Report No. PID9624 Project Name GUATEMALA-WESTERN ALTIPLANO NATURAL (@) RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PROJECT Region Latin America and Caribbean Region Sector Sub-national government administration (50%); Agro-industry (30%); Agricultural extension and research (10%); Crops (10%) Project ID P064883 Supplemental Project P068292 Borrower(s) GOVERNMENT OF GUATEMALA Implementing Agency MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE Address: 7A Avenida 12-90, Zona 13, Guatemala City, Guatemala Contact Person: Hon. Jorge Escoto Tel: 011-502-362 4764 Fax: 332-8302 Email: magadisf@intelnet.net.gt Environment Category B Date PID Prepared January 10, 2003 Auth Appr/Negs Date January 30, 2003 Bank Approval Date November 15, 2005 1. Country and Sector Background Main Sector Issues: Declining Natural Resource Base. More than one-half of the population of Guatemala lives in rural areas and depends directly on natural resources for food, shelter, income, and spiritual sustenance. Agriculture and forestry account for 60% of land use, with agriculture providing more than 50% of employment, 24% of GDP, and 60% of export value nationwide. However, factor productivity in agriculture is very low, and productive investments in the sector amount to only 10% of gross national investment, reflecting the high degree of neglect and the unsustainable extractive practices in the sector. While providing important opportunities for sustainable development, the nation's renewable natural resources are subject to increasing pressure: some 60% of the national territory is estimated to be subject to accelerated soil erosion from human activity, with soils being unsustainably exploited under current production systems. Countrywide, approximately 90,000 hectares annually are deforested. Protection of remaining forests within the Guatemalan Protected Areas System (SIGAP) is strongly threatened by extractive practices, the expansion of the agricultural frontier (particularly in the Western Altiplano and the Peten) and weak management of the SIGAP. Rural Poverty. Despite relative macroeconomic stability, moderate growth, low external debt, and a fairly open economy, Guatemala scores relatively low on poverty and social indicators. In 2000, over half of all Guatemalans - 56W or about 6.4 million people - lived in poverty. About 169 lived in extreme poverty. Rural residents account for over 81- of the poor and 93t of the extreme poor. Three quarters of all rural residents fall below the full poverty line (US$547) and one quarter under the extreme poverty line (US$242). Although the indigenous represent about 43? of the national population, they account for 58t of the poor and 72t of the extreme poor. Over three-quarters of the indigenous population live in poverty, as compared with 41- of the non-indigenous. Poverty is also deeper and more severe among the indigenous. The ENCOVI 2000 also reveals that there are important differences in poverty rates between indigenous groups. The largest indigenous groups are the K'iche, the Kaqchiqel, the Mam, and the Q'eqchi. Among these, the Mam and Q'eqchi have the highest poverty rates. Loss of Social Cohesion. The protracted civil war strongly impacted indigenous communities in the Western Altiplano. In the struggle between the army and the insurgency, the social fabric was torn apart, inter-ethnic trust was severely damaged, and community organizations and local power structures were destroyed. The signing of the Peace Accords between 1994 and 1996 ended most of the (overt) conflict and established a framework for development. While more peaceful community relations and organizations are slowly re-emerging, there is still very little trust in government institutions. Government Strategy Fostering Social Inclusion, Peace and Alleviating Poverty. The Peace Accords outline the Government's inclusive development strategy for the Western Altiplano and other affected regions of the country. The Accords state that, in order to construct a lasting peace in Guatemala, the poverty, especially rural poverty, must be tackled. The Accords call for a reduction in social inequities, increased participation of indigenous and other groups in economic growth, sustainable management of natural resources, and regular Government dialogue with civil society on development of policy and legal instruments. Natural Resource Management and Rural Development. A strong and consistent set of natural resource policies exist, with the notable exception of water law and policy. Current public policies foster an atmosphere that permits decision-makers to make rational economic choices that can lead to sustainable economic growth and resource conservation. A market-oriented model with an open trade regime has been put into place over the past decade. Evidence suggests that policy makers now increasingly view companion environmental and natural resource policies as a necessity for a modern Guatemala and less as a constraint to economic growth. The current government has further contributed to this framework through the National Strategic Environmental Agenda 2000 - 2004 which proposes a framework for the integration of environmental policy into agriculture, industry, commerce, tourism, oil and natural gas, as well as providing direction on biodiversity, climate change, desertification and drought. Created by legislative decree in 2000, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) is charged with implementing this policy. The challenge for MARN is to lead a process which creates a public system of environmental management, which in the specific case of natural resources management, brings together the roles of the Ministry of Agriculture (MAGA), the National Protected Areas Commission (CONAP), the National Forestry Institute (INAB) and Municipal governments. Decentralization. A recent World Bank report concluded that a limiting -2 - factor of