Revisions to the Project document per GEF Council Comments of July 1998 Inter-sessional Work Programme

Response to comment from Mr. Toshiyuki Furui, Japan:

This project will be implemented according to standard UNDP procedures and guidelines, which include monitoring the disbursement of funds to ensure that funds are spent on project activities. Please see paragraphs 135 and 168. GEF support will top up the FFA’s Monitoring Control and Surveillance System in order to deliver accurate and relevant information to the participating countries to support the control of illegal fishing and other threats to resource sustainability. The FFA’s contribution to this activity is an estimated US$ 1.96 million, with GEF support amounting to US$ 140,000, a ratio of 14:1. This is activity 3.6 in the project document, details of which are provided in Annex 11.

Response to comments from Mr. Charles Parker, Canada:

The South Pacific Forum, Fisheries Forum Agency and South Pacific Commission are among the key organizations that are partnered with this project in order to ensure success in the achievement of project objectives. The South Pacific Forum in particular has been instrumental in the development of the Strategic Action Programme, and this project has been presented to the Forum at its meeting in 1-7 October 1999. The South Pacific Forum Secretariat coordinates the Council of Regional Organizations for the Pacific (CROP). To ensure the institutional ownership and sustainability of project impacts, the RTF will be linked to the CROP Marine Sector Working Group and comprised of CROP representatives, UNDP and selected individuals, as appropriate in order to increase the regional political ownership and coordination of the project.

This project has been designed to include strategically the FFA and SPC as project partners so as not to duplicate the fishery management work they are doing. Additionally, these two organizations bring with them significant sums of co-financing to the project, and GEF resources will be used to top-up their programmes to leverage further global benefits. As part of the implementation arrangements, a memorandum of understanding between the partner organizations will be agreed upon and signed at the initiation of the project. Please see paragraph 130. An organogram has been added to further clarify the relationship between partner institutions (Annex 10)

The project also has built into it a modality for sharing lessons learned. In particular, this relates both to bringing lessons learned from other projects to help influence the use of best practices for the implementation of this project, but also to share lessons learned from this project to other projects, in the Caribbean and elsewhere. The IW:LEARN and TRAIN-SEA-COAST programmes will play an instrumental facilitating role in this respect. Please see section L for further information.

Response to comments from Mr. David Johansson, Finland

As mentioned above, this project will participate in other regional programmes such as IW:LEARN and TRAIN:SEA:COAST, with the aim of sharing lessons learned with other small island and coastal states an countries with similar problems.

Response to comments from Mr. Hans Shipulle, Netherlands

The project will be carried out over a five-year time frame in order to maximize the success rate of achieving project objectives. Most capacity development activities will be carried out during the early stages of project implementation, and particular attention will be given to encouraging active participation of participating countries in workshops and training activities.

Further revisions:

The project has been further revised to take advantage of UNDP’s additional co-financing of US$ 60,000 towards the demonstration project component. This co-financing will facilitate the extension of the demonstration projects, and to further develop and implement these to pay particular attention to the cross-sectoral nature of these projects. UNDP has also recently approved a new project, Integrated Community Approach for Resource and Environment, which will provide significant complementary activities to the GEF SAP project to the order of US$ 877,250. This project demonstrates an additional commitment of UNDP to support the Pacific coastal environment by assisting these island countries to increase their capacity to generate increased production of food and cash income through ecologically sound alternative livelihood options. Please see paragraph 67 for additional information.

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY

Regional Project for Asia and the Pacific

(Project of the Governments of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu)

PROJECT DOCUMENT

Classification Information:

ACC sector and sub-sector: Primary type of intervention:

040, 041 Capacity-building, demonstration

DCAS sector and sub-sector Secondary type of intervention:

Natural resources, water resources planning Programme support

Primary areas of focus/sub-focus Primary target beneficiaries:

Environmental resources, policy and strategy frameworks governmental organizations, NGOs, CBOs

Secondary areas of focus/sub-focus Secondary target beneficiaries:

Sustainable livelihoods Inter-governmental organizations, private sector

Brief Description: The long-term objective of this project is to conserve and sustainably manage the coastal and ocean resources in the Pacific Region. Targeted actions will be carried out in two complementary, linked consultative contexts: Integrated Coastal and Watershed Management (ICWM) and Oceanic Fisheries Management (OFM). ICWM actions will focus on freshwater supplies including groundwater, Marine Protected Area (MPA) enhancement and development, sustainable coastal fisheries, integrated coastal management including tourism development, and activities to demonstrate waste reduction strategies will be stressed. The OFM component will target the Western Pacific Warm Pool ecosystem, whose boundaries correspond almost precisely to the Western Pacific tuna fishery. Interventions will include three other pressing concerns related to SIDS, namely biodiversity, vulnerability to climate change, and land degradation. Management capacity at the individual country and regional level will be strengthened and global benefits would accrue. The project will provide working examples of economies of scale in environmental management.

On behalf of: Signature Date Name/Title

SPREP: ____________________ ____________ __________________________

UNDP: ____________________ ____________ __________________________

Table of Contents Page:

Abbreviations and Acronyms 4

A. Context 6

1. Description of sub-sector 6

2. Prior and on-going assistance 8

3. Regional and country strategies 8

4. Strategic Action Programme formulation 11

5. Institutional framework for sub-sector 12

6. Summary of Strategic Action Programme (SAP)

for International Waters of the Pacific Islands 14

B. Project justification 17

1. Problem to be addressed: the present situation 17

2. Rationale for GEF support 19

3. Expected end of project situation 21

4. Target beneficiaries 21

5. Project strategy 22

6. Institutional arrangements 22

C. Development objective 23

D. Immediate objectives, outputs and activities 23

1. Immediate Objective 1 23

2. Immediate Objective 2 25

3. Immediate Objective 3 30

4. Immediate Objective 4 32

E. Inputs 33

1. Description of inputs 33

2. Budget 35

F. Work plan 42

G. Risks 45

H. Sustainability 45

I. Obligations and pre-requisites 46

J. Institutional framework and programme management 46

1. Implementation arrangements 46

2. Financing and Contracting Arrangements 48

11. Project review, reporting and evaluation 48

12. Lessons learned and technical reviews 48

M. Legal context 49

Annexes:

Annex 1. Logical framework 55

Annex 2. Incremental cost assessment and matrix 59

Annex 3. List of on-going and planned projects 64

Annex 4. Table of environmental threats 68

Annex 5. Background information on the South Pacific

Regional Environment Programme 71

Annex 6. Terms of References 73

Annex 7. Regional Task Force Members for SAP Formulation 87

Annex 8. National Task Force Members for SAP Formulation 88

Annex 9. Draft Schedule of Project Reviews 89

Annex 10. Organogram 90

Annex 11. Data Verification for FFA Monitoring Control and Surveillance 91

(MCS) Systems

Annex 12. Project brief 93

^{Acronyms and Abbreviations}

ADB Asian Development Bank

APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

CAPAC Community Assessment and Participation Advisory Committee

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity

CBO Community Based Organization

CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

CMT Customary Marine Tenure

CROP Council of Regional Organizations for the Pacific

DPAC Demonstration Project Advisory Committee

DWFN Distant Water Fishing Nation

EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone

ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

EU European Union

EIA Environmental Impact Assessment

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

FCCC Framework Convention on Climate Change

FFA Forum Fisheries Agency

ForSec Forum Secretariat

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GEF Global Environment Facility

GPA/LBA Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine
Environment from Land-Based Activities

ICARE Integrated Community Approach for Resource and Environment

ICLARM International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management

ICM Integrated Coastal Management

ICWM Integrated Coast and Watershed Management

ICRI International Coral Reef Initiative

IMO International Maritime Organization

IOC Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources –

World Conservation Union

LME Large Marine Ecosystem

MPA Marine Protected Area

NEMS National Environment Management Strategies

NGO Non-governmental Organization

NTF National Task Force

OFM Oceanic Fisheries Management

OP Operational Programme of the Global Environment Facility

PCU Project Coordination Unit

PECC Pacific Economic Cooperation Council

PDF Project Development Facility of the Global Environment Facility

PIC Pacific Island Country

PICCAP Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Programme

PIDP Pacific Islands Development Programme

PPER Project Performance and Evaluation Review

RTF Regional Task Force

SAP Strategic Action Programme

SIDS Small Island Developing States

SOPAC South Pacific Applied Geo-science Commission

SPACHEE South Pacific Action Committee on the Human Environment and Ecology

SPBCP South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Programme

SPC Secretariat for the Pacific Community

SPF South Pacific Forum

SPOCC South Pacific Organizations Coordinating Committee

SPREP South Pacific Regional Environment Programme

STAP Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel

TCSP Tourism Council for the South Pacific

TPR Tripartite Review

TNC The Nature Conservancy

UN United Nations

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNCED UN Conference on Environment and Development

UNCLOS UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

UNCSD UN Commission on Sustainable Development

UNDP UN Development Programme

UNEP UN Environment Programme

UNESCO UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

USP University of the South Pacific

WCMC World Conservation Monitoring Centre

WPAC World Protected Areas Commission

WWF World Wide Fund for Nature

A. Context

A.1. Description of sub-sector

1. A defining feature of the Pacific is the Western Pacific Warm Pool ecosystem. The limited land base of the area is distributed among 200 high islands and 2,500 low islands and atolls. All participating islands lie in the tropical zone and experience sea surface temperatures that rarely fall below 20 degrees Celsius. In general, the islands increase in size from east to west, such that over 83% of the region’s land mass is situated in Papua New Guinea, and most of the rest is in the other Melanesian countries and territories.

2. The South Pacific region comprises almost 38.5 million square kilometers, with less than two percent of that vast area constituting the land base shared by the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). This vast and complex marine system contains an enormous and largely undocumented array of diversity. This rich biodiversity includes the most extensive and biologically diverse reefs in the world, the deepest ocean trenches, deep-sea minerals, the world’s largest tuna fishery, as well as an array of globally threatened species such as sea turtles and dugongs. The many thousands of islands are, with the exception of some larger Melanesian Islands, entirely coastal in nature, often with limited freshwater resources, and surrounded by a rich variety of ecosystems including mangroves, seagrass beds, estuarine lagoons and coral reefs.

