Belize - Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize Project : restructuring

The World Bank Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize (P130474) REPORT NO.: RES29112 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS IN BELIZE APPROVED ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 TO BELIZE ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES GLOBAL PRACTICE LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN REGION Regional Vice President: Jorge Familiar Calderon Country Director: Tahseen Sayed Khan Senior Global Practice Director: Karin Erika Kemper Practice Manager: Valerie Hickey Task Team Leader: Keiko Ashida Tao  The World Bank Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize (P130474) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS GEF Global Environment Facility GoB Government of Belize KBAs Key Biodiversity Areas FM Financial Management IFR Interim Financial Report IRPF Involuntary Resettlement Policy Framework MAFFESDI Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Immigration PACT Protected Areas Conservation Trust PDO Project Development Objective USD United Stated Dollars WB World Bank  The World Bank Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize (P130474) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P130474 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 29-Sep-2014 30-Sep-2019 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries, and Sustainable Belize Development,Protected Areas Conservation Trust Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to strengthen natural resource management and biodiversity conservation in Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) of Belize. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed TF-16773 05-Nov-2014 05-Nov-2014 26-Jan-2015 30-Sep-2019 6.09 1.39 4.70 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No  The World Bank Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize (P130474) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING A. Project Status 1. The Project is financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the amount of USD 6.086 million. The PDO is to strengthen natural resource management and biodiversity conservation in KBAs of Belize. The Project has four components: (a) Supporting forest protection and sustainable forest management activities in KBAs, (b) Promoting effective management of KBAs, (c) Institutional strengthening and capacity building for enhanced enforcement of environmental regulations, and (d) Project management, monitoring and assessment. The Project became effective on January 26, 2015 2. The Project has entered into the third year of implementation. However, the implementation pace and disbursement rate is low (22.8%). The slow implementation is compounded by: (a) frequent turn-over of Project Manager; (b) limited integration of the project activities into the program of the Ministry of Sustainable Development (MAFFESDI); and (c) FM capacity issues. In June 2017, a new Project Manager and three core members of the Project management team were appointed among the staff of MAFFESDI. The team has conducted an intensive exercise to review the budget, and the planned project activities have been realigned within the broader programmatic areas of the MAFFESDI. As a result, the project management has shown stability and improvement. The Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT) has worked closely with the Bank Financial Management (FM) team to improve their system and the quality of the financial statements. As of November 2017, there are no pending Interim Financial Reports (IFRs). The Project needs to expedite the implementation in order to catch up with the delays during the first and second year. The PIU has developed an action plan and is making efforts to achieve the milestones. B. Rationale for Restructuring 1. In April of 2017, it was brought to the Bank’s attention that an unforeseen situation that required retroactive resettlement compensation had occurred within one of the six protected areas supported by the project. The Bank communicated this to the GoB, who conducted a review of the case. After validating that resettlement compensation was needed, GoB prepared a Resettlement Audit and Compensation Plan in accordance with the Project’s Involuntary Resettlement Policy Framework (IRPF). The Plan was consulted with the affected families and the community leaders and reviewed by the Bank. 2. This Project Paper seeks to restructure the project to allow the use of project funds to finance expenditures pertaining to resettlement (Resettlement Expenditures). II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES A. Change in the Project Components and Definitions 3. The proposed changes are to (a) amend Part 4 of the Project “Project Management, Monitoring and Assessment” to include Resettlement Expenditures, (b) add a definition of Resettlement Expenditures to be financed under the Project, and (c) change the cost of the corresponding components. B. Change in Disbursements Arrangements  The World Bank Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize (P130474) 4. The proposed change is to create a new disbursement category to finance Resettlement Expenditures in the amount of USD30,000 based on a Resettlement Audit and Compensation Plan prepared by the GoB. Part of Category (2) Goods, works, non-consulting services, consultants’ services, and Training for Sub-projects is used to finance Category (3). Thus, Category (2) is changed from USD1,250,000 to USD1,220,000. I. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Change in Components and Cost ✔ Change in Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Change in Implementing Agency ✔ Change in DDO Status ✔ Change in Project's Development Objectives ✔ Change in Results Framework ✔ Change in Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Change in Disbursement Estimates ✔ Change in Overall Risk Rating ✔ Change in Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ Change of EA category ✔ Change in Legal Covenants ✔ Change in Institutional Arrangements ✔ Change in Financial Management ✔ Change in Procurement ✔ Change in Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Change in Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Change in Technical Analysis ✔ Change in Social Analysis ✔ Change in Environmental Analysis ✔  The World Bank Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize (P130474) IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_COMPONENTS_TABLE COMPONENTS Current Current Proposed Proposed Cost Action Component Name Component Name Cost (US$M) (US$M) Component 1: Supporting Component 1: Supporting Forest Forest Protection and Protection and Sustainable 2.18 No Change Sustainable Forest 2.18 Forest Management Activities in Management Activities in Key Key Biodiversity Areas Biodiversity Areas Component 2: Promoting Component 2: Promoting Effective Management of Key 2.59 Revised Effective Management of Key 2.29 Biodiversity Areas Biodiversity Areas Component 3: Institutional Component 3: Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Strengthening and Capacity Building for Enhanced 1.00 No Change Building for Enhanced 1.00 Enforcement of Environmental Enforcement of Environmental Regulations Regulations Component 4: Project Component 4: Project Management, Monitoring and 0.31 Revised Management, Monitoring and 0.61 Assessment Assessment TOTAL 6.08 6.08 A. Change in the Project Components and Definitions 5. Part 4. Project Management, Monitoring and Assessment is changed as follows: “Support for: (a) Project management and implementation support including technical, administrative and fiduciary support and compliance with environmental and social safeguards (including Resettlement Expenditures); and (b) monitoring and evaluation, data collection and stakeholder involvement and coordination”. 6. The following definition is added and placed in alphabetic order to the Appendix to the Grant Agreement: ““Resettlement Expenditures” means the expenditures incurred in financing the cost of providing compensation or resettlement assistance under the Project in accordance with the IRPF and the pertinent Compensation Plan”.  The World Bank Management and Protection of Key Biodiversity Areas in Belize (P130474) 7. The cost of Component 2: Promoting Effective Management of Key Biodiversity Areas is changed from USD2.59 million to USD2.39 million. The cost of Component 4: Project Management, Monitoring and Assessment is changed from USD0.31 million to USD0.61 million. B. Change in Disbursement Table 8. The table of Section IV.A.2 of Schedule 2 to the Grant Agreement is amended to read in its entirety as follows: Proposed Amount of Percentage of Expenditures the Grant Allocated to be Financed (expressed in USD) Category (inclusive of Taxes) (1) Goods, works, non-consulting 4,835,600 100% services, consultants’ services, Training, and Monitoring and Compliance Activities, except for Sub-projects, and Operating Costs (2) Goods, works, non-consulting 1,220,000 100% services, consultants’ services, and Training for Sub-projects (3) Resettlement Expenditures 30,000 100 % TOTAL AMOUNT 6,085,600