Pakistan - The Pakistan national conservation strategy : where we are, where we should be, and how to get there (Vol. 2 of 2)

PAKISTAN Support for Implementation of the National Conservation Strategy PRIORITY-SETTING EXERCISE FOR ACTIONS AND PROJECTS RELATING TO THE PLAN OF ACTION, 1993-98 Final Report Prepared by SWECO for the Environment and Urban Affairs Division Government of Pakistan JULY, 1993 V P"Z  PAKISTAN Support for Implementation of the National Conservation Strategy PRIORITY-SETTING EXERCISE FOR ACTIONS AND PROJECTS RELATING TO THE PLAN OF ACTION, 1993-98 Final Report Prepared by SWECO for the Environment and Urban Affairs Division Government of Pakistan JULY, 1993  TABLE OF CONTENTS Par EXECUTIVE SUMMARY iii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS v 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................... ...............I Structure of the Report ...................................... ...............2 2. THE NATIONAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY ...............................3 The Process ...................................... ...............3 The Content ...................................... ...............4 Resources Needed ...................................... ...............6 NCS Implementation ...................................... ...............7 3. THE POLICY FRAMEWORK AND DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT . ....9 Economic Policy Trends ...................................... ...............9 Interlinkages and Overlap Between NCS, SAP and FMP ................... 10 Wider Policy Issues and their Impact on the Environment .................. 11 4. ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS ........................... 13 Summary of Sub-Sectoral Objectives and Activities .............. ............. 13 5. CRITERIA FOR PRIORITISING ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS ....................................... ............. 16 Need and Rationale for Prioritising Proposed Actions ........................ 16 Method for Establishing Priority Criteria ........................................... 17 Some Observations Regarding Action Proposals Submitted for Prioritising ....................................... ............. 22 6. PRIORITISED NCS ACTIONS .................................................... 24 7. FINANCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF PRIORITY PROGRA E ......................... ....................... 27 Financial Implications ........................................ ............ 27 Institutional Implications .......................... 27 Monitoring of Environmental Projects ......... ................. 28  EXECUTIVE SUMMIARY 0.1. The principal objective of this report is to assist in the formulation of prior- ity actions for the environment in Pakistan. Accordingly, an initial sequential plan of actions is outlined. This sequence builds on the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) that was adopted by the Government of Pakistan (GOP) in 1992, and subsequent work undertaken for the formulation and implementation of environmental measures in Paki- stan. 0.2. The results of the exercise are based on priority setting criteria, which were applied to evaluate and rank recommended actions contained in the NCS and in the Plan of Action (POA) presented by GOP at a donors' conference on the environment held on 17 January 1993. 0.3. One of the objectives of this report is to provide a methodology for con- tinuous pnority setting (Chapter 5) and monitoring of activities (Chapter 7). Accord- ingly, a brief manual on priority setting is included (Appendix C), as is a section on monitoring mechanisms, which can be used to update diverse cross sectoral activities (Chapter 7). 0.4. The scope of this report is not confined to investment projects, but covers actions that address the overall policy environment. The implementation design pre- sented in this report is consistent with the four components of the POA - institutional strengthening, legal and economic policy incentives, mass awareness campaign and project activities in the 14 core areas of the NCS. Therefore, the action matrix lays considerable emphasis on policy and institutional measures, in addition to project activi- ties. Indeed most projects are dependent on policy and institutional actions as precondi- tions for effective implementation. 