Under output 1, investments will be geared towards strengthening the capacity of the national, provincial, district and cluster levels in corridor planning, corridor management, and providing protection and sustainable use policies, guidelines, and local regulations for enforcing the biodiversity corridor management plan. In particular, activities under output 1 will contribute
to: (i
) management plans and Biodiversity Corridor policy and legal framework to be in place by
2013 covering at least 698,000 ha of forest and non-forest land in 69 villages spread across Champasak, Attapeu and Xekong provinces in southern Lao PDR; (ii) participatory land use maps and village investment plans are ready in 69 villages by 2013 covering 5 districts in 3 provinces; (iii) by 2013, all villages receive collective forest land management certificates; and (iv) by Project end, over 1,095 provincial, 625 district, and 750 village level persons are trained
in Project activities; from the trained persons, at least 40% are female with a large portion from ethnic minority groups.
8. Particular emphasis will be placed on GIS-based training for mapping of the biodiversity corridor, developing a management plan for segments of the corridor that are outside the NPAs and protection forests. The delineated corridor maps together with a draft management plan will
be submitted to the provincial government for endorsement in each province and to MAF/DOF
for approval. After approval, the biodiversity corridor area will be demarcated at critical points along major road arteries and in villages/clusters where population pressure is expected to grow and there is risk of forest area encroachment. Special corridor guidelines and rules will be issued and these will be prominently displayed in public places and along main roads inside the biodiversity corridor. The Project will promote GMS transboundary cooperation between Lao PDR and Viet Nam and will support exchange visits and sharing of information regarding scientific research, biodiversity database, forest cover, and management of transboundary forest ecosystems.
9. The rural households involved in forest management are being provided with forest land
for livelihood purposes and/or productivity enhancement will be provided with land use certificates. The collective forest management certificate or registration at district level will be provided to a group or collective number of households who enter into a co-management contract with the state owners/managers of the forest land. This contract will enable the group to protect and manage the natural forest designated and registered in the name of the group. The land use certificate or registration of forest management will enable the group to have tenurial security on the designated land. In addition, individual households may be given land use certificates or forest, agricultural and homestead land that result from a participatory land use planning exercise.
10. Provincial, district and cluster/vilage level target groups will be specifically trained in skills of biodiversity corridor management, patrolling, conservation, water and forest protection and raising awareness concerning disaster preparedness and climate change hazards. It is expected that by Project completion, provincial levels will have acquired GIS based mapping skills enabling its staff to integrate different layers of information and data into composite maps integrating conservation, climate change and development.
2. The second output deals with village and cluster-based forest protection and forest restoration. The bulk of the investments under output 2 will go to forest restoration, which will cover about 3,900 ha in the form of enrichment planting, NTFP planting and agroforestry. Restoration activities include labor input provided by women on a cash basis, thus improving household incomes. Moreover, work on identifying viable reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) pilot sites will enable the Project to leverage additional funding
for forest protection and restoration from funds specifically set up for promoting REDD. The Village Development Fund (VDF) mechanism will be used as a decentralized local level instrument to receive REDD funding for carbon sequestration. The Project intends to aim at a total forest restoration of at least 9,000 ha, 45% of which will be funded through the Project. The proposed Project will assist the 5 selected districts in three provinces to establish inventory sample plots, conduct biodiversity survey/reports, and draft village/cluster forest management plans to move towards sustainable forest management. This will also enhance the ability of the Project to attract REDD funding.
12. About 25% or approximately 170,000 ha of the biodiversity corridor from a larger landscape area of 698,000 ha will be patrolled by village patrols/guards. The coverage of forest area to be protected amounts to an average 2,500ha/village. These patrols will be carried out strategically at critical and weak points of entry that are known to forest guards for their vulnerability. At the same time, the participating villages in the Project will have a contract of co- management and forest maintenance based on which they will be paid a fee for village based forest protection and management. These activities are expected to be taken over gradually by the Village Development Fund (VDF) after the VDFs have started receiving revenue from various investments and livelihood activities.
