Haiti - Forestry and Environmental Protection Project

Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No. 13816 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION NOTE HAITI FORESTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROJECT (CREDIT 2301-HA) DECEMBER 27, 1994 Natural Resources and Rural Poverty Operations Division Country Department II Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office This document has a restricted distribution and mav be used bv recipients oniv in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  CURRENCY EOUIVALENTS At appraisal (September 1991) US$1 = 5.00 Gourdes Current (October 1994) US$1 = 14.5 Gourdes WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Metric System FISCAL YEAR October 1 - September 30 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS FAO Food and Agriculture Organization MARNDR Ministere de I'Agriculture, des Ressources Naturelles et du Developpement Rural (Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development) PPF Project Preparation Facility  FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION NOTE HAITI FORESTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROJECT (Cr. 2301-HA) 1. This is an Implementation Completion Note for the Haiti Forestry and Environmental Protection Project (Cr. 2301-HA). 2. Background. The project was intended as a follow-up operation to the IDA-supported Forestry Development Project (Cr. 1257-HA), which closed on December 31, 1989. It was identified and prepared in 1989-90 by the Forest Resources Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development and the FAO Investment Center, together with IDA staff . Funding for additional preparation work and part of the start-up and maintenance operations of the Forest Resources Service in 1990-91 was provided by a Japanese Grant for the Environment (05-2683-HA for Yen 50.4 million, equivalent to US$360,000) and an advance under IDA's Project Preparation Facility (P648-HA for US$750,000). The remaining balance of the Japanese Grant is about US$4153. Of the PPF, US$416,437 was disbursed, and US$134,968 was cancelled, leaving an undisbursed balance of US$198,594. Negotiations took place in Washington, D.C., in May, 1991. The Bank's Board approved the Credit on September 24, 1991. Credit signing was postponed indefinitely after the military coup on September 30, 1991, which led to the suspension of Bank activities in Haiti. Ultimately, since over two years lapsed after Board approval and the Credit had not been signed, the Bank withdrew the Credit on March 1, 1994. 3. Objectives. The objective of the project was to slow the pace of degradation of Haiti's natural resources by: (a) Protecting the forests and safeguarding vital ecosystems from further destruction. (b) Increasing wood production through the promotion of agroforestry on farms and the improved management of State forest lands. (c) Reducing the pressure on vegetation for charcoal production through conservation of wood fuels used by urban households. 4. Description. The project was to provide technical and financial support for: (a) Institutional strengthening of the MARNDR's Directorate of Natural Resources and its Forest Resources Service, through improvement of administrative facilities, staffing and operations, management and technical assistance to be provided by an internationally recruited firm of consultants, training in forestry and agroforestry, review and update of the regulatory framework for natural resources, and improvement of the wood fuels taxation system (US$11.3 million, including contingencies). This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  2 (b) Specific forestry and environmental programs, including the provision of agroforestry extension services to some 16,000 farmers through contracts with non-governmental organizations, the implementation of a two-year pilot program for low technology water development in one of the agroforestry extension areas, management and protection of the Pine Forest Reserve (28,000 ha), and the creation of an additional 30,000 ha of forest reserves, expansion of forestry and agroforestry research, management of national parks, and a monitoring capability for Haiti's natural resources (US$16.9 million). (c) Promotion by the Bureau of Mines and Energy of more efficient charcoal stoves to conserve wood fuels (US$0.8 million). 5. Expected Benefits. The Staff Appraisal Report identified the following benefits which the project would help to bring about: (a) Incremental agroforestry production (wood and crops) and income from the farms served by the project's extension services. (b) Maintenance and development of timber resources in the Pine Forest Reserve, which would virtually disappear without the type of support provided by the project. (c) Reduction of demand for domestic charcoal, and thereby the pressure to cut trees, through the introduction of more efficient stoves. (d) Overall improvement in the framework for the development and protection of forest resources and ecosystems. (e) Development of institutions, technology and approach to agroforestry to lay the ground for more ambitious programs at a later stage. 6. Delays in Credit Signing. On September 30, 1991, a week after Board presentation, Haiti's Government under President Aristide was overthrown in a military coup which resulted in the imposition of an international trade embargo and the suspension of nearly all donor assistance, except for humanitarian aid. In July 1993, the Governor's Island Agreement was reached to pave the way to a political resolution of Haiti's crisis. In August 1993, an elected government under Prime Minister Malval came into office and Francois Severin, who had negotiated the project with IDA, was reinstated as Minister of Agriculture. He set up a commission to discuss the re-launching of the project with IDA. An IDA mission visited Haiti in September 1993 to analyse ways to restructure the project to take into account the different conditions since negotiations in July 1991 and to respond to the Government's wish in context of Emergency Program to promote actions which would have a positive social and economic impact. However, further progress was thwarted when the Governor's Island Agreement broke down in October 1993, which led to the resignation of the Government of Prime Minister Malval and a renewed period of unconstitutional rule in Haiti. Following the return of President Aristide to power in October 1994, discussions with the Haitian Government have reconfirmed the high priority of the activities that were to have been supported by the project, especially given the accelerated environmental degradation during recent the economic and political crisis.  3 7. Project Implementation. Some activities financed by the Japanese Grant and the PPF were underway at the time of the coup. Of the activities supported by the Japanese Grant, the following were executed: (i) studies to support the preparation of the Household Energy Component; (ii) work on maintaining, delimiting and protecting the Pine Forest Reserve and; (iii) preparation of the 1989-93 Management Plan for the Pine Forest Reserve. Of the activities supported by the PPF, the following were executed: (i) work on maintenance, inventories and surveying; (ii) forest guards and fire fighter crews were hired; (iii) one of the two scholarships was granted. The PPF also financed support staff, equipment, administration and vehicles, as well as the Senior Forester and the Head of the Research Unit, and an An Architect/Civil Engineer to supervise the preparation work needed for bidding for the construction of the new offices. In particular, the studies and management plans will benefit the further preparation of activities to support sustainable forestry development and environmental activities, although there has been accelerated degradation of the physical resource base during the recent period of economic and political crisis. 8. Lessons Learned. Although the project never became effective, the major lesson learned is that the activities proposed for the project were and remain vital to Haiti's sustainable economic development, and now to Haiti's immediate reconstruction needs, especially those activities directly targeted to the rural poor.   Annex IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION NOTE HAITI FORESTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROJECT (Cr. 2301 - HA) Basic Information Country Haiti Project: Forestry and Environmental Protection Project Credit number: Credit 2301 - HA Estimated Project US$29.01 million Costs: Credit amount: SDR 19.7 million (US$26.1 million equivalent) Borrower: Government of Haiti Implementing Directorate of Natural Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural agencies Resources and Rural Development and Bureau of Mines and Energy of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications. Beneficiaries Farmers within and in the surrounding buffer zones of national parks and forests; urban consumers of wood-based fuels; general population through the strengthening of natural resource protection mechanisms. On-lending terms: Not applicable Time taken to 2 years prepare project Project Appraisal June 1990 Completion of May 7, 1991 negotiations Board presentation September 24, 1991 Credit signing N/A Credit expiry March 1, 1994