decentralization in Guatemala is the coordination between the central level and sub-national government agencies. Little has been done to build the capacity of public or private sector groups to assume their roles and the extension of rural development support services on the part of government institutions has been quite limited. Central government transfers to municipalities currently are used almost exclusively for financing public infrastructure and to servicing municipal debt. Municipalities lack the incentives and have only limited capacity to approach local development in an integrated manner and to include management of local natural resources. On the other hand, municipal governments do have the constitutional authority to manage natural resources and the necessary participatory mechanisms are supported through the Decentralization Law; these latter offer a long-term foundation for resource management. They have, however, demonstrated little technical competence to do so. Biodiversity and Protected Areas. The country's policies for biodiversity conservation and protected areas are contained in: (a) the National Biodiversity Strategy (published in early 2000 with assistance from GEF funding through UNDP), (b) the National Policy for the Development of the Guatemalan Protected Areas System (SIGAP), (c) CONAP's Strategic Plan 1999 - 2010; and (d) the National Strategic Environmental Agenda 2000 - 2004. The central priority of all these is the in situ conservation of biodiversity, mainly through strengthening of the SIGAP. 2. Objectives The Western Altiplano is characterized culturally by its majority indigenous (Mayan) population, and geographically as encompassing the departments of Solola, El Quiche, Totonicapan, Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, and Huehuetenango. The region has a GDP per capita that is one fifth of the national average and (with the exception of the department of Quetzaltenango) has the highest incidence of social exclusion nationwide. Almost 60t of the economically active population is engaged in smallholder agriculture (minifundio) and reliant upon an increasingly degraded and declining natural resources base. Project Development Objective: The project aims to improve the management and conservation of natural resources and biodiversity and the incomes of the people who depend upon these resources, in the Western Altiplano of Guatemala. The project would help to alleviate rural poverty, reduce pressures upon and improve management of the natural resources base by: (a) increasing social capital around natural resources management, through support to communities, organizations and local authorities (traditional and municipal) to jointly define and implement a local development vision which takes natural resources management and sustainability objectives into account; (b) increasing opportunities to sustainably improve productivity and diversify farming and other (off-farm) livelihood systems; (c) extending and strengthening ongoing efforts of indigenous communities to establish permanent conservation areas within broader zones of biodiversity of global importance and to maintain the habitats which sustain this diversity; and (d) establishing and piloting a framework for environmental services markets to sustain local incentives for conservation. The proposed project will form a part of the Government's program of interventions in the implementation of the Peace Accords for the Western Altiplano. As some 95t of the population of the proposed project area is indigenous, the proposed project can also be considered an indigenous peoples development project. -3 - The project will assist municipal governments, communities and local groups to incorporate sustainable natural resources management into local development planning and investment, while building upon the successful Western Altiplano experiences that have been generated by NGO (e.g., HELVETAS, Movi Mundo), bi-lateral (e.g., GTZ) and government (e.g., INAB/BOSCOM) programs. The project will provide rural households, community groups and local authorities (traditional Mayan and local government) with instruments to improve rural incomes, create incentives for increasing environmental sustainability of production practices, and value and protect globally important biodiversity. 3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement The Bank supports a rich portfolio of natural resources management, forestry and communal forest management, watershed rehabilitation projects in several Central and South American countries, from which important lessons have been captured for application in this project. The current Guatemala portfolio includes related projects in land administration, local initiatives and municipal development, and social infrastructure (through its support to the Guatemala FIS and FONAPAZ). Biodiversity conservation: The Bank has wide experience and will help target project activities to zones of critical ecological importance and mobilize appropriate technical assistance. The Bank has been active in regional dialogue on environment, sustainable use and conservation of natural resources within the framework of the MBC in Central America and Mexico and has many similar projects in the region. Demand-driven, competitive funds: The Bank supports agricultural extension, social infrastructure, rural investment programs and natural resources management throughout the region. Sharing of experience from these other funds will greatly shorten the learning curve for establishing the financing mechanism for local institutional programs. Agricultural technology programs: The Bank has acquired broad experience with financing agribusiness development and producer and community organizations and can bring this experience to bear in project design and implementation. Land Administration and Land Funds: The Bank supports key projects in Guatemala's rural sector: the