3. Livelihoods Improvement and Small-scale Infrastructure support
13. Under Output 3, on demand livelihood and small scale infrastructure subprojects prioritized in participatory consultations at start of Project will be identified and will undergo a rigorous screening process. Each selected village has a block allocation for livelihood improvements. Some of these livelihood options can also be pursued through the mechanism
of the VDF, which will provide micro credit facilities to households to borrow for their projects of choice. The micro credit repayment will go back into the VDF with interest to generate a revolving mechanism.
14. The Village Development Fund (VDF) is a decentralized financial instrument, managed
by the commune and villagers who elect a VDF Management Board or Committee. It operates
on the basis of guidelines issued by the PPO in the three provinces. During the pilot phase, guidelines were issued by PAFO in Champasak for establishment and operation of 11 VDFs in villages covered between 2006-2009. The establishment and sustainability of the revolving fund concept requires capacity development and technical support and the Project has made provision for this. One of the lessons from the pilot phase is that the VDF can become a good,
workable mechanism if the establishment and maintenance of the operations receives technical and financial advisory services. Strong leadership at the village level enabled sound management of the VDF. Under the Project, the VDF is linked to incentive payments for maintaining forest cover under REDD. The VDF account can also be used to promote business development opportunities such as ecotourism ventures, NTFP processing, and agro product marketing. The consultations during R-PPTA show that local people wish to have agrodorestry support, carry out forest restoration and request support for improving and marketing their traditional handicraft products.
15. In addition to livelihood interventions, the selected communes will receive small scale infrastructure support at $100,000 per village. Small scale infrastructure support will primarily focus on (i) village based potable water schemes, (ii) provision of rural toilet and sanitation facilitations, (iii) improvement / upgrading of rural access road from village to main road or market, and (iii) any other infrastructure item of prioritization. Special attention will be given to ensure that the poor and ethnic minority groups participate equitably in subproject benefits. The selection criteria for the choice of subprojects at village and cluster levels are as follows: (i) it must be one of the three priorities of the beneficiaries in the village documented through participatory, multistakeholder consultations conducted by the Project; (ii) is affordable within the block allocation set aside for the village; (iii) fulfills all social safeguard criteria as laid out in subproject eligibility section (see PAM section II C below); (iv) is complying with all environmental safeguard issues as described in safeguards section in the PAM, Section II C; (v)
is in conformity with land use plans in the village and the biodiversity corridor; (vi) brings benefits in the form of income generation or cost savings in terms of money, time, and effort and benefits households in the target villages (men, women, or both, and/or families/hh); (vii) is technically feasible (engineering wise) and satisfies criteria of mountainous area community based small scale rural infrastructure; (viii) arrangements satisfactory to the Project have been made for undertaking operations & maintenance (O&M) if applicable; and (ix) is not covered under any other on-going programs or projects (duplication avoidance). The sub-projects will avoid resettlement, land acquisition, and physical displacement or denial of access to resources currently under use by the beneficiaries without prior and informed consent. Small-scale infrastructure investments will only be undertaken on the basis of demand and agreement of the beneficiaries to in-kind contribution (e.g. labor, land, right of way, and willingness to undertake O&M etc.). The selection criteria for sample subprojects are further detailed out in PAM section
III F below.
4. Output 4: Project management and support services
16. Under Output 4, support services will be provided for project management. Capacity building for NPMO, PPO and district staff is needed for project administration, procurement, financial management, progress reporting, impact monitoring, social and environmental safeguards and contract management. With some project staff being recruited from existing staff in the provinces and districts, considerable capacity building is considered necessary to facilitate the smooth implementation of the Project. This is often overlooked and invariably leads
to implementation delays and consequently, slow disbursements because of their lack of familiarity with ADB and government procedures. The fourth output will also resource the management structures for a sector-like project that is supervised from an NPMO in DOF in Vientiane but implemented from provincially based PPOs established within provincial agriculture and forestry offices (PAFO) in participating provinces. These include refurbishment of premises, equipping of offices, provision of vehicles, as well as provisions for implementing the Project including travel allowances, per diems and office operational budgets. In addition, the proposed Project will finance the recruitment of grant implementation consultants to provide
implementation support and access to technical expertise needed in implementing subprojects. This recognizes the current implementation capacity and the general lack of familiarity with ADB procedures particularly among provincial and lower level staff.
