Morocco - Lakhdar Watershed Management Project

Report No. PID5757 Project Name Morocco-Lakhdar Watershed Management (+) Region Middle East North Africa Sector Rural Development, Water and Environment Project ID MAPA5519 Borrower Kingdom of Morocco Implementing Agency Administration des eaux et forets et de la conservation des sols (AEFCS). Ministore de l'agriculture et de la mise en valeur agricole (MAMVA). Cite Administrative Rabat, Morocco Tel: 212.7.76.31.66 Fax: 212.7.76.44.46 Contact: Mr. A. Hanan Director General, AEFCS Date PID prepared November 1997 Project Board date March 1999 Background 1. In Morocco, the mountainous areas are home to some 2.4 M people who are among the poorest in the country and who benefit from little social or other government services and infrastructure. In order to meet their subsistence needs, the growing populations put increasing pressure on the land with poorly adapted cultural practices, leading to overexploitation, soil erosion and a general degeneration in their natural resource base in the mountains and to damaging siltation of dams and hydraulic infrastructures down- streams. Past efforts in watershed management have only scratched the surface of the problem and it has become evident that a new approach was needed. To define this new approach, the Bank, with a PHRD grant, helped the Government to carry out a study and to prepare a National Watershed Management Plan. The study concluded that to improve the success rate of watershed management projects, it is necessary to integrate the populations in the projects using participatory methods. The central government will provide some strategic planning but detailed planning and implementation must be small-scale and done locally with the participation of the concerned populations, taking into account their specific priorities and concerns as well as the specific, on-site, natural resource situation. The project will draw the lessons from the study and pilot a participatory approach to natural resource management following the recommendations of the study. Project Objectives 2. The principal objective is to test in the form of a pilot project a participatory approach to improve land use and natural resources management in mountainous areas. To achieve these  objectives the project would provide a package which would lead to improved living conditions and incomes of the local populations. Project Description 3. Following the recommendations of the study to prepare the National Watershed Management Plan the pilot project would test an integrated package approach to natural resource management, where the local populations would participate in the preparation of village development plans as a basis for the investments. The preparation of these plans is an integral part of the project and the exact nature of the investments in each village can therefore not be determined in advance. Sociological surveys in the project area, however, have helped to draw up a menu of activities considered priority in the project area and from which the villagers can choose. The project would have the following main components: (a) natural resource management and erosion control, (b) community investments (such as access roads, water points, small irrigation works etc) and (c) supporting institutional strengthening. Project Financing 4. Total costs for the pilot project are estimated at US$6.1 million, with the Bank loan tentatively placed at 5.lmillion. Project Implementation 5. The project would be implemented under the overall coordination by the Forest Department (AEFCS) in the Ministry of Agriculture (MAMVA). AEFCS would coordinate, at the central level with other concerned ministries, notably the Ministries of Public Works (which presently has a joint Minister with MAMVA), Interior and Finance. Actual Project execution would be delegated by AEFCS to the Provincial Department of Agriculture (DPA) which would itself execute activities for which it is normally responsible. Activities or works which normally fall under some other agency (e.g. drinking water with the Provincial Public Works Department) would be contracted out to these agencies. Institutional arrangements will be given particular attention during project preparation. Project Sustainability 6. The project sustainability will depend on the concerned populations "ownership" of project investments. The community based approach taken by the project, involving those concerned throughout the entire process, (i.e. in the selection of the actions, in their implementation and in their operation and maintenance), is seeking to ensure this ownership and thus the sustainability of project investments. Since this is a pilot project, sustainability would also refer to the potential for continued use of the approach being piloted. This would require that the approach tested in the pilot project not only is successful but also replaceable. This will be taken into account in the project design. -2-  Lessons Learned From Past Operations 7. Important lessons learned from the Bank's rural development and natural resource management activities include: (a) prospects for sustainable improvements in natural resource management are reduced where field activities have been carried out by contractors and beneficiary participation is low; (b) full ownership from the outset by all stakeholders is essential; (c) new approaches require clear objectives and simple project design; and (d) pilot projects require modest but dependable funding and should be given sufficient time to succeed. 8. In addition to the above lessons from Bank operations, a PHRD grant financed preparatory study made specific recommendations based on past watershed management experience in Morocco. Finding that a top down approach that failed to involve the local populations was one main cause for past failures, the study proposes a new role sharing between the Government and the local populations where both parties participate fully in the decision making process so as to guarantee common ownership and, therefore, implementation and, later, maintenance of project works. On the technical side, the study concludes that past failures and high costs were often due to incorrect diagnosis of the erosion process and, therefore, sub-optimal treatments. Another reason for failure was the "standardization of watershed management techniques", which was practically inevitable with small-scale centralized planning, leaving little room for taking local specificity into account. A more flexible approach, combining strategic project level planning with "micro planning" at the field level, with the local populations concerned, was recommended. The proposed pilot project seeks to apply these lessons. Environmental Aspects 9. The project is rated in category B. The environmental impact of this project is expected to be strongly positive. The project would improve land use and natural resource management in mountainous areas through better soil conservation, water management, erosion control, reforestation and range management. Project works are small and carried out by manual labour and are not expected to have any major negative environmental impact. Moreover, construction of access roads, water points and irrigation facilities, or any other constructions, would follow guidelines acceptable to the Bank. An environmental management plan will be prepared for the project. Please see attached annex. Program Objective Categories 10. The primary project objective is environmental, i.e. to pilot a new, participatory, approach to improved and sustainable management of natural resources. The package tested under the pilot project would also lead to improved living conditions and incomes of the local populations. Contact Point: Public Information Center - 3-  The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458 5454 Fax: (202) 522 1500 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not necessarily be included in the final project. Processed by the World Bank InfoShop week ending November 21, 1997. - 4 -  ANNEX Environmental Aspects The project would improve land use and natural resource management in mountainous areas through better soil conservation, water management, erosion control, reforestation and range management. The environmental impact of this project is expected to be strongly positive and is categorized as "B". It would lead to clear improvement in the sylvo-pastoral management systems in mountain areas. It would reduce and, it is hoped, help reverse the degradation of forest and other vegetation which in turn would lead to less soil erosion and improve the natural habitat of wildlife. Project works are small and carried out by manual labour and are not expected to have any major negative environmental impact. Moreover, construction of access roads, water points and irrigation facilities, or any other constructions, would follow guidelines acceptable to the Bank. An environmental management plan will be prepared for the project.