3. In addition to the significant biodiversity value, these coastal and marine ecosystems support large subsistence and commercial fisheries. The fisheries are the major source of subsistence protein for much of the Pacific and form an indispensable part of the economic fabric, both at present and in the predictable future, for many of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Yet despite the remarkable and globally significant biodiversity of the region, and despite the extent to which the present and likely future economic health of the region is based on sustainable coastal and ocean fishery regimes, marine resource conservation and management regimes are currently inadequate. Coastal areas are degraded by increased land based sources of pollution, the modification of critical habitats, and the growing unsustainable exploitation of living and non-living resources.

4. The region’s approximately 6 million people are at various stages of development, and socio-economic conditions vary widely between, and sometimes within, countries. Throughout the region urban residents lead a more consumerist lifestyle than those in small isolated islands, remote coastal areas, and the interiors of large islands. The latter follow a more subsistence way of life, have a relatively low income, and, based on usual valuation methods, have a low standard of living. The economies of the PICs are largely based on agriculture, although for statistical purposes agriculture often includes fishing. For the Pacific Islands as a whole economic growth during the past decade has been almost nil. For many PICs, populations are on track to double at the rate of every 20 to 25 years; a rate of growth that will put tremendous pressure on already stressed coastal ecosystems. While these rates may be decreased somewhat by limited migration to metropolitan countries, the expanding population base will no doubt cause increasing economic and associated environmental difficulties over time. The UNDP 1994 Human Development Report concluded that “...the combination of low economic growth and high population growth poses a serious threat to the future performance in human development of many Pacific island countries.” Of the reported 53 countries described as “high human development” none of the PICs was among those listed.

5. While traditional measures of affluence clearly indicate an almost desperate situation for some PICs, the term “subsistence affluence” is sometimes used to describe the relatively high quality of life, at least at present, on others. Subsistence affluence refers to a condition of well being outside of the traditional economy and traditional economic measures. Factors contributing to subsistence affluence vary from place to place and include some or all of the following: low population densities, fertile soil, a benevolent climate, effective traditional resource management, and social systems which provide a safety net for disadvantaged members of a particular society or village. In recent times, however, high birth rates, unsustainable commercial practices in regard to natural resource use, increasing dependency on the cash economy, labor migration, and the deterioration of traditional authority and social systems are all having a negative impact on the quality of subsistence living on many of the islands. The fact that widespread poverty has not yet emerged in response to these deteriorating conditions is testament to the strength and importance of traditional support systems.

6. These traditional support systems are part of the region’s rich cultural diversity. One-fourth of the world’s languages are found in Pacific Island countries. There are various traditional authority systems and a wide range of religious institutions with significant influence. The communal ownership and traditional systems of management account for 80 per cent of the land (often including the adjacent marine area). These characteristics are not only vital to social and cultural identity and to the transfer of traditional knowledge between generations, but also add considerable complexity in developing and implementing national management plans, especially at the village level. The status and position of women differs considerably among PICs because of factors such as cultural traditions, colonial history and level of socio-economic development. As identified by the SAP, traditional systems must be associated with achieving current economic, political and social goals of the islands. It will be difficult but it is essential to include appropriate and significant principles of traditional systems in national development planning and implementation if these plans are to be truly sustainable.

7. The EEZs of the PICs cover approximately 30.5 million-sq. km., or about 74 per cent of the region’s water surface. PICs thus look toward their substantial coastal and ocean fisheries as an important, even indispensable means of advancing economic well-being through commercial and subsistence fisheries. They are crucial to food security for the region and are also an important source of employment and income, foreign exchange, and non-economic values which including cultural, religious, and recreational significance. As a general rule, coastal fisheries have provided non-monetary fish values in the form of subsistence protein, and monetary value to villages from the sale of coastal fish. The ocean fishery, largely tuna, has generally been used to provide a source of foreign exchange.

8. Coastal fisheries are estimated to produce some 108,000+ t/year of which up to 78 per cent, or 84,000+ t/year may be from subsistence fishing activity. This catch includes finfish and invertebrates. Only about 5,000 tons of the coastal fish catch is exported. To date, fisheries feature in national plans mainly in terms of their economic development potential and not for their contribution to the subsistence economy or small island nutrition. Fisheries development policies tend not to recognize or acknowledge the importance of the subsistence fishery in general, of inshore invertebrate harvests, or for the role of women in these fisheries.

9. The necessity for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to coastal and oceanic management is made all the more urgent by an increasing number of environmental threats. These environmental threats are negatively affecting the region’s natural resource base that is particularly sensitive to ecological disturbance, as highlighted by the fact that the largest number of documented extinctions world-wide has occurred in the islands of the Pacific. These environmental threats are further underpinned by pressure form growing populations and economic growth curves that are in many cases flat or falling. The biodiversity values and productivity of these resources, which are global in nature, are being affected by, among other things, fishing, tourism, infrastructure development, waste disposal, and the introduction of exotic marine organisms - all of which are of direct relevance to the health of the region’s shared international waters.

A.2. Prior and on-going assistance

10. The early impetus for the SAP was the decision of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in 1990 to prepare a joint regional position for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). This work occurred simultaneous with the development by the PICs of National Environmental Management Strategies (NEMS) which transpired between 1990-1996. The NEMS were prepared for several South Pacific island countries, presenting a set of programmes, strategies and actions to steer the countries towards four main environmental objectives:

1. Integrate environmental considerations in economic development

2. Improve environmental awareness and education

3. Manage and protect natural resources

4. Improve waste management and pollution control

11. UNCED provided the first opportunity for PICs to gather information, analyze results, and build a regional consensus on integrating environmental and development concerns into a sustainable whole, incorporating the knowledge and experience gained in the twenty years since the Stockholm Conference on the Environment. The joint regional position presented at UNCED was titled “Environment and Development: A Pacific Island Perspective” and “The Pacific Way: Pacific Island Developing Countries’ Report to UNCED”. The Perspective synthesized National Reports from the Islands and presented extensive additional information on sustainable development in the region. It was a supporting document for “The Pacific Way”, which presented a summary of the state of the environment for the islands and a description of regional priority concerns, both of which continue to be applicable.

12. ^{GEF is currently financing the preparation of Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (BSAPs) in 11 PICs, to strengthen the NEMS by providing more in-depth information, especially with regards to biodiversity and cross-sectoral issues. GEF is also financing the South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Project (SPBCP) which aims to protect biological diversity within PICs by facilitating the establishment of 17 Conservation Areas.}

A.3. Regional and country strategies, including relevant international agreements

13. Pacific Island States are linked in a complex group of binding regional and international agreements which govern sustainable development of International Waters in general and the marine sector in particular. These agreements form an extensive and evolving international legal framework within which sustainable development activities take place and with which present and planned activities must comply, for those who are full parties, or at least not undermine, for those who are as yet only signatories. The SAP, and its implementation, is designed to be consistent with the international commitments of the participating countries.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

14. From the plethora of treaties addressing or affecting International Waters, the most important for this project is the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, entry into force: 1994), which is the fundamental global treaty addressing International Waters. Of all relevant binding international instruments in force, it is by far the most comprehensive in scope and the most powerful in terms of both rights accorded to and obligations assumed by its parties. All but one of the countries participating in the SAP are either full parties (9) or signatories (4) to UNCLOS. UNCLOS is supplemented by an agreement on deep seabed mining and the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

15. UNCLOS has been described as “a constitution for the oceans.” This Convention arose from and is specifically founded on the proposition that “the problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be considered as a whole.” This guiding precept is illustrated clearly by, for example, Part XII on the marine environment, which addresses pollution of the marine environment from any source, including those sources from land and air as well as from the sea. In keeping with its constitutional nature, UNCLOS is designed to facilitate development of agreements addressing or affecting specific marine issues in requisite detail and at appropriate operational levels. In its holistic approach to management of International Waters, GEF’s Operational Strategy is consistent with UNCLOS.

16. Although much remains to be done in the Pacific region to implement UNCLOS, important actions have been undertaken pursuant to other international and regional conventions and organizations addressing or affecting marine issues and may be viewed as a promising start to implementing UNCLOS. Such conventions, organizations and actions include those described below.

The Convention on Biological Diversity

17. In the context of the Strategic Action Programme, which requires linkages to other GEF focal areas, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992) and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC, 1992) are important.

18. The CBD’s Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity (1995) sets out a programme specifying that action should be taken by parties in five areas. The first three are particularly relevant to the SAP and in the same order of priority action: Integrated Marine and Coastal Area Management, Marine and Coastal Protected Areas and Sustainable Use of Coastal and Living Marine Resources.

19. In the Pacific Islands region, implementation of the CBD has commenced through the South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Programme (SPBCP). This programme is funded by GEF and executed by the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and is containing regional and national, terrestrial and marine components with local community participation as a unifying theme. The SPBCP has supported the establishment of seventeen community-based conservation area projects in the region. Two species-focused regional programmes consistent with the CBD and UNCLOS are the Marine Turtle and the Marine Mammal Conservation Strategies, also executed by SPREP.

20. As required under UNCLOS and the CBD, the SAP also took into account other international conventions specifically concerned with protection of species and habitats. These include (in order of entry into force): the Whaling Convention, the World Heritage Convention, CITES, the Wetlands or Ramsar Convention and the Migratory Species or Bonn Convention. A draft Regional Wetlands Action Plan for the Pacific Islands has been developed under the auspices of SPREP that could assist in implementing relevant provisions of, e.g., the CBD, the Wetlands Convention and UNCLOS. Actions undertaken in SAP formulation were compatible with the CBD and, together with actions that will be undertaken in the full project, will contribute directly and indirectly to the conservation of marine and terrestrial biological diversity in the region.

The Framework Convention on Climate Change

21. Comprehensive and coordinated support by GEF to the Pacific Island parties for implementation of their national reporting obligations under the FCCC commenced in 1997 under the Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Programme (PICCAP), executed by SPREP. A second phase of CC:TRAIN, the GEF-funded global climate change training programme, is expected to assist at least nine Pacific Island countries.

22. Pacific Islands are particularly vulnerable to the effects that climate change may have on sea level rise. The actions proposed for SAP implementation with regard to, in particular, protection of critical habitats, will have the additional benefit of mitigating effects of sea level rise.

Regional Agreements and Conventions

23. The main regional conventions relevant to International Waters are, in order of entry into force: the Forum Fisheries Convention, the Wellington or Driftnet Convention, the Apia Convention, the Nouméa or SPREP Convention and the Niue Treaty. Not yet in force is the Waigani Convention. The Forum Fisheries, Wellington and Niue Conventions address oceanic fisheries.

24. The Nouméa Convention places the most extensive responsibilities on its parties with regard to protecting the marine environment. The Nouméa Convention includes land-based activities affecting the marine environment; thus parties also have terrestrial obligations under this Convention, as they do under UNCLOS. It is implemented largely through the SPREP Action Plan (currently 1997-2000), which is approved by the Heads of Government at the annual SPREP meeting, who also review the progress of the Action Plan.

25. The Apia Convention addresses both terrestrial and marine habitats. It is implemented through an Action Strategy adopted at a dedicated Conference held every four years. The achievements of the current Action Strategy will be reviewed at the Sixth Conference, to be held in Pohnpei in October 1997. The Action Strategy also aims to ensure consistency with the CBD and its implementing programmes, in particular the SPBCP and other relevant regional plans.

26. A number of non-binding but widely endorsed international instruments relevant to this SAP are also important and relevant. Despite their non-binding nature, these instruments are useful in developing state practice and in helping to establish a presumption in favor of such practice becoming “generally recommended,” a status which, under UNCLOS, contributes to the eventual evolution of that practice into international law.

27. At the national level, implementation of conventions has been fragmentary. This is due to several factors, including a limited awareness of the implications of the conventions and the extent of the obligations imposed. These obligations engage numerous divisions of national administrations, which need enhanced capacity to develop cross-sectoral approaches. A related issue is the general need for Pacific Island nations to develop integrated national legislation that supports sustainable development policies, and that is also consistent, enforceable and in keeping with appropriate customary principles. The requisite institutional and administrative capacity and mechanisms are largely insufficient at present.

28. Based in part on the results of the “Pacific Way” and the “Perspective”, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), SPREP and the Government of Australia co-financed a Global Environment Facility (GEF) Pacific regional training and scoping workshop in Nadi, Fiji, 1-4 August 1995. It was agreed at this workshop that a regional proposal for preparation of a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Pacific Islands for GEF funding. The SAP would represent a pioneering effort by this group of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to integrate their national and regional sustainable development priorities with shared global environmental concerns for protecting International Waters. The SAP would combine the following activity areas:

1. Integrated conservation and sustainable management of coastal resources, including fresh water resources

2. Integrated conservation and sustainable management of oceanic resources

3. Prevention of pollution through the integrated management of land- or marine-based wastes

4. Monitoring and analysis of shore and near-shore environments to determine vulnerability to environmental degradation

29. The 8th SPREP meeting in October 1995 endorsed the project to prepare the SAP, and the South Pacific Forum at its Session in September 1996 requested SPREP to coordinate development of the project. The project to prepare the SAP was funded by GEF through project development funds (PDF Block-B), and began implementation in April 1997.

A.4 Strategic Action Programme formulation

30. The preparation of the Strategic Action Programme was announced to participating countries, SPREP National Focal Points, the SPREP collaborating institutions, Pacific Island Country Missions to the United Nations (UN) and members of the then South Pacific Organizations Coordinating Committee (SPOCC) in SPREP Circular No. 523. The SPOCC was recently renamed the Council of Regional organizations for the Pacific (CROP). Participating countries were asked to establish a National Task Force (NTF) and nominate Task Force Coordinators (TFCs) in SPREP Circular No. 524.

31. A Regional Task Force (RTF) to oversee preparation of the SAP was established. It was composed of one representative from Fiji, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu, with additional members from SPC, SPF, SPREP, the three GEF Implementing Agencies (UNDP, UNEP, WB), two NGOs (IUCN, TNC) and one private sector representative (Fiji Dive Operators Association, recommended by TCSP). The ADB and ESCAP also participated. The RTF met on 5 and 6 June 1997 in Apia. It considered draft regional reviews, draft guidelines for national consultations, and draft terms of reference for the TFCs. The report of the RTF meeting was circulated. The TFCs met in Apia on 8 and 9 July 1997 to receive a briefing on GEF, the SAP preparation process and objectives and suggested methodology for national consultations. They also received the draft reviews and other materials for the consultations. The report of the TFC meeting was circulated.

32. The SAP was prepared in accordance with the results of the national consultations. The results, in the form of national reports and targeted project proposals, were endorsed by SPREP and GEF national operational focal points and were submitted to SPREP. A preliminary draft executive summary of the SAP was circulated to participating countries, SPREP National Focal Points, PIC Missions to the UN, CROP members, RTF and TFCs in SPREP Circular No. 541. The draft SAP was reviewed and approved by the RTF and the TFCs on 2 and 3 September 1997 at a joint meeting held in Apia. The report of the meeting was circulated. The SAP was reviewed and subsequently endorsed by the Heads of Government of the South Pacific Forum at its Session in Rarotonga on 15-19 September 1997.

33. The SAP builds upon the work and reports of, but not exclusively, the National Consultations, the State of the Environment (SOE) Report or National Environmental Management Strategy (NEMS) for each country and the Action Plan for Managing the Environment of the South Pacific Region 1997-2000. It also includes the Draft Regional Strategy for Development Priorities of the Forum Island Countries, the Action Strategy for Nature Conservation in the South Pacific Region 1994-1998 and the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities. The Report to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) on Activities to Implement the Barbados Programme of Action in the Pacific Region (1996) and the 1992 Report to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in “The Pacific Way” are also important reference material.

A.5. Institutional framework for sub-sector

33. The South Pacific Forum is comprised of all 16 independent and self-governing nations of the Pacific Islands region, whose Heads of Government meet annually. Its secretariat (ForSec) executes the requirements of the Heads of Government expressed at the annual meetings. The Secretary-General of ForSec provides the permanent Chair of CROP and the Division of Development and Economic Policy serves as CROP secretariat; ForSec thus provides the lead coordination role in the region.

33. ForSec’s mission is to enhance the economic and social well-being of the people of the Pacific Islands, in support of the efforts of national governments. Its responsibility is to facilitate, develop and maintain cooperation and consultation between and among its members on issues such as trade, economic development, transport, energy, telecommunications and other related matters. It seeks to support its members in pursuing their objectives through multilateral fora.

33. ForSec is assessing developments in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) process and represents its members on the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC). It maintains a direct practical role with key regional donors, including the European Union (EU).

33. The Secretariat for the Pacific Community (SPC), with 27 members, is one of the major general development agencies in the region. Under its apolitical mandate, it provides advisory, consultative and training services to governments on scientific, economic, social, environmental, health, agricultural, rural development, community health, education, demographic and cultural matters. Its broad marine experience ranges from village-level and coastal projects such as transfer of appropriate boat-building technology, subsistence and artisanal fisheries research and development, coastal fishery stock assessment and protection, all through its Coastal Fisheries Programme, to scientific research on oceanic fisheries, especially tuna and billfish, in its Oceanic Fisheries Programme. The latter prepares an annual report on the status of tuna stocks, monitors and compiles regional tuna fishery statistics, and is studying the dynamics of the Warm Pool of the Western Pacific, an LME that encompasses much of the region. The SPC works closely with the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) in this area.

33. The Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) was established pursuant to the Forum Fisheries Convention (FFC) in 1979, and serves as the FFC’s secretariat. The FFA developed from the consideration that a regional approach would be an effective way for Pacific Island countries to capitalise on opportunities being created in the mid-1970s by the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which were dramatically altering international thinking on ownership, management and use of ocean resources. FFA’s 16 members include 14 Pacific Island nations, Australia and New Zealand, but, purposely, no distant water fishing nations (DWFNs). For fisheries issues, this difference between FFA and SPC in eligibility for membership is an important distinction between the two organizations.

33. FFA’s objective is to assist members with sustainable development and management of their fisheries and related activities. FFA advises members on, e.g., maritime boundary delimitation, legal, technical and economic issues, monitoring and surveillance of foreign fishing activity, human resource and institutional strengthening, applied fisheries research, policy assessments and representation at international fisheries meetings. FFA is developing opportunities to increase member country involvement in existing foreign-based operations.

33. The South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission’s (SOPAC) overall mandate is to assist its members in assessment, exploration and development of their nearshore and offshore mineral and other marine non-living resource potential. Its work also includes baseline data for coastal engineering and development, hazard evaluation, assistance and training for local hydrography and “lands and survey”-type activities. SOPAC advises Pacific Island states on environmental effects of physical modifications to the coast. SOPAC has regional responsibility for the water and sanitation sector; it coordinates with SPC on health-related issues and SPREP on pollution issues.

33. The University of the South Pacific (USP) was created by royal charter. It is governed by the University Council comprising representatives from its twelve member countries. USP provides tertiary education and undertakes scholarly and applied research and is closely involved on educational matters with the Pacific Island governments, in most of whose countries it has a branch. In the marine sector, USP features a Marine Studies Institute and Programme and cooperative projects with other regional intergovernmental agencies such as FFA and SOPAC. Environmental and pollution monitoring and EIAs are significant activities of the Institute of Applied Science. The International Ocean Institute undertakes training for regional personnel in marine and coastal management issues.

33. The Tourism Council of the South Pacific (TCSP) is jointly owned by its 12 member countries. Its role is to work with national tourist offices, international airlines and tour operators to increase visitor arrivals in the region and to market and promote tourism. It also helps the private sector enhance the quality of their products and services through a variety of programmes on training, tourism awareness and preservation of the environment. TCSP’s other services include the production of South Pacific Travel Manuals and Guides in English, French and German and their distribution to the travel industry worldwide. The TCSP also organizes regional participation at international travel exhibitions, maintaining an Internet site (SPICE) and collection and dissemination to the region of tourism statistics, sector reviews, environmental guidelines and visitor surveys.

33. The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is the regional technical and coordinating body responsible for environmental matters in the Pacific region, with membership comprising 26 Pacific Island States, territories and metropolitan countries. Members have agreed that their mission in this organization is to: “promote cooperation in the South Pacific region and to provide assistance in order to protect and improve its environment and to ensure sustainable development for present and future generations. SPREP shall achieve these purposes through the Action Plan adopted from time to time by the SPREP meeting, setting the strategies and objectives of SPREP.” The Action Plan for 1997-2000 was adopted at the Ninth SPREP meeting in November 1996. The principal goal for the next four years is to “build national capacity in environmental and resource management through support to government agencies, communities, NGOs and the private sector.” SPREP also serves as the secretariat for the Apia and Nouméa Conventions; it will serve as the secretariat for the Waigani Convention when the latter enters into force.