Land Fund (Ln. 4432-GT), Land Administration (Ln. 4415-GT) , and the Reconstruction and Local Development Project (Ln4379-GT). Coordination among projects has been discussed and opportunities for synergies have been identified. Natural resources conservation and watershed protection: The Bank finances many such projects worldwide. Experience from these initiatives has been incorporated into the project design, including good practices in private service provision and private sector development. Integration of production and conservation activities to encourage reduced environmental degradation; demand-driven priority setting and planning; support to "farmer" (client-driven) agendas for improved income security versus "agency" (supply and centrally driven) agendas seeking conservation outcomes through non-sustainable external pressures. Environmental Services Markets: Although new for Guatemala, the World Bank is involved significantly in major environmental services projects or components in Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Belize, and Colombia. A network of experts and a web page with resources has been created. This area is one in which the Bank has developed cutting edge experience and thus is able to provide significant value-added. - 4 - 4. Description The total project cost is US$55.43 million, of which the World Bank will finance US$32.82 million and the GEF US$8.0 million. Component 1 (Sustainable Livelihoods) is oriented toward improving the welfare of the rural poor through promotion of sustainable use and conservation of natural resources. The component consists of two subcomponents: Subproject Grants and Local Institutional Strengthening. Subproject Grants: will provide grants to pre-existing, rural community associations in the 54 targeted municipalities to finance an estimated 760 small-scale sustainable production, natural resources management or conservation subprojects, identified by these groups as priority investments to improve community well-being. The grants will include financing of necessary technical assistance and training. A maximum of US$3,500 of grant financing over three years will be available per participating household. The average size of a grant project is expected to be on the order of US$37,600, though larger grants would not be excluded where justified. The maximum individual grant would not exceed US$150,000. Subproject funds will be disbursed directly to community associations with legal status and verified capacity to manage funds. This subcomponent will also provide those cross-cutting services required to ensure the functioning and impact of the local capacity building and subproject grants subcomponents. These include: (a) land and resource access conflict resolution assistance, consisting of rapid diagnostics in each municipality over communal forests and water sources and support to informal (local) and formal (CONTIERRA) efforts to resolve such conflicts; (b) strategic regional services such as subject matter specialists to provide specific, short term assistance on project needs and, as jointly developed with the Instancias Locales, technical assistance to address needs that are broader than single subprojects such as improving marketing and commercialization opportunities for 'green' produce, applied research and market studies, and formation of strategic alliances between local and national farmers' organizations, exporters and international trade promotion groups; (c) training for municipal-level promoters, leaders, and service providers in participatory planning and the project cycle, biodiversity and environmental management, organization development, marketing, non-farm income generation and informal savings and credit schemes; and (d) community-interchange program to allow local leaders and participants in subprojects to visit and exchange learning with other successful communities. Local Institutional Strengthening: will provide grant resources to participating municipalities to finance specialized technical assistance, training and other services as needed. The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) will maintain a roster of pre-qualified service providers and facilitate the contracting of these services. Municipal capacity assessments will be conducted for each municipality to ensure their ability to administer funding. The grants will assist municipalities, their communities and local organizations, and participating GOG agencies in participatory planning, formulation and execution of local projects and programs for the use and management of natural resources. Technical assistance will be provided to: (a) develop consensus on a municipal development agenda which incorporates natural resources management concerns; (b) strengthen municipal-level forums (Instancias Locales, see Annex 2) in local development and natural resources planning; (c) strengthen an estimated 850 community associations in participatory planning and proposal development and provide assistance in obtaining legal status; and (d) - 5- build the capacity of MAGA and MARN Departmental Coordinators and INAB Regional/Subregional staff to carry out their roles in the implementation of the program; this latter would include purchase of vehicles, computer equipment and training in participatory planning, conflict management and environmental management. Component 2 (Biodiversity Conservation) will finance activities to strengthen local and national capacity to conserve natural habitats containing globally important biodiversity and other areas providing locally and nationally important environmental services. The component comprises activities for: Protection of Sites of Global Importance: consisting of a set of inter-related activities to strengthen local and national institutional capacity for conservation and co-management of natural resources in target areas, including (i) regional coordination of