China - Guangxi Integrated Forestry Development and Conservation Project : resettlement plan

RP432 1 China: Guangxi Integrated Forestry Development and Conservation Project Policy Framework for Resettlement and Land Acquisition November 2005 A. Introduction The Guangxi Integrated Forestry Development and Conservation Project plans (a) to develop around 200,000 ha of commercial timber plantations under the “Expanding Timber Plantation” component; (b) to close access for rehabilitation of vegetation cover on 100,000 hectares of degraded hills and develop around 18,000 hectares of ecological plantations, including 4000 ha pilot carbon fund plantations under the “Increasing Ecological Forest Cover” component; and (c) to improve management in 5 nature reserves under the “Strengthening Nature Reserve Management” component. This policy framework covers all proposed activities under the project. The social assessment of the project has confirmed that the project design includes no activity that would lead to resettlement or land acquisition. Forest tracks of lower standard are sufficient for the purpose of the plantation and there is no road construction proposed under the project. However, a need for further road construction may arise when the plantations become mature and ready for harvest. In addition, some small-scale infrastructure at village level may be undertaken with grants for village development under the PAM component. Some of them may require the taking of land (e.g., road widening or construction of sheds or other facilities), but would be sited within the village itself. Use of land allotted to individual households on a lease basis by the collective might have some adverse impact on households unless obtained through voluntary negotiations with the leaseholder. In both the plantation component and the nature reserve component, therefore, some impact in relation to resettlement related cannot be ruled out completely. At the time of appraisal, no land acquisition or other resettlement-related impacts could be identified. This Policy Framework has been prepared for the purpose of establishing principles and procedures to be applied in the event that involuntary loss of land or other fixed assets would arise as a result of project implementation. The Policy Framework is drafted based on World Bank OP4.12 and relevant Chinese laws and regulations, and will form the basis for resettlement planning. B. General Principles In World Bank assisted projects, final borrowers or component sponsors (who are responsible for specific project component implementation, the county Forestry Bureaus or forestry farms for afforestation, or the village committees for community-level infrastructure construction) are expected to take all necessary measures to mitigate adverse social impacts, especially on the vulnerable groups. The general principles outlined in the World Bank’s OP/BP 4.12 have been adopted in preparing this framework: ƒ Every effort will be made to minimize the need for land acquisition. ƒ Should some land acquisition take place, all Project Affected People (PAPs) will be compensated for their losses, and this compensation will be prepared through Resettlement Plans.  2 ƒ The level of compensation will be such as to improve, or at least maintain, the pre- project living standards and income earning capacity of PAPs. ƒ Any resettlement of the population living in the project area will be avoided. Should it become unavoidable that any of the components under the GIFDCP require land, houses and other assets, these general principles will be closely followed by the component sponsors and the implementing units, together with the following specific requirements for this project: 1. All PAPs residing in, or cultivating land, or having rights over resources within the project area of the socioeconomic survey are entitled to compensation for their losses and/or income rehabilitation. Lack of legal right to the assets lost will not bar the PAP from entitlement to such compensation, rehabilitation and relocation measures; 2. The rehabilitation measures to be provided are (i) compensation at full replacement cost for houses and other structures; (ii) compensation for land acquisition and resettlement subsidy for the affected villages and farmers; (iii) dislocation allowance and transition subsides; (iv) full compensation for crops, trees and other similar agricultural products at market value; and (v) other assets, and appropriate rehabilitation measures to compensate for loss of livelihood; 3. Replacement housing plots, place of business and agricultural land will be as close as possible to the land that was lost, and acceptable to the PAP; 4. Land-for-land is the preferred option. Land-for-land may be substituted by cash provided that: (i) land is not available in the proximity of the subproject area; (ii) PAPs willingly accept cash compensation for land and all assets on it; and receive full replacement value without any deductions for depreciation; and (iii) cash compensation is accompanied by appropriate rehabilitation measures which together with project benefits results in restoration of incomes to at least pre-subprojects levels; 5. The resettlement transition period will be minimized, land-for-land and/or cash compensation provided to the PAP completed prior to the expected start-up date of works in the respective activities; 6. Resettlement plans will be implemented following consultations with the