A.6.Summary of Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for International Waters of the Pacific Islands

33. The SAP assists Pacific island countries improve regional capacity for management of transboundary water resources and create improved management structures to address environmental degradation and ensure the long term sustainability of ocean fisheries in the Western Pacific Warm Pool ecosystem. The SAP also leads to improved integration of environmental concerns into local, national and regional policy, and improved water quality and the conservation of key coastal and ocean ecological areas. The Programme is consistent with the GEF Operational Strategy and with Operational Programme #9, the Integrated Land and Water Multiple Focal Area that addresses Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Annex 9 is the “Strategic Action Programme for International Waters of the Pacific Islands.”

33. The SAP defines international waters to include oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed seas and estuaries as well as rivers, lakes, groundwater systems, and wetlands with transboundary drainage basins or common borders. The water-related ecosystems and critical habitats associated with these waters are integral parts of the system. International Waters extend far inland and far out to sea. This is because the global hydrological cycle links watersheds, airsheds, estuaries, and coastal and marine waters through transboundary movement of water, pollutants and living resources.

33. This definition of International Waters fits precisely the reality of the Pacific Islands. Although separated by vast distances, these islands are linked and controlled by the vast marine environment. The land to sea ratio is generally so small that Pacific islands are wholly coastal in character. The importance of the health of International Waters to the islands cannot be overstated. Work undertaken during the SAP process resulted in the identification of three priority transboundary concerns related to International Waters:

• Degradation of their quality

• Degradation of their associated critical habitats

• Unsustainable use of their living and non-living resources

33. The causes and effects of these three transboundary priority concerns result in inextricable linkages between and among them and are strongly suggestive of the need for a programmatic approach to address them effectively. International Waters in the Pacific region are subject to a number of threats giving rise to transboundary concerns. The threats were examined from the perspective of critical species and their habitats and living and non-living marine resources. Priority was given to those transboundary concerns that arise from the following imminent threats to the health of those waters. The priority concerns include:

• Pollution of marine and freshwater (including groundwater) from land-based activities

• Issues related to the long term sustainable use of marine and freshwater resources

• Physical, ecological and hydrological modification of critical habitats

• Unsustainable exploitation of living and nonliving resources, particularly, although not exclusively, the unsustainable and/or inefficient exploitation of coastal and ocean fishery resources

33. Each imminent threat affects each transboundary concern. The linkages between the imminent threats to and the transboundary concerns for International Waters require integrated measures to address the concerns effectively.

33. The root causes were examined in their legal, institutional, socio-economic and environmental context. The ultimate root cause underlying the imminent threats has been identified as deficiencies in management. The factors contributing to the management root cause can be grouped into two linked subsets: a) governance and b) understanding. The governance subset is characterized by the need for mechanisms to integrate environmental concerns, development planning, and decision-making. The understanding subset is characterized by the need to achieve island-wide ecosystem awareness through improved education and participation. This island wide awareness and participation will help make possible the development and implementation of measures to protect International Waters. Further, it is understood that in the case of Pacific ocean fisheries, agreements on foreign fishing vessels in Pacific waters are often related to bilateral political arrangements between countries, which can lead to difficulties in implementing mechanisms to integrate environmental concerns, development planning and decision making.

33. The SAP analysis revealed a set of information gaps relevant in particular to decision-makers (as opposed to researchers) who must address ultimate root causes and respond to imminent threats. Particularly important is the lack of strategic information presented in an appropriate manner to decision-makers, resource users, managers and communities to evaluate costs and benefits of, and to decide among, alternative activities. Improving information input and exchange at the regional, national, and community levels is an objective of this SAP.

33. The SAP proposes actions to address the root causes of degradation of International Waters will be taken through regionally consistent, country-driven targeted actions that integrate development and environment needs. These actions are designed to encourage comprehensive, cross-sectoral, ecosystem-based approaches to mitigate and prevent imminent threats to International Waters. The SAP provides the regional framework within which actions are identified, developed and implemented. Targeted actions will be carried out in two complementary, linked consultative contexts: Integrated Coastal and Watershed Management (ICWM) and Oceanic Fisheries Management (OFM). Through the ICWM and OFM approaches, the SAP sets out a path for the transition of Pacific islands from sectoral to integrated management of International Waters as a whole, which is essential for their protection over the long term.

33. The region receives much development assistance from a variety of donors for a wide range of projects. The SAP will be taken into account in discussions with donors to plan and coordinate regional and national development assistance for International Waters in order to address imminent threats and their root causes more effectively. The SAP will facilitate the choice and design of high priority interventions, remove duplication, and ensure that projects do not work at cross-purposes. Funding from GEF per se can only support a small proportion of such interventions, hence the importance of the SAP to organize and leverage additional assistance in order to receive maximum benefit from available funds. The SAP is designed to comply with the requirements of GEF, but also, and perhaps more importantly, to be a framework for overall national and regional planning and assistance for the management of International Waters. It should be recognized that the SAP can and should leverage the participation of other donors in the project, and that efforts to do so should be an early priority.

33. Application of ICWM and OFM approaches will facilitate further joint action between sectors nationally and between governments regionally. As experience with ICWM and OFM grows, this SAP will also evolve, reflecting the increased knowledge of and changing conditions in the environment of our islands. To ensure that the SAP remains a living, evolving and useful instrument for sustainable development, and to assess and apply lessons learned from its implementation, a Regional Task Force will review the SAP every year.

33. All sustainable development issues related to International Waters in this SAP cannot be addressed at once. Therefore four high priority areas have been identified for immediate intervention: improved waste management, better water quality, sustainable fisheries and effective marine protected areas. Targeted action within these activity areas is proposed in five categories: management, capacity building, awareness/education, research/information for decision-making, and investment. Institutional strengthening is included under management and capacity building.

The SAP provides an analytical framework within which proposals for assistance should be evaluated. The full range of activities and tasks that appear in this project document are intended to address the full range of these issues.

Goal of SAP: Integrated sustainable development and management of International Waters

Priority Concerns: Degradation of water quality

Degradation of associated critical habitats

Unsustainable use of resources

Imminent Threats: Pollution from land-based activities

Modification of critical habitats

Unsustainable exploitation of resources

Ultimate Root Causes: Management deficiencies

- governance

- understanding

Solutions: Integrated Coastal and Watershed Management

Oceanic Fisheries Management

ICWM Activity Areas: - improved waste management

- better water quality

- sustainable fisheries

- effective marine protected areas

OFM Activity Areas: - sustainable ocean fisheries

- improved national and regional management capability

- stock and by-catch monitoring and research

- enhanced national and regional management links

Targeted actions: - management/institutional strengthening

- capacity-building/institutional strengthening

- awareness/education

- research/information for decision-making

- investment

B. Project Justification

B.1. Problem to be addressed: the present situation

Integrated Coastal and Watershed Management - ICWM

33. A review of critical species and habitats identified several forms of land-based sources of pollution. The most serious threat is nutrients derived from sewage, soil erosion and agricultural fertilizers. Nutrient overloads particularly affect coral reef ecosystems, weakening the reef carbonate skeleton and smothering the reef with algae. The other two most serious land-based pollution threats are solid waste disposal and sedimentation. Sedimentation is derived from soil erosion, dredging, coastal development and upstream, inland activities. The second set of threats derives from physical alterations of the seabed or coastline, in particular through destruction of fringing reefs, beaches, wetlands and mangroves for coastal development and by sand extraction. The final set of threats derives from over-exploitation. Coastal food fisheries, especially near urban areas, are under pressure from over-fishing, as are commercially valuable vertebrate and invertebrate export species.

33. The threats to living marine resources are related to over-exploitation and environmental degradation. Over-exploitation, principally of inshore fisheries, is exacerbated by destructive fishing methods, which include explosives and various types of toxic compounds such as traditional vegetable poisons, household bleach, cyanide and herbicides, and by inappropriate government incentives for coastal fisheries. Environmental degradation in the islands is manifested in a number of ways, whose effects often exacerbate each other. In many cases the degradation is chronic, with gradual rather than sudden changes in the resources, making the relationship between cause and effect less obvious, and reducing the likelihood of timely and appropriate action being taken. Fisheries management efforts alone, whether carried out with regard to specific resources or to the ecosystem as a whole, may be insufficient to protect coastal fisheries in the absence of actions to mitigate the deleterious effects of these threats.

33. An emerging threat to critical species and habitats as well as living marine resources is the introduction of exotic marine organisms. Vectors in the Pacific include intentional introductions for aquaculture and accidental introductions via shipping (e.g., hull fouling and ballast water).

33. Finally, the non-living resource that the Pacific Islands share and that is most seriously threatened is the quality of both fresh and marine water. Groundwater is at particular risk because its loss or degradation is often irreversible. The principal threat to groundwater is from land-based sources of pollution. These derive in particular from sewage (poor sanitation), sediments (soil erosion, agriculture, and forestry), urban runoff, agro-chemicals and solid waste. Beaches, reef flat sand and coastal aggregates are another major non-living resource that is threatened by over-exploitation; extraction rates far exceed natural replenishment rates.

33. The SAP will contribute significantly to the reduction of stress to the international waters environment in the region and directly addresses the development problems outlined above. The project also supports efforts of the 14 countries and several regional organizations to make changes in sectoral policies, target critical investments, and develop necessary programmes consistent with the conclusions of the SAP. The long-term commitment of the PICs is demonstrated by their commitment to, among other things, the goals and objectives of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the Pacific Way, and membership in regional organizations such as the Secretariat for the Pacific Community (SPC), the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), and the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).

33. The support of GEF will serve a catalytic role in the project and the continuing participation of existing donors will contribute to this multi-country, multi-regional organization, and multi-stakeholder effort. Linkages with the UNDP/GEF initiatives IW:LEARN and TRAIN:SEA:COAST will provide for sharing of project results and replication of successful practices in other regions of the world and specifically among other SIDS. Finally the project will utilize and support the comprehensive UNDP funded Small Islands Developing States Network (SIDSnet), which has established linkages in 42 island countries between organizations (both governments and NGOs) and individuals sharing interests in sustainable development.

33. There are a number of UNDP projects under implementation nationally that the GEF project will coordinate with. For example, the Improved Opportunities for Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Kiribati that aims to support sustainable human development in one outer island, Onetoa, by helping increase the productivity of the subsistence sector. It also aims to promote the responsible use of natural resources, strengthen community organization, and improve health conditions through better waste and water management. This project has already demonstrated well that even with a modest budget, a well-planned project can have a useful impact on rural livelihoods. In the Marshall Islands, there is also the project to Establish a Coastal Management Program for Majuro Atoll. This project aims to develop a coastal zone management plan for Majuro Atoll, pursuant to the Coast Conservation Act 1988 and the National Environment Management Strategy of 1993. The plan incorporates past inventories of coastal resources and their uses, current resource use needs, social systems, and existing economic and other regulatory mechanisms. A coastal management office has been established which works closely with national planning and local environmental permit procedures and serves as a central facility for related projects at national, regional and international levels. Public education is a focus of project activities. The project “Support to Office of Planning and Statistics Project Management Unit and Provision of Hydro-geological Services” is being executed in the Federated States of Micronesia. It provides assistance to the National and State Office of Planning and Statistics to improve their capacity to design, operate and maintain a reliable and safe water supply system, in order to implement FSM’s first major ADB loan.

Oceanic Fisheries Management - OFM

33. Oceanic fisheries presently contribute little to local food supplies. Based on an analysis undertaken during the preparation of the SAP, only one per cent of the one million tons of yearly industrial caught tuna enters to local economy, but the cash value of the Pacific region tuna fishery is approximately US$1.7 billion annually and growing. While 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the tuna catch is in the EEZs of the PICs, they realize only four per cent of the dollar value of the total catch. Four fishing methods are generally employed in the tuna fishery, the purse-seine, longline, pole and line, and troll. Although the purse-seine fishery takes about 84 per cent of the total catch, it accounts for only about 51 per cent of the total value. By contrast the longline fishery, with only 10 per cent of the catch, accounts for 41 per cent of the revenue.

33. The future of fisheries contribution to the social and economic fabric of the region is not at present an optimistic one. The population of the Pacific islands will increase from 6,008,000 to 8,871,000 between now and the year 2010, a 48 per cent increase. If present levels of per capita fish consumption are maintained this will result in a demand for fish of 166,776 tons in the year 2010, or a 49 per cent increase over the present level of consumption. If the current lack of effective government management regimes continue to be the case, if destructive fishing practices continue, and if coastal degradation is not controlled and the current level of loss reversed, the actual yields from the coastal fishery are likely to decrease between now and the year 2010. The most likely responses to decreased yields of available fish and rapidly increasing population will be greater consumption of non-coastal fish resources (tuna and associated by-catch), greater reliance on costly imports, and an overall decline in per capita fish consumption.

33. PICs must act to avoid decreased diet quality, increased food costs, decreased revenues from the ocean fishery, and deteriorating food security. To do this effective, integrated coastal fisheries management¹ must be dramatically emphasized, overall integrated coastal management must receive high priority, and ways found to increase the extent to which the region’s tuna and associated by-catch can find their way into local economies. If these measures are undertaken on a priority basis, there is still time for the PICs to achieve the long-term sustainability of both their coastal and ocean resources.

B.2 Rationale for UNDP and GEF Support

33. This project should not be seen as a traditional capacity-building project. Rather, it aims to build upon the experience gained over the past decades on efforts to strengthen national and local capacities for integrated coastal watershed management and oceanic fisheries. The Strategic Action Programme represents the needs of the region to address coastal, watershed and fisheries management in the context of lessons learned over the past decades. This project aims to implement the SAP within the framework of drawing on past lessons learned. It is the first project in the Pacific region which will provide a single implementation framework and set of objectives for the different regional mechanisms and organizations engaged in the management of oceanic and coastal resources. It will actively engage governments in this single coordinated/integrated approach rather than through their separate and often sector-based regional governing councils. The core theme for UNDP’s 6^th cycle of Pacific sub-regional programmes is Job Creation and Sustainable Livelihoods. To address the constraints on job creation and sustainable livelihoods in the Pacific region, four areas were identified: Private Sector Development; Governance; Environment and Natural Resources Management; and Human Resource Development. At the Regional Meeting of Pacific Aid Coordinators on 25 October 1996, the Governments of the region endorsed UNDP’s proposal to focus its 6^th cycle funding on these four areas. The overall goal of the Environment and Natural Resources Management component was decided “to increase the capacity of Pacific island countries to utilize their natural resources in a sustainable manner, in other words, to maximize the economic and social returns from the natural resources to the current and future generations.”

33. Within this context, UNDP has been developing the Integrated Community Approach for Resource and Environment (ICARE) programme, which has a budget of US$ 877,250. The ICARE programme aims to reduce the pressure to the Pacific coastal environment by assisting these island countries to increase their capacity to generate increased production of food and cash income through ecologically sound alternative livelihood options. The primary target group of the programme is the communities of PICs. In particular, the programme will make information available on alternative livelihood options based on sustainable use of natural resources available to communities (e.g., non-timber forest products, low-technology food preservation/processing methods, and aquaculture). The programme will also facilitate and coordinate technical advisory services and provide marketing support for alternative livelihood options, and support small-scale community project implementation, which will enhance local capacity for sustainable natural resource-based operations. This approach is fully consistent and complementary with this UNDP/GEF South Pacific SAP Implementation project. In particular, this UNDP/GEF project will undertake a sub-project in each of the participating countries, demonstrating methodologies and best practices for conserving and sustainably managing a) freshwater resources, b) coastal fisheries, c) effective Marine Protected Areas, and d) waste reduction initiatives through active community participation. Please see paragraphs 86 – 100 below.

33. The GEF Operational Programme states: “With their special conditions and needs, SIDS require more integrated approaches to improved land and water management in order to address threats to their water resources. In particular, projects in this component stress integrated freshwater basin - coastal area management as key elements to ensure a sustainable future for these island states. As noted in the GEF Operational Strategy, activities are typically targeted to six major issues SIDS have in common (coastal area management and biodiversity, sustainable management of regional fish stocks, tourism development, protection of water supplies, land and marine-based sources of pollution, and vulnerability to climate change).

33. “Regional groups of SIDS often share access to marine resources and experience common water-related environmental problems (for example, saltwater intrusion into groundwater supplies as a result of rising oceans or stocks of fish being depleted by foreign fishing fleets) that can be addressed through the GEF in the context of altering sectoral activities on each island state to meet sustainable development goals. SIDS share common environmental problems and solutions to those problems that reflect the partnership between their representative regional organizations and the capacity and institutional building needed on each island state to more comprehensively address these problems. The transboundary issues then involve international cooperation among sovereign island states as well as transborder issues among the many islands of individual states as they utilize measures to protect their water resources.

33. “The GEF helps facilitate the analysis of environmental problems and the setting of specific priorities for modifications of sectoral policies and activities that might be needed on particular islands. The GEF also helps strengthen regional approaches to joint management and helps leverage needed investments. Processes similar to SAP formulation may be appropriate for regional groupings of SIDS. Close linkages to the biodiversity focal area and the climate change area are evident.”

33. The economic, social, and environmental well-being of all of the participating PICs have historically depended upon the vitality of the vast and productive waters of the Pacific Ocean. The cooperatively prepared and endorsed PDF-B submission and the subsequent adoption of the SAP provide a sound technical basis for and country commitment to the objectives of the GEF. This project is designed to be consistent with this GEF guidance.

33. During activities related to the PDF-B and the SAP, the participating countries have consistently worked with the integrated approaches suggested in the OP of the GEF, and have targeted each of the six major issues into the objectives and activities of this SAP implementation activity. Furthermore, the SAP recommends solutions to the identified priority concerns, imminent threats, and ultimate root causes as being integrated coastal and watershed management and ocean fisheries management. This project also has a high potential for successful replication both within and outside of the region, in addition to its reliance on criteria driven demonstration projects in Integrated Coastal and Watershed Management (ICWM) activities and strengthening regional management/institutional capability for both the ICWM and Oceanic Fisheries Management components.

B.3. Expected end of project situation

33. At the end of the project, a series of pilot projects in the area of integrated coastal and watershed management will have demonstrated best practices and appropriate methodologies for sustainable management of freshwater resources, management of Marine Protected Areas, and sustainable management of coastal zone fisheries. Sustainability and replicability will be an important feature of these pilot projects, and they will provide an operational framework for targeted proposals prepared as part of the SAP process. The project will also ensure the sustainable harvesting of the oceanic fish stocks. The project will build capacity of the participating countries to develop and implement regional fisheries management programmes and agreements (this includes legal issues). At the end of the project, its sustainability will be ensured by strengthening existing national and regional coordinating mechanisms, which are inter-ministerial in nature. The project will have assessed options for creating financial and institutional sustainability, undertaken consultations and held a donor conference to secure necessary further investments.

B.4. Target beneficiaries

33. Implementation of the SAP is expected to involve and build upon the complementary skills and experience available from organizations and groups active in the region. The region wide nature of the needed interventions, coupled with the significant control that local communities exercise with regard to natural resource issues, makes especially important the substantial, planned community assessment, involvement, education and stakeholder participation in the project. The substantial attention to community level involvement will accrue to the benefit of local communities across the region and help ensure successful replicability of demonstration activities.

33. It is important to note that funding from GEF per se can only support a small proportion of the needed interventions. Hence GEF funding for SAP implementation will be used to leverage additional assistance in order to receive maximum benefit from other available funds. SAP implementation is also designed to provide a focus for improved coordination and collaboration between and among regional organizations through the Council of Regional Organizations for the Pacific (CROP).

33. From a regional perspective, the SAP is designed to encourage proposals with diverse applications that achieve global benefits while maintaining the fundamental unity of approach and discipline established by the SAP. The SAP intends to enable development of projects reflecting the different national styles and circumstances of each participating country, and it is designed to be sufficiently flexible to accommodate these differences. This variety will enable rapid regional learning, provide examples of approaches tailored to disparate situations and assist national adaptations as countries analyze and share the results of their work.

33. This proposal has the long-term commitment of the 14 participating countries and all of the relevant regional organizations. The governments of the 14 countries, and those of a number of other PICs who do not qualify for GEF assistance, have demonstrated strong commitment to strengthening regional cooperation in the Pacific region. Country participation in the SAP formulation phase was exemplary and enthusiastic, and resulted in a consensus document that will serve the project well.

B.5. Project Strategy

33. The implementation of the SAP will be undertaken through targeted actions identified by countries in the SAP in two complementary, linked consultative contexts: integrated coastal and watershed management (ICWM) and oceanic fisheries management (OFM). Through the linked ICWM and OFM approaches, the SAP sets out a path for the transition from sectoral to integrated management of international waters as a whole, which is essential for their protection and for the sustainable future of the PICs over the long-term.

33. Management in these two contexts will necessarily include three other pressing concerns in sustainable development planning, namely: i) biodiversity; ii) vulnerability to climate change and; iii) land degradation. These are GEF focal and cross-cutting areas, and the remaining three of the seven major issues identified in the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS as common to most island developing states. The seventh issue, tourism, can only be effectively addressed in the type of national sustainable development framework that this project will begin to create for PICs.

B.6. Institutional arrangements

33. The implementation of this project is designed to improve coordination and collaboration among regional organizations throughout the South Pacific, in particular the Council of Regional Organizations for the Pacific (CROP), formerly the South Pacific Organizations Coordinating Committee, the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Secretariat for the Pacific Community (SPC). Apart from the government coordinating authorities for each of the participating countries, SPREP is considered the executing agent for this project, and SPREP will be the sole agent responsible for the planning and overall management of project activities. A number of the activities will, however, be directly linked to and integrated with those of FFA and SPC, and these two organizations will be sub-contracted by SPREP to implement project activities within their areas of competence. SPREP will be fully responsible for reporting, accounting, monitoring and evaluation of the project together with UNDP, in full accordance with UNDP’s procedures for National Execution (NEX), and the revised UNDP guidelines for Principal Project Resident Representatives (PPRRs) responsibilities and authority during the implementation of regional and sub-regional programmes. SPREP and UNDP will also be responsible for the supervision of the management and audit of the allocation of UNDP/GEF resources. SPREP will be accountable to the participating Governments and to UNDP for the production of outputs, for the achievement of project objectives and for the use of UNDP/GEF resources.

33. SPREP was selected as the executing agency during the preparatory phase due to its comparative advantage with GEF projects and their mandate for the delivery of environmental benefits under the Agreement Establishing SPREP (1995), which includes the coordination of environmental activities of this kind. SPREP also has significant comparative advantage with community-level development work as well as national action to address common problems in the region. Please see Annex 5 for further background information on SPREP.

C. Development Objective

33. To achieve global benefits by developing and implementing measures to conserve, sustainably manage and restore coastal and oceanic resources in the Pacific Region.

D. Immediate Objectives, Outputs and Activities

33. There are four immediate objectives essential for the implementation of the SAP:

Objective 1: To enhance transboundary management mechanisms.

Objective 2: To enable the conservation and sustainable use of coastal and watershed resources.

Objective 3: To enable the conservation and sustainable yield of ocean living resources.

Objective 4: To maximize regional benefits from lessons learned through community-based participation and to catalyze donor participation

Objective 1: To enhance transboundary management mechanisms

33. The first immediate objective of this project is to achieve an appropriate coordinated and collaborative regional institutional framework to implement the SAP. This component of the project will strengthen the linkages between and among the various organizations in the region to address common and transboundary issues as they pertain to the GEF International Waters Operational Programme. The Regional Task Force (RTF) is a key mechanism, established during the project preparatory phase, and will be reconstituted and strengthened as a mechanism to inform and guide the process of SAP implementation and monitoring. The membership of the RTF will be comprised of representatives from CROP, UNDP and individual experts to be a high-level scientific and technical committee. The RTF will act as a technical, managerial and advisory group (TMAG) to the project, and will be closely linked to the CROP Marine Sector Working Group, as this is seen to increase the regional political ownership and coordination of the project.

33. Provision is made for the recruitment and hiring of the necessary expertise to assure the requisite level of resource economics, community assessment and participation needs. This is important as there is as a need to determine the economic viability of demonstrations and effectively coordinate and facilitate activities among 14 countries, three different lineal systems, different island types, languages and cultures. Ideally, recruitment would be from within the region, but it is recognized that, in the interest of the achieving the project objectives, it may be necessary to recruit internationally. Community based participation, particularly important to this project since governments in the region have limited capacity to police and enforce top down environmental rules and regulations and given a strong history of local control or customary tenure in relation to resource use and practices. The success of this project will rely on a level of local participation and consultation far beyond any implemented to date.

Output 1. Institutional framework for the implementation of the SAP, comprised of networked organizations, supported by regional and national advisory committees (task forces) and supported by a project coordination unit.

Activity 1.1 Recruit the Project Manager. This will require development of selection criteria and selection and placement of the successful candidate within four months of final project approval. Consultation with regional organizations and countries will facilitate the selection of the Project Manager, and SPREP and UNDP (including UNDP/GEF) will decide upon the final selection.

Activity 1.2 Recruit the Community Assessment and Participation Specialist. This would require a similar process to that employed for the recruitment and hiring of the Project Manager.

Activity 1.3 Recruit the Resource Economist. This would require a similar process to that employed for the recruitment and hiring of the Project Manager.

Activity 1.4 Establish the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) to coordinate, facilitate, and communicate to participating countries, regional organizations and others, the results of on-going priority activities identified in the following activities. SPREP will provide the necessary and appropriate office space for the PCU, as well as the necessary secretarial and administrative support to accommodate the work of the PCU. The PCU, which will be established as a distinct unit within SPREP, closely related to other relevant units in the organization, will dedicate its work only to the implementation of the SAP. The core staff of the PCU will consist of the Project Manager, the Community Assessment and Participation Specialist, the Resource Economist, a Project Assistant and an Office Assistant. It is, however, acknowledged that there may be a need for additional secretarial and administrative support during the implementation of the project, and assistance from other units/staff within SPREP. Short-term consultants employed under the project will also participate in supporting the work of the PCU, if appropriate and as necessary.

Activity 1.5 Re-constitute strengthened Regional and National Task Forces. These will undergo a strong level of consultation among the participating countries and all relevant regional organizations. The membership of the RTF will reflect the high-level scientific and technical inputs required. It will also reflect a membership that will support the priority activities of the project, participating regional organizations, stakeholders and overall project needs. The membership of the NTFs will be re-established along the same guidelines, and functioning within two months of establishment of the PCU. The RTF will be convened at least once a year and the NTFs at least twice a year. This frequency will be finalized at the onset of project implementation by the RTF.

Activity 1.6 Plan and convene a Communications Strategy Workshop to develop a communications strategy, including education and awareness, and identify the level of communications activities and hardware and software, newsletters, e-mail and internet services necessary to successful project implementation. This activity, under the direction of the Community Assessment and Participation Specialist, will require identification of key regional, country and other communications specialists in the region, and the conceptualization, planning, and implementation of the workshop and development of the communications plan within six months of establishment of the PCU. This activity will be complementary to activity 4.2.

Activity 1.7 Reconvene a communications workshop annually to review and improve implementation of the communications strategy.

Activity 1.8 Develop a detailed work plan for the region-wide implementation of the SAP. This activity, under the direction of the Project Manager, will be an immediate priority and will be based on the work plan in Section F, completed by the Project Manager and reviewed by the RTF within 6 months of establishment of the PCU.

Activity 1.9 Convene the RTF to assist in the formulation of the work plan, communications strategy, community assessment and participation plan. The RTF should also help form the terms of reference for of the demonstration projects and other major activities identified in this proposal.

Objective 2: To enable the conservation and sustainable use of coastal and watershed resources

33. This is the integrated coastal and watershed management (ICWM) component. The SAP identified integrated coast and watershed management as one of the two solutions to identified priority concerns, imminent threats, and ultimate root causes of the degradation of international waters in the region. Activities under this objective will focus on demonstrating methodologies and best practices for conserving and sustainably managing a) freshwater resources, b) coastal fisheries, c) effective Marine Protected Areas, and d) waste reduction initiatives. Waste management activities undertaken will be those that address problems that have a demonstrable, negative effect on coastal living resources. Training will be provided and linked to the demonstration projects as attachments to SPC and FFA and fellowships, as well as through active participation in workshops and the demonstration projects themselves. The cross-sectoral nature of the demonstration projects will be particularly stressed.

33. A comprehensive programme to address all of the priority concerns of the 14 participating countries is not realistic given the range of issues identified as priority concerns in the SAP and the resources likely available. The targeted proposals provided to the SAP process by the participating countries, provide, in part, the basis for the selection of demonstration projects based on selection criteria and organizational constructs that will maximize opportunity for replication across the region. However, available resources will necessitate prioritization of the proposals and selection of specific initiatives for the GEF project. Selection criteria would include:

1. Maximum replication potential

2. Adequate community participation and support

3. Consistency with the SAP

4. Representation among the three island types (high islands, low islands and atolls), among the three lineal systems in the region (matrilineal, patrilineal, and mixed), and the three ethnic separations (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia)

5. Previously stated country interest (as included in SAP related country project submissions)

6. Further analysis of the most appropriate sites for specific demonstration activities

33. The process for selecting demonstration project sites will be an early priority of the Project Manager. The process of selection must be characterized by transparency. The selection of priority issues for the demonstration projects have been driven by the results of the SAP and its supporting documents, and were chosen consistent with the GEF Operational Strategy, Operational Programme #9, and the Indicative Activities for SIDS that are included in the GEF Operational Strategy. These criteria will also take into account the policy and institutional framework for the management of coastal and watershed resources. In order for each project to be successful and sustainable, each demonstration project will review and promote, and to the extent possible, modify the policy, legal and institutional arrangements necessary for the ongoing support of appropriate methodologies and best practices. In order for each project to be successful and sustainable, each demonstration project much review and modify the policy, legal and institutional changes that will support appropriate methodologies and best practices.

33. A special emphasis to be placed on community participation during the life of the project. This is due to the wide range of traditional authority systems that exist, the communal ownership and traditional systems of management that account for 80% of the land (often including the adjacent marine area) as well as the strong role of individual communities in resource decision-making. Community participation, including the private sector, will be an integral component of each demonstration project. As a means to assure direct country participation and effective communication during and after the demonstration activity, each demonstration project will have a Demonstration Project Advisory Committee (DPAC) comprised of country representatives, personnel from regional organizations, and the PCU.

33. The Project Manager will be responsible for convening the DPAC on an as-needed basis and, to conserve resources, will utilize to the maximum extent possible electronic communications as a means of coordination with the DPAC. Also to the extent possible, provision will be made for cross membership among DPAC as a means of assisting the learning process during activity implementation. The DPAC will be given opportunity to assist in the development of the synthesis of their respective demonstration projects, derive lessons learned and prepare recommendations for how best to replicate activity results across the region.

Output 2.A Four demonstration projects for protecting freshwater resources

Activity 2.1 Develop criteria for the selection of freshwater demonstration projects by the RTF and NTF.

Activity 2.2 Develop and carry out four demonstration projects for the selected countries that satisfy the criteria per activity 2.1 above. These will focus on a) assessing watershed capacity and quality, b) projecting the availability of potable water at acceptable pumping rates, c) strategies for preventing and/or supplementing shortfalls, and d) measures for demand-side management/conservation of freshwater resources.

Rationale

33. The SAP gives priority to the need to address surface and groundwater issues. It cites excessive exploitation of surface and groundwater for urban use and tourism development, reallocation of surface water to domestic and agricultural uses, the draw-down of limited groundwater resources, and saltwater intrusion into groundwater aquifers as issues requiring immediate attention. The need to address surface and groundwater issues also receives frequent mention in country project submissions. Climate variability and change and related sea level rise is increasing the uncertainty of the availability of potable freshwater in islands. This was reflected in Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 and the Barbados Programme of Action.

33. Variability in rainfall, affecting both surface runoff and groundwater recharge, as well as increased salinization of the fragile groundwater lens of atoll States, are posing unprecedented problems for water resource managers. This activity would need to be conducted within a framework that addresses the overall quality of freshwater resources and related watershed management issues and ultimately be useful to all Pacific Island States as they work to address this important sectoral issue. Where relevant, integrated coastal management tools and techniques will be developed and applied. Work on this issue will require collaboration between the SPREP and SOPAC.

Output 2.B Three demonstration projects for Marine Protected Areas

Activity 2.3 Develop criteria (including GEF criteria for the OP 2) for the selection of three sites to be established within a regional system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Each will foster a participatory, community-based approach to these protected area initiatives.

Activity 2.4 Develop three demonstration projects for the conservation of globally significant biodiversity within the selected MPAs and that satisfy the criteria per activity 2.3 above. Each demonstration project will include activities for capacity building, management, awareness/education/ involvement, institutional strengthening, and, ultimately, investment.

Activity 2.5 Undertake consultations to create partnerships among SPREP, SPC Fisheries, governments and local communities in the work of conceptualizing, creating, and ultimately managing MPAs.

Activity 2.6 Establish the legal framework for the selected MPAs.

Rationale

33. Marine Protected Areas can serve to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the natural and cultural heritage of the Pacific. In particular, MPAs have the potential to significantly contribute to conservation of endangered species and also to effective fisheries management through MPAs in key species nursery areas or as stock refugia areas. Recent experience clearly supports using a community-based approach to protected area initiatives that recognizes and actively involves local resource users and owners.

33. The SAP identified the creation of effective marine protected areas as a high priority area requiring immediate intervention, and marine protected area attention is explicitly called for in many of the country project submissions. There are currently forty-one Marine Protected Areas in PICs. These are generally small with limited resources and information that results in ineffective management. Many MPAs exist on paper only and often lack local support largely due to an absence of local community involvement in the identification, establishment and management of these areas.

Output 2.C Three demonstration projects for the long-term sustainability of coastal fisheries

Activity 2.7 Develop criteria for the selection of three demonstration projects with the objective to further identify regional elements necessary to the long-term sustainability of coastal fisheries.

Activity 2.8 Develop three projects that demonstrate appropriate methodologies and best practices per the criteria per activity 2.7 above. Ensure the active participation of all stakeholders in the development of methodologies, especially local communities and women.

Rationale

33. The SAP identified sustainable fisheries as one of the high priority activity areas requiring immediate intervention. The need to focus on the development of sustainable coastal fisheries is also reflected in many of the country project submissions prepared during the SAP. As Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) is an inseparable feature of the coastal fishery in the Pacific, and as it represents the most “local” form of fishery management practiced in the PICs, it provides the focus for this activity. Given traditional fisheries often involve specialization of activities by gender, measures developed within this activity to sustain the most positive elements of subsistence fishing and CMT will likely require substantial local involvement of women.

33. Many PICs are characterized by a patchwork of CMTs along the coast, each having a different set of rules controlling access to or use of the resource. This makes the development of larger-scale fisheries and coherent national systems of fishery management very difficult to achieve. In fact such a system has many parallels with an international fishery involving many nations. The main difference is that in general PICs do not possess the equivalent of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) at the local level. Indeed, at the national level, many PICs do not even acknowledge the existence of CMT, let alone provide a framework for its expanded operation. It seems clear that any successful plan to secure a sustainable future for PIC coastal fisheries will have to take account of and incorporate the most favorable aspects of CMT.

33. This activity would complement and add to work already begun by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), through a project grant from the EU, integrated coastal fisheries demonstration projects in Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, Tokelau, Fiji and Tonga. This activity is clearly consistent with the SIDS component of GEF Operational Programme # 9 which states that threats to water resources in SIDS can be addressed by, among other things, measures to achieve the sustainable management of regional fish stocks. Community involvement will be emphasized throughout the life of the demonstration projects. There will be particular attention paid to the role of gender in coastal fisheries activity as well as the role of MPAs in coastal fisheries, the use of appropriate integrated coastal management approaches and the introduction of exotic marine organisms. Partnerships will be stressed and there will be a strong emphasis on the need to incorporate the many elements of sustainability inherent in many environmentally sound and effective traditional fishing methods which instances and locations are highly ritualized and gender specific. This component will require collaboration between SPREP and the SPC. One explicit objective of this collaboration will be to avoid duplication of effort.

Output 2.D Three community-centred demonstration projects on waste reduction

Activity 2.9 Develop criteria for the selection three community centered demonstration projects with the objective of creating models of low cost/no cost community-based waste reduction activities

Activity 2.10 Undertake a feasibility study to determine the costs, benefits and desirability of regional recycling and disposal options.

Activity 2.11 Develop three demonstration projects that satisfy the criteria per activity 2.9 above and that take into the results of the feasibility study of activity 2.10.

Rationale

33. The SAP identified waste management as one of the four priority issues requiring immediate action. PICs are not in a position to invest the very substantial amounts of money that would be required to construct costly municipal waste treatment facilities or commit to other high cost waste reduction strategies. This inability to commit the necessary resources to solve the issue of waste, with its direct effects on the coastal and marine ecosystem of the region, is compounded by waste disposal problems unique to SIDS. As an example, it is difficult to contract with shipping companies to transport hazardous and toxic wastes from SIDS due to the risks these companies incur in shipment. When it is possible to ship wastes for storage in mainland locations the cost is often prohibitive. This component, within the context of the Basel and Waigani Conventions, will include a feasibility study into a regional approach, or sub-regional centers, for recycling hazardous or toxic materials that would not be feasible for individual nations. A regional or sub-regional approach could take advantage of economies of scale to make the venture profitable while at the same time reducing on-going degradation of coastal waters.

33. Demonstration projects should show that there are viable, low cost/no cost alternatives that can be implemented at the community level that will reduce the current loadings of solid and liquid waste that are having a detrimental effect on receiving waters. As isolated island communities are bought into the market-based economy, non-traditional products and their associated wastes including pesticides, petroleum-based products, processed food products, and other industrial/manufactured products proliferate and accumulate at the household and community level.

33. Community-based activities will particularly emphasize integration of traditional practices, cultural values, and public participation for pollution prevention, waste reduction, and improved sanitation. Since many of the participating countries will find it difficult if not impossible to pay for costly, after the fact pollution problems, every effort should be made to initiate pollution prevention awareness and activities. This activity would also include, where appropriate, the application of integrated coastal and watershed management approaches to both problem identification and the development of solutions. The subject of demonstration would include, among other things, wastewater re-use strategies in a country that has wastewater and sewage sludge treatment, waste reduction in the tourism sector and the selection of pilot sites for demonstration projects for composting programmes. Links between waste management demonstrations, MPAs and coastal fisheries activities will be actively promoted.

Objective 3: To enable the conservation and sustainable yield of ocean living resources

33. This is the ocean fisheries management (OFM) component. Measures to achieve the long-term sustainable development of ocean fisheries in the region are a SAP priority. Regional level options to increase domestic benefits from the tuna fishery and associated by-catch are to be explored in an effort to reduce fishing pressure on increasingly degraded and over-exploited near-shore resources. The result would be to protect and enhance globally significant biological resources and increase food security for the region.

33. Work on the oceanic living resources of the Pacific Region takes place within three spheres: the national, the regional and the broader international sphere. Within their respective EEZs, the participating countries already undertake a number of actions of national benefit, constituting an investment in the sustainable development baseline. Within the full range of certain ocean stocks, however, there is a need for consultation at the regional and broader international levels that will result in direct regional and global benefits. It is the based on this increment that GEF assistance is aimed at increasing the capacity of participating countries to act on a regional basis.

33. Various studies have found gaps in international efforts to conserve the tuna fishery and other large ocean fisheries of the Pacific Ocean. The gaps can be divided into two classes: geographical and functional. Geographical gaps result from incomplete geographical coverage by existing fisheries management regimes. Functional gaps result from the lack of authority or capability in such a regime to carry out some key element of conservation such as enforcement or data collection and analysis and targeted research. These are needed to fill key data and information gaps that exist in regard to by-catch of non-target species including several endangered species of sea turtles. At present the management of the international tuna fishery, and related by-catch is seen to be deficient in both of these areas.

33. The PICs, through their participation in the Multilateral High-Level Conference on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific, are committed to an on-going process of enhancing regionally based management arrangements. They have established a target date of June 2000 for the completion of enhanced consultative arrangements. The strengthening of regionally based management programmes are seen as essential if PICs are to take an effective, regional approach. This includes the on-going discussions to the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provision for the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. This is commonly referred to as the Implementing Agreement (IA).

33. The countries are committed to taking a precautionary approach to the management of their shared ocean fishery. Under a precautionary approach the absence of scientific certainty may not be used as a reason for failing to take conservation and management measures. Work related to the GEF funded OFM project component would be predicated on the precautionary approach. The participating countries conducted a workshop in May of 1998 to define how to apply the principles of a precautionary approach to the ocean fisheries of the region. The results of this workshop should assist in the effective application of a precautionary approach in work undertaken pursuant to Objective 3 of the project.

