodiversity has been reduced through work of community-based organizations (CBOs) and facilitating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)." Within the HSBS the project will tackle selected environmental threats of the area: Although the threats are wide and diverse, given the resource limitation the project will focus on those activities that will have a sustainable impact and are ready for implementation. The project will support the improvement in biodiversity conservation (through a support to the management improvement of the Hwange national park), developing tools and limited pilot activity to help address land degradation in selected locality of Sanyati catchment, limited capacity improvement and awareness building activities. The project will complement donors and government initiatives that are under implementation/design in the HSBC region. Specific to donors, FAO is supporting Guinea fowl commercialization project in Binga and Human and Wildlife Conflict mitigation project in Hwange district. CIRAD/HERD has a Research work in Hwange National Park. Wilderness Wildlife Trust in Hwange is supporting the Anti poaching game water supplies initiative. In Nyaminyami district, CITIS has a site for the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants. DFID is supporting Basilwizi Trust (which works with the Tonga people -- Binga, Gokwe) and through them the Binga Relationship to CAS At present, an Interim Strategy Note (ISN3) is under preparation. The draft ISN3, which is aligned with the Bank's strategy for Africa, is based on three pillars: (i) Competitiveness and Employment; (ii) Vulnerability and Resilience; and (iii) Governance and Public Sector Capacity. This project directly supports and is aligned to the second pillar. The project will be the main instrument in the managing environmental and ecological risks, one of the strategic engagement areas identified by the ISN3. The project also Public Disclosure Copy supports strengthening of institutions, another area of engagement identified by the ISN3 through its support in strengthening institutions at national and local levels. Among the four areas of strategic engagement identified by the ISN3 under enhanced baseline scenario, this project is in line with three: (i) the Bank possesses a comparative advantage as evidenced by its increasing portfolio in the environment sector; (ii) engagement is politically feasible -- the environment sector has not been a source of contention among the political parties; and (iii) there is specific request from the government, represented by the Ministry of Environment as expressed by the endorsement letter and have secured US$5 million of its GEF allocation for this project and has chosen the Bank to be the Implementing Agency. In addition, the project is in line with Africa Strategy, which provided prominence to vulnerability reduction most importantly from climate change. This project will be the main intervention and support mechanism towards improving environmental and natural resources management in Zimbabwe. It is clear from the above discussions and reality on the ground that medium-to-long term economic development could be compromised if environmental management issues are not addressed in the short-run. More importantly, sustainability of agriculture and food security will be further compromised by loss of biodiversity which this project will be the first step in addressing this nexus (biodiversity loss and food security). As such, the project would contribute to the development of a framework to include sustainability, environment, and conservation as cornerstones of enhanced livelihoods and food security. II. Proposed Global Environmental Objective(s) Proposed Global Environmental Objective(s) To develop the technical and institutional tools for the sustainable management of HSBC. Key Results 1. % in improvement of the Hwange National Park management effectiveness as measured by GEF tracking tools and Bank/ WWF methodology; 2. # of ha brought under sustainable land management practice; 3. # of beneficiaries of livelihood grants of which % are female. III. Preliminary Description Public Disclosure Copy Concept Description The HSBC's ecological integrity and biodiversity is threatened by a number of factors that include the following: (i) commercial timber and wildlife poaching by communities and other outsiders under various land use categories; (ii) weak law enforcement in park areas largely due to underfunding (US$10/km2 compared to US$1,700/km2 for Kruger National Park); (iii) human wildlife conflicts that affect communities neighboring national parks areas -- this is worsened by agricultural expansion that effectively reduced the wildlife range; (iv) the non-establishment of local environmental committees that would have helped in reversing the decline in revenues reaching communities; (v) accelerated degradation (land, wetlands and forests) -- concentration of wildlife in Public Disclosure Copy and around few water points meant plant habitats were destroyed from excess wildlife presence beyond carrying capacity of the areas surrounding water points; (vi) expansion of invasive species; and (vii) dependence on diesel generators to pump groundwater. Climate change is introducing new threats and challenges through its impact on agriculture, water resources, wildlife management, and food security. CBNRM succeeded through an incentive mechanism that increased benefits to the poor communities but with