planning for development and conservation of targeted protected areas; (ii) strengthening of CONAP; (iii) expansion of the SIGAP; (iv) strengthening traditional tenure and management systems for natural resources; (v) strengthening local capacity for management of natural resources; and (vi) special studies of biodiversity and conservation. Local biodiversity protection and supporting natural resources management subprojects will be financed through subproject grants made under Component 1. Inter-cultural Communications: to increase public awareness of environmental issues, values, and management practices and to share this knowledge across the cultures of the Western Altiplano. Specific activities to be financed would include: (i) development of an environmental communications strategy; (ii) development of multilingual materials for radio, video and other communications media (including printed materials) in the nine principal languages of the region on environmental issues relevant to the seven environmental protection target areas; (iii) community environmental communications programs to stimulate awareness of environmental issues and draw on traditional knowledge; (iv) formal environmental education in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to develop a multilingual training program on environmental education and pilot this in primary schools. Biodiversity Conservation Monitoring and Evaluation: to strengthen CONAP's biodiversity monitoring and evaluation capacity by establishing a comprehensive biodiversity information system for the Western Altiplano. CONAP will implement these activities and (i) upgrade its GIS with new equipment, computer programs, and data; (ii) update ecosystem maps for INAB; (iii) establish a central database on protected areas within the SIGAP and other areas of natural habitat under other types of protective and use regimes (this system will have linkages to Western Altiplano regional offices and form part of a national system). Component 3 (Environmental Services Markets) In collaboration with the Grupo Interinstitucional de Acompanamiento (GIA), which formed to coordinate efforts and share experiences on environmental services in Guatemala, the Component will (i) develop the framework for policies and markets for environmental services, through the elaboration of a National Strategy for Environmental Services; (ii) provide local and foreign technical assistance for research and special studies and training for local and national officials working in areas related to development of environmental services policy, legal framework and pilot programs; and (iii) design and implement pilot projects aimed at developing capacity, methodologies and instruments for market-based - 6 - incentives for provision of environmental services. The development of environmental services markets is seen as an essential element of a longer term strategy to achieve the sustainable use and conservation natural resources. Component 4 (Administration, Supervision, Monitoring and Evaluation) The Project Management Component will finance (i) project administration and planning; (ii) program monitoring and evaluation; (iii) incremental PCU salaries and operating costs, vehicles and equipment; and (iv) such studies as required for purposes of project design, implementation, and follow up. 5. Financing Total ( US$m) BORROWER $8.46 IBRD $32.82 IDA LOCAL COMMUNITIES $6.15 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY $8.00 Total Project Cost $55.43 6. Implementation Implementation Period: Five years Executing Entities: Community Associations: are legally constituted groups of rural citizens with common interests who identify, prepare, implement, operate and maintain community subprojects; Instancias Locales: are municipal-level entities, operating within the framework of the municipal Consejos de Desarrollo Local, which represent indigenous villages and communities, producer groups, and NGOs with a local presence, the municipal government, and local civil society bodies linked to "wise use of resources" (parcialidades, traditional religious fraternities, councils of elders, principales, shamans, and auxiliary mayors). Their role is to facilitate the participatory development of municipal-level "sustainable development agendas", set local financing priorities, promotion, and monitoring of program activities. The municipal technical units would function as their technical secretariat. Project Coordination Unit: will be responsible for the execution of all project activities, with the exception of the Component 1 (Sustainable Livelihood) Municipal Grants under the Local Institutional Strengthening Subcomponent and Subproject Grants subcomponent, would be carried out directly through the PCU in concert with the GOG implementing agencies. Subproject Cycle: Community Associations determine their local priorities, develop subproject proposals and submit them to the Instancias Locales; Instancias Locales, in regularly scheduled public meetings, review, prioritize and approve subprojects within a pre-determined resource envelope; PCU (through a registry of private service providers) technically evaluates approved subprojects and confirms compliance with operational guidelines before releasing funds; -7- Subproject grant agreements are signed between the PCU and the community association, detailing the terms for financing, execution, ownership, operation and maintenance of the subproject; Funds for subproject implementation are transferred directly to the bank account of the community association; Community associations are responsible for contracting goods, works and technical assistance for subproject execution, bear responsibility for operation and maintenance of all investments, and may request technical assistance to develop administrative capacity, and operation and maintenance programs and techniques. Project Oversight: The project implementing agency is the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Food (MAGA). Two other GOG national level agencies, the National Protected Areas Council (CONAP) and the National Forestry Institute (INAB), will also participate in project implementation and supervision. CONAP will assume responsibility for activities related to biodiversity and protected areas, and INAB will do so for activities related to forestry and environmental services. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed among the three agencies detailing their mutually agreed roles and responsibilities. Project Coordination: A Project Coordination Unit (PCU) will be established within MAGA and located in the Western Altiplano (Quetzaltenango) to provide for overall coordination of component activities and carry out project management functions. Specifically, the PCU will be responsible for implementation, coordination and promotion, preparation of annual work programs, budgets, procurement and financial management, general supervision, and monitoring and evaluation. The PCU will also have some limited technical and implementation responsibilities, in terms of administering and supervising contracts for the implementation of support services, intercultural communication, and other cross-cutting institutional strengthening activities. The PCU will be responsible for preparing Annual Operating Plans (POAs), satisfactory to the Bank. All project activities involving MAGA, MARN, CONAP or INAB staff (or as institutions) will be planned jointly. Project Operational Procedures: The functions and responsibilities of the PCU and project management will be governed by the Project Operational Manual, which will include detailed guidelines for the preparation of the POA, staffing and assignments with specific responsibilities, supervision, community subproject guidelines and procedures, flow of funds, special accounts, budgeting, auditing and reporting, as well as procurement and disbursement procedures. The Operational Manual would be updated according to project circumstances and project strategies, implementation experience and project objectives, and activities set forth in the PAD and Project Legal Agreement. A Project Operational Manual, acceptable to the World Bank, will be a condition of Project Effectiveness. Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements: The PCU will be responsible for ensuring that project results and impacts are monitored. Detailed project performance monitoring indicators and a draft Monitoring and Evaluation proposal have been prepared and will be reviewed at appraisal and finalized prior to Project Negotiations. A Mid-Term Review would be carried out to provide an in-depth evaluation of project performance and outcomes based on the agreed targets presented in Annex 1. Accounting, Financial Reporting and Auditing Arrangements: During project preparation, an assessment of the capacity of MAGA to implement Bank-approved procurement was initiated and will be finalized at appraisal. The draft procurement plan, which also proposes specific - 8 - actions to be taken before effectiveness, will be presented by Government at appraisal. Both the draft and the appraisal mission procurement assessment report will be sent to the office of the Bank's Regional Procurement Advisor (RPA) for comments upon return of the appraisal mission. Subproject beneficiaries and service providers will be required to submit proof of expenditures and reports on advances to request subsequent disbursements. Annual, independent technical audits of a sampling of subprojects will be contracted by the PCU each year. A special sub-unit in the PCU, solely responsible for review and approval of statements of expenditures, will be established. 7. Sustainability Incentives for stakeholders to implement the project are considered to be the most important investment in the sustainability of project outcomes. The project will establish partnerships with stakeholders (e.g., communities, indigenous groups, the private sector, local municipal governments, and NGOs) for local planning, subproject identification, selection and implementation. These groups will benefit from investments under the project through capacity-building and training, helping to ensure that project objectives are owned locally and nationally, with the capacity in place to replicate the successful experiences and processes elsewhere in the region and country. The project would model decentralized, demand-driven development processes and private sector services delivery in agriculture, forestry and biodiversity conservation, thus making up for the near total absence of any such public services in these sectors. The degree to which these processes are successful and take hold among the beneficiaries will be a measure of project success and sustainability. The project will improve the ability of national and local agencies (i.e., MAGA, MARN, CONAP, INAB, NGOs and private groups) to integrate natural resources and biodiversity conservation values into development planning at all levels. The project will furnish and make available to local governments and communities planning information (e.g., GIS) previously held in tight control by centralized agencies in the capital. Decentralized regional MAGA, MARN, CONAP, and INAB personnel will have been exposed to participatory resources management approaches and, together with the private technical service providers, will be better placed to contribute technical services to the rural populations in the project area. The project's gender focus (during preparation, grant resources to support MAGA in articulating a gender policy were secured) and diffusion of culturally appropriate information should make a permanent contribution to the capacity of rural women and indigenous people to gain greater acceptance and contribute to the regional economy and the care and conservation of natural