Objectives

To conserve terrestrial and marine biodiversity by strengthening management of the Union of Comoros newly created Protected Areas Network through effective co-management with communities for sustainable development

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

Local socioeconomic benefits include i) the development of sustainable income-generating activities for 6,399 people, 50% of whom are women and 4% are PWD through sustainable nature-based value chains related to PAs, securing or increasing food provision through improved ecosystems health and improvements to local communities’ production activities, including fishing and agriculture, and ii) increased capacity and opportunities to actively participate in the co-management of protected areas and resources and the valuation of the ecosystem goods and services they provide. National socioeconomic benefits provided by the project include i) preservation of assets for the development of tourism in Comoros including clean beaches and healthy ecosystems that support ecotourism, i.e. forests, coral reefs, and increased opportunities for tourism operators such as hotel operators, restaurateurs and communities that offer community lodging facilities, and tourist guides, ii) increased institutional capacities to co-manage PAs, ecosystems and species, and to preserve the country’s development potential and the ecosystem goods and services that the PAs provide and on which the local populations, the private sector and the government rely, including provisioning services such as fisheries and wild aromatic and medicinal plants, provision of water in watershed areas, climate and flood regulation, provision of fertile soil, green manure, shade and moisture for agriculture, fodder for livestock, pollination, waste processing and assimilation (in mangroves), and cultural, aesthetic and spiritual services. iii) increased capacities of the private sector and local community cooperatives to develop sustainable value chains based on resources from the PAs, and iv) establishment of a national certification system for sustainable and equitable products from protected areas. The 2016 National Strategy and Action Plan for Biodiversity emphasizes the importance, for human survival and well-being, of the essential services that biodiversity provides and concludes that biodiversity provides income to most of the population and constitutes the basis of the Comorian economy. Agriculture’s share – including fishing and livestock breeding – of the national wealth has been estimated at more than US$209 million, representing 41 percent of GDP and 90 percent of the country’s export income. Fishing provides nearly 40 percent of animal protein for the population, most majority of whom live in a subsistence economy, employs approximately eight percent of the population, and provides five percent of the country’s foreign currency. The ecosystem goods and services provided by coral reefs include 3,000 tons of reef fish/year, estimated at approximately US$6.18 million. Tourism is not highly developed and contributes only around 10 percent to GDP. Its offers only precarious, and nearly non-existent, benefits to local communities. However, the economic value of tourism services from the coral reefs in the marine area of Mohéli National Park is estimated at US$3.5 million. This is equivalent to 1.3 percent of GDP, 15.2 percent of public investments, and 10.7 percent of exports of goods and services. The tourist value of all of the country’s coral reefs is estimated at US$8 million. The component 3 of the project is focusing on partnerships between private businesses and community cooperatives directly or through the development or expansion of nature-based value chains and the strengthening of their capacities to ensure the sustainability and profitability of the livelihoods for local communities. It is expected that 6,399 people, 50% of whom are women and 4% are PWDs, will benefit from improved livelihoods through such sustainable nature-based value chains related to PAs. The project will first target vulnerable people whose resource use is detrimental to ecosystems (including fishers using nets or fishing on foot, people removing sand from beaches, and farmers cultivating under forest) How do these benefits translate in supporting the achievement of global environment benefits (GEF Trust Fund) ? Providing alternative livelihoods to local communities whose resource use is unsustainable will reduce pressures on coastal and forest ecosystems. Indeed, these people were met by the staff in charge of PA management and have expressed their willingness to give up their illicit activities as long as they can benefit from support to practice a profitable alternative activity. This will contribute to stabilize 17,564 ha of primary and secondary forest, 197 ha of mangrove, 6030 ha of seagrass beds and 30,000 ha of coral reefs within the PA network, thus increasing the protection of the habitats for endemic and threatened biodiversity such as the Livingstone fruit bat, island-endemic Otus, marine turtles, the Mongoz lemur, the dugong, and marines species living in association with reefs. Reducing the collection of shoreline materials will contribute to the natural restoration of marine turtle nesting beaches. The development of these livelihoods will be an incentive to local communities to support and collaborate in the management of PAs, thus contributing to increase management effectiveness over 116,577 ha of existing terrestrial and marine/ coastal protected areas which will lead, with the reduction of the rate of deforestation, to a reduction of the threats to endemic biodiversity in these areas and to increased mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. To ensure that the project generates local and global benefits, interventions are aligned with STAP guidance, including § helping strengthen community land and resource tenure: the Project will contribute to clarify the issue of land tenure, particularly to ascertain the extent of community land