PAPs, and will have the endorsement of the PAP; 7. The previous level of community services and access to resources will be maintained or improved after resettlement; 8. Any acquisition of, or restriction on access to resources owned or manage by PAPs as common property will be mitigated by arrangements ensuring access of those PAPs to equivalent resources on a continuing basis; 9. Financial and physical resources for resettlement and rehabilitation will be made available as and when required; 10. Resettlement program will include adequate institutional arrangements to ensure effective and timely design, planning and implementation of resettlement and rehabilitation measures; 11. Adequate arrangements for effective and timely internal and external monitoring will be made on implementation of all resettlement measures; 12. Wherever possible, the implementing units will ensure that local residents in the affected areas benefit from the services and facilities created for, or by, the project; 13. No grant assistance will be provided for any activities requiring involuntary relocation of residence.  3 For the purpose of this framework, the PAPs identified include the following persons: ƒ Persons whose business, or place of business or employment, and/or agricultural land is in part or in total affected (permanently or temporarily) by the project activities; ƒ Persons whose houses are in part or in total affected by the subprojects; and ƒ Persons whose crops (annual and perennial), trees and fixed assets are affected in part or in total by the subprojects; or whose access to grazing is reduced by hill closure or grazing bans in areas where re-vegetation is promoted. The Land Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China (adopted at the 16th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People’s Congress on June 25, 1986, amended in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Land Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China made by the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People’s Congress at its 5th Meeting held on December 29, 1988, and revised at the 4th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People’s Congress on August 29, 1998), the Implementation Regulations of the Laws issued by PRC and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s own detailed implementation regulations of the Laws constitute the national legal framework governing the implementation of this framework. This national framework is fully compatible with the World Bank’s operational policy in the context of the project. C. Process for Preparing Resettlement Plans All components involving involuntary resettlement will be required to carry out a socioeconomic survey to determine the impact on the affected area and the affected population. The survey will determine whether or not the implementing units would need preparation of a Resettlement Plan (RP) or an Abbreviated Resettlement Plan (ARP) to offset adverse impacts and access to benefits by the affected communities. The main sequential steps involved in the resettlement approval process are as follows: a) Component sponsor furnishes preliminary information report on the proposed component to the PMO and the local authorities at the earliest possible stage. The preliminary information report would contain basic information on: (i) the proposed location of project; (ii) the total area of land required for the physical component, the type of land, current land use and possible impacts of land use changes, and the proposed strategy for land acquisition; and (iii) the people to be affected by the component including those losing home, land or livelihoods; and those deriving benefits (employment, electricity, etc.) from the component; b) The PMO will, after its review and consultation with the local authorities, inform the component sponsor to prepare a resettlement document according to this PF; c) For each component that may involve resettlement, the Bank requires a satisfactory resettlement plan or an abbreviated resettlement plan that is consistent with the provision of the policy framework be submitted to the Bank for approval before the component is accepted for Bank financing. When the number of persons affected by the project exceeds 200, a resettlement plan shall be prepared. Where impacts on the entire affected population are minor, or fewer than 200 people are affected, an abbreviated resettlement plan may be agreed with the borrower (impacts are considered “minor” if the affected people are not physically displaced and less than 10% of their productive assets are lost). In the latter case, the Bank may review and approve the first plans and when they are adequate, then agree to approval of subsequent plans by the implementation agency (either PMO or specific resettlement  4 office/unit), if it has demonstrated adequate institutional capacity to review resettlement plans and ensure their consistency with OP4.12; d) The component sponsor prepares the RP or ARP and submits it to the local authorities, the PMO and the World Bank for review/concurrence; e) The reviewers shall verify the adequacy of the report in light of policies, principles and procedures set out in this PF, and convey the decision to the component sponsor; f) After obtaining concurrence of the World Bank, the component sponsor executes the RP or ARP that would also contain terms and conditions related to implementation of the plans agreed in the