0.5. The action matrix ranks activities into three categories: immediate/ongoing, short term, and medium to long term. The investment implications of the first two time- based categories of actions are summarised in the table on the next page.. 0.6. An analysis of the above reveals that out of a POA investment allocation of Rs. 19.2 billion, ongoing and short term projects cover Rs. 6.8 billion (35%). The total allocations refer to action/project costs over varying time periods and do not imply financial expenditure in a single year. The remaining 65% have been classified into the medium-long term category through the initial application of a set of broad priority set- ting criteria. Many of the latter category are projects which are dependent on policy and institutional actions. In the immediate and short term classification, the 3 highest ranked areas - preventing and abating pollution, forestry, and maintaining soils in croplands - absorb more than 50 % of the allocation. At the other end of the spectrum, three of the core areas receive only one new action under this classification. All their actions listed in the POA fall in the medium-long term category. Institutional strengthening contains an allocation of Rs. 550 million (8%), which emphasises the importance of this area. This report notes the need for more attention to this area, particularly at the provincial and local levels. It identifies priority actions in overall as well as sectoral institutional strengthening and policy actions in the environmental field 0.7. The figures in the second column indicate the number of projects in each area. An analysis of the number of actions shows that 19 are ongoing, while 53 are  v ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AsDB Asian Development Bank ADP Annual Development Plan AJK Azad Jammu and Kashmiir AXRSP Aga Khan Rural Support Programme BRSP Balochistaii Rural Support Programme- CIDA Canadian Intemational Developmcnt Agency EAD Economic Affairs Division EAP Environmental Action Plan EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ENERCON National Energy Consenration Centrc EPA Environmental Protection Ageicy EPO EnvirQnmental Protection Ordinanice EUAD Environment and Urban Affairs Division FAO Food and Agricultuire Organisation FATA Ffderally Administered Tribal Arcas FMP Forestry Master Plan Sth FYDP 'Eighthi Five Year Developmcnt Plani. 1993 - 1998 GEF Global Emironniental Facility GNP Gross National Product GDP Gross Domestic Product GOP Govenment of Pakistail 3BRD International Bank for Reconstnictiol and Dcvclopincnti. World Ban]k IEE Initial Environmental Examination ILO International Labour Organlisationt ISRP Irrigation System Rehabilitation Programme IUCN International Union for the Consenration of Nature and Natural Resources JICA Japan International Co-operation Agcncy JRC Journalists' Resource Centre KDA Karachi Development Authority- NCS National Conservation Strategy NGO Non Governmental Organisation NORAD Norwegian Agency for Interational Dcvelopment NRSP National Rural Stipport Programme NWFP North Western Frontier Province ODA Overseas Developmcnt Administration (UK) OECF Overseas Economiiic Co-operation Funid of Japa n  1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In Pakistan, the initiation of work related to environmental and conservation issues dates back to 1983 when the first environmental protection ordinance was prom- ulgated. Since then, up to the present exercise on prioritising of environmental actions and projects, considerable efforts have been devoted. The work on the National Conser- vation Strategy (GOP, 1992 a) started in 1988, and it was officially recognised in 1992. The NCS contained an investment plan of environmental related projects of some Rs. 150 billion (in 1987/88 prices), spanning over a ten-year period and involving public as well as private investment projects. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) realised that the NCS investment plan was too ambitious and initiated a formal review to focus on GOP financed actions with the exception of some small NGO programmes. The review resulted in the Plan of Action, 1993-98, (GOP, 1993)1, which included GOP investment figures of 19.8 billion planned to be implemented over a five-year period. The POA was presented on the Donors' Conference in Islamabad on 17 January 1993. The Plan of Action was later included in its totality in the Eighth Five Year Development Plan, 1993- 1998 (8th FYDP) as the Environmental Chapter. The inclusion of a separate environ- mental chapter does not affect ongoing environmental related projects included in the "traditional sectors" of the 8th FYDP. Consequently, the investment projects included in the Environmental Chapter of the 8th FYDP are additional. 1.2. The National Conservation Strategy and the Plan of Action (POA) and other related environmental policy documents (GOP, 1992 b) contain a wide range of proposed environmental actions, investment projects and recommendations. It has been recognised during the process of the environmental work, that the NCS and POA need to be operationalised, and the proposed actions 2 need prioritising (SWECO, 1993). A broad range of issues and topics are covered in the analysis of the Pakistani environment and the recommended actions. Besides the core environmental issues, they also include matters related to cross-sectoral issues such as demography, public health, cultural and natural heritage and socio-economic factors. An analysis of the legal and institutional framework as well as the major economic activities is also included. 