ownership, or village terroirs, within the National Parks through output 1.2 on the development of master plans for terrestrial and marine/coastal areas within protected areas, and more specifically sub-outputs 1.2.1 on the participatory delineation and mapping of village terroirs within protected areas, the translation of the georeferenced coordinates of the PA boundaries and of zoning into local communities’ own reference system, the “lieux-dits”, and 1.2.3 on the participatory planning of land/coastal and resource use, including the delineation of areas reserved for the harvesting of natural resources by local communities involved in value chains – both planning processes will be supported by village co-management committees; these plans will be developed in parallel with strategic environmental and social assessments to ensure, inter alia, they do not restrict other people’s legitimate access rights. In this way, National Park management plans will incorporate land tenure issues in the review of park management plans and all community engagement activities, in order to capture accurately tenure and community engagement in National Park management. The project will document the boundaries of the different zones as well as the conflict zones. Any physical demarcation will be carried out with the collaboration of local communities and will be limited to areas that are not the subject of any dispute. The documentation of conflicts will identify the nature of the conflicts, the disputed areas, and the communities or community members involved. While it is possible that the project might not have the means and time to resolve all the conflicts identified, this exercise will at least provide a common and updated basis for all concerned parties, including the National Parks Agency, communes and concerned village authorities, to work on jointly and resolve land disputes. § promoting equitable benefits from wild resources through sub-output 3.3.2 focused on the identification and implementation of partnership agreements that guarantee tangible and optimized benefits to community cooperative partners in the value chains; support will be provided to value chains stakeholders to negotiate and develop long-term, mutually beneficial "win-win" partnership agreements and provide a framework for the development of value chains that guarantee a fair share of tangible benefits to partner communities; this principle must be reflected in the business models and support will be provided (as part of output 3.4 related to strengthening entrepreneurship capacities and the design of business models) to each business in designing or adapting their business model to incorporate the maximization of benefits to local communities through benefit-sharing rules so that the benefits derived from these value chains provide adequate incentives for local communities to comply with PA regulations; § supporting effective community governance through capacity building and more specifically through interventions under the sub-output 1.1.4: Recognition and consolidation of the effective involvement of men and women from local communities in the governance of protected areas, including i) the explicit recognition of their rights and benefits related to natural resources in PAs and revision of village co-management agreements to include these rights and benefits, ii) the establishment of grievance redress mechanisms in each park and informing local communities and other stakeholders about the mechanism for registering, forwarding, evaluating and resolving grievances; § and building local capacity to manage natural resources through sub-output 2.2.2: Plans for the sustainable use of species targeted for the development of value chains, where training will be provided to local communities on sustainable harvesting in the natural environment (harvesting techniques, quantities, frequency, period determined on the basis of the studies carried out by specialized biologist) and to enable their participation in the monitoring of the quantities harvested, the evaluation of the condition of the exploited populations on the basis of simple indicators which will have been identified by a plant biologist or a fishery biologist, and decision-making regarding any required adjustment to harvest levels, including if necessary, putting an end to it. These trainings will be developed and provided on site by the biologists specialized in flora and fishing who will ensure a follow-up of these trainings after 6 months to ensure the good understanding of the shared concepts. The Ecoguards and Mobilizers of the relevant parks will also participate in these trainings in order to ensure an adequate supervision of the local communities on a continuous basis. The likelihood of this project having positive conservation outcomes is supported by the long-term relationship between conservation stakeholders and local communities, which has helped build trust and open communication. The numerous discussions between the staff of the National Parks Agency and people who practice illicit activities that lead to the degradation of ecosystems and resources (for example net fishermen and sand collectors) confirm the latter's will to voluntarily cease these practices if they have the opportunity and the required support to develop and practice an alternative profitable activity. It is clear from these meetings that the local communities in each of the protected areas are largely favorable to PAs and aware of the importance of biodiversity conservation, through several years of successive interventions supported namely by UNDP, starting with the UNDP-GEF G32 project which established the Mohéli Marine Park and introduced the co-management concept, the UNDP-UNV CBO project (Community Base Organizations) which aimed to raise awareness and build the capacities of local communities to prepare them to co-manage the future protected areas in other sites, and then the project GEF ID 10351 which set up the protected areas system, including the establishment of 5 new PAs.