eroding benefits, communities may lose the interest to involve in protecting the environment and exert their energy in its sustainable management. At the center of the proposed project is therefore ensuring community participation and designing and implementing alternative livelihood subprojects including a revamped CAMPFIRE system. Improving livelihood of the communities living in the buffer zone through CBNRM and Public-Private-Community Partnership will be pursued. The tourism sector will be a major player in supporting alternative livelihood initiatives. The project concept also recognizes that institutional strengthening is more effective when coupled with investment. The environment sector, especially Protected Areas are in dire need of infusion of capital in support of site management. Such investment, although not expected to compensate fully for the past neglect, would play a pivotal role in leveraging additional resources from other donors and the private sector. The proposed project will have the following four components: Component 1: Improving PA management effectiveness and providing alternative livelihood to communities living within the biological corridor. The aim of this component is to improve biodiversity management and improving the livelihood opportunities of communities involved in stewardship of the natural resources. This component will support: (a) preparation of a management plan for Hwange national park (with an area of 1,465,100ha) and implementation of selected activities of the same; (b) support to alternative livelihood subproject through provision of small grants in the buffer zone. Component 2: Understanding root causes of land degradation. The aim of this component is to develop tools to improve land management across HSBC. Activities to be financed include: (i) studies and mapping of land use patterns within the biological corridor to identify the root-cause of land degradation; (ii) training communities in sustainable land management and environmental rehabilitation and mechanical conservation works; and (iii) support to the rehabilitation of the most affected area in Sanyati # Chireya locality. Public Disclosure Copy Component 3: Support to institutional, policy and legal framework development. The aim of this component is to improve institutional capacity with focus on climate change impacts on biodiversity and land management. This Component will provide: (i) support to strengthening the climate change unit within Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management (MENRM) in developing strategy in climate change adaptation and mitigation; (ii) support to strengthen local environmental committees within HSBC; and (iii) training, national awareness building, outreach activities and a comprehensive communication strategy. Component 4: Project Coordination. The government has partnered with WWF for the later to be the executing agency for the project. WWF will be: (i) responsible for all fiduciary aspects of the project including overseeing financial management and procurement including contracting of independent auditors and project reviewer; (ii)responsible for the implementation of safeguard policies; (iii) managing and coordinating the monitoring and evaluation system; (iv) preparing periodic reports as will be agreed in the Project Agreement; (v) supporting the government in the preparation of bankable projects for financing by other donors and multilateral financers; (vi) coordinating communication strategy and undertaking outreach and awareness building; (vii) coordinating and consulting with relevant civic and NGOs representatives; and providing targeted TA and training as needed. The MOENRM will be the overall coordinator. A steering committee composed of MOENRM, Ministry of Tourism, Environment Management Agency, Parks & Wildlife Management Authority, CAMPFIRE, WWF and other agencies will be established to oversee the approval of annual plans and budget, review progress reports, and coordinate donor supported activities. As the executing agency of the project, WWF will act as a Secretariat for the Steering Group but without voting right. IV. Safeguard Policies that might apply Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No TBD Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 ✖ Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 ✖ Forests OP/BP 4.36 ✖ Pest Management OP 4.09 ✖ Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 ✖ Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 ✖ Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 ✖ Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 ✖ Public Disclosure Copy Projects on International Waterways OP/BP 7.50 ✖ Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 ✖ V. Tentative financing Financing Source Amount BORROWER/RECIPIENT 4.20 Global Environment Facility (GEF) 6.43 Local Communities 1.50 Total 12.13 VI. Contact point World Bank Contact: Samuel Taffesse Title: Operations Officer Tel: 5391+3214 / Email: staffesse@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Name: Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management Contact: Mr. Irwin Kunene Title: Director Tel: 263-4-701681 Email: climate@ecoweb.co.zw Implementing Agencies Public Disclosure Copy Name: WWF Contact: Dr. Enos Shumba Title: Interim Director Tel: +236-4-703-902; 263-4-252-533/ Email: eshumba@wwf.org.zw VII. For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-4500 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop