Ghana - Northern Savanna Biodiversity Conservation Project

Report No. PID9766 Project Name Ghana-Northern Savanna Biodiversity (@) Conservation Project Region Africa Regional Office Sector Other Environment Project ID GHPE67685 Borrower(s) GHANA Implementing Agency Address MINISTRY OF LANDS AND FORESTRY Ministry of Lands and Forestry P.O. Box M212 Accra, Ghana Contact Person: Mr. K.B. Boakye-Boateng, NRMP Program Director Tel: (233) (021) 687314, 687 336, 666 801 Fax: 233 (021) 666 801 Email: bbateng@mlf-gh.com Environment Category B Date PID Prepared December 14, 2000 Projected Appraisal Date February 5, 2001 Projected Board Date May 15, 2001 1. Country and Sector Background About 60 percent of the total population in Ghana is rural. Poverty is highly concentrated in rural areas and among small farmers, particularly in the savanna zones. The incidence of poverty in the rural areas is high (36 percent) and accounts for 84 percent of total poverty in Ghana. Social indicators are also very low for these areas. Ghana's limited financial resources means that no extensive programs of social protection are in place in these areas. To ensure that growth in Ghana benefits the poor, the Government has emphasized an improved performance in agriculture by increasing productivity of food crops and expanding opportunities in commercial crops. Such initiatives place pressure on the environment and to ensure sustainability of growth, the environmental concerns would need to be adequately addressed. At the same time, the government's reform of the health sector through implementation of its Medium Term Health Strategy Towards Vision 2020 (MTHS) seeks to improve the health of Ghanaians by increasing access, quality, and efficiency of health services and forging linkages with other partners in health development.Savanna ecosystems cover about 50 percent of the land area of Africa. In Ghana, as in many areas in Africa, savanna woodlands provide valuable environmental services and provide critical refuge for indigenous biodiversity, and protection for soil and water resources against degradation. The northern and coastal savanna zones support about 20 percent of the national population and supply about 70 percent of Ghana's total supply of firewood and charcoal estimated at 16 million m3. The area also provides medicinal plants, roofing grasses, fencing poles, and fruits (e.g., shea-nut, an increasingly important export commodity). Savanna bushmeat, including various indigenous rodents, antelopes,  reptiles and gastropods, is an important source of animal protein (providing about 12 percent of the rural communities' protein consumption) and revenue for local impoverished communities. The savanna woodlands also have beneficial effects on the local climate and constitute a natural barrier to the dessicating harmattan winds from the Sahara, helping to maintain a favorable micro-climate for agricultural production in the south.In the northern savanna region, the survival of indigenous land varieties/races of important food crops and an increasing number of medicinal plant species is being threatened. This is caused by the expansion of agriculture into savanna and arid and semi-arid areas, combined with over-grazing, bushfires, and inappropriate crop management which contribute to degradation of biological diversity. Under the NSBCP, guidelines would be developed to ensure the sustainable use and propagation of threatened, indigenous crop varieties and medicinal plants, and to ensure that genetic stocks and knowledge on biological resources management and conservation including medicinal plant use would be preserved. NSBCP would also focus on the conservation, management and possible reintroduction on farmers' farms indegenous farmer crop varieties which are being replaced by high-yielding, high input crop species and varieties. 2. Objectives (a) Development ObjectiveThe project's development objective is to improve the livelihood and health of communities in the northern savanna zone The northern savanna zone is comprised of two vegetation types: Sudan and Guinea. They are not specifically identified in the text. of Ghana, and the environment through the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources including medicinal plants. Specific objectives are to: (i) strengthen institutional capacity; (ii) improve the conservation and management of globally and nationally significant plant and animal species, and their habitats; (iii) develop a savanna resources management strategy framework as a complement to the National Forest and Wildlife Policy, based on improved capacity in the region; (iv) enhance community involvement and adoption of improved biodiversity management plans and conservation measures; and (v) increase community awareness of biodiversity issues and maintenance of field gene banks of threatened indigenous crop varieties and medicinal plants. Progress would be determined by: (i) measurable poverty reduction statistics, (ii) measurable improvement in the conservation and management of globally and nationally significant plant and animal species, and their habitats; (iii) the development of a savanna resources management strategy framework, based on improved capacity in the northern savanna ecological region; (iv) community involvement and adoption of improved biodiversity management plans and appropriate conservation measures; and (v) increased community awareness of biodiversity issues and maintenance of field gene banks of threatened indigenous crop varieties and medicinal plants.(b) Global objectiveThe global environment objective is to identify, monitor and conserve key components of the biodiversity of the northern savanna zone. This would be achieved by: (i) protecting the existing biodiversity in and around reserve areas, adopting an ecosystem management approach, and developing a comprehensive strategy and action plans to manage and conserve the savanna biodiversity; (ii) identifying habitats and 'hotspots' of endemic species in need of greater protection, (iii) protecting sacred groves and other dedicated reserves, and other sources of biodiversity such as medicinal plants through cultivation and - 2 -  conservation; (iv) preserving local knowledge of biodiversity conservation and use including traditional medicine and its use; and (v) maintaining the cultivation and protection of indigenous and threatened farmer crop varieties. Progress would be measured by the number of hectares of priority areas effectively managed in the savanna zone, the demonstrated rejuvenation in terms of population numbers of the endemic, and rare biotic species' populations threatened with decline, the number of communities actively participating in the conservation, management and propagation of important indigenous rare, threatened or endemic crops and medicinal plants, and the improved security of natural habitats. 3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement Management of biodiversity in the arid and semi-arid savanna ecosystem has not been adequately covered by the Natural Resources Management Project (NRMP) I. NSBCP is designed and needed to define a clear path for targeted management of the savanna zone. The emphasis in NSBCP is placed on a broader based operation which would focus on the sustainable management of northern savanna resources while reducing poverty and combating land degradation. Whereas NRMP I is developing overall strategy for collaborative natural resources management, there is a need to systematically define and develop specific action programs to enhance global benefits by conserving savanna resources and combating desertification. This project defines and develops concrete steps that would be undertaken in order to achieve the global benefits of biodiversity and natural resource management in the savanna areas of northern Ghana. The development of NRMP II and III would link with this project and address activities that have local, national and global benefits. 4. Description 1. Project components The project would consist of five main components: (a) formulation of a policy framework; (b) capacity building of key government institutions playing a key role in the project's implementation; (c) promotion of biodiversity conservation, research and development; (d) developing community-based management actions; and (e) project management, monitoring and evaluation. (a) Formulation of a Policy Framework. This component would support the development of a policy framework for the conservation and management of northern savanna biodiversity, and the development of policy and guidelines on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for protecting and sharing indigenous knowledge. Both policies are expected to have global implications and application regarding the use, conservation and management of rare, or threatened medicinal plants and farmer crop varieties. The process would be consultative and would involve reaching agreements with all key stakeholders including communities, farmers, associations and groups, healers, and others involved. In addition, the component would support the completion of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan which would contain a section on a strategy on bio-prospecting.(b) Capacity Building. The project would strengthen the capacities of the MLF, MOH, MEST, GHATRAN, SRMC, regional and disrict Governments, NGOs/CBOs, women and youth groups, associations, and communities for implementing project activities. The project would strengthen and the TAMD in collaboration with the MLF and the MOH. The Directorate would provide the link between MOH and the Federation of Traditional Healers and Regional Healer Associations to ensure protection of indigenous healthcare, and with the - 3 -  MLF to ensure sustainability of medicinal plant management. The project would also fund a GIS database to monitor changes in the ecosystem, and a herbarium to be linked with other research institutions (e.g., PGRC, SARI, University of Development Studies (UDS) and the Ghana herbarium in Legon).(c) Collaborative Biodiversity Conservation, Research and Development. This component would support: (a) development of systems including incentives for savanna resources management, (b) protected area and boundary demarcations and biodiversity conservation, (c) improved land management and restoration of degraded lands, (c) field gene banks development and sustainability of threatened and declining agro-biodiversity (including wildlife/game farming and establishment of wildlife corridors), and (d) sustainable development and management of medicinal plant resources. Management plans would be developed for pilot areas, including at least 10 priority areas of protected forests and 3 wildlife reserves, and remedial programs designed and implemented with the collaboration of local communities. Adjacent social and agricultural systems would be taken into account and selection would be on the basis of biological diversity in the area, main threats to the area, extent of participation from the communities, and net global benefits. In addition, to protect indigenous crop varieties, the component would fund documentation, identification of threatened varieties, establishment of gene banks, and cultivation and propagation of reintroduced varieties. (d) Community-Based Management Actions. This component would build on indigenous knowledge in sustainable use and conservation of natural resources through community-based initiatives such as development of small community infrastructure, formulation of community resource management actions, and joint management of agro-biodiversity. It would also support the protection of sacred groves which are important indigenous and traditional mechanisms for protecting biodiversity. Sacred groves are being threatened by changes in religion, beliefs and practices as well as uncontrolled burning and agricultural expansion. A comprehensive, community-based public education and awareness focusing on the following: general biodiversity conservation and natural resource use, codification and dissemination of best land management practices, sustainable development in the traditional renewable energy sector through intensive woodlot development, wildfire prevention and management, and