General

Despite their critical role in promoting food security on the African continent, women continue to be marginalized in the distribution and allocation of land. The implications for both family survival and national food security are far-reaching. This project will support research to examine the conditions needed to allow women to become empowered to participate in large-scale land acquisition (LSLAs) processes. The objective is to help ensure that sub-Saharan Africa puts the legal and policy frameworks in place to foster better accountability and legitimacy on issues of land governance. African women must continue to engage in food crop farming to ensure food security for their families and for the continent at large. This is only possible if their right to land is protected, respected, and fulfilled. Previous studies have shown that African women's right to land is seriously under threat. Traditionally, African women have not had equal access to land and weak land laws and governance processes related to LSLAs are further eroding their access. We are now learning more about the impact of LSLAs on livelihoods in affected communities but little evidence exists on gender differences. Little is also known about how African women have developed strategies to foster more equitable land governance policies and practices to ensure greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. This research seeks to fill these knowledge gaps. The ultimate goal of the project is to promote land governance policies that treat both genders more equally and that contribute to greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. The research will be implemented in six communities in three African countries: Ghana, Cameroon, and Uganda. All three have experienced LSLAs. The research team will explore the following: -land acquisition processes; -winners and losers in these transactions; -ways in which the losers (specifically, rural African women) respond to their situation; and, -extent to which these responses are successful. The project will create gender-sensitive evidence-based knowledge that can be used by women, local communities, non-state actors, and public authorities to enhance accountability and legitimacy in LSLAs processes. It will also propose gender inclusive strategies for formal and informal institutions that will respect, promote, and protect women's rights in LSLAs processes.

Objectives

cities pursue integrated urban planning and implementation and increase their ambitions, to deliver impactful sustainable development outcomes with global environmental benefits (GEBs)

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

The Project aims strengthen integrated urban planning approaches through learning material and opportunities for city officials to improve sustainable, inclusive, and integrated planning approaches. Integrated planning relates to the transformation of existing practices and processes to enable multi-sector collaboration to allow cities to take advantage of the co-benefits to operate as systems (transportation, land use, housing, conservation, business, etc.) influencing one another, and increase efficiencies both in terms of land and resource use, ultimately benefitting biodiversity and ecosystems and the services they provide, climate mitigation and adaptation as well as pollution and health. Integrated planning for sustainable urban development aims to facilitate and articulate political decisions and actions to transform cities and neighborhoods. Integrated planning efforts also emphasize participatory approaches, in which women, minorities and vulnerable groups are part of the dialogues and influence decisions. Cities are natural places for integrated solutions and offer fertile ground to integrate interdependent operations. Traditionally, urban systems have been integrated with varying degrees of effectiveness through urban governance and land use planning. The integration of human systems and natural systems provides strong environmental, social and economic benefits. For instance, the development of and management of watershed ecosystems, forests as urban and peri-urban agriculture as elements of green infrastructure in and around cities, offer compounding benefits for global climate change mitigation and local urban adaptation, resilience, diminishing air and water pollution, and increasing quality of life. Moreover, in this century, problem solving is co-created, powered by multi-level governments, multi-sector networks and individuals and entities with knowledge and capacity that cut across disciplines (New localism, 2019). Cities must prioritize work across multiple sectors (e.g. land use, housing, transport, economic development water, waste, sanitation, public safety, education, and energy) and must align multiple strategies (e.g. planning, budget, staff skills, regulatory frameworks, civic engagement) to be able to have an enduring impact on the ground. Evidence-based and integrated urban planning provide this opportunity. When cities utilize integrated approaches for planning, the impact of the sectoral actions is higher than the sum of the parts. A study by the International Resource Panel (IRP) shows how parallel actions in urban spatial restructuring, human-scale sustainable design, resource-efficient urban components, urban infrastructure planning for cross-sector efficiency and the promotion of sustainable behaviors, leads to improvements in well-being for all, while reducing resource consumption and GHG emissions. According to the “Weight of cities” by the IRP, cities can achieve some 30-55% reduction of GHG emissions, water and metal consumption and land use compared to baseline projections, by leveraging connections and resource sharing across urban systems such as green buildings, district energy systems, bus rapid transport, and transition to renewables combined with strategic densification (IRP, 2018). Utilizing integrated urban planning approaches provides multiple benefits to cities. It allows cities to formulate cross-sectoral goals and to develop monitoring systems for cross-cutting policy fields. They enable cities to develop strategies and projects that involve the knowledge and perspectives of different disciplines and actors from civil and private sector. They help cities with limited budgets and capacities to implement their goals more efficiently by joining capacities and funds, and by reducing trade-offs between sectors and neighboring municipalities (Eisenbeiß, 2016). Integrated sectoral approaches include multiple benefits generated by looking at the connections between sectors. Examples include low-carbon transit-oriented development; circular economy and resource flow driven planning. The same thinking, area-based investments (integrated approaches at the neighborhood level) should use approaches to capture multiple environmental and livability benefits, such as combining green spaces with low emission zones to regulate temperature, air quality and noise for healthier living and a more sustainable environment. Not only does inclusive, integrated urban planning incorporate gender and vulnerable processes into decision making and participatory processes, the GP aims to mainstream gender in all its activities to ensure gender is considered robustly in project design and implementation. For instance, the Project will collect sex-disaggregated data for all events. The Project Team will staff a Gender Lead and will have the support of WRI’s Gender Specialist (as co-finance) through the duration of the project to advise on the design and implementation of the gender action plan.