PF. The ARP for each component will be prepared by the respective implementing units in accordance with the provisions of this PF. The ARP includes the following contents: a) A census survey of displaced persons and valuation of assets; b) Description of compensation and other resettlement assistance to be provided; c) Consultation with displaced people about acceptable alternatives; d) Institutional responsibility for implementation and procedures for grievance redress; e) Arrangements for monitoring and implementation; and f) A timetable and budget. The RP to be submitted thereafter needs not include the policy principles, entitlements, and eligibility criteria, organizational arrangements, arrangements for monitoring and evaluation, the framework for participation, and mechanisms for grievance redress set forth in the resettlement policy framework. The component -specific resettlement plan needs to include baseline census and socioeconomic survey information; specific compensation rates and standards; policy entitlements related to any additional impacts identified through the census or survey; description of resettlement sites and programs for improvement or restoration of livelihoods and standards of living; implementation schedule for resettlement activities; and detailed cost estimate. The RP includes the following contents: a) Description of the component; b) Potential impacts; c) Socioeconomic studies and baseline census; d) Additional policy entitlements; e) Compensation rates for losses; f) Resettlement measures; g) Site selection, site preparation, and relocation; h) Housing, infrastructure, and social services; i) Implementation schedule; and j) Costs and budget. D. Identification of Potential Impacts and Mitigating Process Small amounts of land acquisition might take place for forest track or road construction under (a) timber plantation establishment component and (b) the carbon fund subcomponent. No land acquisition during the first year of the project is foreseen. This track/road may be built during the project or after the project at harvest time. (In other cases, i.e. access tracks  5 inside plantations, or for plantations with existing tracks/roads, there is no land acquisition and the policy framework does not apply.) The social assessment has found that local communities welcome this opportunity to improve their access to the road network. Under the project’s participatory process, the communities will be consulted about optimal location of the road in the case it needs to be built. Meanwhile, there also might be some small-sized infrastructure construction to be determined on the village level for the sake of community development during project implementation. This might also cause involuntary loss of assets or access to village land. PAPs are households with individual land use rights on the farmland to be acquired for track/road or small scale infrastructure construction other than households/village community members taking part in the individual/community tree plantation; they may currently be using the land for (a) crop production, (b) animal grazing, or (c) other (potentially exceptional cases of businesses or place of business affected). All these PAPs are eligible to compensation for their losses and/or income rehabilitation; and provision of compensation to the PAP will be provided prior to the expected start-up date of land acquisition. Starting from Year 1 of the project, the Guangxi PMO will request annually from the county forestry bureaus, the forest farms and the enterprises information regarding any construction of forest track of road planned at masterplan level for the following year or later years. In the case of village level infrastructure construction, effective implementation of this Policy Framework requires assurance that participating villages are aware of their responsibilities under this framework, that the villages themselves identify impacts appropriately, and then devise suitable remedial plans. All this information will be recorded in a provincial village land acquisition planning file showing each proposed project village (e.g., an Excel file showing each administrative village). During Year 1 of the project, the Guangxi PMO will undertake an assessment of compensation levels for villages where land acquisition possibility is reported by land-by-land compensation is not feasible, or deemed not appropriate by PAPs. This assessment will be based on sample field review. One sample site will be selected in North Guangxi and one in SE Guangxi, since compensation levels are expected to show maximum contrast between these two parts of the province. Compensation values may need to be updated annually. During the participatory detailed design of the plantation at administrative village level, potential road construction will be discussed. The opinion of local residents regarding the need for a road or not, and the optimal location of a road is needed, will be recorded. During technical design, the proposed location of the future road will be confirmed as well as the proposed year of construction. This information will be incorporated in the land acquisition planning file. When some construction of a road or forest track is planned for Year N of the project, a Resettlement Plan will be prepared prior to Year N as indicated in Section C, through the following steps: a) Identification of Project Affected People, their current land uses and their individual areas, b) Incorporation of information into a provincial PAP file (e.g., an Excel file showing all households/communities), c) Confirmation of PAP agreement for land by land compensation, or reception of PAP requests for cash compensation, d) Identification with village collective of what land is available for compensation and allocation to PAPs, or computation of cash compensation and disbursement to PAP. In both cases, compensation for farmland should be completed prior to beginning of agricultural season during which the road is to be built, and e) Incorporation of compensation information into PAP file, and preparation of an annual summary of land acquisition information into a land acquisition and compensation file showing all project counties, number of planned villages with road construction,  6 number of PAPs identified for compensation, and total compensation completed through each means of compensation. In order to make full use of computerized tools, the Guangxi PMO would maintain directly the above files instead of maintaining only aggregated summaries provided by counties, forest farms or PMOs. The annual summary of land acquisition information would be provided to the World Bank once a year as part of project supervision. The 2 files (village land acquisition planning file, PAP file) would be made available upon request. Random supervision of actual PAP compensation would be incorporated in the routine supervision work programs of the Guangxi PMO and of the World Bank. Upon project completion, the final summary of land acquisition information would include an assessment of all villages that would build a road serving project plantations after project end, and an assessment of compensation amounts (land and cash). A land compensation statement by the Guangxi bureau will be attached confirming that compensation will continue to be made on the same basis as during the project. The final summary of land acquisition information will be provided to the World Bank upon project completion as part of the Implementation Completion Report. E. Management Organizations and Responsibilities At the time that the necessity of land acquisition (or taking of other assets) is recognized, the Guangxi Project Management Office will fully inform each county, forest farm or enterprise taking part in the project’s plantation activities (timber plantation, carbon fund and shelterbelt plantations) about the measures to be taken regarding land acquisition for plantation roads/tracks and small scale infrastructure construction that are described in this policy framework. It should assign responsibility for consultation with project affected persons, preparation of remedial plans, and resettlement implementation. Under oversight of the Guangxi regional PMO, all local PMOs and governments at each level will take joint responsibility with local land management authorities in regard to: (i) directing and guiding construction units in the formulation of a land acquisition and resettlement plan in line with the Framework; (ii) assisting the construction units in arranging and settling compensation funds; (iii) assisting the land management authority to solve problems between the construction units and the affected people; (iv) supervising implementation of resettlement plan; (v) preparing implementation progress reports. In addition, the PMOs will appoint people to be responsible for review and management of sub-project land acquisition, consulting with project-affect person, establishing remedial measures, coordinating with any local government units in resettlement planning and implementation, supervising timely payment of compensation and provision for delivery of any other forms of assistance, and responding to grievances presented by project affected people. Land management authority at each government level should review the scope, quantity of land acquisition, carry on land acquisition registering, handling land acquisition procedures and supervise compensation by local governments. The PMOs shall also carry out regular monitoring as required by the World Bank, to ensure that the provisions of the PF are satisfied. In the meantime, the PMOs will arrange special training for the relevant project staff as locally needed, on this Policy Framework, and on the planning and implementation of land acquisition and resettlement mitigation measures. Since some the roads will not be built until after project completion, the Guangxi Forestry Bureau is also responsible for preparation and implementation of the end-of-project land acquisition plan for land acquired in relation to the commercial plantations established under the project.  