production of training and information materials. (e) Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation. This component would support the strengthening of the SRMC which would be responsible for supervising and monitoring implementation of the project. Looking at the specialized nature of the project and that the biodiversity of the savanna zone is being considered for the first time on such a scope and level, a technically qualified project coordinator (consultant) would need to be hired to coordinate implementation for a period of six years. Working under the SRMC and the SRMC Steering committee, the NSBCP coordinator would be directly answerable to the Coordinator of the Savanna Resources Management Project. There would be no need to establish at the project level a parallel implementation unit or steering committee. The SRMC would build its capacity and that of key stakeholders at all levels to monitor implementation of activities and policies on savanna resource conservation and management, and to evaluate their impacts (at local, regional, national and global levels) on intended beneficiaries and natural resources system. 5. Financing -4-  Total ( US$m) Total Project Cost 7.6 6. Implementation Project implementation would be over six years. The implementation agency would be led by the MLF and would be carried out through the existing structures of the SRMC with participation from the following agencies: MOFA, MEST/EPA, MOH, and the MLGRD. The multi-disciplinary nature of the SRMC would facilitate coordination of implementation. Technical support to implementation would be provided by a number of public, private and civil society organizations. MOFA would lead and support issues regarding agro-biodiversity, MEST/EPA would lend support to environmental management and coordination, MOH would be responsible for the protection of indigenous knowledge on health care and the provision of affordable health care services through traditional healer associations; MLGRD and the District Assemblies would support local level natural resource management. At the project level, implementation would be supervised and monitored by SRMC and project activiies coordination would be done by the NSBCP Coordinator who would be recruited for a period of six years by MLF. The Traditional Medicine and Alternative Department of MOH would second a staff to SRMC who would assist the NSBCP Coordinator in the implementation of activities related to medicinal plants and traditional health care. NSBCP would be implemented in collaboration with regional and district administrations (regional and district MOFA and EPA offices, District Assemblies) and community associations (traditional healer associations and NGOs such as Suntaa-Nuntaa and Taimako Herbal Clinic). The project would be located in the Tamale SRMC. Implementation would also involve other agencies such as the University of Development Studies (UDS) and the Northern Regional office of FORIG for training and research, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoFA) for policy development, SARI for agro-biodiversity research, PGRC for germplasm conservation and ex-situ protection and the EPA for land degradation. The project would utilize existing mechanisms developed under NRMP (i.e., the overall Program Coordianting/Steering Committee (PCC), Donor-Government of Ghana Coordination Meetings, Donors' Meetings, SRMP Steering Sub-committee, Joint Donor-Government of Ghana Implementation Assistance/Sipport Missions) to ensure the coordination and collaboration among donors in supporting activities relating to savanna resources management and conservation. Efforts would be made for the project to share information with other donors through field visits to project sites supported by other donors, and joint workshops for government staff and local community groups. The project would also hold regular briefings and would ensure consistency in objectives with other donors. NSBCP would link up and build synergies with Bank and non-Bank projects in the region.Under the project, the land management sub-component would be implemented by the Desertification Control Unit of the EPA based in Bolgatanga, with the active collaboration of the Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission and other relevant Governmental and Non-governmental organizations. The District and Community Environmental Management Committees, among others, would play an active role in project implementation. 7. Sustainability Government's commitment in terms of sustaining policy reforms as well as staff and funding of project initiatives after the project ends is - 5 -  crucial. Success in developing community-based project design and implementation is necessary if there is to be enduring project ownership by the beneficiaries. Using clearly defined benchmarks, the project seeks to enhance sustainable community use and management of savanna resources while ensuring that globally significant biodiversity resources are protected. This enhanced protection of biodiversity would need to be based on negotiated agreements with the affected local communities that demonstrate locally verifiable benefits in the form of alternative livelihood system. The success of the project in encouraging reforestation and rehabilitation of degraded savanna areas is crucial to the sustainability of the envisioned biodiversity conservation measures. Hence, Government's commitment to improving community knowledge and field capacity for effective stewardship of biodiversity resources through integrated land management strategies would ultimately determine the sustainability of conservation achievements. 