33. FFA has an extensive fisheries database (the Corporate Data Resource or CDR), which is one of the best of its type in the world. While including some catch data, the CDR is primarily concerned with handling data to support the control of illegal fishing and other threats to resource sustainability. The CDR, which includes VMS data will succeed, depends on the delivery of accurate and relevant information to member countries. Without a data verification (quality assurance) function, CDR and FFA VMS will quickly lose their value to the work of FFA in supporting fisheries management purposes. This cannot be achieved at FFA with existing resources and GEF funding for his component would make a substantial and meaningful contribution to this activity.

33. It is fair to note that until the FFA VMS came into operations, the FFA did not have mission-critical applications in place. This has changed because of the support provided by VMS to enable member countries to make urgent and costly decisions on the use of surveillance assets. A patrol boat or surveillance aircraft launched into operation as a result of VMS reports that are based on outdated or incorrect license information will undermine the credibility of the regional surveillance umbrella, and the be very costly. Without adequate and focused attention data verification, the FFA cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information dispatched to member countries using the FFA VMS and other CDR data.

33. While SPREP will be the Executing Agency for the project as a whole, the OFM component will, in addition to GEF finance, rely heavily on the leadership of, and additional financing and other resources from, FFA and SPC. Accordingly, an early task of the project will be to establish the necessary lines of communication to ensure timely and efficient use of resources earmarked for the OFM component. It will also be necessary to create the necessary managerial links to bring about the necessary level of integration between the ICWM and OFM components of the project. This component will be carried out over the first three years of the project.

Output 3 Regional-level methodologies and best practices for the conservation and sustainable yields of ocean fisheries.

Activity 3.1 Provide training to the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) to develop and implement project-related management arrangements on behalf of member countries. A regional fisheries management workshop will be convened.

Activity 3.2 Provide training to the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) to provide additional, project-related scientific advice and to accommodate additional reporting responsibility deriving from its involvement in project activities.

Activity 3.3 Provide initial support to FFA member countries to develop additional and appropriate national ocean fishery management regimes. Their commitment will be secured with the aim to maximize regional benefit from the regional tuna fishery and its associated by-catch. This will include the convening of in-country fisheries management workshops.

Activity 3.4 Provide support for increased fishery monitoring, including monitoring of non-target species through appropriate mechanisms, such as observers and sampling programmes at the national and regional levels. This will include the convening of in-country fisheries management workshops.

Activity 3.5 Strengthen, through the provision of additional training, the fisheries management capabilities of the National Fisheries Administrations and similar organizations in participating countries. This will include the convening of in-country fisheries management workshops.

Activity 3.6 Support the coordination and continued development of regional surveillance and enforcement. GEF support will top up the FFA’s Monitoring Control and Surveillance System in order to deliver accurate and relevant information to the participating countries to support the control of illegal fishing and other threats to resource sustainability. Please see Annex 11 for further details.

Activity 3.7 Coordinate and refine consultative processes among FFA member countries with the objective of strengthening regional capability. This is an activity that will be implemented and financed by the Forum Fisheries Agency and the Secretariat for the Pacific Community. This will be undertaken through a series of joint FFA/SPC international meetings.

Activity 3.8 Provide assistance to review and further develop harmonized minimum terms and conditions for foreign fishing vessel access to the EEZs of participating countries. This is an activity that will be implemented and financed by the Forum Fisheries Agency.

Activity 3.9 Prepare a project proposal to catalyze and replicate methodologies and best practices for sustainable ocean fisheries management based on an evaluation of project capacity-building activities.

Objective 4: To maximize regional benefits from lessons learned through community-based participation and to catalyze donor participation

33. Special emphasis will be placed on community-based participation and assessment in order to ensure that all lessons learned are effectively replicated for regional and ultimately global benefit. As noted under Objective 1, the PCU will include a full time professional with overall responsibility for community assessment and participation and will work closely with community groups, NGOs and education resources already in place within SPREP and other regional organizations.

33. Objective 2 identifies the clear links between local communities and the success of demonstration projects in protecting freshwater and biological resources, the conservation and sustainable management of coastal fisheries as well as improved waste management. The links between effective oceanic fisheries management, addressed by Objective 3 and local food security have also been highlighted. It will therefore be important to develop effective means of assessing the conditions for success or failure within the project activities.

33. To promote lessons learned it will be essential to develop and disseminate educational materials such as pamphlets, posters, and other teaching aids to complement formal and non-formal educational programmes. The extrapolation of lessons learned to further national or regional investment in ICWM and OFM will also require additional investments and sound dialogue between relevant stakeholders and donors in the region. This objective should also include increasing the extent to which the NGO community, including but not limited to specialized environmental, conservation, and resource management NGOs, need to be involved as active project participants.

Output 4.A Community-based participation assured

Activity 4.1 Establish and convene regular meetings of a Community Assessment and Participation Advisory Committee (CAPAC). This will be a sub-committee of the RTF, and will focus on ensuring facilitating and catalyzing full and active involvement of local communities in the project.

Activity 4.2 Plan and convene a workshop to review project elements and define appropriate community assessment, participation and education strategies to assure effective levels of community-based participation in the work of the project. This activity will be coordinated with the communication workshop and strategy of activity 1.6 above.

Activity 4.3 Develop a work plan to assess community participation and education with the assistance of the CAPAC and taking into account workshop results.

Activity 4.4 Assess and ensure community participation for the selected demonstration projects under the ICWM project component.

Activity 4.5 Create a public participation programme aimed at key stakeholders for the OFM component of the project.

Output 4.B Report and dissemination on lessons learned and best practices

Activity 4.6 Review and prepare a report describing the current state of best practices and lessons learned relevant to the project regarding available community assessment work, past public participation activities of this nature, currently available community education materials, and update listings of all relevant community-based NGOs throughout the region and their functions.

Activity 4.7 Develop and disseminate educational materials such as pamphlets, posters, and other teaching aids (maps and atlases, course materials) and public awareness materials to complement formal and non-formal educational programmes. Relevant materials and other output of the project will also be made available in WWW format, and made accessible through a link on the SPREP web site (http://www.sprep.org.ws). SPC is also providing cost-sharing to carry out this activity.

Output 4.C Donor support catalyzed to ensure long-term financial sustainability

Activity 4.8 Review and develop a report describing the opportunities for self-financing of project components at regional and national levels, pinpointing the potential economic sources and mechanisms. Undertake consultations with the cooperating governments and all stakeholders involved, including the private sector.

Activity 4.9 Plan and convene a donor conference using the on-going GEF project to leverage the necessary additional financial contributions and investments from donors. A wide array of inter-governmental organizations such as ASEAN, SARC and ECO will be approached and involved in order to support the replicability of project benefits.

E. Inputs

E.1 Description of inputs

33. The project budget is consistent with the objectives and activities of the project brief approved by the GEF Council at its July 1998 inter-sessional. It is also subject to ratification by the participating countries. The total GEF contribution to the project is US$12 million, and is justified according to an incremental cost analysis per GEF criteria. This is complemented by a co-financing amount of US$8.06 million from the Forum Fisheries Agency, Secretariat for the Pacific Community and SPREP. UNDP is also providing an additional US$ 60,000 cash and the UNDP/ICARE programme of US$ 877, 250 is considered as associated financing to the project (see Annex 2). This is also complemented by un-estimated government in-kind contributions. This project builds upon a significant sustainable development baseline of existing and planned projects in the focal areas of coastal, watershed and oceanic resource management (see Annex 3). An MOU will be developed to define the working relationship between the GEF and ICARE projects.

33. A Project Manager will work full-time over the five years of the project. There will be a Community Assessment and Participation Specialist and a Resource Economist who also both will be employed full-time over the five-year life of the project. National and International consultants with experience in coastal marine issues, ocean fisheries, and community assessment, public involvement, information and education activities may be required to assist with studies, strategies, and plans throughout the project. Priority will be given to qualified national consultants in the work of the project. The project management staff will be assisted by a Regional Task Force (RTF), National Task Forces (NTFs), a Community Assessment and Participation Advisory Committee (CAPAC) and Demonstration Project Advisory Committees (DPACs).

33. This project requires significant management expertise given the wide regional coverage of 14 Pacific island countries. International expertise will be primarily sought from within the region to the extent possible, and the budgeted amount corresponds to 17% of the total UNDP/GEF contribution. Office personnel, duty travel, mission costs and national project personnel account for another 19% of the total UNDP/GEF contribution while training represents 23% of total UNDP/GEF. Operations, maintenance and equipment is an expensive component of the project inputs, representing 36% of total UNDP/GEF costs. This is largely (31 of the 36%) for the procurement of equipment for the 14 demonstration projects while 5% is for local procurement. Reporting and miscellaneous costs represent the balance of 5%.

33. The equipment component is largely for the demonstration projects that are to be developed under objective 2 of the project. There are a total of 14 demonstration projects. Please see outputs 2A to 2D. At this stage of the project, it was not possible to provide details on the cost of the equipment needs of the demonstration projects, as these need to be developed under the project. An over-riding criterion of the demonstration projects is that they are viable low-cost/no cost alternatives. The project will provide training and expertise to develop the in-country capacity to identify good options and practices and enable them to develop and implement these themselves.

Table 1: UNDP/GEF Managed Input Budget

South Pacific SAP Implementation Project : RAS/98/G32/A/IG/99

1. The National short-term consultants provide technical and expert advice on the design and implementation of the demonstration projects in each of the 14 participating countries.

2. These are the national Demonstration Project Advisory Committee meetings that will take place for each of the 14 demonstration projects, at an average of US$ 32,000 each for the duration of the project.

Table 2: UNDP/TRAC Managed Input Budget

South Pacific SAP Implementation Project : RAS/98/G32/A/IG/99

Table 3: UNDP Managed Output Based Budget

South Pacific SAP Implementation Project: RAS/98/G32/A/1G/99

Table 3: UNDP Managed Output Based Budget

Table 4: Total Output Based Project Costs: GEF and Co-financing Inputs

South Pacific SAP Implementation Project: RAS/98/G32/A/1G/99

Table 4: Total Output Based Project Costs: GEF and Co-financing Inputs