7 The costs associated with mitigation of adverse social impacts on Project Affected People will be met by the Guangxi forestry bureau which is the project sponsor. These costs cover (a) preparation of the plans, (b) maintenance of the computerized files, and (c) compensation for land and other assets lost and compensation provision of any other forms of assistance as needed. F. Funding Arrangement Compensation of land is based on ten times of the average annual output value of the requisitioned land for three years preceding such requisition. Resettlement subsidies for requisition of cultivated land shall be six times the average annual output value of the requisitioned cultivated for three years preceding such requisition The value of the fix assets is estimated according to the replacement cost. Details of the cost estimation and other compensation for moving and loss of production/business are included in the Resettlement Plan prepared for the project before appraisal of the related project components. The land acquisition and resettlement compensation are sourced from the counterpart funds. All the funds shall be paid to the PAP before the land is taken and the house is demolished. In the case of the forest track/roads, the compensation funds will be paid by the land user (the construction unit) to the Land Management Bureau at the county level, after the verification of its land acquisition plan by the Bureau and PMO. The Bureau is responsible for allocation of the compensation payments for land to the land owners, and the compensation for private assets to individual owners, coordinated by the PMO. For the small, village level construction, land acquisition will be normally offset by reallocation of collective land under the village committee’s arrangement, and any compensation related will be carried out through cooperation of the village committee and PMO. G. Grievance Mechanism Since the resettlement work will be carried out with the full participation of the PAPs, it is expected that no major grievance issue will arise. However, to ensure that the PAPs have avenues for redressing their grievance related to any aspect of land acquisition and resettlement, detailed procedures of redressal of grievances have been established in this PF. The objective is to respond to the complaints of the PAP speedily and in a transparent manner, without resorting to complicated formal channels to the extent possible. The procedures are as follows: a. Stage 1, any person aggrieved by any aspect of the resettlement document can lodge an oral or written grievance to the Village Committee, township/ town government or Residents Committee, District Government; b. Stage 2, if the aggrieved person is not satisfied with the decision of the grass- roots authorities at Stage 1, s/he can present the case to the land administration bureau from those immediately above Stage 1 level through the highest authorities of the respective project area. c. Stage 3, if the PAP is still dissatisfied with the decision of the higher authorities, the case may be submitted for consideration by the People’s Court in Accordance with the “Civil Procedure Act”. The legal framework in place in the project counties is sufficient to deal with potential conflicts regarding land acquisition for the construction of forest tracks/roads of small-sized  8 infrastructure construction. Should any conflict occur, the project will play a facilitation role through its county PMO to help the individuals or communities involved access the government agency(cies) legally in charge of resolving land conflicts in a given county. The commercial forestry information package that will be produced under the project will inform the public in the project area of the relevant contract addresses and phone numbers. H. Participation and Consultation The PMOs and component sponsors would be required to carry out the participatory consultation with the people in the project areas. A broad acceptance of proposed measures by the PAPs – including replacement lands, compensation policies and rates, proposed income restoration measures for resettlement rehabilitation– will be a necessary condition for approval of the resettlement plans. PAPs will participate throughout the various stages of the planning and implementation of the resettlement plans. Prior to taking of land or other assets, the PMO and the land management authorities will visit affected villages or households to discuss the location and quantity of assets to be acquired, and compensation rates and any other rehabilitation measures to be provided. Following consultations, any remedial plans will be disseminated to the project-affected persons in a manner accessible to them. Information disseminated to the project-affected persons will include: (i) compensation rates for all categories of affected assets; (ii) eligibility criteria for all other forms of assistance that may be provided; and (iii) grievance procedures (including specific contact information for initiating, or following up on, grievances). I. Monitoring The internal monitoring of resettlement impacts will be carried out by the implementing units as an integral part of the implementation of the plans, and will cover the project and post- project periods. It will assess achievements against key implementation targets and objectives and, accordingly, make corrections in the plans where necessary. The monitoring of land acquisition and resettlement impacts and compensation payments will form an integrated part of the reporting for each related component or sub-project, and be recorded in the project village land acquisition files and the MIS system In addition, an independent third party will be invited for the external monitoring that, as arranged under the Resettlement Plan prepared before the appraisal of the relevant project component, will cover all resettlement components under the Resettlement Plan. The main monitoring indicators would include: ƒ Duration to sign land acquisition agreement; ƒ Duration for paying compensation expenses; ƒ Time to raise compensation funds and its disbursement period; ƒ Changes in affected households’ economic situation; ƒ Usage of the occupied land; and ƒ Re-cultivation time of the temporarily acquired land.