1.3. The focus of this report is to outline an overall plan indicating how environmental policies and investment strategies should be prioritised. The concept of an Environmental Action Plan (World Bank, 1992) was used to operationalise and prioritise the NCS priority recommendations into a work plan and an implementing budget. This strategy constitutes the operationalization of the NCS exercise into a work plan and an implementation budget based on prioritised actions, which were identified during the process of formulating the NCS and related activities. For easv reference the Plan of Actioni. 0i1l in this report be referred to as POA. 2 In this report "actioni" covers iraditionial imvestnieit projects tlhat are rclatcd to the emironment as mell as actioiis at the polic,. legal or instituitionual level that do noi necessary involve large scale investment.  3 2. THE NATIONAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY The Process 2.1 The NCS emerged from a process which involved extensive consultations with various experts, popular organisations and the business community, spread over three years. It acquired the status of an official policy document when it was approved by the Federal Cabinet in 1992. Institutionally, the lead at the federal level was taken by the Environment and Urban Affairs Division (EUAD) of the Ministry of Housing and Works. An NCS secretariat (the NCS Unit) within this division was set up to act as the focal point for monitoring NCS implementation. Provincial governments, district authorities and line agencies were also involved to varying degrees. A steering commnit- tee was appointed at the cabinet level, comprising representatives of line departments, senior civil servants and relevant ministers. The NCS process was unusual, particularly as it involved the participation of a NGO (IUCN) in the process of policy making, along with the government. Principal financial support for the GOP-IUCN collaboration was provided by CIDA. Other donors, particularly the UNDP, provided technical assistance support. 2.2. The NCS involved complex multi-sectoral inputs. Each sector involved numerous technical contributions. In addition to the work of the scientists, contributions from institutional development specialists and other social scientists required the coordi- nation of diverse interdisciplinary teams. 2.3. As part of and related to the NCS process, several documents and studies have been completed. In preparation for the UNCED Conference, the GOP prepared its national report (GOP, 1992) 3. A multi-donor Technical Working Group (later renamed the Donor Technical Group, DTG), which met in March 1993, has provided an initial re- sponse to the POA 4. Concurrent with the donor review, work was in progress to evaluate to what extent the NCS and the Plan of Action also could serve as an Environ- mental Action Plan 5. The major conclusions from these activities were that the POA 3 This reporl (NATREP) has a diffcrent approach and focuses on issues conceming natural resources and economic development. Whercas the NCS develops an ecological perspective on natural resources. and then approaches the links x.ith the economy. the NATREP defines Pakistan's development priorities and compulsions. and then locates natural resource management needs within them. Compared to the NCS. the NATREP has a proportionately larger discussion of the impact of global environmental issues on Pakistan. As far as the domestic policy response to natural resource degradation is concerned. the NATREP endorses the NCS as the policv framewvork for environnmental programmes in Pakistan. 4 The analvses and recommendations have becn presented in a DTG report (DTG. 1993). The recommendations of the DTG have becn incltudcd in thc list of priority actions in Appendix D. 5 The conclusions and findings of this evaluation are found in the SWECO report (SWECO, 1993). The recommendations of these evaluations have becn translatcd into actions. which are included in the priority actions in Appenidix D.  5 dations to address natural resource degradation. The prescriptive sections commence with a statement of the three broad objectives of the NCS: * conservation of natural resources; * sustainable development; * greater efficiency in the use and management of resources. 2.10. The three objectives are followed by three operational principles: * achieve greater public partnership in development and management; * merge environment and economics into decision making; and * focus on durable improvements in the quality of life. 2.11. Fourteen core programme areas are identified for policy action: * maintaining soils in croplands * increasing irrigation efficiency * protecting watersheds * supporting forestry and plantations * restoring rangelands and improving livestock * protecting water bodies and sustaining fisheries * conserving biodiversity * increasing energy efficiency * developing and deploying renewables * preventing and abating pollution