INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: ISDSC411 Public Disclosure Copy Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 08-Mar-2012 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Africa Project ID: P126773 Project Name: West Africa Regional Fisheries Program APL C1 (P126773) Task Team Leader: John Virdin Estimated Appraisal Date: 09-Nov-2012 Estimated Board Date: 28-Mar-2013 Managing Unit: AFTEN Lending Instrument: Adaptable Program Loan Sector: General agriculture, fishing and forestry sector (100%) Theme: Other environment and natural resources management (100%) Financing (In USD Million) Financing Source Amount BORROWER/RECIPIENT 0.00 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 30.00 International Development Association (IDA) 12.00 Global Environment Facility - IBRD as Implementing Agency 7.00 Total 49.00 Environmental Category: B - Partial Assessment Is this a Repeater project? No B. Project Objectives The development objective of the first phase of APL-C of the West Africa Regional Fisheries Program is to strengthen the capacity of Mauritania to govern targeted fisheries, and increase the contribution of these fisheries to the local economy. The targeted fisheries for this first phase include first and foremost the high value export species that have been most heavily overfished, among others: coastal shrimp, octopus, as well as Public Disclosure Copy demersal fish species (e.g. croakers, groupers, snappers, etc.) and small pelagic species. The Program will support more sustainable contributions from these fisheries to the country’s economic growth via: (i) IDA credits and GEF grants invested in governance reforms to support more sustainability and transparency of supply, and (ii) IBRD enclave loan to support key fish landing infrastructure and public/private partnerships needed to capitalize on bigger fish stocks and more sustainable supply, most notably through more value added to the country’s economy. Background: The West Africa Regional Fisheries Program (WARFP) is a series of 3 overlapping Adaptable Program Loans (APLs), each of which has two phases of five years. As such, the WARFP utilizes the World Bank’s APL instrument: (i) horizontally, on a regional basis to support 9 countries through a series of overlapping APLs (i.e. APL-A for Cape Verde, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone; APL-B for Ghana and Guinea- Bissau, APL-C for Mauritania); and (ii) vertically, in that each country can receive support from two phases or installments over the APL Program, in order to deepen and expand the reforms supported in the first phase. The APL instrument is particularly well-suited to support the long-term reforms needed in the management and use of the region’s fisheries, with logical sequencing of events and phasing of activities with agreed milestones, and flexibility needed in execution. The regional organization supporting the implementation of the WARFP is the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP), a regional fisheries body that includes the seven member states of Mauritania through Sierra Leone, with Ghana and Liberia participating as observers. The first of the three overlapping APLs in the series, APL-A, was approved by the Board of Directors on October 20, 2009 for US$55 million in IDA and GEF investments in the four countries of Cape Verde, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The second APL in the series, APL-B, was approved by the Board on March 31, 2011 for US$8 million in IDA and GEF investments in Guinea-Bissau. Similarly, the West Africa Regional Fisheries Program in Ghana was approved as a specific investment loan (SIL) on July 14, 2011, for US$53 million in IDA and GEF investments. This concept note describes the third APL proposed in the series, APL-C, for the country of Mauritania. The remaining countries of Guinea and the Gambia could be added via subsequent APLs when ready. Taken together, this series of APLs (i.e., the West Africa Regional Fisheries Program) is expected to span 10 years, at the end of which period it will have covered all nine eligible countries: i.e. the seven member countries of the CSRP (Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone) plus Liberia and Ghana. The development objective of the series of overlapping APLs, taken together, is to sustainably increase the overall wealth generated by the exploitation of the marine fisheries resources of West Africa, and the proportion of that wealth captured by West African countries. The APLs would achieve this objective by: (i) strengthening the countries’ capacity to sustainably govern and manage their fisheries; (ii) reducing illegal fishing; and (iii) increasing the value and profitability generated by fish resources and the proportion of that value captured by the countries. C. Project Description Component 1. Good Governance and Sustainable Management of the Fisheries This component would provide: (i) technical assistance and training for the development of a detailed action plan to implement the Government's fisheries policy (2008 Strategy); (ii) the introduction of limited and secure rights to the octopus and shrimp fisheries via the implementation of the existing management plans, as well as the potential introduction of rights to the small pelagic fisheries; (iii) development of a functional fishing vessel and license registry, and (iv) establishment of a Fisheries Economic and Policy Planning Unit, which would house a publicly available dashboard. These governance reforms would aim to cap or reduce fishing effort on a number of high-value stocks via the introduction of a fixed number of rights, to sustainably enhance the natural capital base of the fisheries. With a more stable and predictable supply of fish resulting, this Public Disclosure Copy component would therefore utilize IDA credit and GEF grant as an entry point for an IBRD enclave loan to finance infrastructure for private partners to invest locally in Mauritania fisheries. The country aims to encourage private investment to land more fish locally to increase the value added from the sector, but without a stable and predictable supply of fish, even the best infrastructure would not be a sufficient incentive. Thus this component and these governance reforms would allow the Government and private partners to