8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector n Problems of overlapping mandates of various national agencies and the critical role of non-timber forest products in the health and well-being of rural communities has been addressed in this project by streamlining implementation, i.e., concentrating support on key agencies and communities involved directly in management of the savannas. Specific program focus is also allocated to cultural sites, medicinal plants and agro-biodiversity.fn The positive lessons of a collaborative approach with local communities, which recognizes right of access and use and seeks economic growth compatible with maintaining global and national conservation values, and methods for successful education and public awareness campaigns have been integrated into the project's components. The Community-Based Management Actions component and the Collaborative Biodiversity Conservation, Research and Development component focus on empowering communities living in or on the firnges of woodland and wildlife resreves and within faunal corridors to fully participate in resource management, establishing a gene bank and germplasm conservation for medicinal plants and indigenous crops, formulating and implementing community-based action plans on sustainable resources use, and mounting a successful public education and awareness campaign.fn To achieve successful natural resource management, people need to understand the practical importance of biodiversity conservation and see it working in their local context. This project would develop such awareness and understanding through two inter-linked activities; a) the development and implementation of a general biodiversity conservation and awareness program including the multiple practical uses of the diverse natural resources of the region, and b) codification and dissemination of best management practices for land degradation control and regeneration, rehabilitation and woodlot development, fire prevention and control. n To establish the long-term sustainability of the fisheries resource and maximize its contribution to the economy, the Fisheries Subsector Capacity Building project would strengthen the Department of Fisheries (DOF) in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) through reorganization and staff training; stock assessment, and implementation of management plans for marine and inland fisheries; improvement of extension in aquaculture; establishment of a Monitoring, Control and surveillance systems for marine and inland fisheries; and reform of the policy, legal and regulatory framework. The main benefits would be improvement in the (i) management of fisheries resources; and (ii) economic efficiency, performance and profitability of - 6 -  the participants in the fishery. IDA Credit.n The project would build on and link up with the Village Infrastructure Project by enhancing the role of communities to develop, implement, manage and maintain natural resource projects directly related to their socio-economic needs. IDA Credit.n The NSBCP would support the identification of sustainable cultivation methods for medicinal plant species as a component of Ghanaian savanna agriculture, an element not identified in the Agricultural Services Subsector Investment Program (AgSSIP).n The NSBCP would add the role traditional healers (i.e., herbalists, bone setters, hanzams, psychic healers and traditional birth attendants) play in basic healthcare in Ghana and therefore to poverty reduction. Past health projects have tended to overlook this area and have focused mainly on Western forms of health interventions.n Indigenous crop diversity is being rapidly eroded. Such crop varieties (cereals, legumes and roots/tubers) are an important source of meeting farmers' socio-economic needs and food security in years of drought. The project would focus on reversing this loss of important agricultural germplasm and indigenous knowledge by collaborating with farmers to enhance the reestablishment farmer varieties. The PGRC would play an important role in achieving the objectives of this component. 9. Program of Targeted Intervention (PTI) Y 10. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation) Issues The key pervasive natural resource management issues in Ghana are land degradation and deforestation, and the loss of biodiversity associated with unsustainable harvesting levels in the high forest and in the savanna, compounded by inappropriate farming practices and annual wildfires. Also related are issues of lack of effective enforcement of institutional and policy framework for implementing ecologically and socio-economically sustainable management systems for high forest, savanna woodland and wildlife resources, in collaboration with local communities. The major causes of loss of biodiversity and natural resource degradations in the savanna zones are related to tremendous pressure from growing human and livestock populations, agricultural expansion , inappropriate farming practices, deforestation, annual bush fires, and introduction of crop varieties that are replacing indigenous varieties. Loss of vegetative cover and inappropriate farming practices contribute increasingly to land degradation, interlinked with other contributing factors such as: (a) a poorly developed market system that does not price exploited natural resources at their real economic value while providing easy, open access to dwindling but cheap natural resources, (b) inefficient public regulating agencies with overlapping responsibilities, (c) inadequate/negligible involvement of key stakeholders including local communities in natural resource management, (d) weak institutional capacity in the wildlife sector and little involvement of communities in the management and sustainable use of wildlife resource, (e) weak inter-agency coordination in planning/monitoring natural resource use, especially at the district and community levels, and (f) unavailability of any effective national or local level policies, regulations or guidelines on issues related to land tenure and ownership, right of access to and use of resources by rightful owners, protection of indigenous knowledge, and intellectual property rights. 11. Contact Point: -7-  Task Manager Hassan H. Hassan; Edward F. Dwumfour The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1376 (Hassan); (233-21) 229-681, 220-837 (Dwumfour) Fax: (202) 477-0565 (Hassan); (233-21) 227-887 (Dwumfour) 12. For information on other project related documents contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not be necessarily included in the final project. - 8 -