resources. The project will help ensure financial sustainability beyond the project period by developing cost recovery and financing mechanisms to recoup the management costs of protected areas (through tourism, concessions and user fees) and capture payments for conservation of environmental capital and services. In addition, it will develop the institutional capacity, methodologies and instruments for accessing other demand-driven rural development funding sources (e.g., FIS, FONAPAZ, FSDC) to finance local productive and natural resource management needs. The most durable investments are represented by the improved production and resource conservation practices it will foster, test and mainstream, combined with -9- the institutional structures to carry them on into the future. Government support beyond the project phase is nominally assured by the current decentralizing natural resource and rural development and agrarian policies. The project builds on these concepts and will test implementing mechanisms for their application. It is hoped that these will be successful and can become a model for continued practice in the future. 8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector Natural Resource Management. Bank experience demonstrates that fundamental to the success of this type of program are: (i) long-term security of land tenure/resource access; (ii) assurance of local buy-in (ownership) of project activities coupled with strengthening of local management capacity in regards to the forests, watersheds, land/soils, habitats and biodiversity upon which people rely or live around; (iii) mechanisms for managing resource-demand and access conflict; (iv) decentralizing decisions and support systems responsive to local demands and needs; and (v) providing all actors with enhanced access to useful and up-to-date information, training and technical assistance which expands the range of alternatives open to them. Project design builds on these principals and on the positive pilot community forests/natural resources planning and management experiences of local governments and NGOs (HELVETAS, Movi Mundo), other international donors (GTZ), and GoG agencies (INAB/BOSCOM) in the Western Altiplano and supports mainstreaming these successful models within the GOG's line agencies (MAGA, MARN, CONAP, and INAB). Agricultural Services Provision. Extension programs worldwide are being decentralized and privatized and general management reforms are being introduced. Successful rural extension programs include: (i) decentralized services, allowing for local innovation and adaptation in response to locally identified needs; (ii) involve farmers in planning, implementing, and financing services to assure program relevance and effectiveness; (iii) emphasize involvement of producer organizations in providing services for small farmers; (iv) strengthen producer organizations; (v) provide alternatives from which farmers can select and adapt the practices and systems most relevant to their conditions; (vi) link farmers to private sector activities in input sales and product marketing; (vi) facilitate horizontal and vertical interactions at various levels between farmers, researchers, policy-makers and the private sector; (vii) make coordinated use of all available communications channels (especially radio) for efficiently and effectively transmitting information; and (viii) include new technology and adaptive research as a complementary activity to extension. The above-mentioned lessons and prescriptions, are equally relevant to adaptive research, small enterprise support and agro-enterprise development activities and are included in the project design. An information campaign, important to ensure transparency and effective dissemination of the program objectives, is incorporated in the project design. Productive subprojects must be subject to rigorous selection criteria, provide services for a significant proportion of community members, and assure operational sustainability and maintenance by establishing the collection of user fees where appropriate. Participation by beneficiaries in the selection, financing, execution, and operation and maintenance of subprojects has ensured that investments meet genuine community needs, led to cost savings, and has increased community 'ownership' leading to improved sustainability of investments. This - 10 - methodology will be continued under the new project. Poverty targeting mechanisms that are simple, verifiable and based on objective criteria, can foster transparency, minimize political interference in project resource allocation and ensure that project resources reach the poorest areas. The project allows communities to self-select through the demand-driven mechanism for subprojects. Biodiversity Conservation. Through an extensive portfolio of GEF and IBRD biodiversity conservation projects in Central America, the Bank has solid experience in the execution of conservation projects in the region. Emerging lessons include: (i) the value of biological corridors to protect reserves that are otherwise "isolated islands"; (ii) the importance of incorporating local communities and local governments into biodiversity conservation planning; (iii) the need for financial mechanisms to fully cover operational costs; and (iv) the importance of institutional strengthening of the agencies responsible for conservation. 9. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation) Issues : There are no significant environmental issues in this project. Activities are being designed to have positive long term impacts on the environment. 10. Contact Point: Task Manager James W. Smyle The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: 202-473-7382 Fax: 202-522-3132 11. For information on other project related documents contact: The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not be necessarily included in the final project. - 11 -