invest in a local industry based on a healthy natural capital asset. Component 2. Increasing the Contribution of the Marine Fish Resources to the Local Economies This component would mobilize an IBRD enclave investment to support the creation of an environment where the country can capture more of the economic benefits from its marine fish resources, based on the governance and policy reforms introduced in Component 1. This would include an environment where more of the fish caught in the country✇ s waters is handled locally (e.g., landed, processed) to generate more local value added, under better sanitary conditions. More specifically, this component would support a fish landing site cluster at Nouadhibou, which would operate in partnership with the private sector to generate sufficient foreign exchange to provide the needed security for the investment. As mentioned previously, currently a large number of the lower value small pelagic species caught in Mauritania's waters, are taken abroad and processed, and then exported back into a number of markets in West Africa where demand for food fish is high. This investment would provide for a better entry point for these fish products into the regional market, reducing the need for foreign processing in some cases. Projected revenue generation from the landing site cluster at Nouadhibou to secure the IBRD enclave would likely come from one of two (or both) potential sources: (i) a private partner who is given a concession on the port and operates the facility, charging fees to vessels landing fish and using the site; and/or (ii) private investors in storage/processing/transshipping facilities in and around the site. Component 3. Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation and Program Management This component would provide technical assistance and operating costs to the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy to manage the program of nationally-implemented investments. The Ministry would create a monitoring and implementation unit at the level of the Cabinet, supported by a technical team of experts to be recruited by the project, including a fisheries economist, a specialist in fisheries infrastructure; a fisheries policy and management specialist; and an environment and social safeguard specialist. Working with the various Departments of the Ministry, this team would prepare an annual work program, budget, update of the monitoring and evaluation indicators and procurement plan that would eventually be reviewed with the steering committee and transmitted to the Regional Coordination Unit for the Program, housed at the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP). At this scale, the CSRP would provide technical support to the Ministry in implementation, as it does for all of the countries participating in the WARFP, as well as implementation of regional information-sharing and transparency initiatives. D. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) Mauritania E. Borrowers Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies Public Disclosure Copy Implementation capacity is weak in the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, and will be supplemented by a technical team embedded in the Ministry’s monitoring and implementation unit, with oversight provided by a multi-stakeholder national steering committee. For this reason, the regional structure mandated with supporting the management of marine fish resources, the Commission Sous-Regionale des Peches (CSRP), will be used to help coordinate and supervise compliance with safeguard policies. F. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Maman-Sani Issa (AFTEN) Beatrix Allah-Mensah (AFTCS) II. SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 Yes Only the fish landing site cluster at Nouadhibou is clearly expected to generate adverse environmental impacts if adequate management system were not in place. A stand alone EIA will be prepared to prevent any disturbance though the infrastructure is currently envisaged as the extension of an existing harbor/wharf, rather than the construction of an entirely new landing site; this will be confirmed during preparation. For the remaining aspects of the project which locations and impacts are not yet clearly foreseen, the existing ESMF of the previous APL will be update to capture the associated risks. Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No Forests OP/BP 4.36 No Pest Management OP 4.09 No Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 No Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 TBD The application of OP 4.12 will be fully determined in the course of preparation. However, while previous APLs in the series have triggered this safeguard Public Disclosure Copy because of the construction of small-scale fish landing sites with unknown locations, requiring a Resettlement Policy Framework, this investment would only support infrastructure investment in the port at Nouadhibou, which is not an entirely new landing site, but extension of an existing wharf. Similarly, in terms of a process framework, this investment would strengthen resource management of the fisheries, which are largely utilized by industrial (mostly foreign) operators. A regional Process Framework (PF) and a regional Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) have already been prepared by the WARFP, and the Government of Mauritania will draw upon these as needed during preparation. Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No Projects on International Waterways OP/BP No 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 No III. SAFEGUARD PREPARATION PLAN A. Tentative target date for preparing the PAD Stage ISDS: 16-Jul-2012 B. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing1 should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS: The specific studies and their timing should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS. The studies will be launched by April 30, 2012, and completed by May 15, 2012. IV. APPROVALS Task Team Leader: Name: John Virdin Approved By: Regional Safeguards Coordinator: Name: Alexandra C. Bezeredi (RSA) Date: 19-Mar-2012 Public Disclosure Copy Sector Manager: Name: Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough (SM) Date: 22-Jan-2012 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons.