I~~~~ 10 7-oo I Central. Africa Re on '-. Er .'io I .xr . .a .n Regional Er nment Inomato Management Project Project Do`cument,-~ Decembe--r19 -7 . HE WO.I .,ANK ; l~~~~~~~ GEF Documentation The Global Environment Facility (GEF) assists developing countries to protect the global environment in four areas global warming, polltition of international-waters, destruction of biodiversity, and depletion of the ozone layer The GEF is jointly iriplemehted bythe United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank GEF Project-Documents - identified by a green band - provide exterided project- specific information. The implementing agency responsible for each project is identified by its logo dn the cover of the document -~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 N~ ~ A Global. Environment Division Environment Department World Bank 1818 H Street, NrW 'Washirigton, DC 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1816 . Fax: (202) 522-3256 Report No. 17006-AFR Central Africa Region Regional Environmental Information Management Project Project Document December, 1997 Environment Group Africa Region CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit CFA franc (CFAF) US$ 1.00 = CFAF 580 (as of Nov. 7, 97) GOVERNMENT FISCAL YEAR January 1- December 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ADIE Association pour le Developpement de l'Information Environnementale dans la sous- region du Bassin du Congo AWP Annual Work Plan CAR Central African Republic CARPE Central Africa Region Program for the Environment (USAID) CIDAIACDI Canadian International Development Agency ECOFAC Ecosystemes Forestiers d'Afrique Centrale (Forestry Ecosystems of Central Africa) EIS Environment Information System EU European Union DRC Democratic Republic of Congo FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GEF Global Environment Facility GIS Geographic Information System GRFM Global Rain Forest Mapping Project GTZ Gesellschaft fLir Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Technical Cooperation Agency) ICCN Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature IDA International Development Association IFAD International Fund for Agricutural Development of the United Nations IGC Institut Geographique Congolais INC Institut National de Cartographie (Cameroon, Gabon) ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature JRC Joint Research Center NASA National Aeronautics & Space Administration NASDA National Space Development Agency of Japan NEAP National Environmental Action Plan NGO Non Governmental Organization NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NRM Natural Resource Management NWG National Work Group ODA Overseas Development Agency PARN Projet d'Amenagement des Ressources Naturelles (CAR) PFE Projet For8t Environnement (Gabon) REFLI Regional Fund for Local Initiatives TFAP Tropical Forest Action Plan TREE-S Tropical Ecosystems Environment Observations by Satellites Projects UNDP United Nations Development Program UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization USAID United States Agency for International Development WCS World Conservation Society WCMC World Conservation Monitoring Center WWF World Wide Fund for Nature Vice President : Callisto E. Madavo and Jean-Louis Sarbib Country Directors : Serge Michailof / Nils Tcheyan Sector Manager : Cynthia C. Cook Task Officer : Francois Rantrua REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................... i GRANT AND PROJECT SUMMARY ........................................................................ hii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................ iv PART I: PROJECT SUMMARY CHAPTER 1: THE CONGO BASIN RAINFOREST ........................................................................ 2 1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 2 1.2 BIODIVERSITY IN THE CONGO BASIN RAINFOREST ........................................................................ 2 1.3 SOcIo-ECONOMIC CONTEXT OF THE CONGO BASIN RAINFOREST .............................................................. 2 1.4 ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES WITHIN THE CONGO BASIN REGION ......................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2: PROJECT BACKGROUND ........................................................................ 7 2.1 CONTEXT ........................................................................ 7 2.2 LINKS WITH OTHER ONGOING INITIATIVES ........................................................................ 7 2.3 IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ............................................................. 8 2.4 ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN THE CONGO BASIN ..................................................... 8 Issue no. 1: Information on the environment is poorly collected, integrated, shared and disseminated .... 9 Issue no. 2: Not enough well-informed decisions are made in theforest and environment sectors ........... 9 Issue no. 3: Basic and thematic information on natural resources is lacking . ........................................... 9 Issue no. 4: National capacity to generate and manage environmental information is limited ............... 10 2.5 LESSONS LEARNED AND TECHNICAL REVIEW ........................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 3: PROJECT DESCRIPTION ........................................................................ 13 3.1 OBJECTIVES ........................................................................ 1 3 3.2 COMPONENT 1: NETWORK CREATION AND SERVICE ........................................................................ 13 3.3 COMPONENT 2: DECISION-MAKING AND COMMUNICATION .....................................................................1 5 3.4 COMPONENT 3: USER-ORIENTED PRODUCTION ........................................................................ 16 3.5 COMPONENT 4: CAPACITY BUILDING ........................................................................ 17 3.6 ACTIVITIES STARTED DURING PROJECT PREPARATION ........................................................................ 18 CHAPTER 4: PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND POLICIES . ............................................................ 21 4.1 PROJECT ORGANIZATION ........................................................................ 2 1 4.2 PROGRAMMING AND FUNDING MECHANISMS ........................................................................ 23 4.3 DATA EXCHANGE POLICY ........................................................................ 24 4.4 INVOLVEMENT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR ........................................................................ 25 4.5 INVOLVEMENT OF NGOs AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES ........................................................................ 25 4.6 PROJECT MONITORING, ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING REQUIREMENTS ................................................... 26 CHAPTER 5: BENEFITS, JUSTIFICATION AND RISKS ................................................................... 29 5.1 TYPES OF ECONOMIC BENEFITS ........................................................................ 29 5.2 JUSTIFICATION FOR GEF INVOLVEMENT ........................................................................ 3 1 5.3 RATIONALE FOR A REGIONAL PROJECT ........................................................................ 32 5.4 RISKS ........................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 6: PROJECT COSTS AND FINANCING PLAN ............................................. 35 6.1 PROJECT COSTS ............................................. 35 6.2 INCREMENTAL COSTS AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ............................................. 35 6.3 PROJECT PREPARATION ......................................... 37 6.4 PROCUREMENT ......................................... 37 6.5 DISBURSEMENT ......................................... 39 CHAPTER 7: AGREEMENTS ........................................ 41 PART II: TECHNICAL ANNEXES ANNEx 1: ECONOMIC AND INCREMENTAL COST ANALYSIS ......................................... 45 A. Economic Analysis .............. 45 B. Incremental Costs Analysis and Global Environmental Benefits ..................................................... 49 ANNEX 2: TECHNICAL CONTENT OF THE AGREEMENTS ..................................................... 53 A. Summary of the national project documents ..................................................... 53 B. Users and Decisions Targeted by the Project ..................................................... 62 ANNEx 3: MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM ...................................................... 64 A. Introduction: Objectives and definition of the system ..................................................... 64 B. Actors ...................................................... 64 C. Data ...................................................... 65 D. Procedures ..................................................... 69 E. The Tools .:...................................................... 70 F. Installation of th e system ...................................................... 73 G. Models of monitoring indicators for the diferent types of agreements ................................................ 74 ANNEX 4: LiNK WITH OTHER PROJECTS ..................................................... 75 A. National Projects ..................................................... 75 B. Regional Projects ..................................................... 77 ANNEX 5: DETAILED PROJECT COSTS ..................................................... 79 ANNEX 6: YEARLY WORK PLAN FOR 1998 ..................................................... 88 ANNEX 7: APPRAISAL MISSION MATRIX ..................................................... 93 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: STRUCTURE OF THE REIMP PRIMARY NETWORK 21 FIGURE 2: COST RECOVERY AFTER PROJECT COMPLETION 31 FIGURE 3: MAP OF EXISTING PROJECTS 94 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS 1994 5 TABLE 2: ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS 80-90: FOREST AND BIODIVERSITY 5 TABLE 3: PROTECTED AREAS 5 TABLE 4: RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE NETWORK AGENCIES 14 TABLE 5: LOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE PROJECT 19 TABLE 6: PROJECT COST SUMMARY 35 TABLE 7: PROJECT BUDGET BY SOURCE (US$ 6000) 36 TABLE 8: COFINANCING OF THE PROJECT 37 TABLE 9: PROCUREMENT ARRANGEMENTS (US$ '000) 38 TABLE 10: DISBURSEMENT OF GEF GRANT, BY CATEGORIES (US$ MILLION) 39 TABLE 11: ESTIMATED GEF DISBURSEMENT (US$ '000) 40 LIST OF WORKING PAPERS (Available upon request) 1. Biodiversity in the Congo Basin countries (A. Bond, World Bank) 2. Biodiversity dimension of the REIMP (C. Tutin, World bank Consultant) 3. Socioeconomic Dimension of the Project (V. Galastro, IFAD Consultant) 4. Technical Specifications (S. Lombardo, FAO) 5. Status of the Basic Information in the Congo Basin (M. Hassan Hassan, World Bank) iii CENTRAL AFRICA REGION REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PROJECT Grant and Project Summary Beneficiaries: Association pour le Developpement de l'Information Environnementale dans la sous-region du Bassin du Congo (ADIE) Congo Basin Countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Implementing Agencies: Ministry of Environment and Forests in Cameroon Ministry of Territorial Administration in Cameroon Ministry of Research in Cameroon Ministry of Environment, Waters, Forest, Hunting and Fishery in CAR Ministry of Tourism and Environment in Congo Ministry of Education and Research in Congo Ministry of Health and Environment in Equatorial Guinea Ministry of Fisheries and Forest in Equatorial Guinea Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in Equatorial Guinea Ministry of Planning, Environment and Tourism in Gabon Ministry of Water and Forests, and reforestation in Gabon Ministry of Civil Works and Construction in Gabon World Wildlife Fund in Gabon Ministry of Environment, Conservation of Nature and Tourism in DRC International Union for Conservation of Nature in DRC Poverty: Not Applicable Grant Amount: US$ 4.1 million equivalent Terms: Not Applicable Commitment Fee: Not Applicable Financing plan: (US$ '000 equivalent) Global Environmental Other Government Facility donors Self-financing Total Cameroon 463 232 1,707 80 2,482 Central Africa Republic 461 554 1,753 18 2,787 Congo 488 670 1,551 39 2,748 Democratic Republic of Congo 477 537 1,838 63 2,916 Equatorial Guinea 192 179 1,132 49 1,552 Gabon 344 401 1,452 78 2,276 Regional Coordination 151 1,502 3,344 4,997 Total 2,575 4,077 12,778 328 19,757 iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Congo Basin Rainforest is the second largest contiguous primary rainforest in the world and is one of the last three remaining major blocks of intact tropical rain forest, the others being the Amazonian and Melanesia rain forests. It covers 2.1 million km2 representing 26 percent of the world's remaining rain forest and 70 percent of the remaining African rain forest. It is currently shrinking at about 0.6 percent per year and is under increasing human pressure. The Congo Basin Rainforest spreads over the territory of six countries --Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)-- with a total population of 62.6 million people. In the region, several donor agencies are involved in efforts to assist national authorities to develop strategies to put into action the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was signed and ratified by all of the Congo Basin countries. This convention explicitly recognizes the links between the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development. National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs) and the Tropical Forest Action Plans (TFAPs) are examples of donors financed activities in this area. Within these initiatives, as well as other local activities and projects, the lack of (or lack of access to) accurate and comprehensive environmental information for effective natural resources management has been identified as a critical problem. With the support of several donors, national authorities of the six countries and major stakeholders have developed collaboratively the framework for a project to address the following four problems: (i) existing environmental information and knowledge are poorly shared, (ii) not enough well-informed decisions are made in the forestry and environmental sectors, (iii) major gaps exist in basic and thematic information on natural resources, and (iv) national capacity to generate and manage this information is limited. The Regional Environmental Information Project (REIMP) represents the implementation of such framework. The main goal of the REIMP is to improve planning and management of natural resources in the Congo Basin by helping the various stakeholders address the four problems identified above. Accordingly, the project has four specific objectives: (i) ensuring information circulation and optimizing benefits from existing initiatives, (ii) fostering the involvement of decision-makers in environmental information use and facilitating sound land use planning, (iii) providing users with environmental jnformation meeting their demand, and (iv) strengthening national capacity in the six project countries. The five-year project budget is estimated at US $19.8 million, provisionally allocated as follows: 5 percent for the Network and Service Component, 6 percent for the Decision-Makers Component, 31 percent for the User-Oriented Production Component, 20 percent for the Capacity Building Component, and 5 percent for a Regional Fund for Local Initiatives (REFLI). The project will be financed by multiple sources including the six countries, the European Union, IFAD, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), multilateral and bilateral agencies (Belgium, France, Germany). Local and international non-government organizations (NGOs) and the private sector are expected to participate and to support the project. The sustainability of the project is addressed through the development of specially-designed self-financing mechanisms. PART I: PROJECT SUMMARY CHAPTER 1: The Congo Basin Rainforest 1.1 Introduction 1. Biodiversity Conservation and sustainable development. The Convention on Biological Diversity, signed and ratified by all of the project countries, explicitly recognizes the links between the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development. It acknowledges that biodiversity is more than just the sum of species and encompasses the variety, variability, and uniqueness of the genes, species, and the ecosystems in which they occur. It is not possible to realize sustainable development without an effective strategy for biodiversity conservation and management. 2. Role of biodiversity in national economies. All of the project countries are heavily dependent on their natural resources, and none can afford the economic, ecological and social costs resulting from their destruction or serious impairment. The conservation of biodiversity is crucial to the sustainability of sectors as diverse as forestry, agriculture, fisheries, health care, industry and tourism. The irreversibility of species extinction and the loss of genetic strains and ecosystem types through habitat degradation and over-exploitation compromise options for present and future generations. 1.2 Biodiversity in the Congo Basin Rainforest 3. Global importance of the Congo Basin Rainforest. The rainforest of the Congo Basin covers 2.1 million kM2, representing 26% of the world's remaining rainforest. It is one of only three major blocks of tropical rainforest in the world. The Congo Basin contains 70% of the remaining African rainforest and harbors a unique biodiversity capital. Interactions and biological processes within this complex ecosystem provide key ecological services of global significance. 4. Significance of biodiversity in the Congo Basin. The tropical rainforest of the region is rich in plant and animal species and is regarded as a global biodiversity "hot spot". DRC is a country with "megadiversity" status: one of the twelve in the world which together account for 60% of known terrestrial species. Each country in the region has endemic plants and animals and the continual flow of new species descriptions reflects the patchy nature of biological exploration and inventories to date. A new species of monkey (Cercopithecus solatus) was discovered in central Gabon in 1986 and 10-20 new tree species from the region are described each year. (The known biodiversity values and significance of each country are highlighted in a working paper available on request.) The coastal zone of the region contains fragile habitats critical to turtle, bird and fish breeding. Pressure on the environment is mounting in the face of human population growth and industrial and commercial development. However, if action is taken now, the potential for cost-effective ecosystem protection and for sustainable harvesting of natural resources remains. The Congo Basin has been identified as one of 20 Critical Ecosystems worldwide for seeking partnerships between the World Bank and client countries for biodiversity conservation. 5. Threats to biodiversity. The threats to biodiversity in the Congo Basin arise mainly from habitat alteration and from hunting. The main human activities contributing to habitat loss and to habitat fragmentation are: unsustainable commercial logging, agricultural expansion and the 2 establishment of new settlements in areas opened up by forestry operations. The annual decline in total forest cover in the six countries of the region is only 0.6%, but the area of pristine forest modified each year by selective logging is much greater. Traditionally, bushmeat was the major source of protein throughout the region and this is still the case in rural areas. Commercial hunting to supply urban markets rapidly depletes populations of large and medium-sized mammals and this unsustainable, but lucrative, private enterprise presents a serious threat to wildlife. The challenge is how to maintain the biodiversity capital of the Congo Basin without hindering economic development and the legitimate aspirations of the local people. Table 2 at the end of this Chapter indicates the gravity of these threats at the species level and shows that many of the most threatened species are endemics. 6. The protected area network. Protected areas cover 111,000 km2, representing 5% of the total area of the Congo Basin. Protected areas are the most important mechanisms for in-situ conservation of biodiversity, but those of the region are beset with problems. Protected areas are not receiving priority attention from governments, many exist on paper more than in reality and they fail to cover an ecologically representative sample of sites large enough to ensure the long- term maintenance of biodiversity. Table 3 at the end of this Chapter shows the distribution of sizes and categories of protected areas within the six countries of the region. Two thirds of the countries lack the strictest category of protection (Category 1) and Equatorial Guinea has no protected areas at all. Most of the funds presently spent on managing protected areas come from national government sources, increasingly assisted by intemational donors. The viability of protected areas is seriously compromised by inadequate legislation and funding due to lack of political will, and/or lack of enforcement, even if the regulatory framework is in fact in place. 7. Gaps in the current system of protected areas. Gaps exist both in the ecological diversity included in the existing protected areas and in the effectiveness of management strategies of such sites. The first gap can be filled by extending inventories to biologically unexplored areas to ensure that a representative sample of the total biodiversity of the region falls within an extended protected area network that should aim to cover a total of about 10% of the region's land area. Conflicts between protected area management and the interests of local populations exist and can only be resolved through consultation, involvement and positive incentives. There is a lack of awareness at local, national and regional levels, of the long-term benefits of protected areas for economically attractive activities such as tourism, water-shed protection and the sustainable harvesting of non-timber products. Without local, national and international support protected areas cannot be effective. Strategies for the management of areas surrounding protected sites and initiatives for improving the sustainability and economics of timber harvesting and agriculture outside such sites are also essential to safeguard the extraordinary biodiversity of the Congo Basin region. 1.3 Socio-Economic Context of the Congo Basin Rainforest 8. Socio-economic background. The Congo Basin Rainforest covers 2.1 million km2 with a population of 62.6 million unevenly distributed among the six countries of the region: Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). DRC accounts for 57 percent of the total area and 67 percent of the population. Population densities are generally low (less than 20 persons per kM2, except in Cameroon), and the average regional population growth is 3.2 percent per year. Annual income per capita ranged in 1995 from US $ 120 in DRC to US $ 3,800 in Gabon (see Table I at the end of this Chapter). On average, agriculture including forestry, accounts for 23 percent of the GNP and employs 58 percent of the working population. Mineral extraction is another significant source of national 3 income (19 percent) although it accounts for only 4 percent of employment. Twenty-eight percent of the working population is employed in the service sector, which accounts for 45 percent of GNP. 1.4 Environmental Challenges within the Congo Basin Region 9. Intensive and selective logging. Commercial logging poses a serious threat to the forest resource base. The thirty species of high value timber found in the Basin are being mined in some areas at clearly unsustainable rates; and there are few incentives to do otherwise given current policies. While logging companies generally harvest only the most valuable trees, the extraction and transportation of those trees causes significant collateral damage to the forests. Furthermore, the logging roads that are constructed open up formerly inaccessible areas to people who hunt wildlife and clear the land to establish farms. 10. Deforestation as a result of shifting cultivation. Clearing for agriculture is the predominant cause of deforestation in Central Africa. Forest clearing rates in Central Africa are rising and, given the current demographic and economic dynamics of the region, are likely to continue to increase. The root causes of deforestation include high population growth rates (from 2.5 to 3.2 percent), insufficient financial, technical, and institutional capacity, inappropriate macroeconomic policies, economic stagnation and the need to earn foreign exchange. These result in increasing pressure on land and forest resources to meet food, energy, and building material needs. Increasing population pressure is undermining the sustainability of centuries-old systems of shifting cultivation. At the same time, migrants or settlers from outside the forest regions are introducing cultivation practices that are unsuited to local conditions. The result is an agricultural frontier that advances at the expense of the receding forest. 11. Pressure of human activities on coastal zones. There is ample evidence that coastal zones within the Congo Basin Region are under heavy pressure and are deteriorating. Population growth is a major concern and will exacerbate already severe coastal-use conflicts in terms of land, water and resource utilization. The negative impacts of increased human settlement and industrial development are also more acutely felt in the coastal zone since it is at the receiving end of land- and water-based pollution, which exacerbates human health issues through direct contamination of drinking water. Associated with this increased population pressure is coastal erosion. Marine fisheries are particularly vulnerable and where water hyacinth has been introduced, local fisheries have been destroyed. Increased coastal resource use conflicts will inevitably intensify social and economic development problems. Overfishing is becoming a major issue within the Guinea Gulf, and there is concern that the fish catch is soon likely to exceed the natural capacity to replenish the population. Problems of multiple jurisdiction and competition between users of resources, inadequate regulations for the protection of natural resources, and the lack of nationally or locally adapted coastal policies for informed decision-making, will translate into a loss of capability for future sustainable development. 12. Urban pressure. Next to demographic growth, urbanization is the most dramatic change that the Congo Basin Region has experienced over the past decades. In 30 years, while its total population has multiplied by 2.5, its urban population has multiplied by five. From an environmental point of view, this rapid urban development poses two related problems: on the one hand, the extension of cities undermines the pre-existing natural environment and increases the risk of natural disasters, on the other, the inability of urban infrastructure and services to keep up with demand results in deteriorating living conditions, especially for the poor. The most evident environmental problems linked to urbanization are insufficient supplies of clean drinking 4 water, untreated solid and liquid wastes which pollute ground water (and damage fragile ecosystems in the humid coastal zones), soil erosion, and deforestation linked to the consumption of charcoal. In the larger metropolitan areas, such as Kinshasa, Brazzaville and Yaounde, this pressure has resulted in the creation of "urban halos" of deforested land stretching over 150 km from city centers. 13. Pressure of the oil industry. The petroleum industry within the region (in Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, DRC and Equatorial Guinea) undertakes widespread exploration and production activities. Negative impacts of these activities include contamination of land, groundwater, surface water (lakes, rivers, sea) and air; destroying vegetation and disturbing animals; interference with other economic activities related to natural resources such as fisheries, hunting, forestry, tourism and agriculture. 14. Pressure of the mining industry. The mining sector is an important source of tax revenues and foreign exchange which are essential to the country's economic recovery. In contrast with global and national environmental issues such as deforestation, and climate change, the effects of mining are generally localized, identifiable and specific. Most African mining operations lag behind those in industrialized and more advanced developing countries in environmental, health and safety standards. Environmental conditions are also poor in many small mining operations within the region. 15. Significance of deforestation. Because the region's forest stock is vast, deforestation rates are relatively low in comparison with other areas of the tropics, on average 0.6 percent annually compared, for example, to 1 percent annually in coastal West Africa. However, in terms of actual area cleared annually, the forest loss in the Congo Basin is substantial. Based on the 1992 FAO report, the loss of tropical forest in Central Africa between 1980 and 1990 was of the order of 114,000 km2. Landscape change of this magnitude represents a significant release of greenhouse gases. 5 Table 1: Socio-economic indicators 1994 Development Indicators unit Cameroon CAR Congo Eq. Gu. Gabon DRC Total Average Population million 12.9 3.2 2.5 0.4 1.0 42 6 62.6 Pop.Pop of the Reion % 21% 5% 4% 1% 2% 68% 100% Pop. Growth % per yea 2.8 2.5 3.0 2.5 1.9 3.3 3 11 Area 1000 Sq. kn 465 623 342 28 258 2,267 3983 Ama/total area %ofCARegion 12% 16% 9% 1% 6% 57% 100% Pop. density Pop per Sq. kn 28 5 7 14 4 19 16 GNP per Capita USS 680 370 640 430 3,550 130 334 GNP USS million 8,752 1,197 1,610 167 3,674 5,532 20,933 Percent of worldng population per sector (ind 1992) Agriculture 63 66 34 70 48 57 58 Mines 2 3 5 0 10 5 4 Industries 10 9 20 5 11 10 10 Services 25 22 41 25 31 28 28 Contribution of each sector to the GNP (ind. 1992) Agriculture 24 41 10 60 9 38 23 Mines 12 10 28 0 39 9 19 Industries 19 9 10 5 12 8 14 Services 45 40 52 35 43 45 45 Aversge is weighted by the population. Table 2 : Environmental Indicators 80-90: Forest and Biodiversity Forest area unit Cameroon CAR Congo Eq. G. Gabon DRC Total Average Natural forest'90 1000 ha 21,569 31,850 20,188 1,896 19,398 | 120,597 215,498 Nat forest in % of the country % 46% 51% 59%/o 68% 75% 53% 54% %regionalforest % 10% 15% 9% 1% 9% 56% 100% Protectedareas'90 lOOOha 1,127 436 1,215 315 1,790 l 6,313 11,196 Deforestation80-90 lOOOha 1,219 1,288 323 70 l 1,163 I 7,322 11,385 % per year (average) % 0.6% 0.4% 02% 0.4% 0.6% l 0.6% 0.6% Biodiversity species Mammals All species 297 209 200 184 190 415 No Wnf-Wti0lfo-nd Endemic 10 2 1 1 3 25 Threatened 27 12 12 15 17 31 Birds All species 848 668 500 392 617 1086 Endemic 11 0 0 3 0 23 Threatened 17 2 3 3 4 27 Higher plants All species 8260 3602 6000 3250 6651 11000 Endemic 156 100 9 66 ? 3200 l_________ Threatened 76 1 1 3 1 8 1 78 1 7 1 1 Table 3: Protected Areas Area in Area in Area in I I Area in Total Area | Couna | Sq. km I Cat I Cat. a t. Cat.lV % designated % Cameroon 465,000 0 0.00% 10,318 2.22% 10,186 2.19% 20,504 4.41% CAR 623,000 860 0.14% 31,020 4.98% 29,180 4.68% 61,060 9.80% Congo 342,000 0 0.00% 1,266 0.37% 10,508 3.07% 11,774 3.44% Eq. Guinea 28,050 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% Gabon 258,000 150 0.06% 0 0.00% 10,300 3 99% 10,450 4.05% DRC 2,267,000 0 0.00% 99,166 4.37% 0 0.00% 99,166 4.37% Source of Data: 1993 United Nations List of National Parks and Protected Areas by IUCN, UNEP, and WCMC, 1994. Meaning of Categories: (Categories I11, V and VI are not represented in those countries ) CategoryL . Strict Natural Reserve/Wilderness Area protected area managed mainly for science or wildemess protection Category MI. National Park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation Category IMI Natural Monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features Category IV Habitat/Species Management Area.- protected area managed mainly for conservation through management Intervention Category V. Protected Landscape/ Seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation. Category n. Managed Resource Protected Area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems This categorization is subject to change in the near future as both IUCN and WWF are working on new definitions CHAPTER 2: Project Background 2.1 Context 1. World Bank involvement in the preparation of national strategies. The World Bank has been assisting countries within the Congo Basin Region in their efforts to develop and implement strategies to improve governments' ability to manage natural resources. Such involvement has produced, among others, National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs) and Tropical Forest Action Plans (TFAPs). The Natural Resource Management strategy of the Congo Basin countries is mainly focusing on forest management and biodiversity conservation. * Forest Management. National strategies for forest management are described in the national TFAPs, which are underway or completed in all the Congo Basin countries. To help governments implement their TFAPs, several international organizations are contributing to the elaboration of a strategy for the forest sector in the Congo Basin, but this is not always being done in a coordinated way. The World Bank position calls for1: (i) establishing a policy, legal and regulatory framework which provides incentives for sustainable forestry management while increasing national revenues and community benefits from logging activity; (ii) introducing long-term logging concessions and eventually logging certification arrangements to encourage sustainable logging practices; (iii) strengthening forest management capacity through training and the introduction of more effective concession monitoring systems; and (iv) introducing environmentally and economically sound forest zoning practices to help maximize the returns to sustainable forest resource management. * Biodiversity Conservation. Improved forest management strategies will contribute to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss, but they alone are not sufficient to achieve this objective. Biodiversity conservation requires that some areas of specific biodiversity importance be set aside and managed. The main elements of the current biodiversity conservation strategy are: (i) preparation, with GEF assistance, of national biodiversity strategies and action plans (already underway or completed in Cameroon, CAR, Gabon, DRC and Equatorial Guinea) to identify priority areas for enhanced protection; (ii) expansion and more effective management, in collaboration with local communities, of protected area systems; and (iii) strengthening of national capacities for biodiversity conservation through training, site- specific species monitoring and the development of national ecosystem and biodiversity data management facilities. 2.2 Links with Other Ongoing Initiatives 2. Review. The Congo Basin benefits from many projects involved in natural resources planning and monitoring at the local, national and regional level. Among them are: GEF Cameroon, GEF Congo and GEF Gabon; the World Bank's PARN in CAR and PFE in Gabon; the European Union's ECOFAC and TREES; USAID's CARPE; NASDA's GRFM and NASA's Pathfinder (Figure 3 at the end of the document provides a map of major existing projects within See: Sharma, N., S. Rietbergen, C. Heimo and J. Patel. World Bank Strategy for the Forest Sector m Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC, 1994. 8 the Congo Basin and shows the range of donor and NGO involvement in Central Africa). Some of these projects have information components, but they could profit from better environmental information systems. In particular, all natural resource information initiatives taken to date lack a mechanism to produce comprehensive and regularly updated information on the condition and trends in the entire Congo Basin forest, and the means to put that information at the disposal of key land use decision-makers, commercial forestry interests, biodiversity management teams, local NGOs, and the population at large. The REIMP will maintain close collaboration with these projects to avoid duplication, ensure that products are compatible and complementary, and fulfill the demand for information within the region (see more details in Annex 4). Specific arrangements have already been made for collaboration with FAO's AFRICOVER team, EU's TREES team and NASA's Pathfinder team. 2.3 Importance of Environmental Information Management 3. Key role of information in the decision-making process. The use of accurate and comprehensive information and knowledge leads to greater transparency and better governance, hence it plays a crucial role in environmental management. It is the foundation upon which the analytical and decision-making processes are based, which in turn are the precursors for effective action. Assessment of the results, in turn, represents the information base for the subsequent cycle of decision-making and action. The more widely shared the information, the more likely it is that individuals and institutions will agree on the definition of problems and strategies for their solutions. In addition, information may also force decisions through growing public awareness and lobbying. Developing and using information and knowledge are, therefore, an essential part of conservation management at all levels, from the local to the global community. 4. Types of information required for natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. Planning of biological resources requires a general spatial information base on natural resources, including major vegetation areas, hydrology, topography, soil characteristics and human presence. To this base should be added, as needed, more detailed information on species and ecosystems, in particular for the ecosystems of forested areas. Indicators for monitoring and assessing habitat changes and natural resource degradation should also be developed, and be supplemented with information on socio-economic factors likely to interact with the environment (e.g., demographic indicators, cultural beliefs and practices, access to basic social services and infrastructure). Regular monitoring can identify areas of conflict between high value biodiversity and human activities. Such areas could then be the focus for decisions on land use and natural resource conservation and management. This information, therefore, constitutes an important planning tool for both the conservation of biodiversity (protection and sustainable use, identification of new sensitive areas) and the management of those economic sectors which exploit biological resources (forest logging, oil or mine extracting). 2.4 Environmental Information Management in the Congo Basin 5. Identification of specific needs. The governments of the six project countries have identified a set of issues and needs which have inspired the REIMP specific objectives (see chapter 3). Among them, the following four have been identified as particularly important. 9 Issue no. 1: Information on the environment is poorly collected, integrated, shared and disseminated. 6. Lack of dissemination. Information often does not reach appropriate users or is unused as a result of an inadequate dissemination structure, restricted accessibility - in particular of the poorer segments of the population - or unsuitable presentation. In fact, dissemination mechanisms have generally been neglected during the design of existing projects, which makes it difficult now for them to promote their findings and inform stakeholders. For example, the PARN project has collected and analyzed a large amount of data on forests in CAR, and could be supported for a large dissemination of these data. 7. Lack of standards. The multiplicity of actors, the lack of standard methods for data collection, and the lack of a framework to integrate the results lead to the loss of much information and diminished confidence in the data produced. The definition and acceptance of standards for information gathering, processing, storage and dissemination, and the development of a coherent system, would increase confidence in the reliability of information, provide a technical framework for its circulation, facilitate dissemination, and improve the conservation of the results. 8. Inadequate communication systems. Central Africa has one of the world's lowest levels of development for communication infrastructure, including basic telephone facilities and Internet connectivity. Central African countries are poorly connected to the rest of the world. Internet facilities are available in three countries only, the high cost of the service and the low transfer speed on telephone lines do not allow exchange of high amounts of data. Yet, computer applications to telecommunications offer high returns for regional information projects, for example by allowing new project design processes involving several stakeholders and facilitating regional approaches without the bureaucratic burdens of centralized agencies. Issue no. 2: Not enough well-informed decisions are made in the forest and environment sectors. 9. Most decisions in the forest and environment sectors are not based on reliable information. The enforcement of logging concession agreements and management of protected areas have been seriously hampered by the lack of basic information. In addition, improving the information available on forest resource conditions would help deciding on the designation of conservation areas, areas for sustainable exploitation of forest resources, and areas for multiple use. Issue no. 3: Basic and thematic information on natural resources is lacking. 10. There is a real demand for basic and thematic information on natural resources. REIMP planning meetings revealed that few ongoing projects and none of the governments can bear the costs of intensive information production activities. Data production activities--which are often supposed to be small components of natural resource management (NRM) projects-- turn out to be more time and money consuming than expected and divert these projects from their initial planning and development goals. Many projects, particularly those devoted to biodiversity conservation, would like to extend data collection activities to buffer zones for more effective biodiversity conservation and maintenance of protected areas. Moreover, such information is necessary to develop reliable management tools and is required by many governments within the 10 Congo Basin. 11. Gaps in environmental information. The following major information gaps have been identified as hampering decision-making and compromising country capacity to manage the sustainability of natural resources in the region: * topographic maps at scales 1:200,000 and 1:50,000 as well as land cover, vegetation, geological, hydrological and soil maps, where they exist, were mainly produced during the 1960s or 1970s and are outdated; * national and local planning tools like zoning plans and management plans have been developed for only a few years and are not available region-wide; * there is currently no means of monitoring biodiversity at national and regional levels, as initiatiVes are site-specific; * both data and data collection procedures for monitoring exploitation activities at the concession level are weak and make it impossible to make informed decisions. Issue no. 4: National capacity to generate and manage environmental information is limited. 12. National capacity to generate and manage information is limited. In most projects, local technical staff are strongly dependent on technical assistance. As a result, local skills remain weak and their autonomy is not assured even after five years of project implementation. Moreover, national capacity to store and maintain information is inadequate and weakly supported. Unfortunately, mocst projects have no plans to help existing national institutions provide information services and ensure their linkage to ongoing initiatives. 2.5 Lessons Learned and Technical Review 13. Relying on information technologies. Information technologies have been successfully used to improve natural resource planning and management in the multi-donor Tropical Forest Project in the Amazon. Remote sensing techniques enabled various organizations such as FAO, NASA, NASDA, and JRC to acquire regional satellite image coverage and devise cost-effective tools to map and monitor issues of global concern for the environment (deforestation, degradation of different types of habitat). Pilot initiatives have demonstrated that these images could also provide basic spatial data for biodiversity localization at a relatively low cost, since emerging competition and technical improvements have helped decrease their cost2. Moreover, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which make it possible to integrate and correlate data from various sources, and Global Positioning Systems, that enable quick positioning of information surveyed in the field and easy updating of the database, are now mastered by a wide range of users. Where several users were involved, information technologies made economies of scale possible. Finally, such technologies can facilitate information exchange between partners, provided that a common base has been defined and agreed upon. These lessons have been incorporated into the design of the REIMP. 2 The price of the unprocessed high resolution satellite image ranges from US$ 0.2 (radar) to US$ I (Spot) per km2. for unprocessed satellite images The price of the processing for making space-maps at scale 1:200.000 range from US$ 0.5 to I US$ per km2 depending on the quality of geometric requirements Thus, on a classical commercial basis (which must be lowered for a big area) the price for a space map at 1:200.000 scale range from US$ 0 7 to US$ 2 per krm. The price of a classical topographic map at the same scale including aerial photographs and their restitution would be US$ 100 per km'. 11 14. NRM key decisions. Discussions with natural resource managers made it possible to determine four types of key decision areas for effective NRM: * environment protection, * natural resource planning, * permit attribution, and * exploitation monitoring. Improving these four decision-making processes requires specific products and services, of course, but appropriate institutional mechanisms are also essential. These mechanisms will make the use of information more effective and thus will increase its impact. 15. Linking public agencies, the private sector, and the NGO community through national information networks and a regional information network. Sustainable management of natural resources involves not only public agencies but also private companies and NGOs. So far, dialogue between these three categories of actors has been generally weak and has sometimes led to tense situations where distrust and misunderstanding prevailed. Linking these institutions through an information network will contribute to increase dialogue and understanding. At the national level, communication between public agencies, private companies and NGOs may lead to a better definition of products and services related to environmental information, as well as sharing of financial, human, and logistical resources to offer new products or services. At the regional level such a network will provide a discussion platform where private sector representatives and governments may agree on the NRM policies to be enforced. 16. Building on existing institutions rather than creating new ones. There is no need for a regional production center which centralizes both expertise and equipment. Technical review clearly showed that existing national agencies need to be linked to one another within a network, while little would be gained from the creation of yet another agency. The creation of a small regional network management unit, however, is necessary to ensure coordination and to offer such specific regional services as: (i) promotion and dissemination of products and services, (ii) maintenance of various regional databases, (iii) elaboration of a regional report on the environment, and (iv) harmonization and promotion of standards for data collection and integration. 17. Project concept. The REIMP belongs to a new generation of trans-border projects which are needed to address sub-regional ecosystem issues. The project, while targeting global environment management, will also have a broader development impact by providing a greatly improved, geo-referenced information base which facilitates the identification, design, and implementation of future economic activities at the national level. The project design is based on the following principles learned from the technical review: * adopting a demand-driven and action-oriented approach; * relying on information technologies; * linking public agencies, the private sector, and the NGO community through national information networks and a regioral information network; * building on existing institutions rather than creating new ones; * focusing on capacity building; * generating benefits and building sustainability through the sale of products and services. CHAPTER 3: Project Description 3.1 Objectives 1. Project objectives. The main goal of the project is to improve planning and management of natural resources in the Congo Basin, with a specific focus on biodiversity conservation, by providing the various stakeholders with appropriate information on the environment in response to the needs they identify. In line with the major needs identified in chapter 2, the project has the following four specific objectives: (1) ensuring the circulation of environmental information and optimizing benefits from existing initiatives; (2) fostering involvement of decision-makers in environmental information use and facilitating sound land use planning in the Congo Basin; (3) providing users with environmental information meeting their demand; and (4) strengthening national capacities for environmental information management. The project also contemplates the creation of a Regional Fund for Local initiatives (see Chapter 4). 2. Project objectives will be achieved through the implementation of four components. T hese components are the four building blocks to develop a regional network of environmental information users including public and private partners involved in natural resource management. T-he project will build capacity at local, national and regional levels for environmental monitoring, land use planning, priority setting and decision-making, particularly for forest management and biodiversity conservation. To manage and coordinate the four components, the project will rely on National Coordinators and a regional unit, to whom technical assistance will be made available as needed (see Chapter 4). 3.2 Component 1: Network Creation and Service Objective: Ensuring information circulation and optimizing benefits from existing initiatives 3. Overview. Actors involved in natural resource management in the Congo Basin agreed that better dissemination of information is the most important objective (see previous chapter). This component will enable users and decision-makers to take advantage of the large amount of environmental information already available. 4. Setting up the primary network. During the preparation phase, several public, private and non-governmental agencies were selected by National Work Groups (NWG) to constitute an initial primary network. Selection criteria were: (i) having a national or regional mandate which makes them key actors in collecting, processing, storing and disseminating environmental information, (ii) having the technical and human capacity to participate effectively in the project, and (iii) being actively involved in the preparation phase. As members of the initial REIMP network, these agencies will have both rights and duties. (see Table 4) 5. New agencies joining the network. During the course of the project, new agencies which are involved in environmental information management, biodiversity conservation and forestry could join the network. In addition, it is envisaged that agencies focusing on socio-economic issues particularly relevant to the project objectives and working directly with the local populations will also join the network (e.g., refugee/migrant assistance agencies, NGOs focusing on land tenure and the rights of indigenous people, rural radio stations). By joining the network, 14 each newcomer agrees to both the network rules and the terms of the data exchange policy regulating the circulation of REIMP information. Members who do not follow the rules could be dropped from the network. Table 4: Rights and Duties of the network agencies Rights Duties * free equipment, training, technical assistance * responsibility to carry out specific tasks within and access to Internet plus financial resources the project to carry out or sub- contract field surveys * free access to other REIMP members' * provide other REIMP members with free information access to its information. * sell other REIMP members' information and * share the benefits of information sales with reception of royalties whenever one of their other REIMP members which contributed to products is sold by other REIMP members the products sold * improve other REIMP members' existing * disseminate own knowledge within REIMP products and sell the enhanced product network * market products and services realized within * perform according to monitoring indicators the frame of the project target values. * define and submit new products or services to . promote the expertise of REIMP members be financed by the project 6. Promoting and harmonizing standards for data collection and integration. Because of the involvement of a multiplicity of actors, it will be necessary to establish a set of standards for information gathering, processing, storage and dissemination. The project does not intend to create new standards to be added to existing ones, but to make the most useful standards more easily available to a wide range of users or newcomers in the region. Harmonization of these standards will be achieved through the information services described above and regional workshops. 7. Implementing or improving telecommunication infrastructure including Internet facilities. Development of cost-effective computer-aided telecommunications is of high interest in a region where international calls may cost up to US$ 6 per minute. During the preparation phase, the REIMP helped improve electronic mail facilities within the Congo Basin by installing basic Internet servers in each country and providing the main REIMP agencies with electronic mail (both equipment and connection). The project will expand this telecommunication service by offering the same facilities to a wide range of users mainly operating in NRM. After a few months, the system should evolve to enable full Internet applications and transfer of large volumes of data using as much as possible already existing private Internet service providers. 8. Developing information services. The REIMP intends to develop information services in the form of: * An archive database, whose purpose is to collect existing maps and reports related to NRM. To enable quick and secure retrieval, valuable documents will be converted in a digital format through scanning or digitizing. This is especially important in view of the lack of climate- controlled document storage facilities in the region (vital documents often deteriorate beyond use or are available only outside the region). * National and regional libraries on environment in order to satisfy external requests for information. Particular attention will be paid to dissemination mechanisms including research and referencing of new documents, reproduction or new edition of old documents, conversion to adequate exchange formnats, and regular publication of a directory. * National compilations of laws and rules related to NRM, especially within countries subject to 15 new environmental regulations. Such compilations are considered a key product to: (i) disseminate new regulations nation-wide, (ii) identify areas where legal instruments need to be strengthened, (iii) assist administrations in charge of monitoring natural resource exploitation in attributing concessions and controlling activities within authorized areas, and (iv) help private operators better prepare their management plans. 9. Developing catalogues and rosters. This activity is essential for promoting data, services, and human skills in Central Africa. It includes: * The development of a meta-database which references databases created by projects and international organizations, paper documents such as photos, reports or maps, as well as socio-economic data sources for users interested in taking into account interactions between environmental and socio-economic factors (e.g., urbanization rates, poverty levels and deforestation) into account. A first version has been prepared, together with a user-friendly tool to view the references. The meta-database will reflect the state of information on the Congo Basin and will be regularly updated and will be freely accessible by external clients. * The elaboration of a REIMP expert roster to meet managers' demand for both recognized and high-level skills in basic and thematic mapping, database management, and biodiversity and forest resource management. * A directory of products and services provided by the REIMP. Products include all the REIMP realizations as described in the user-oriented production component (see section 3.4). Services include training courses offered by any REIMP agency and specific works for which demand exists and for which a specialized REIMP agency could be contracted as a bidder. Examples of specific works are multi-resource inventories, mapping works, development of Web pages, etc. 3.3 Component 2: Decision-Making and Communication Objective: Encouraging decision-makers to use environmental information and facilitating soundplanningfor land use in the Congo Basin. 10. Overview. Involvement of decision-makers was identified by the major stakeholders in NRM as the second most important issue to be addressed by the REIMP. This component aims to help decision-makers, mainly at the national and regional level, use information on natural resources in planning and monitoring. 11. Organizing sensitization and communication workshops for decision-makers. The REIMP network will provide a platform for raising the environmental awareness of decision- makers within the region. The success of the four REIMP workshops, which offered decision- makers opportunities to discuss together issues related to NRM and exchange experience on biodiversity conservation, demonstrated the benefits of this kind of activity. As a consequence, the project provides for two sets of workshops, one to focus on NRM and provide guidelines for sound planning and monitoring of land use, the other to increase the confidence of decision- makers in environmental information systems and encourage their active participation in product design and development. 12. Developing user-friendly information tools and elaborating a regional report on the environment. Existing management tools are generally inadequate to enable national decision- makers to plan and monitor natural resource use with a medium-to-long term perspective. The REIMP aims to develop and disseminate user-friendly tools such as Tableaux de Bord (comprehensive summaries of information) for decision-makers. These Tableaux de Bord will include: (i) indicators on environmental issues such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, 16 watershed degradation, erosion, pressure on peri-urban environment; (ii) socio-economic indicators such as population growth trends, population movement trends, poverty levels, ethnic distribution and land tenure systems; (iii) synthetic mapping ("country at a glance"); (iv) maps combining environmental and socio-economic data, such as maps of social risks and potential conflict; (v) catalogues of existing data; and (vi) access to analytical modeling facilities in order to visualize different socio-economic scenarios. This activity will be managed at the regional level by the project management unit which will sub-contract work as needed. Such information will be compiled into a regional report on the environment that will be a valuable planning instrument for the donor community. 13. Developing communication tools for rural populations. At the grassroots level, the REIMP plans to hold participative village-centered workshops to sensitize rural population against non-sustainable local practices (e.g., slash-and-bum, poaching), and to encourage meetings between national administrations and local communities. Possibility will also be given through the Regional Fund for Local Initiatives (see Chapter 4) to undertake a number of pilot initiatives to develop information services accessible and useful to grassroots communities (posters, street theater, radio programs in local languages, etc.). 14. Elaborating communication tools for the public. The REIMP will assist agencies to develop a set of tools specifically designed to increase public awareness of environmental issues. Such tools will include: (i) regular publications and newsletters (using also Web sites) that will keep the various stakeholders informed of findings and results of the REIMP and other projects, and (ii) elaboration of guides and dictionaries with a special focus on the various uses of non- timber forest products and the promotion of local traditional knowledge and practices. 3.4 Component 3: User-Oriented Production Objective: Providing users with environmental information meeting their demand 15. Overview. In spite of the huge amount of information on natural resources in reports, inventories, maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images already available, serious gaps remain and affect decision-making. This component aims at filling such gaps. 16. Producing and updating basic environmental information. The REIMP will provide all the actors involved in NRM (conservation agencies, private companies, national administrations) with regularly updated basic landscape information, including topography and land cover. Technical requirements will follow FAO's recommendations (see Annex 2) which favor common specifications and methodology for the whole region. The result will be the following products: * border-to-border radar coverage of the entire region (4 millions kmi2) to provide users with cost-effective background information necessary for cartographic and inventory applications; * topographical and land cover databases and maps at a scale of 1:200,000 in the areas where basic landscape information is in high demand: intensive forest logging areas (500,000 km2), biologically sensitive areas (300,000 kM2), urban and suburban areas (50,000 kM2), and coastal zones (300,000 kM2) --the realization of these space-maps could be reinforced with optical and radar satellite images (LANDSAT, SPOT, ERS, JERS etc.); and * databases and geometrically corrected photos for the major urban centers at a scale of 1:50,000, using aerial photography or aerial videography. 17. This information will be complemented by the collection/updating of socio-economic data and information directly or indirectly related to environmental factors. They include: ethnic distribution and conflicts, land ownership and access, land tenure laws (modem and traditional, 17 theoretical and applied), poverty levels and survival strategies, population movement trends (migration, urbanization, refugees), access to basic social services and infrastructure, agricultural techniques, etc. This type of information would largely be generated by specific socio-economic studies to be determined and carried out in the course of project implementation. 18. Producing and updating information on forestry and biodiversity. The project will assist governments in building capacity to assess the status, evolution and best use of their forest and biological resources. This capacity will include: * elaboration of forest zoning plans, as recommended by most national forest strategies; * development of local biodiversity conservation plans to orient and control future investments and conservation activities with the participation of local population in seven biologically sensitive areas in the Congo Basin. 19. Producing and updating information on agriculture and rural development. Even though the REIMP major concerns are related with forest and biodiversity issues, rural development and improvement of the living conditions of the local population are seen as key issues to ensure adequate use and dissemination of environmental information and adoption of sustainable natural resource management practices. Thus the project will also generate key socio-economic information that is necessary to develop integrated investment initiatives, i.e., addressing explicitly the interlinked issues/problems of rural poverty and environmental degradation. 20. Producing information on geological resources and mining extraction. In spite of its minor importance in terms of damage to the Congo Basin rainforest, geological resource exploitation constitutes a significant part of GNP in Central Africa, and extraction is a major cause of pollution. Gabon proposed to elaborate a geological and hydro-geological information system so as to monitor resource depletion and regulate the mining sector. 3.5 Component 4: Capacity Building Objective: Strengthening national capacities 21. Overview. The three components above can not be properly implemented without appropriate equipment, technical assistance and training of local staff. Capacity building will not only support other project objectives, but also provide local expertise an opportunity to serve other projects and clients within the region. 22. Equipment of local agencies. National agencies in charge of environmental information production will receive significant support for equipment purchase and installation. This support will enable agencies to take an active part in the production of REIMP databases by focusing on vector data, and fulfill the demand for specific mapping works at a competitive cost. 23. Technical assistance and training. In the early stages, basic information such as space maps will be quickly produced with the help of outside specialized companies. Meanwhile, technical experts will train and supervise local teams selected by the partners of the primary network to work at the specific products of the information system. On-the-job training and collaboration between foreign and local technicians will ensure progressive technology transfer in favor of local agencies and companies. Technical assistance will be selected on the basis of established experience in the transfer of adapted technologies to developing countries, and its performance evaluated on the basis of successful transfer in this case. 24. Marketing of the national agencies and experts. The project gives high priority to 18 improve the technical reputation of national agencies, as thus far low skill levels and poor marketing have made potential clients prefer expensive survey agencies from developed countries. Participation into REIMP activities will progressively enable national agencies to provide high quality information services. To have a broader impact, appropriate marketing actions will be developed. 3.6 Activities Started during Project Preparation 25. The preparation process. The project has adopted a flexible, participatory approach whereby activities to be financed are identified in broad terms but are not yet planned, making it possible to drop, suspend or redefine activities which may turn out to be inefficient or unnecessary. This flexibility enables the project to respond quickly to changes in users' needs and to maximize project impact in the field. The effort to actively involve all major stakeholders and to collaborate with different agencies and projects has avoided duplication and produced a synergetic effect. For example, table in annex 7 shows the large participation of donors and NGOs during appraisal mission in March 1997. Below is a summary of activities that have been carried out during the preparation phase. They represent an illustration of the participatory approach that characterizes the REIMP, as well as an indication of the commitment shown by all stakeholders. For component 1 (promoting information circulation): • created National Work Groups, who have assessed user needs for geo-referenced information and tools for natural resource management in each project country; * set up, with the active involvement of all stakeholders, the institutional, technical and funding framework of the REIMP (see Chapter 4); * secured collaboration of National Work Groups at the preparation of the national project documents; * set up a telecommunication network; * produced a meta-database; and * produced an archive database. For component 2 (involving decision makers): * held four regional workshops during which decision-makers worked together with other stakeholders (Yaounde, February 1996; Libreville, October 1996; Brazzaville, March 1997; Bata, October 1997). For component 3 (providing information): * carried out preliminary surveys on biodiversity and forestry (forest inventories); and * at the request of network members, produced a 1:1,000,000 database to provide REIMP partners with small scale data on topography, land cover, soils, biodiversity, social and economic pressure for quick action. For component 4 (strengthening national capacities): * supporting regional team work between the Gabonese and Central African Work Groups; * participation of national technicians to a seminar on remote sensing at the University of Maryland in January 1997; and * improvement of technical knowledge and comprehension of information management issues through technical assistance during the preparation missions and the regional workshops. 19 Table 5: Logical Framework of the Project Narrative summary (1) Prep(2) Objective 1 Ensuring information circulation and optimizing benefits from existing initiatives. [ Network Creation and Service Component ] Expected results I A national network on environmental information is created or strengthened 2. Mechanisms of dissemination within the network are established 3. Ongoing projects promote their results and products through the REIMP 4. Existing information on the Environment is gathered and easily accessible to private sector, NGOs and local population Activities 1. Setting up the primary network 2. Promoting and harmonizing standards for data collection and integration 3 Implementing or improving telecommunication infrastructure including Internet facilities 4. Developing information services (archive database, national and regional libraries, compilation of 0 laws and rules) 5 Developing directories and rosters (meta-database, rosters of experts, training and products directories) Objective 2 Encouraging decision-makers to use environmental information and facilitating sound land use planning in the Congo Basin. [Decision-Making and Communication Component] Expected results 1. Dialog between decision-makers and information producers is .mproved 2. Decision-makers are provided with both land use planning and monitoring tools 3. Capacity to monitor implementation of land use decisions is enhanced Activities 1. Organizing sensitization and communication workshops for decision-makers 0 2. Developing user-friendly information tools (tableaux de bord) and elaborating a regional report on 0 the Environment 3. Developing communication tools for rural populations (village-centered workshops, posters, radio,...) 4. Developing communication tools for public (guides, dictionaries,...) Objective 3 Providing users with additional environmental information meeting their demand [User- Oriented Production Component] Expected results I. A basic information platform is established and meet the demand 2. Level of information on the biodiversity status, trends, and threats is increased and conservation priorities are set 3. Natural resource zoning is facilitated Activities 1. Producing and updating basic information (topographical and land cover maps) 2. Producing and updating information on forestry and biodiversity (national and subnational forest zoning plans, local conservation plans, forest and biodiversity monitoring system) 3. Producing and updating information on agriculture and rural development (market price observatories, land use zoning plans, peri-urban management plans, slash-and-bum monitoring system) 4. Producing and updating information on geological resources and mine extraction Objective 4 Strengthening national capacities. [Capacity-Building Component] Expected results 1. National agencies are able to manage and use information technologies for information production and environmental monitoring 2. National agencies are renowned for their competencies 3. Local experts are involved in information component of ongoing and future projects Activities 1. Equipment of local agencies 2. Technical assistance and training of national staff _ 3. Marketing of the national agencies and experts (I) indicative as per the 1997 annual work plan, may change during the project. (2)0 = Activities already initiated in preparation. CHAPTER 4: Project Organization and Policies 4.1 Project Organization I. Memorandum of Understanding. In recognition of the importance of environmental information for NRM, and therefore for sustainable development, the six project countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on environmental data exchange within the Congo Basin region. This Memorandum of Understanding constitutes the foundations and the guiding principles for the project. 2. Institutional design. The REIMP comprises a number of national sub-projects running in parallel and financed by different donors on a contractual basis. These sub-projects are entrusted to the national partners of the primary network, which will be responsible for REIMP database production and the update and dissemination of data. The primary network is constituted as an international association registered in Gabon. Its members include major governmental agencies, private sector firms and NGOs involved in environmental information management. They were identified during project preparation by National Work Groups. Membership mechanisms have been defined with the members themselves and are described in the Operating Manual which defines implementation procedures for the project; it is envisaged that new agencies will be able to join the network throughout the life of the project, while non-performing members may be asked to drop out of the network. Each member will sign a separate agreement detailing its rights, benefits and obligations within the network (see Chapter 3). Project partners have also expressed interest in the constitution of thematic families transcending national networks to allow for more specialized exchanges (e.g., forestry family, computer science family, mapping family and biodiversity family). Membership in the thematic families will be open to all members of the primary network; modalities still need to be worked out. _ Regional Coordinator and Prjct Managernant Unit l Cn. dia toan and National Pqo 14-Mgn.ant Units * Agencies Fiur 1Sructure of he, eIM pmryntr \~~~~~~~~adsakrecws Figure l: Structure of the REIMP primary network 22 3. Regional Project Coordination. The Association pour le Developpement de l 'Information Environnementale dans la sous-region du Bassin du Congo (ADIE) will ensure global coordination, provide direction and policy for project execution, overview the project at the regional level, and decide on the composition of the primary network. ADIE comprises representatives of NGOs, of the governments and of the private sector from each national network. ADIE recruits the REIMP Regional Coordinator who acts as the representative of the association, and who is responsible for supervising, monitoring and evaluating the sub-projects, as well as providing regional services such as the loading of data for the regional database. The Regional Coordinator will be supported by permanent technical and administrative assistants. REIMP partners decided that ADIE will be located in Libreville at the beginning of the project; in the long run, however, ADIE activities could be transferred to an existing regional or national institution, including an NGO or a private company. 4. Counterpart Agencies. The REIMP counterpart in each country will be: * Ministry of Environment and Forests in Cameroon; * Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, Hunting and Fishery in CAR; * Ministry of Education and Research in Congo; * Ministry of Health and Environment in Equatorial Guinea; * Ministry of Planning, Environment and Tourism in Gabon; and * Ministry of Environment, Conservation of Nature, and Tourism in DRC. 5. Each counterpart agency has designated a National Coordinator, with limited support staff, to supervise sub-project implementation agreements between national agencies and ADIE, and to promote network members (terms of reference are in the Operating Manual). 6. New countries joining the network. Sao Tome and Principe has already expressed its interest in joining the regional network, and other countries of Central Africa may become interested as well. To allow new countries to be part of the regional network, the following process has been designed in agreement with the first six countries: * The requesting country must first create a national network and nominate a National Coordinator. * This country has to make sure that the Government ratified the Biodiversity Convention and signed the Memorandum of Understanding on regional cooperation for environmental information management. * The request has to be made with a letter to the ADIE's President, detailing the above arrangements. * The Regional Coordinator together with the President of ADIE and the donors organizes an appraisal mission. ADIE and the donors evaluate the technical, financial and institutional arrangements proposed by the requesting country. * ADIE puts the membership of the requesting country agencies on the agenda of its following meeting. The members of the association vote (two thirds majority). The membership of the new agencies becomes effective when the government signs the Memorandum of Understanding. Informal exchanges are encouraged before ratification (consistent with REIMP philosophy), even though the new agencies will not yet be eligible for financing. 23 4.2 Programming and Funding Mechanisms 7. Funding basics. There will be potentially four types of funding: * contributions from the Governments of the six member countries; * external funds channeled at the regional level through ADIE; * external funds channeled directly to a network member by a donor; * contributions from the resources of a network member including revenues from products and services sales. The allocation of the GEF funds will be managed centrally and used as the funding of last resort to finance incremental costs which could not be funded otherwise and are eligible under GEF criteria. GEF funding will be passed to network members in the form of Implementation Agreements specifying the activity to be financed and expected outputs. 8. Funding mechanisms. There will be essentially two funding mechanisms. One will allow donors to enter into funding agreements directly to members of the primary network for the execution of activities agreed upon at the yearly planning meetings of ADIE. The Regional Coordinator will provide technical monitoring and supervision, acting as an administrator for the donor. The other mechanism will see funding from donors and (potentially) governments channeled through ADIE, which will enter into Implementation Agreements with agencies and administer, supervise and monitor all aspects of agreement implementation. Funding channeled through ADIE will have two purposes: (a) the execution by network members of activities agreed upon at the yearly planning meetings of the ADIE, and (b) the execution of activities financed by the Regional Fund for Local Initiatives (see below). 9. Yearly work plans. Once a year, before November 15, ADIE will meet with donors to examine the various proposals put forth by the National Coordinators and consolidated by the Regional Coordinator into a tentative work plan for the upcoming year. Proposals will be evaluated according to the criteria detailed in the Operating Manual; their acceptance and inclusion in the yearly work plan will be on the basis of such criteria as well as of donor funding priorities. Annex 6 shows the yearly work plans for the first year of the project. Mid-year review sessions (in June) will assess progress and performance in carrying out agreements to implement the work plan and, if needed, amend the plan for the remainder of the year. ADIE will be responsible for preparing appropriate documentation for the mid-year review and make it available to stakeholders on its Web site. 10. The Regional Fund for Local Initiatives. To add flexibility to the planning and execution processes, the REIMP will establish a Regional Fund for Local Initiatives (REFLI). This fund is meant to allow for the implementation of small scale activities that are not included in the yearly program agreed upon by the ADIE, but that are pertinent to the objectives of the project. This covers initiatives that emerge during project implementation and imply only limited investments, but that deserve immediate support from the project point of view . In particular it is meant to complement REIMP core activities by stressing the relationship between environmental issues and socio-economic factors. In addition, because it will be open to agencies which are not network members (e.g., national universities or research centers; other NGOs), it will give an opportunity for lesser known organizations to prove their competence and to nurse working relationships with well-established agencies. The REFLI will finance (or co-finance): * activities that respond to the environmental information need of the local populations; * activities that contribute to collecting and disseminating environmental information directly linked to specific socio-economic aspects of the local populations; * the realization of new products and services; and 24 * the collaboration with ongoing projects, private companies, or NGOs on specific information activities. 11. Micro-initiatives financing criteria. ADIE will be entitled to receive investment requests coming from REIMP network members, as well as from ongoing projects, private companies and NGOs outside the network as long requests fulfill the following criteria: * the request fits in one or more REIMP objectives; * the activity to be financed will be carried out within the project area; * the activity to be financed is directly linked to the local populations; * the request concerns innovative pilot activities; * the fund receiver will have to contribute 25% to the estimated total costs of the activity (in cash or in kind); * the amount requested does not exceed US$ 30,000 equivalent; * the activity is performed within less than 18 months. The project's Operational Manual will provide details regarding the criteria for allocation and utilization of the REFLI, and on the expected profile/qualifications of NGOs and other potential funding applicants. 4.3 Data Exchange Policy 12. The data exchange policy. Project management and implementation will be facilitated by the adoption of a clear data exchange policy by the network institutions. This policy will provide network members with general principles and guidelines on formats, accessibility, archiving and distribution of data collected and produced under the REIMP. This will make it easier to assess project impact, identify information gaps, avoid duplication, facilitate information circulation and encourage cooperation between institutions. The data exchange policy will be based on the following principles: * It should promote a decentralized archiving approach, whereby each institution in charge of producing information (the producer) will be responsible for the storage of its intermediate and final products (for security reason a copy of the final product will also be automatically archived in the ADIE and in the national documentation center where existing). * The dissemination of the products will be under the responsibility of the producer and ADIE, which will agree on the dissemination strategy and set the price together. Dissemination of intermediate products should be encouraged when projects take years to generate the final products. In case of sensitive information, different precision level for the data will be considered according to the potential uses and users of the information (for their private utilization, other network members could access the product at reproduction cost and upon request). * Other network members will be authorized to disseminate copies of the product upon acceptance by the producer. An agreement between the producer and the disseminating network member will fix the respective level of compensation. * Network members are encouraged to add value to existing products and disseminate the new, improved product. Once again, an agreement between contributors will set the level of remuneration according to the profits generated. * The integration of various data type from disparate sources is facilitated by adherence to established map precision and accuracy standards. * Documentation on data source, scale, collection and processing methodology and lineage will be collected and archived by the producing institutions. This inforrnation will be made available to other users with the dissemination of the data. For comparability, a common methodology for data collection and processing will be encouraged. 25 13. Data exchange facilities. ADIE will make full use of electronic facilities (Internet and meta-database development) to disseminate information on the data collected and produced by the network members. The project will also assist the six countries in developing the appropriate legal framework to regulate environmental information management, focusing primarily on the harmonization of copyright law and contract law. 4.4 Involvement of the Private Sector 14. Rationale. The participation of the private sector in the project will make it possible to learn from companies' experience while increasing the network capacity to raise funds beyond the project period, hence ensuring its sustainability. Moreover, it will be the first opportunity for government, NGOs and the private sector in the Congo Basin to collaborate on envirommental issues. Private companies who will participate into the REIMP process include: (i) companies dealing with information data processing, mapping or communication, (ii) companies using environmental information, including oil, mining and logging companies, and, to a lesser extent, civil works contractors (ports and roads), ecotourism operators, pharmaceutical laboratories and agricultural industrialists. The first group is to be considered as the information providers' group and the second one as the users' group. 15. Incentives for participation. From the point of view of the private sector, incentives to take part in the project include: (i) economic interests because of the low cost, reliability and ready availability of REIMP products; (ii) the opportunity to improve their own competence while working with high level technicians; (iii) the opportunity to secure their supply (loggers, miners) or to develop new business (roads, port builders); and (iv) a strong political motivation to establish better relations with the other actors involved by improving their own image (this applies mainly to the oil companies and loggers). 16. Role of private sector within the REIMP. The relationship between private companies and the REIMP will be based on the following three different potential situations: (1) a client/supplier relationship, whereby private companies are not part of the network but may sell or purchase goods (e.g., databases, maps, inventories), or services (e.g., digitizing works, field surveys, specific mapping activities); (2) a technical partnership, whereby private companies will join the project as a network member, thus gaining access to all the network products, but also making available their own environmental information (e.g., forest inventories for loggers, geological maps from miners) or funding the creation of new information (e.g., maps, surveys) that will be specifically useful for their own activities (they could also make available facilities and services such as field camps, technical equipment for image processing, expert weeks and training centers); (3) a political partnership, whereby some companies, especially international ones, may prefer to support the project through unallocated funds. 4.5 Involvement of NGOs and local communities 17. Need for NGO involvement in the project. The complexities of natural resource management have become more apparent as experience is gained in this process, and the increased recognition of the limitations of the public sector has led to a greater awareness of what different actors in civil society can contribute. NGOs and community-based organizations often have very close contacts with the users of natural resources and have therefore a key role to play. Working with NGOs can increase project outreach and sustainability, facilitate consultation with 26 local people and promote empowerment at the grassroots level. In Central Africa, the NGO community is not yet well established and faces significant institutional, legal, financial and political problems. Presently, the institutional capacity of local NGOs and local communities is inadequate to fully participate in environmental information management. Indeed, strengthening the capacity of NGOs within the Congo Basin to contribute to the natural resources management process is an important issue for many international NGOs (e.g., WWF, WCS, IUCN) and official agencies (e.g., USAID, the European Community, the World Bank, GTZ, French Cooperation, IFAD, CIDA, UNDP, UNIDO, FAO). The REIMP will contribute to this objective by encouraging the involvement of local NGOs and communities through the activities financed by the REFLI. 4.6 Project Monitoring, Accounting and Auditing Requirements 18. Purpose of the Monitoring and Evaluation System. The main purpose of the Monitoring and Evaluation System is to set mutually agreed, realistic and clear objectives for each activity, and to measure gaps between actual and targeted objectives. In this way, problems encountered while implementing each activity can be readily identified, and corrective measures taken in a timely manner. The Monitoring and Evaluation System is precisely described in Annex 3. 19. Actors. The system is operated by the Grantees themselves; a monitoring team is in charge of the system: it is composed of one person per country who is in charge of monitoring at a national level and one person from the permanent team of ADIE who is in charge of monitoring at a regional level. This team is responsible for collecting the data, ensuring the distribution of data from the consolidated system and identifying the problems encountered by activities. The system is accessible to all stakeholders. 20. Information. One of the most original features of the Monitoring and Evaluation System designed for the REIMP is the integration of data from various sources. This makes it possible to obtain for each activity a complete set of information which provides in a synthetic form a status report (disbursements, commitments, implementation progress, geographical representation etc.) and a chronological overview (calendar of activities, flow of funds, etc.). While the final output is an integrated set of information, the inputting process has been designed to avoid all confusion, and responsibilities are clearly differentiated--for example, financial data are the financial director's exclusive responsibility. 21. Indicators, summary tables and reports. Before the activity starts, measuring indicators will be defined jointly by all stakeholders, and target-values determined. During activity implementation, indicators will be transmitted monthly from the executing agencies to the National Project management Unit, and from the National Project management Unit to ADIE, where the whole system will be updated and summary tables produced quarterly. Summary tables will be made available to all stakeholders through Internet. In addition, twice a year the ADIE will produce a monitoring and evaluation report which will serve as the basis for a workshop to discuss problems and agree on correcting measures or --in extreme cases--decide to terminate the activity. 22. Donor monitoring. The World Bank will carry out project supervision at least twice a year, in joint missions with other donors. A multidonor mid-term review will be conducted during the third year of the project. Assurances have been obtained during negotiations that: (a) Grantees and donors shall conduct, not later than three years after the effectiveness of the project, a mid- term Project Implementation Review; (b) no later than six weeks prior to this review, the 27 Grantees shall furnish a report that includes an evaluation of implementation progress by the Grantees, an analysis of key problems that have emerged during implementation, and a draft action program to be carried out through the completion of the Project; (c) the Grantees shall carry out promptly the recommendations of the mid-term review. In addition, a beneficiary assessment will be carried out to obtain feed-back from, and measure impact on, decision- makers, network members and grassroots communities in areas touched by project activities. 23. Accounting. Executing agencies will contract directly with ADIE and not with the World Bank. The execution of the contract will be controlled by ADIE, but the financial statements of the executing agencies will not be audited unless it is specified in the contract. Therefore, only ADIE accounting will be audited. ADIE will maintain an adequate accounting system, satisfactory to the World Bank, to allow for accurate and timely recording of its operations, and will prepare annual financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Annual financial statements prepared for audit will consist of the cumulative account since Grant effectiveness, a summary of the special account and a summary of reimbursements and replenishments claimed under the statement of expenditures (SOE) procedures 24. Auditing. Annual financial statements of GEF-financed components will be prepared and audited in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISA). In addition, the audits will be performed by or in association with a member of the International Federation of Accountants acceptable to the World Bank. By June 30 of each year, ADIE will submit to the World Bank audited financial statements for the preceding financial fiscal year. The auditor's report will include: (i) a statement of expenditures, (ii) a statement of special account, and (iii) a long-form report or management letter commenting on the adequacy of the accounting system and internal controls. Furthermore, ADIE, in association with all donors, will explore the possibility and implications of harmonizing auditing standards and procedures regardless of the origin of funds. 25. Evaluation. In addition to periodic reports and the mid-term review, ADIE will produce within six months after the end of the project a comprehensive report on the achievements of the REIMP, that is, its performance, impact and the main lessons learned. I CHAPTER 5: Benefits, Justification and Risks 5.1 Types of Economic Benefits 1. Environmental information products and services. The REIMP will result in the provision of enhanced as well as entirely new information products and services, covering a wide range of outputs targeted at a wide range of users. The information products include dissemination of existing information, new or updated inventories of selected resources and environmentally- significant areas, maps of different types, and aggregated indicators of environmental status. Software products will focus on decision-support applications for specific decision-makers. Technical services will focus on communications and technical support for gathering and disseminating environmental information. Some benefits may also result from spin-off activities of the individuals and/or organizations who receive training as part of the project and apply the resulting skills in other sectors. 2. Information users. The recipients of the expected benefits will comprise users from different organizations as well as individuals who benefit from capacity building activities. The organizations identified at this time include: national governments, public organizations, local and municipal authorities, oil companies, mining companies, logging companies, the ecotourism industry, pharmacology firms, private sector consultants, NGOs, international aid organizations, and bilateral aid agencies. A detailed table of potential users and the priority needs that they have identified is given in Annex 1, table 1.3. 3. Categories of benefits. From an analytical perspective, the benefits that these individuals and organizations will receive can be grouped into three categories for the purpose of this project: * First, there will be marketable products and services emanating from the project that will result in financial transactions. The project will enhance the present situation, in terms of product quality and production capacity, and new products and services will also appear. * Second, there will be cost-savings in the delivery of outputs that would otherwise have been produced at a higher cost because of economies of scale and the introduction of more efficient technologies. This will not result in a market transaction, but will release resources to be utilized for other useful purposes. The value of such cost saving is the economic benefit of the marginal activity that is thereby allowed. Since this may not be possible to determine and measure, the direct cost reduction will be used as a proxy. * Third, public information goods will be available as a result of the project but for which the willingness to pay cannot be assessed by registering a market transaction, as in the first case. Comparison can be made with the revealed willingness to pay within the international community to have access to environmental information and to support biodiversity protection. Contingent valuation method offers another opportunity to assess willingness to pay. While this type of assessment can never be very precise, it will underpin the ultimately political decision as to whether or not the benefits are of a sufficient magnitude. 4. Benefits quantification. Although the third type of benefits is very important to the region and may be the most important type from the viewpoint of the GEF facility, it is also the hardest to quantify. Therefore, the economic analysis will try to quantify mainly the first two types of benefits. Given the wide range of potential beneficiaries, the estimate of benefits will also focus 30 on a selected subset of the potential data users who are the most likely to be the major and earliest users of the products and services. 0 5. Benefits due to marketable products and services. The expected benefits due to marketable services and products were assessed for a set of organizations in the countries of the project. The assessment of improved existing products and services included topographical maps, thematic maps, biodiversity and forestry inventories and data reproduction services. The assessment of potential new services included Internet services, land use maps and quality control activities. These are summarized in Annex 1. It is expected that the data production organizations will capture the majority of the benefits for marketable products and services by pricing the services according to the market. There will be additional benefits in the formn of consumer surplus for the data users which is not indicated here. This is therefore a conservative estimate of the economic benefits to be derived. 6. Benefits due to cost savings. The second category of benefits quantified for this project consist of expected cost savings due to economies of scale (e.g., lower unit prices for products or services due to a greater volume) and to the use of new technology (e.g., satellite imagery) where it is not currently used. These benefits also accrue to a wide range of users.3 The amount of benefits that were estimated in this category are given in Annex 1. 7. Benefits due to public information goods. There will be an important category of benefits in the form of public goods that are not marketable, but for which, through a contingent valuation method, a quantification is possible. The two main types of such benefits are improved biodiversity monitoring and conservation, and improved forestry management and mining operations. Information can also enhance the quality of public environmental policy. 8. Financial cost and sustainability. As noted above under marketable products and services, the project is expected to generate revenues from the data produced and disseminated by members of the REIMP network. The total revenues are estimated to be equal to the benefits for the first category as described above. This is currently estimated to total US$ 0.45 million per year in the base year (year one after the project completion) and to increase by an average of 2 percent per year. During the first year of the project, ADIE members will establish membership fees that will increase the total revenues. Partnership with associated fees could also be defined if the association convinces several non member agencies to become partner in order to benefit at lower cost from ADIE products and services. 9. This will result in full recovery of recurrent costs by the year five. There are additional recurrent costs between year one and year four, for an amount of US$ 0.5 million over four years. The commitment of the governments and stakeholders to cover these costs is a condition of sustainability of the system. Revenues are expected to exceed recurrent costs in the following years and to constitute a source of additional financing for project-related activities (Figure 2). The benefits were based on a limited number of estimates from interviews of the potential users relying on a willingness to pay survey. 31 0.7 0.4 - US$ million _ - 0.3 0.1 O , 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Years After project cornpleton Revenues - Recurrent costs Figure 2: Cost recovery after project completion 5.2 Justification for GEF Involvement 10. Rationale for GEF financing. The project will promote basic environmental information and will develop expertise and scientific knowledge to assist policy makers in developing a knowledge-based information network that will facilitate sustainable management of natural resources and conservation of biodiversity in the Congo Basin. The project will provide the information needed to support the development ,of regional and national strategies for conservation of biodiversity and optimize biodiversity management and planning in the Congo Basin. Better monitoring and planning capacity will enhance forest habitat protection and biodiversity conservation, and help identify new areas to protect. In this way, the project contributes to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Agenda 21, to which all Congo Basin countries are signatories. The global environmental benefits of the project come especially from the fact that environmental information is a public good. The GEF component of the project focuses on this global environmental aspect, which requires making a distinction between domestic and global costs and benefits. When global benefits exist, it is appropriate for GEF to fund the incremental costs required to generate the global environmental benefits. 11. GEF program to conserve forest ecosystems. The project will be a component of the GEF Forest Ecosystem Operational Program. It will be the first ecosystem-wide component of an evolving GEF operational sub-program for the globally-significant tropical forest of the Congo Basin. The project will complement the largely site-specific biodiversity conservation projects that the GEF is supporting in several of the participating countries (Cameroon, CAR, Congo, Gabon) by establishing a comprehensive national and region-wide information system and the tools with which to apply that information to ecosystem planning and to the monitoring of both forestry and conservation initiatives. The project will also complement the biodiversity activities that are just getting underway in the region by improving the existing, inadequate environmental information on which their initial work will be based and updating that information over time to identify trends in the condition of the ecosystem. 32 5.3 Rationale for a Regional Project 12. The Regional Approach. The regional approach of the project will make it possible to: * address the Congo Basin biome conservation as a whole; * ensure compatibility and integration of the various national outputs; * address trans-border issues such as migration, transhumance, refugee movements and poaching; * profit from economies of scale on investments, production costs and technical preparation expenses; * facilitate relationships with other global networks; * facilitate the development of common policies on forestry and natural resources within the region; and * establish a technical and institutional framework to identify and implement projects and programs in biodiversity, forestry and environment as well as in other related sectors. 5.4 Risks 13. Political instability. The sub-region continues to be politically unstable, but the project's design has been specifically tailored to this situation. Its flexible and modular network approach allows regional activities to continue if one or more of the national units is not fully functional. If necessary, a national group can also work temporarily outside its country using the facilities of another. Successful completion of the preparation work has shown that the system is truly flexible and functional in an unstable environment. 14. Insufficient capacity of the govemments to undertake the project. The six countries in the region are facing difficult economical and/or political situations. National capacity and political will are already under stress and may not be sufficiently strong to undertake such a project. To mitigate this weakness, the project will endeavor to create a synergetic effect with other initiatives within the donor community, NGOs and the private sector. The highly participatory approach adopted during preparation has already resulted in fruitful collaborations and will be pursued throughout implementation. 15. Weak commitment of the decision-makers to use the information system. Project outputs will provide key data for managing national priorities and strengthening national capacities. From the donors' point of view, this project can also provide an opportunity to discuss global policy and project portfolios in a more transparent way with the governments of the region. The project cannot succeed, however, without the commitment of decision-makers to use the system and to allow the system to work as planned (free access to information, etc.). To mitigate this risk, decision-makers have been fully involved in the preparation process in order to give them a sense of ownership and ensure that project activities are useful to them. This, in turn, will give them a stake in the success of the project. 16. Poor relationships with other regional and national projects. To be efficient, the REIMP will work in close collaboration with the other environmental projects within the region and make sure that outputs are useful to them. Different project management teams have been contacted, and collaboration arrangements have been proposed to them during the preparation stage. Specific arrangements have been made with the FAO's AFRICOVER team in order to share technical facilities and competencies. The continental AFRICOVER Program, which has been officially requested by most of the six governments, will be included in the REIMP activities to avoid duplication. 33 17. Difficult project coordination. Given the network approach adopted, coordination plays an essential role -- among national network members, among National Work Groups and between National Work Groups and the ADIE. Through regular workshops and well developed communication networks, it is expected that such multi-level coordination will be achieved. In addition, the existence of National Coordinators should facilitate smooth collaboration among national network members, while the Regional Coordinator will ensure coordination between countries and on regional initiatives. 18. Excessive complexity. The regional approach taken by this project, building on national networks in six different countries, is necessarily complex. However, this approach makes it possible to develop common approaches to similar problems, thus providing an element of simplification to counterbalance the complexity. The institutional set-up of the project has been simplified as much as possible, by establishing a light project management unit and avoiding the creation of new agencies. In addition, the project has been designed in a modular way, so that failure to make progress in any one country will not significantly affect the success of the project as a whole. 19. Sustainability. Although economic benefits of EISs are clear (see Annex 1), it is generally difficult to make them sustainable because users often find it natural that governments and donors should finance them since they are of global interest. But the risk of progressive disinterest from donors and governments is high and many national and regional agencies expierenced it. It is therefore imperative that ADIE will focus on increasing quickly its revenues in : L. identifying users needs and markets adequate products and services ii. making the members sensitive to sustainability and membership fees iii. trying to developp partnerships with associated fees with agencies that will have access to products and services at lower cost. CHAPTER 6: Project Costs and Financing Plan 6.1 Project Costs 1. Total cost. The total cost of the project is estimated at US$ 19.8 million equivalent, including taxes, and physical and price contingencies, of which US$ 8.9 million equivalent in foreign currency and US$ 10.9 million equivalent in local currencies (Cameroon, CAR, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and DRC). A summary of project costs is given below and detailed tables can be found in Annex 5. Table 6: Project Cost Summary (FCFA '000) (US$ '000) Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Total Cameroon 759,645 597,066 1,356,711 1,266 995 2,261 Central Afrcan Republic 971,510 557,389 1,528,899 1,619 929 2,548 Congo 912,150 553,650 1,465,800 1,520 923 2,443 Democratic Republic of Congo 770,716 821,849 1,592,565 1,285 1,370 2,654 Equatorial Guinea 548,408 299,524 847,932 914 499 1,413 Gabon 618,084 627,876 1,245,960 1,030 1,046 2,077 Regional Coordination* 1,369,116 1,478,294 2,847,410 2,282 2,464 4,746 Baseline Costs 5,949,630 4,935,647 10,885,277 9,916 8,226 18,142 Physical Contingencies 136,863 246,782 383,646 228 411 639 Price Contingencies 1,031,699 368,588 1,400,287 716 259 976 Total Project Costs 7,118,193 5,551,018 12,669,210 10,860 8,897 19,757 * Regional coordination covers support to ADIE and the REFLI. 2. Base Cost. Base costs are estimated in September 1997 prices using the prevailing rates of exchange of FCFA 600 for US$ 1. The average physical contingency for all components is estimated 5 percent of base cost. Price contingencies were applied to base costs over the project implementation period of five years (1998 to 2002). Inflation on foreign exchange costs was calculated at an average rate of 3.5 percent from FY 1998 to FY 2002. The inflation rate on local costs was assumed to be 8 percent during the same period. 6.2 Incremental Costs and Global Environmental Benefits 3. Baseline Scenario. Within the baseline scenario, the major activities that have been designated by the six countries as national economic priorities concern the development and maintenance of comprehensive national environmental and geographical information systems and the effective and reliable internal dissemination of that information to key decision-makers. These components are identified in the Incremental Cost Annex. The improved national information systems will allow monitoring of activities such as logging or concessions, in order to better oversee these activities and collect appropriate fees from the timber companies. The participation of the governments will finance the local taxes and the salaries of the National Working Groups, totaling about US$ 2.6 million. Derived products sales are assumed to cover US$ 0.3 million of the project's budget. Other donors will contribute US$ 12.0 million. 36 4. Global Environmental Benefits of the GEF Alternative. The GEF Alternative will achieve global environmental benefits to complement the national benefits realized under the baseline scenario. It will improve scientific and public knowledge on the Congo Basin ecosystem and assist national policy makers in developing a knowledge-based information network to facilitate the conservation of biodiversity. Global environmental benefits will be generated by the international sharing of information goods and development of improved conservation-oriented national information services. The project will help strengthen public environmental policy and help optimize biodiversity management and planning. For instance, the project will help to identify relevant new protected areas, monitor their status and management and enhance national capacities for biodiversity conservation planning and decision-making. More details are also provided in Chapter 5. 5. Incremental Cost. The requested GEF contribution to cover part of the project's agreed incremental costs is US$ 4.077 million or 21% of total costs. The remaining incremental costs will be financed by the French GEF. This will finance the components that are outside the baseline and will produce additional global benefits. These components are: (i) regional harmonization of the primary network (US$ 0.10 million); (ii) regional workshops, the regional database, and regional environment reports of the decision-makers component (US$ 0.29 million); (iii) regional shared data [images, archives] and ecosystem wide information [biodiversity activities, metadatabase] ($3.93 million), and (iv) for the regional information unit capacity building (US$ 0.58 million). A GEF Grant Agreement will be signed between the World Bank and ADIE for US$ 4.1 million equivalent. A summary of project financing is given below and detailed tables are in Annex 5. Table 7: Project Budget by Source (US$ '000) Other Govemment GEF donors Self-financing Total Cameroon 463 232 1,707 80 2,482 Central African Republic 461 554 1,753 18 2,787 Congo 488 670 1,551 39 2,748 Democratic Republic of Congo 477 537 1,838 63 2,916 Equatorial Guinea 192 179 1,132 49 1,552 Gabon 344 401 1,452 78 2,276 Regional Coordination* 151 1,502 3,344 4,997 Total Project Costs 2,575 4,077 12,778 328 19,757 * Regional coordination covers support to ADIE and the REFLI. 6. Government contribution. The participation of governments will cover local taxes and the salaries for the personnel of public agencies in the network. Two different rules may be applied by the countries to finance local taxes: (i) tax exemption for all goods, equipment or services purchased locally, or (ii) allocation of a local fund to reimburse the taxes. 7. Co-financing. The project will be co-financed according to the following table: 37 Table 8: Cofinancing of the project Financier Amount European Union US$ 4.6 million (ECU 4.0 million) African Development Bank (ADB) US$ 3.0 million (Technical Assistance Fund) Belgium Cooperation (AGCD) US$ 0.3 million per year (10 MBEF) French Cooperation US$ 1.4 million (FF 8 million) IFAD US$ 1.0 million Canadian and German Cooperation are also participating in the co-financing of the activities, but the total amount that would be provided has not been fixed yet. The European Union grant is considered essential for the achievement of the main objectives of the project and, therefore, the signing of such grant will be a condition of effectiveness for the GEF grant. The project would not be fundamentally affected if any of the other donors funding does not materialize. The Yearly Work Plans would take any modification of the co-financing of the project into account by restructuring project activities as necessary. 6.3 Project Preparation 8 Project Preparation Grants. The World Bank, acting as Trustee of the GEF, provided Cameroon, CAR, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon (includes ADIE set-up costs) and DRC with Project Preparation Advances (PPA) of US$ 120,000, US$ 94,000, US$ 55,000, US$ 104,700 and US$ 103,500 equivalent, respectively. A US$ 50,000 fund was also added by the GEF to the project budget to be used by Congo during the preparation phase. These advances are not included in the project costs as they are on a grant basis. 9 Other donor contributions. Other donors have helped finance the REIMP preparation phase by supporting the starting network and the creation of some initial products for a total contribution of US$ 865,000. Donors include: Belgian Cooperation (US$ 600,000), French Cooperation (US$ 100,000), USAID (US$ 60,000), Canadian Trust Fund (US$ 90,000) and Cooperation (US$ 380), and German Cooperation (US$ 25,000). Moreover, costs related to the implementation of a telecommunication network are shared with UNDP, which advanced US$ 150,000, and with the CARPE project ($30,000). 6.4 Procurement 10. Procurement Guidelines. Goods, vehicles, and aerial photographs and mapping, wholly or partly financed by the GEF, will be procured in accordance with the World Bank's "Guidelines for Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits" published by the World Bank in January 1995 and revised in January and August 1996. Consultancy services wholly or partly financed by the GEF and incremental staff funded under the GEF grant will be procured in accordance with the World Bank's Guidelines for Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers published in January 1997. Donor financing of the REIMP will be on a parallel basis and procurement of items financed by other donors will follow the procurement procedures of the respective donors. The following table summarizes procurement arrangements for the GEF (amounts include taxes). Procurement plans will be based on agreed standard processing time. 38 Table 9: Procurement arrangements (US$ '000) Intemational National Competitive Competitive _Bidding Bidding Other N.B.F. Total A. Operating Costs 2,168 6,162 8,330 (2,012) (2,012) B. Consultant Services, 571 6,055 6,626 Studies and Training (564) (564) C. Goods and vehicles 420 105 2,110 2,635 (268) (67) (335) D. Aerial Photographs 1,166 1,166 and Satellite mapping (1,166) (1,166) E. Funds mechanism 1,000 1,000 Total 420 105 3,905 15,327 19,757 (268) (67) (3,742) - (4,077) Note 1: Figures in parentheses are the respective amounts financed by the GEF. Note 2: "Goods" is the category for equipment except vehicles, and includes office, cartographic and field equipment. 11. Common equipment. To enable joint operations and training, and ensure availability of spare parts, the same data and equipment suppliers will be contracted jointly by the six countries using the same technical specifications and implementation schedule, as often as possible. To simplify disbursement, however, separate contracts may be signed with each of the implementing agencies. 12. Vehicles, Goods, aerial photographs and mapping. Vehicles, goods, aerial photographs and satellite mapping, including supplies under Operating Costs, estimated to cost more than US$ 400.000 per contract will be procured through International Competitive Bidding (ICB) and will be bulked to the extent possible. The acquisition of these items estimated to cost less than US$ 400,000 per contract will be procured through Limited International Bidding (LIB), up to an aggregate amount of US$ 1.20 million, provided that the Bank agrees that such items can only be purchased from a limited number of suppliers. The acquisition estimated to cost less than US$ 100,000 per contract will be procured through National Competitive Bidding (NCB), up to an aggregate amount of US$ 100,000, and those estimated to cost less than US$ 30,000 per contract will be procured through international or national shopping, up to an aggregate amount of US$ 1.00 million. This equipment and data will belong to the implementing agencies after the completion of the project, including ADIE. 13. Consultants, studies and training. Recruitment of consulting firms or individual consultants for the strengthening of implementing agencies and training of their personnel will be carried out under the Quality and Cost Based Selection method (QCBS) in accordance with the World Bank's Guidelines. Exceptions to using the QCBS method will apply to financial audits (Least Cost Selection). Individuals will be hired based on procedures described in section V of the Guidelines. 14. World Bank review. Requirements for World Bank review of procurement operations will be as follows: (i) Procurement of goods, vehicles, aerial photographs and satellite mapping: proposal 39 for advertising, draft tender documents, bid evaluation, and award proposals for all contracts exceeding US$ 100,000 will be subject to review by the World Bank prior to their execution. (ii) All consultant contracts expected to cost more than or the equivalent of US$ 50,000 per contract with firms and US$ 25,000 per contract with individuals will be subject to prior review by the World Bank. All other contracts under these thresholds will be subject to post review. For contracts expected to cost more than or the equivalent of US$ 100,000, the World Bank will also require the Technical Evaluation Report for its prior review for non objection before opening of the financial envelopes. (iii) Contracts below the prior review thresholds under (i) and (ii) will be subject to an ex-post review by the World Bank on a selected basis (about one in five contracts). 6.5 Disbursement 15. Categories. The number of disbursement categories will be limited to the five categories of (i) goods and vehicles, (ii) consultants services and training, (iii) aerial photographs and satellite mapping, (iv) operating costs, and (v) unallocated. Costs exclude taxes which is part of the Government contribution. Staff salaries funded by the GEF will be disbursed under the consultants category. This precludes the need for ADIE to manage counterpart funds. Operating costs funded by the GEF cover only a part of the total incremental costs, which are also supported by the Government and other donors. The following table shows the Grant allocation per disbursement category. Table 10: Disbursement of GEF Grant, by categories (US$ million) Amount Share of financing Goods and vehicles 0.30 100 % of foreign expenditure 90 % of local expenditure Consultants services and Training 0.50 100 % Aerial photographs and satellite mapping 1.10 100 % Recipient's Operating costs 1.80 100 % Unallocated 0.40 Total 4.10 16. Special account. Financing and disbursement arrangements will be determined each year in accordance with the annual work plan and funding requirements prepared by ADIE and agreed on with all donors. To facilitate payment of project expenditures and avoid the need for ADIE to pre-finance the GEF's contribution, ADIE will open a special account in French Francs in a commercial bank acceptable to the World Bank under terms and conditions agreed by the World Bank. The authorized allocation will be an amount of French Francs 1,500,000 (US$ 240,000). Fifty percent will be deposited upon Grant effectiveness and the remaining fifty percent when justified by project activities. The special account will be replenished on a monthly basis, or sooner, as needed. Replenishment requests will be fully documented, including the contracts themselves and other supporting documents, except for contracts of less than (i) US$ 100,000 for consultant services (firms), (ii) US$ 50,000 for goods, vehicles and consultant services (individuals), (iii) all operating costs and training costs which may be claimed on the basis of Statement of Expenses (SOE). Documentation of SOEs will be made available for review by World Bank supervision missions, and the annual audit of the special account will include a separate opinion on claims made against SOEs. ADIE will then sign separate Implementation 40 Agreements with network members to carry out the project activities, in accordance with the work plan and funding requirements agreed on with all donors. A standard model of these agreements, satisfactory to the World Bank, will be described in the Project Manual. 17. Disbursement plan. Estimated GEF disbursement is based on detailed COSTAB tables and will be as follow: Table 11: Estimated GEF disbursement (US$ '000) 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Annual 584 1,205 990 610 465 223 Cumulative 584 1,789 2,779 3,389 3,854 4,077 Share 14% 44 % 68 % 83 % 95% 100 % 18. Completion. The project is expected to be completed by December 2002. The closing date will be June 30, 2003. About 44 percent of all disbursements will be made during the first two years, reflecting the large amount of capacity building activities and basic products required. Relatively small amounts will be disbursed for specific investment requirements during the final two years. 41 CHAPTER 7: Agreements During the Libreville and Brazzaville workshops (October 1996 and March 1997), representatives of the six Congo Basin countries involved in the REIMP committed themselves to promote environmental information management in Central Africa region. This commitment included: (i) implementing national networks for environmental information, gathering public agencies, NGOs, and private companies involved in natural resources management, and (ii) linking these national networks within a regional network fostering exchange of data, skills and experience between the countries. This commitment has been formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding, which has been signed by the respective Governments. Conditions for appraisal (for information): * National Coordinators have been appointed by each government and their terms of reference agreed by all the parties. * The list of agencies of the primary national networks for environmental information have been defined in each country. * National Working Groups proposed project documents that reflected the national components of the REIMP. The project documents gave a detailed description of expected results in each country, and contained a provisional budget and timetable. Conditions for negotiations (for information): * Legal and institutional documents creating the national networks for environmental information have been signed by the Government of each country. * The Memorandum of Understanding on regional cooperation for environmental information management have been signed by all parties. * A draft Operating Manual has been issued and proposed to the stakeholders. Conditions for effectiveness: * An agreement will have been executed and delivered between ADIE and the European Union for the financing of project activities in the field of environmental information management. * The Project Operating Manual will have been approved by the Bank and adopted by ADIE. PART II: TECHNICAL ANNEXES 45 ANNEX I Annex 1: Economic and Incremental Cost Analysis A. Economic Analysis Much information has the typical characteristics of a public good, that is, non-rivalry and non- exclusivity. This creates certain difficulties that private markets are not well equipped to handle. * Non-rivalry. It entails that consumption or use of a public good by a particular individual does not diminish the quantity or quality of the same public good available to another individual. For example, the addition of one more user of an existing database concerning the forest cover and species composition in the Congo Basin, will not "crowd out" other users and impose a cost on them. The cost of the data gathering is "sunk" and not affected by the degree of use. Hence, there is no significant marginal cost imposed on society for the marginal user, and it follows that the efficient price should be zero. Not charging any fee to the user, however, leaves the producer without compensation for the fixed cost of production for the public good. * Non-exclusivity. This concerns the fact that it is sometimes difficult or costly to exclude users from benefiting from private goods. For example, recipients of information from radio or television are in some countries asked to pay a fee, but monitoring of compliance is notoriously difficult; similarly, maps or statistical tables can easily be reproduced at a low copying cost. Thus, consumers becomefree riders and often do not pay, or pay too little to cover the full production costs. To the extent that fees are actually enforced, another problem arises: the marginal cost for a user will exceed the marginal cost of production. This is inefficient, as some potential users will forego the benefit that could have been delivered to them at a lower cost than the benefit enjoyed. In summary, private producers will either be unable to charge for the public good, and will therefore not produce it, or, if they are able to successfully charge for it, there will be too little consumption of the public good. The result is that production of basic information is often a public undertaking, with private markets adding value in terms of selective presentations or tailor-made analysis targeted to selected audiences that are willing to pay for the upgraded information service. From a cost-benefit analytical perspective, the valuation of information presents particular difficulty because its value is not easily observed in market transactions. Some distinction can be made among different information-related goods and services. There are derived information products and services that take on more of the usual private good characteristic, making them more and more amenable to conventional market analysis. The project will result in the provision of enhanced (but existing) data as well as entirely new information products and services, covering a wide range of outputs targeted at a wide range of users. In order to organize this array of outputs, and prioritize what can be usefully captured in the valuation process, table 1.4 shows an Assessment of User Needs. The simple, unweighted ranking across users and products allowed for some focus in the valuation survey undertaken during appraisal. For the purposes of this projects, we distinguish three different kinds of benefits. Examples of these benefits are given in tables below. 46 ANNEX I First there are marketable products and services emanating from the project. Should these exist already, the project will either upgrade the quality, which will result in a higher market value (e.g., an updated map), or increase the output, which will allow previously unsatisfied demand to be fulfilled. In both cases, the existing market price and level of activity can serve as a benchmark, on the basis of which users can be asked for their incremental willingness to pay. The marketable products or services may also be entirely new, however, such as access to new Internet services. In such cases, the price and volume of trading in goods or services as similar as possible will be assessed. Succinct and informative descriptions of these new activities, will also 4 be presented to respondents in order to elicit their willingness to pay . Market data from all the countries may also be useful. Table 1.1 Annual Benefit Estimates for Marketable Products and Services (US$) Type of benefit CAR Cameroon Congo Eq. Guinea Gabon DRC Total Improved Products 27,600 60,600 41,200 17,300 49,200 64,500 260,400 New Products 9,000 20,000 13,600 5,800 16,300 21,300 86,000 Improved services 2,500 5,600 3,800 1,600 4,600 6,000 24,100 New Services 6,800 15,000 10,200 4,300 12,200 16,000 64,500 Total Benefits 45,900 101,200 68,800 29,000 82,300 1 07,800 435,000 From a GEF perspective, marketable information products and services will result in benefits that are essentially, but not entirely captured by the domestic suppliers, selling both to domestic and international users. The omission is a consumer surplus that to some extent will be captured by an international audience. As the magnitude of marketable items will be small in comparison to the total output of the project, and because of data limitations, no separate attempt will be made to assess this surplus. Existing market prices and volumes and respondents' stated willingness-to- pay (WTP) are used to assess the expected market clearing prices and volumes. An additional aspect of marketable products and services is that they can help in assessing the level of future cost-recovery of the project, an important indicator of its financial viability. This is discussed in the main text (chapter 5). A second benefit category concerns cost-savings. These may not result in any market transaction directly tied to the saving, but constitute a real benefit. Cost-savings may result from (i) economies of scale, such as the buying in bulk of satellite images which brings down unit cost substantially, or (ii) the adoption of new technology, such as using satellite data to produce a map previously based on air photos taken at a higher cost. Theoretically, the value of the cost-saving is the benefit of the marginal activity that the saving will allow. This will often not be possible to identify, so the cost-reduction for undertaking an essentially similar activity with/without the project is used as a proxy. From a GEF perspective, cost savings are captured both domestically and internationally. Table 1.2 Annual Benefit Estimates for Cost Savings (US$) The willingness-to-pay (WTP) methods are not completely accurate, but when combined with current product price information they are a good basis for estimates of costs and benefits. The benefits for Cameroon are based on existing prices for products and services and on estimates of willingness-to-pay from interviews of the potential users. Estimates for Equatorial Guinea, Congo, CAR, Gabon and DRC are the result of a projection from Cameroon (using the distribution by country in the revenue generating plan). A complementary survey is planned for the six countries and the regional unit in order to have more accurate data. 47 ANNEX I Type of benefit CAR Cameroon Congo Eq. Gabon DRC ADIE Total __________________ ________ ________ ________ G uinea _ US$ Satellite imagery5 19,200 14,400 10,600 1,200 7,200 68,400 120,000 Aerial photos6 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 60,000 Inventories7 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD New Technology8 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD Total Benefits I_ I I I I I _ 180,000 The third benefit category, which will also be the most difficult to assess concerns information of a public good character. Examples include the creation of biodiversity inventories, assessment of forest cover, deforestation rates, species composition, the creation of metadata and archive systems. The catalogue system about existing environmental information products and services will be free of charge to the public. When no behavioral trail is observable in terms of market transactions, and actual market creation would be inappropriate for efficiency reasons, one is left with the use of hypothetical markets; or Contingent Valuation Methods (CVM). This is a well-established field within environmental economics. In brief, CVM entails the "simulation" of a market by succinct description of options, and questions about willingness to pay for certain options versus others. There are a number of well-known biases that afflict this type of survey, the impacts of which can be mitigated though careful design. Precision will not be high, but it can serve as a useful tool in assessing the order of magnitude of various benefits. From a GEF-perspective, information public goods have the character of global benefits, including the share of global benefits that accrue domestically. Hence, the full value for all users of these products and services should be counted as a benefit against legitimate incremental cost. In summary, the figure below illustrates the benefits divided into three categories, and makes a nominal comparison with the costs. The latter are divided between various sources of funding. 5 Lower unit price. Estimates are done per countries. The assumption made is the following: 1,000,000 km2. of satellite imagery will be purchased during the project. This will reduce the price of the images purchase. The cost savings assumption is US$ 0.6 /km (see footnote 10, p. 20 for satellite imagery prices) The benefits are US$ 120,000 per year. The distribution of benefits 6 by country depends on the country size. This cost saving is mainly provided by avoiding the deplication of transportation costs for this service (usually 30% of the total cost, i.e., for two consultancies of US$ 30,000, US$ 20,000 goes to transportation. By avoiding duplication, US$ 10,000 is saved). This is due to standardized methodology that will rationalize data collection, storage and circulation New technologies are introduced in the countries This will result in cost savings due to technology transfer 48 ANNEX I Benefits and Costs Benefits II] NMrket products Costs savings Pn *ubhc goods Costs (Source of Funds) Governnents $ & 1-| B ~~~~~~~GEF Other donors [I Self-financing Benef ts Costs Table 1.3 - Assessment of the users need Intemn Bilateral Em- National Public Oil Mining LogiBng Eco Pharma Local General NGOs Researc Local Total organms agencies bussies govts organis comp comp comp tourism Lab private Public centers uthonti Priontization industry sector s, muni- of the cipalitim products Topographical databas A -R *0*. 0 0 *3El I 0 6 3E El Is N *-o *o- 0o 000 *-o 00 *- *- * O * *o .- * * 29 L = * * * 0 000 000 *- *e *l * S 00* 0* 0 000 34 SDoil occupancy A database R *00 e 0 0 0 * 0 *3 El El 1 * * l3+7 |N *oo *OO * | see | | ** | * | 0 El * o * 24+7 L 00 0 El 0|00 ** 00 00 00** | *0 00 El *O l * 0 0 29 Environmental C database R ee*~~~~~~~# 000 El 0 C 000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 El E 0 003es 0 0 23 Sub regional and B national Dashboard" lR 0I 0I 0 El 0 * I 0 I 0 D El E * 7 O 11+7 -N I I e * I0 0. II *E El CD * 9 *- S+7 gal database C -N I II *. I* I o * I* * * *3 r 3 ** 17 -L 00 El * El 03 20 3oem-economical B database N I * * * *ee | c * | * 0 E 0 | 0 0 0 18 FL I I * I * * *eo 0. 0 0 I 0 El 0 o * 0 0*0 18 Forest and biodiversit a atabase N *-- .0 * 0 * El 0 0 50 *0 I 0 El E co *0 0 22 oil/Climate/Geology/ D - - - - _ | - - - Water database -N I I * I * E E 0 *0 l E El *o 00 * 12 Land management B - - __ database -N s.s so, El so * O E| 0 * C E El so * * 20+7 Bodiversity Inventory | B - - - - IL 000 I 5 El 0 0 E @-0 00 00 E E 0I* 00 * 20 Lba ara 0 C3 | E3 0 C3 a 0 4140 1° * 12 Rural areas C -L I 0 0 : 00 00 60 El 0 El0 El E S E 0 El .e. 12 1urL ara C * * * .. *. |. *. ** | * El * El El El ** 20 Total Pinontization ol 41 1 39 1 18 1 40 | 33 25 | 27 28 27 7 1 3 7 31 12+ 28 the users Ill] R regional - N National - L Local Order of availability of the products A - D Level of importance for the users very high 000=3, high *0 =2, medium *=1, low 0, unknown ? Totals are nominal leverage 49 ANNEX I B. Incremental Costs Analysis and Global Environmental Benefits Context and Broad Development Goals 1. The Congo Basin is covered by the second largest contiguous primary rain forest in the world. This forest is a region of rich biological diversity and has an enormous carbon storage capacity. It covers 2.1 million sq. km, representing 26% of the world's remaining rain forest and 70% of the remaining African rain forest. The current loss of forest cover is about 11,385,000 ha per year (0.5% per year). 2. The project countries are highly dependent on their natural resources but biodiversity is poorly inventoried in the Congo Basin, and forest cover is not precisely known. Consequently, management planning is very difficult due to the lack of basic data regarding forest extent, composition and characteristics at local, national and regional level. 3. The project will introduce new communication technologies and develop environmental information products and decision-making tools and standards to assist policy makers, the private sector, donors and NGOs in pursuing sustainable management of natural resources in the Congo Basin. Moreover, it will enhance national capacities to produce, manage and market environmental information. Baseline Scenario 4. The baseline scenario is six different environmental information projects, one for each country. In this scenario, the governments would improve existing rudimentary information systems to a level that would allow monitoring of natural resource management activities. The national institutes in charge of geographical and environmental information management would benefit from new equipment and be able to provide reliable and updated information on the countries' geographical features. 5. The baseline scenario consists of the following specific components: (i) dissemination of national information by improving the internal telecommunications infrastructure. Basic internal communication facilities would also be available, such as email connectivity. (US$ 1.61 million) (ii) sound land use planning by organizing national workshops and developing land use planning and monitoring tools. National capacities to monitor implementation of land use decisions would be enhanced. (US$ 20.5 million) (iii) provision of basic environmental information products (topographical and land cover maps) and national and local resource zoning (US$ 5.37 million), (iv) strengthening national information capacities by providing equipment and technical assistance, and marketing the national agencies. (US$ 5.37 million). The total cost for the baseline scenario is of US$ 14.86 million. 6. Development of the baseline scenario would allow the governments to develop a sustainable natural resource management framework in partnership with the local private sector and the local authorities, through regular dissemination of national environmental information. It would assist national policy makers to make better use of environmental information in monitoring activities, such as logging or concessions management, in order to collect taxes from the timber companies, and enforce compliance with environmental regulations. Marketable products and services, such as maps, atlases, etc. would increase revenues for the national institutes in charge of geographical and environmental information management. National agencies would be able to manage and use information technologies for information production and monitoring. Global Environmental Objective 7. The objective of the GEF alternative would be to add a regional dimension which would enable the governments and donors to address the environmental issues of the Congo Basin as a whole. It would 50 ANNEX I optimize biodiversity management and conservation, by providing the decision makers with appropriate information on biodiversity. The project would help to identify new high-priority national and transboundary protected areas, and enhance habitat protection in the Central Africa Region, thereby contributing to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Agenda 21. GEF Alternative 8. GEF alternative would serve to convert the baseline scenario of six unconnected national projects into an integrated and consistent regional project and to strengthen the products and services focused on biodiversity. Under the GEF alternative, the following components would be added to the baseline scenario to realize the global environmental objectives: (i) dissemination of scientific informnation on ibiodiversity and harmonizing of the primary network and the regional unit. It will facilitate information comparison and exchange by promoting international standards for data collection and integration. Information on the condition of biodiversity and protected areas will be brought into the public domain. (ii) involvement of decision makers in biodiversity conservation by organizing regional workshops and elaborating regional reports. This will foster regional policies on biodiversity conservation by enlarging the scope of environmental concerns to the national officials. (iii) providing users with environmental iinformation by developing regional databases (archive database and metadatabase) and ecosystem wide iinformation (biodiversity information integration and analysis, species inventories). Reliable and timely iinformation will reduce response time in crisis situation that could occur in the Central Africa Region, and affect the quality of public conservation policies. Specific studies would be done at a small scale, as ifor example a study on an threaten specie unique to the Central Africa Region, and (iv) strengthening the regional capacity to manage and use information on biodiversity by providing equipment to the regional unit dedicated to the previous components. Additional domestic benefits are not expected for the activities developed under GEF alternative. 9. With the GEF alternative, global environmental benefits would be generated by collecting, inventorying and sharing information on biodiversity in a network with global access that would facilitate informned decision making and permit the development of conservation policies in the Congo Basin. Improved knowledge on complex biological mechanisms would help to set priorities in protection and conservation of biodiversity. It would also bring environmental information into the public domain and increase international public awareness on biodiversity, which is expected to urge decision makers to protect the biological resources of the region. 10. Implementation of GEF alternative would develop activities of a regional scope that would not have been possible under the baseline scenario. The project countries would therefore be able to consider transboundary environmental issues and the development of a regional information network would help to monitor and protect biodiversity in the Central Africa Region. Scope of the analysis 11. The scope of the analysis encompasses the development of environmental information in the six countries, where the regional component in the GEF alternative represents an extension of the system boundary. This extension will significantly improve global dissemination of information on biodiversity End enhance external access to the entire network. Incremental Costs 12. The total costs of the project are of US$ 19.76 million. The incremental costs are about US$ 4.9 million, of which the GEF would finance US$ 4.1 million and the French GEF US$ 0.8 million. Details on the incremental costs and global benefits per project component are presented below. 51 ANNEX I Incremental Costs Matrix i. Network Creation and Service Component. Baseline Alternative Increment Costs (million US$) 1.61 1.71 0.10 Domestic . Better communication within the countries due * Same as in the baseline to the introduction of new technologies and the Benefits improvement of the national telecommunications infrastructure * Improved natural resource management development for the local private sector and the local authorities by allowing them access to national environmental information (newsletters, documentation centers, information on national environmental legislation, etc.) * Collaboration between the various stakeholders involved in forestry management by sharing informnation in order to develop national strategies for forest sector management Global . Enhanced conservation policies by using Environmental improved scientific knowledge on biodiversity through the development o Benefits information services in the regional unit In the Congo Basin region, research on environment and health is important, and dissemination of such information will also serve a demand from the intemational community of scientists. * Better dissemination of information in the public domain will facilitate intemational consensus and action on biodiversity conservation priorities in the Central Africa Region. This is due to standardized methodology that will rationalize data collection, storage and dissemination ii. Decision-Makers Component Baseline Alternative Increment Costs (million USS) 2.05 2.34 0.29 Domestic . Improved national natural resources * Same as in the baseline Benefits management policies and compliance with environmental regulations by facilitating sound land use planning * Better monitoring of agricultural activities at the forest margin and enhanced identification of encroached areas by developing user- friendly information tools Global . Increased global environmental awareness Environmental on biodiversity protection and conservation in the Congo Basin through a regional Benefits workshop on biodiversity and a regional report on the Environment. This will improve the ability of decision makers to control and prevent environmental impacts of natural resources degradation, and allow better conservation of biological resources 52 ANNEX I iii. User Oriented Production Component Baseline Alternative Increment Costs (million US$) 5M37 9.30 3.93 Domestic . Increased revenues due to the sale of * Same as in the baseline Benefits marketable products and services (maps, Benefits atlases, consultancies, national environmental guides, etc.) Increased quality in geographical and environmental information products (topographical and land cover maps) that would allow improved resource exploitation monitoring Global . Increased quality of information on Environmental biodiversity and forestry ecosystems, eg. up-to-date inventories compiled in a guide Benefits on biodiversity by collecting, integrating and analyzing complementary information on biodiversity. The use of satellite imagery will benefit to forestry monitoring by allowing identification of damaging environmental impacts of logging activities. This is expected to reduce response time and speed up the decision making processes on conservation policies * Free access for the intemational community to products like a metadatabase and an archive database iv. Capacity Building Component Baseline Alternative Increment Costs (million US$) 5.83 6.41 0.58 Domestic . Improved local skills in data management * Same as in the baseline through technical assistance and training of Benefits local staff on information technologies * Acquisition of basic equipment that will allow economies of scale in information processing for the national institutes in charge of geographical and environmental information Global . Building regional capacities by providing Environmental equipment to the regional unit and Environmental ~~~~~~~~~~enhanced national equipment for data Benefits processing. This component is crucial to ensure long term regional information development and strengthen the regional dimension Total Baseline Alternative Increment] Costs (million US$) | 14.86 1 19.76 14.90 53 ANNEX 2 Annex 2: Technical content of the agreements This annex is in two parts. Part A is a summary (prepared by FAO) of country proposals for REIMP financing. These national proposals were reviewed at the Bata workshop in October 1997. The events of June '97 prevented the Congolese team from submitting the final version of their project documents. Part B gives a breakdown in table form of the main decisions or actions to be taken in the area of natural resources based on information supplied by the project. A. Summary of the national project documents Gabon 15. Acquisition of toponyms 16 Ground truth survey 17. Integration of ground data and finalization P ~~~~' 18. Quality control 19. Prtnting of maps 20. Making of CDROM It is universally acknowledged by users and producers of geographic informnation working in all areas (urban, mining,1i& forestry, agricultural and environmental) that the whole of Gabon needs to be mapped using a single uniform standard. Currently a ~ . number of scales are used none of which provide complete or homogeneous cover. Moreover, given the modem constraints of managing the territory and its resources, they are lacking in . 0m precision. Although one third of maps at the basic scale of 1:200,000 have been updated since 1980, no less than 20% of the In recent years the DIARF has focused on gaining a better understanding territory in areas of dense forest is still covered by outline maps up of the current and potential use of land so that it can more precisely to 50 years old. Therefore one of the priorities the INC has set identify areas of the forest that should be classified as protected areas or itself is to create a reliable homogeneous set of maps at 1: 200,000 areas suitable for logging and other commercial activities. With the for the whole country. It will provide information on the terrain, support of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) this the state of infrastructure, the hydrographic system, the location commitment has given rise to a project of stratification of the first and names of towns and villages In the framework of the forestry zone, currently being carried out by DIARF. Although conceived REIMP's first Annual Work Plan (AWP), the INC will start work as a planning tool for planning national forestry inventories as well as the on the coastal region in the sedimentary basin of Gabon The granting of temporary forestry permits and long-term logging production of a database will provide material for the publication concessions, the maps produced by the project will also be of value to of orthomaps on this region thus improving knowledge of the area. specialists in other environmental fields, in particular mines and The INC has a significant amount of experience in interpreting conservation The DIARF proposal would therefore appear to be a satellite images, in particular radar, which is unaffected by cloud suitable candidate for the REIMP; during the first year it aims to extend cover, a particularly difficult problem in map-making. The INC is the work of stratifying the forest to the rest of the coastal area. In also looking at how to integrate the AFRICOVER norms prepared particular, DIARF and the INC will coordinate their work in order to by FAO into the process of creating the database. avoid duplications and maximize the impact of the REIMP on users. DIARF is also studying the integration of AFRICOVER Methodology recommendations into the planning process. I . Procurement and installation of equipment 2. Technical assistance Methodology 3. Training 1. Procurement and installation of equipment 4. Definition of the structure of the database 2. Technical assistance 5. Documentary research and analysis 3. Training 6. Definition of specifications and final methodology 4. Standardization of data 7. Definition of the work schedule 5. Completion of the base map 8. Preparation of the database 6 Description and digitization of climatic regions 9. Acquisition of satellite data 7 Description and digitization of large areas of the country 10. Preparation and improvement of the geodetic network 8. Description and digitization of geological and geomorphological 11. Pre-processing of images (geometric and radiometric features correction) 9. Description and digitization of soil features 12. Digitization of contour lines (manual/automatic) 10 Addition of former plant cover, where the information is available 13. Digitization of infrastructure (old maps and recent images) 11 Photographic interpretation of the plant cover and current land use 14. Digitization of hydrographic maps (old maps and recent 12. Collection and integration of data on the flora and fauna images) 13. Digitization of forestry holdings 54 ANNEX 2 14. Digitization of forestry infrastructures ~if~ A 2 15. Digitization of social infrastructures 16. Evaluation of potential and constraints (accessibility, erosion risk, forestry potential, agricultural potential) In addition to forestry resources, Gabon can also draw on its mineral 17. Allocation plan for forestry land resources, mainly manganese, uranium and oil. Although there is a lot of 18. Publication and distribution of plans information on the sector it is often difficult to access, the information 19 Creation and distribution of CD-ROM being very fragmented as a result of the number of operators in the field, 20 Writing of report the confidential nature of some data and inadequate structures for the documentation and dissemination of information. Therefore, the organization of existing data into a format that can be passed on to ~~ S.~~p.tt for ~~~ ut. ~ ~ ~ extemnal users would be a valuable tool for decision-making processes aid tbtt cIiallIu Mauli ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ linked to geological prospecting, including granting prospecting and I~gframb oWe0tJe io | i i.~ : lmining licenses, and the monitoring and regulation of the sector. The ~~ ~~~ geological and mining office of the DORM, will be in charge of this i *s .x#>4ing i 0 11 |activity; it will be carried out with the support of the INC which will . provide a topographical reference frame and essential training in digital Thwofion: 2hftowh*rgi | inJ9# |and positioning techniques for Global Positioning Systems. Work in the first year will focus on the coastal area west of the I Ith meridian, an area There are eight protected areas in Gamba covering 1,0,0,000 covering 10 tiles at 1: 200,000. hectares and many types of habitats representative of biological diversity in the Congo basin- coastal, wetland, savannah and forest Methodology ecosystems. The establishment of a management plan for the area I. Procurement and installation of equipment in keeping with the guidelines jointly worked out by the DFC and 2. Technical assistance the WWF is considered a priority for the conservation of these 3. Training valuable habitats. Donor agencies, Dutch (DGIS) and US agencies 4. Transfer of digitized topographic background from the INC (the CARPE program) in particular, have provided financial 5. Documentary research and organization of information support to: create inventories of the fauna in order to establish the 6. Development of data-base and mapping model relative density of key species in different parts of the protected 7. Digitization of collected documents areas; train national personnel in making inventories and S. Drafting of provisional handbook monitoring animal populations; and carry out social and economic 9. Reconnaissance - specialist intervention surveys on the utilization of natural resources by the local people. 10. Correction and finalization of the data-base and final version of In addition to these activities and in order to gain fuller knowledge handbook of the areas the following should also be achieved the creation of 11. Maintenance of equipment a botanical inventory; the production of a map of the vegetation at 12. Replacement of equipment if necessary scale 1: 100,000, and the integration of data collected by the 13. Up-dating of documentation and old technology various initiatives in progress into an information system so that they can be compared, analyzed and distributed. These three activities will be coordinated by the DFC. The WWF, which i actively involved in the zone, will be a major partner, able to provide both technical and logistic support for the project. The assistance of specialized agencies in the network, such as the INC,~ will be sought for mapping activities. This work will also be extended to operations in the Chaillu Although conceived initially as an auxiliary activity in the Mountains where there are little-known areas of forest surviving implementation of the REIMP, the many requests from institutions that from the Pleistocene epoch to the east of the Gamba complex. This are not a priori participants in the project for access to the products, area must have played an important role in the regeneration of the services and expertise of the agencies in the network via computerized tropical forest when less humid climatic conditions in Equatorial media have led to a rethinking of this aspect of the project. The following Africa caused the savannah to encroach on the forest. The activities have been proposed to meet these demands and increase the mountains, about which very little is known, must be a unique site impact of the project at the user end: (i) development and updating of a as regards the variety and richness of the habitat. Web server to promote the products and services provided by the agencies in the network as well as any other agency that would like to Methodology participate at this level; (ii) finalization and updating of the metabase 1. Procurement and installation of equipment (prototype developed by the University of Ghent, Belgium) which is a 2. Training of two biologists directory of all mapping, photographic, satellite or statistical data on the 3. Technical assistance environment in Central Africa; (iii) the installation of an information- 4. Support for collection of local data on anthropic pressure technology kiosk where private individuals - mainly students - can leam 5. Creation of a vegetation map at 1: 1,000,000 more about IT and telecommunications techniques; (iv) the organization 6. Identification of the various environments according to the of seminars to increase awareness of the products of the REIMP; and (v) areas of vegetation keeping up with innovations in information technology by for example 7. Definition of bio-indicators for the different environments reading specialist periodicals Although the DGI will coordinate the 8. Botanical inventory work, its execution will nevertheless involve the active participation of 9. Creation of database from wild-life inventories the IAI in managing the metabase, and the NGO Association Club 10. Finalization and distribution of information UNESCO (ACU) in running the information-technology kiosk. Methodology I 1. Procurement and installation of equipment 2. Preliminary study of the Web site 3. Collection of data from the information agencies to be promoted 4. Development of the Web server 55 ANNEX 2 5. Maintenance and updating of the server training and develop new products. 6. Definition of user specifications for the metabase (vi) Manage the catalogues of data and services and national certification 7. Evaluation of the University of Gent's product of data-bases 8. Development of consultation procedure (vii) Impose standards to guarantee the quality of REIMP products and 9. Training and placement of data-acquisition teams services 10. Documentary research and data acquisition (viii) Create and set up an Environmental Monitor 11. Organization and evaluation of data for users to consult 12. Fitting out of the information technology kiosk Methodology 13. Running the information technology kiosk 1. Coordination 14. Organization of national workshops to increase awareness of 2. Draft documents and invite tenders. REIMP products 3. Monitor indicators 15. Keeping up with changes in the technology. 4. Prepare Annual Work Plan (AWP) 5. Creation of an Environmental Monitor | _ ~~~~~~~~Cameroon Without a doubt Gabon is well placed to become the subrgional , training center for environmental information management in the context of the REIMP. Training is necessary for two reasons: one, All partners in all sectors (public, private and non-governmental) the new requirements of long-term planning for natural resources, considered a good quality set of basic maps an essential tool to carry out an essential part of which is the monitoring of harvesting activities the work of creating inventories, exploration or management. At present that often have a negative impact on the environment; and two, there are serious shortfalls in the maps at scale 1: 200,000: some are poor sub-regional levels of expertise in these areas. The presence badly out of date - many tiles have not been updated for nearly 40 years; in Libreville of regional establishments such as the Ecole National others lack geometrical precision in areas of dense forest, while archive des Eaux et Forets (ENEF) and the IAI, the emergence of and reproduction structures are inadequate Topographic cover at specialized local or intemational research centers such as Metrika 1:150,000 only takes in 30% of the country and suffers from the same or Geoscan, and the high degree of involvement of national shortfalls as the maps at 1 200,000 The Institut National de institutions in the "information" components of many development Cartographie (INC), in charge of maintaining the map collection, has projects (e.g.: the roles of the DGI in the SDNP project, DIARF in limited means and only makes small contributions to projects with large the ITTO and PFE projects, and the INC in the PFE and FAC mapping components although its mandate is to do precisely this. projects) are further assets that attract sub-regional managers to This proposal is part of a much larger INC program to update its maps at Gabon for training courses, refresher or advanced seminars. The 1: 200,000 in line with the standards developed by FAO (AFRICOVER) proposed activities that take into account these elements will be throughout Cameroon and to bring its expertise to bear in the creation of monitored by the DGI. During the first year the focus will be topographic maps at 1: 50,000 in specific requested areas. An area of principally on training national personnel to meet the needs of the 150,000 km will be involved in the updating of maps at 1: 200,000 as part REIMP but procedures will also be introduced to enable other of the REIMP, of this, 50,000 km will be mapped jointly with customers to receive training for external requirements. The DGI CETELCAF in the west, which is one of the priority areas identified by will also be responsible for publishing a catalogue of training the Office National du Developpement des Forets (ONADEF). courses offered by the agencies belonging to the network Methodology 1. Procurement and installation of equipment 2. Technical assistance 3. Training 4. Definition of the structure of the database 5. Documentary research and analysis The regional dimensions of the REIMP combined with the wide 6. Definition of specifications and final methodology variety of member partners of the national networks (RNIE) create 7. Dehnition of the work schedule favorable conditions for the development of synergy among the 8. Preparation of the database agencies. On the other hand there is also an inherent risk of 9. Acquisition of satellite data activities becoming isolated or seen as ends in themselves to the 10. Preparation and improvement of the geodetic network detriment of the initial aims of the project. Therefore a flexible 11. Pre-processing of images (geometric and radiometric correction) coordinating structure is needed to ensure that needs are catered to 12. Digitization of contour lines (manual/automatic) and commitments respected. To this end and at national level, the 13. Digitization of infrastructure (old maps and recent images) NCU will be in charge of the day-to-day running of inter-agency 14. Digitization of hydrographic maps (old maps and recent images) affairs to stimulate the production and exchange of data, 15. Acquisitionoftoponyms information, products and services. The main duties of the NCU 16. Ground truth survey are as follows: 17. Integration of ground data and finalization (i) Supervise the RNIE secretariat, apply the decisions of the 18 Qualityicontrol Project Steering Committee (PSC) and handle contracts. 19. Printing of maps Eii) Manage access to the Intemet and other networks 20. Making of CDROM (iii) Plan and monitor REIMP activities (iv) Circulate information and build up credibility among members (v) Identify the supply of and need for internal and external 56 ANNEX 2 ; with the system being installed at the forestry department. The Cameroon govemnment has been involved in reforming its forestry legislation for more than five years ONADEF with the cooperation of the Canadian development agency has recently developed a land-use plan at [- 200,000 to define areas destined for the production of timber and areas of multiple use for all the land south of the 4th parallel Originally created as a tool for allocating concessions, the extension of this tool to the rest of the Designed to inform the general public, this dictionary has the three-fold forest land in Cameroon, which reaches as far as the 6th parallel, aim of. (i) giving an overview of all the different ways local people use has now become a government priority. This is the context in the products of the forest, whether for cosmetic, food, medicinal or which the preparation of maps at 1 200,000 for the area between mystic purposes; (ii) improve local know-how, and (iii) inform the public the 4th and 6th parallel showing land cover and human influence at large. This work will be supervised and to a large extent carried out by has been proposed for REIMP financing, as preliminary to the the Direction de la Faune et des Aires Protegdes (DFAP). extension of the land-use plan The methodology adopted by CETELCAF, the prime contractor for this activity, will be based on and compatible with AFRICOVER recommendations. Methodology I Procurement and installation of equipment 2 Technical assistance 3. Training This sizable topic will generate a series of activities that will take place 4 Documentary research over three years with the ultimate goal of providing a document on the 5. Acquisition of archived and recent satellite images distribution of the principal threatened species in ecosystems in 6. Pre-processing of satellite images Cameroon The quantity of information collected daily in each provincial 7 Photo-interpretation of land cover delegation - and even each forestry post - that goes unused is justification 8. Ground truth survey enough for the production of this document which aims to gather together 9 Analysis of human influence by comparison between old and knowledge about the distribution of animal species (birds, mammals, recent land cover reptiles, batrachian, fish) representative of Cameroon and threatened by 10. Quality control human activities The plan for the first year is to collect and organize data 11. Publication of maps and existing reports at MINEF's environmental documentation center and publish a documentary catalogue The contracting authority will, as before, be the DFAP, which has undertaken to provide the necessary expertise Third step in the production of zoning plans for the western region after basic and land cover mapping, this activity will be focused on Electronic mail services (E-mail) continue to gain popularity over the Western province, in line with ONADEF priorities The aim of traditional telecommunications (telephone, fax) and are currently being these inventories is not only to evaluate the presence, location and tested by some agencies of the REIMP. E-mail is proving a valuable tool quantity of marketable timber resources, but also to help to in coordinating the preparatory activities. The plan to extend these and highlight the role of animal or plant forestry resources in the local other similar services (File Transfer Protocol, World Wide Web, ...) to economy and the interaction between them and local populations. all the agencies of the REIMP in Cameroon and carried out initially by the Polytechnic of Yaounde, involves: (i) managing and maintaining on- line connections, (ii) promoting the skills of REIMP agencies by means of an electronic forum, and (iii) updating and publicizing the metabase. These duties could be transferred at a later date to the NCU (cf. point 10) which will receive the support necessary to carry out the work. - ~~~~Methodology I . Identification of agencies to be connected The environmental monitor, which will be a smaller version of the 2. Procurement of equipment REIMP sub-regional monitor currently being created, will 3. Configuration, installation and testing complete the forestry compatibility monitoring system set up by 4. Training in the use of communications software the Direction des Forets (DF) with Canadian support, in a province 5. Subscriptions and maintenance of Cameroon (the province of Ebolowa has been proposed; the Canadian project is already carrying out experimental work there). in addition to the financial, fiscal and economic monitoring already developed by the forestry department, the REIMP will attempt to set up a local system of monitoring environmental parameters in the region. Under the supervision of CETELCAF, activities in the first year will consist essentially of defining local indicators, monitoring tools and procedures that will be compatible The periodic publication of market price lists for the principal 57 ANNEX 2 agricultural and forestry products has been identified as a need by I. Coordination both customers and suppliers of these products so that they can 2. Draft documents and invite tenders. anticipate changes and evaluate the potential of markets Some 3. Monitor indicators sub-regional or international institutions already specialize in the 4 Prepare Annual Work Plan (AWP) publication of such statistics (e.g the ITTO, the ATO) and some 5 Creation of an Environmental Monitor local groups have for a number of months been publishing comparative prices of the main foodstuffs consumed in several towns (e g.: La voix du paysan, SAILD NGO). Nevertheless, in the first case the readership is limited to those who already follow the Equatorial Guinea market closely, and in the second case the circulation of local information bulletins is very limited due to lack of funds. The REIMP proposal is therefore to bridge the gap between these two levels by making people aware of the information bulletins *fa 4 t: e produced by the specialist agencies and by giving local initiatives significant support. To this effect, different ways of providing information, from paper bulletins to electronic ones, will be tried ou in ore toices'h mpcnteues One of the major difficulties encountered by most operators involved in out in order to increase the impact on the users. the management of natural resources is the disorganized nature of existing information on natural resources in Equatorial Guinea. In M hd4t E |xJi;XW^;g%>Bffi<>;gg > Aaddition to data that is difficult to access because held by foreign organizations (mainly Spanish), the problem of managing information is equally affected by the number of projects developed independently of each other and with very little interaction given the poor communications * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~in the country Much work has remalned at the draft stage or, worse, has not yet been exploited, mainly because of the lack of any systematic way When the govemment applied the new regulations for forests, of promoting and disseminating information. This activity will therefore wildlife and fisheries it declared its intention to make the operators consist of quantifying and qualifying existing knowledge both inside and involved in managing these resources aware of the new allocation outside the country, organizing it, and making it available to interested and regulatory procedures. A bilingual version of the new law was operators. It will draw on the work of the University of Ghent which has produced, subsidized partly by private forestry groups working in already accumulated interesting data in this field Cameroon The government of Cameroon would now like to continue this work with non-forestry environmental sectors, such Methodology as prospecting and quarrying, and in the area of intellectual I. Procurement and installation of office automation equipment property to govem all environmental information produced in or 2 Installation of the documentary database (metabase) prepared by the about the country. The present activity therefore consists of University of Ghent initially putting all the texts into analog (paper document) and 3 Drafting of survey forms and work schedule digital (Web pages) form and setting up an updating unit to keep 4. Surveys of national bodies (ministries) track of the latest decisions, decrees, and other texts. The work of 5. Surveys of international bodies (international cooperation, compiling the legal documents will start in the first year with the universities and Spanish NGOs, private businesses) Conseil National pour I'Environnement et le Developpement 6 Selection of the most relevant data (CNED) as the contracting authority, an NGO from Douala and 7 Digitization of the most relevant data member of the REIMP network. 8. Reprinting of old documents 9. Finalization of documents in the draft stage 10. Updating of the documentary database II. Promotion of the documentary database 12. Training in managing the documentary database 13. Technical Assistance Given the importance of the Cameroon component in the REIMP, it has been proposed that the NCU, although smaller than ADE should be set up to assist the latter in coordinating and monitoring _ indicators. The functions of the NCU are described in article 14 of ministerial decree 97/515, 24 July 1997 when the national networks (RNIE) were created. In particular, a national Following on from the previous diagnosis, connecting the major agencies coordinator and a joint national coordinator will represent the involved in managing natural resources should assist the exchange of data Cameroon agencies of the REIMP at political and diplomatic and experience, and improve cooperation and coordination. Taking representations in the sub-region as well as at sub-regional account of the facilities currently offered by computer communications meetings of the REIMP. If they are not appointed full-time to the services as well as the latest innovations of the telecommunications REIMP, the secretariat of the NCU will comprise a technical agency GETESA, the setting up of such a network should be a relatively adviser responsible for monitoring and evaluation, an simple matter. administrative and financial officer, the system administrator, and a secretary. The NCU will be responsible for: drawing up AWPs Methodology and their budgets with network agencies; scheduling expenditure 1. Identification of the first agencies to be connected which will be locally managed; monitoring activities and 2. Procurement of equipment monitoring/evaluation indicators for the ADIE; managing the 3. Configuration, installation and testing metabase; and running the system. These last two tasks will 4. Training in the use of communications software initially be sub-contracted to the Ecole Polytechnique. 5. Subscriptions and maintenance 58 ANNEX 2 (i) managing and coordinating the project which includes maintaining network relations, coordinating activities, drafting and sending out ~j invitations for tenders, supervising contractual aspects, monitoring ~ indicators of achievement, performance and impact on users, and the preparation of AWPs In addition to specific training for the activities described above, (ii) Institutional support for agencies in the network: this includes more general training in tools for information management and supervising technical assistance, planning training courses, the purchase environmental management in the shape of courses or seminars and maintenance of vehicles. has been proposed to fill the gaps that have come to light in (iii) Communication and transfer of information which includes projects in progress (FAO, CUREF, ECOFAC) The people to be maintenance of the national metabase, promotion of the products and trained will be drawn either from ministries or from current expertise of the network agencies via publications, the computer projects on request telecommunications network provided by SOCATEL, or the organization of seminars to increase awareness, and support for the installation of Methodology information technology kiosks These activities will be funded by I Selection of priority training subjects for projects in progress subscriptions or access rights and will help to make the NCU self- 2. Development of a training schedule - recruitment of trainers financing 3. Language courses (English, French) 4. Basic office automation training Methodology 5. Specific training in database management tools I Recruitment of staff for the NCU 6. Specific courses to meet the needs of other projects (botany, 2. Drafting and sending out of tenders taxonomy, cartography) 3 Procurement of additional equipment for the secretariat 7 Workshop on planning tools 4. Purchase and maintenance of vehicles 5 Internet connections and subscriptions and installation of kiosks 6. Initial training for NCU staff in REIMP procedures 7 Coordination 8. Planning training courses 9 upervising technical assistance 10 National and regional REIMP meetings 1 1 rgaizaionof national seminars 12. Installation of the metabase on the SOCATEL server The regional structure of the project gives the ADIE based in 13. Maintenance and transmission of the metabase Libreville, a greater role to play in monitoring the project The 14. Monitoring indicators national coordination unit should not replace this body, but rather 15. Preparation of the AWPs act as a relay point to keep information circulating at national level and pass it on to regional level It should therefore be a small flexible structure of three or four members maximum: the national coordinator who sits on the executive council of the project, the national auditor who acts principally as the assistant regional administrator, the technician responsible for monitoring indicators, a secretary and a driver. It should be noted that the nature of the role of national coordinator is being reviewed and should be Sound development planning for the Central African Republic is one of negotiated by each individual country the govemment priorities contained in the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) The Projet d'Amenagement des Ressources Methodology Naturelles (PARN), on which these resolutions are based, has already 1. Coordination focused on areas of forest in the south-west of the country, with the two- 2. Procurement of vehicles fold aim of analyzing the intrinsic potential and constraints of wood 3. Procurement and installation of equipment for the secretariat harvesting in the region and planning the long-term use of resources. This 4. Monitoring of indicators proposal is for a continuation of the work by extending analysis of the 5 Training in the monitoring and evaluation system potentials and constraints of the land and drawing up a land allocation 6 Auditing map at 1: 200,000 for the whole country, indicating the natural resources 7. Vehicle maintenance (forestry, biological, agricultural, pastoral and geological resources). Its 8. Emergencies aim is to assist in drawing up a master plan for development planning and to document the creation of sectoral master plans that are on the government's agenda. The project, which will take five years to complete, will therefore combine a number of different activities and Central African Republic other elements (national geodetic equipment, basic topographic information, land use, search and acquisition of geological and soil data) before analyzing their combined effect on resources and working out - | m | E | S 2 = 2 i g E ! 0 | optimal land utilization. The Pole Geomatique that has been created around the PARN will be in charge of this work and will work with the appropriate national institutions (Service National de la Cartographie, Direction des Mines, ). For the first year, work will be limited to the The REIMP will be set up by an NCU comprising a national province of Berberati-Carnot, an area of 50,000 km. Emphasis will also coordinator, a technical officer, an accounting manager, a be placed on defining standards in agreement with all the actors as a secretary, aogstcssecalstaesegeadheenecessary preliminary step to carrying out the project. In particular, the secretary, a logistics specialist, a messenger and three drivers. AFRICOVER standards are currently being adapted to the Central Under the supervision of the Minister for the Environment, the national coordinator will be appointed by the former in agreement with the members of the CAR network The NCU will be Methodology responsible for: 59 ANNEX 2 I . Procurement and installation of equipment 2. Technical assistance 3 . Training 4- 4. Documentary research 5. Acquisition of satellite images 6. Updating of the geodetic network 7. Pre-processing of satellite images 8. Digitization of topographic maps 9. Digitization of geological maps 10 Digitization of soil maps Every year the agricultural practice of using bush fires to clear land II Digitization of contour lines depletes tens of thousands of hectares of open forest and bush savannah 12. Photo-interpretation of land cover in the CAR, and indirectly causes inestimable damage (soil erosion, 13. Ground truth survey increased greenhouse effect, acid rain in intertropical regions). Since its 14. Analysis of the potential and constraints of the land creation, the CLCFBAC has been responsible for scheduling fires to 15. Completion of a land-use plan avoid starting fires prematurely, to make local people more aware of the 16. Quality control long-term effects of slash-and-bum agriculture and poaching, and to take 17 Publication of maps steps to dissuade offenders from these actions. This activity basically provides support for CLCFBAC missions and is an on-going part of the FIRE program of the European Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra which will itself be able to provide adequate technical assistance. By drawing on the knowledge of this group together with other projects (TREES, DANIDA) the impact of the project on research in this domain should be ensured. The CLCFBAC, which will coordinate the work, will contribute expertise on the sociology of bush fires (practice, use of fires) and will undertake to increase awareness of them. The CLCFBAC will also be assisted by the pole geomatique which will undertake to create The rural exodus to large urban centers in search of better paid bush-fire maps at 1: 2,500,000 based on NOAA images that can be work has in recent years highlighted the need to channel purchased locally. The two first years will consist of setting up the investment into managing peri-urban resources. Within the system, producing the first maps, and carrying out the first awareness REIMP, seven urban centers have been identified as particularly campaigns. At a later date, this service could be offered on a regional affected by increased demographic pressure: Bangui, Berberati, basis to other countries. Camot, M'Baiki, Bambari, Bossangoa, and Papoua. The aim of this component is to establish for each of these centers an Methodology information system to: (i) document peri-urban natural resource I. Procurement and installation of equipment management by completing a georeferenced medium scale 2. Adaptation of SUN software to PC software for processing NOAA database (1: 100,000 for Bangui, 1: 50,000 for the other towns) images containing information on land use, the physical and socio- 3. Testing and validation of PC software economic potentials and constraints, and land zoning; (ii) monitor 4. Training the relationship between urban growth and peri-urban decay using 5. Technical assistance indicators such as consumption of foodstuffs, the supply of 6. Acquisition of data fuelwood and timber, the management of forestry and land 7. Data processing and production of fire maps resources, and sanitation infrastructure (supply of drinking water); 8. Dissemination of information and sensitization of the population (iii) respond to specific requests in such areas as mapping or 9. Monitoring and establishment of a fire schedule increasing awareness of natural resource management. The DGE 10 Organization and promotion of the NOAA database will supervise this work and will identify the two or three urban hubs, in addition to Bangui, where the project will intervene in the first year. The following institutions and bodies will also work on * the project: the University of Bangui, the Statistics Division of the Ministry of Planning, and the Department of Development and Housing. Methodology 1. Procurement and installation of equipment As a result of their geographical position between the sub-Sahelian 2. Documentary research steppes in the north and dense forest in the south, Central African 3. Acquisition of satellite date to complement images already ecosystems display an astonishing degree of diversity, are home to a flora acquired and fauna that is both rich and varied and make a significant contribution 4. Pre-processing of data to local revenues. The national policy on the conservation of biodiversity 5. Aerial photography to be added if necessary includes both the local and national level: locally 17 areas (10.4% of the 6. Application of AFRICOVER standards and drafting of survey country) are (at least in theory) special protected areas, while the country forms as a whole has been divided into two distinct zones- a game area in the 7. National seminar to define peri-urban indicators north (40% of the country) and an area of more general interest in the 8. Training south (60% of the country). The Central African Republic proposes to 9. Technical assistance take action to preserve its biodiversity at these two levels. At national 10. Photo-interpretation and thematic mapping level, it plans to set up a national documentary database, so that the 11. Execution and analysis of surveys existing surveys, maps, inventories, statistics and studies relating to 12. Finalization animal and plant biodiversity can be analyzed and promoted. This 13. Creation of a model of peri-urban dynamics in the region of documentary background will gradually be transformed into an Bangui environmental monitor using appropriate indicators and periodically 14. Dissemination of products and sensitization collecting country data. At local level, more detailed information will be 60 ANNEX 2 gathered on biodiversity and how it interacts with local populations at seven sites identified by the UICN as areas at risk The work here will consist of: drawing up topographic maps and maps of the vegetation (using AFRICOVER standards) at I Forest covers more than 50% of the territory of the Democratic Republic 200,000; creating multi-resource inventories of areas defined using of Congo. The Congolese people depend on the resources in this an area survey method, and proposing a management plan for each environment for their living Unfortunately the use made of these of these sites. The DGE will be the main contracting authority but resources is not always in line with guidelines on protection and it will be actively supported by specialized structures and projects conservation to ensure their existence for future generations and to such as the WWF, ECOFAC, the University of Bangui, and the protect the quality of the environment. To manage this resource in the pole geomatique. The work schedule for the first year includes best possible way you have to know it. identifying the sites that will initially receive attention. This REIMP activity therefore aims to take the first steps towards deepening its knowledge of it so that it can introduce sound practices for Methodology using the resource. The work proposed as part of the REIMP will affect a I . Procurement and installation of equipment limited region of Cuvette centrale congolaise (I million hectares), an area 2. Training rich in forestry resources. It will serve as an example in that it will 3. Technical assistance provide the methodological and technical basis (increasing local 4. Documentary research on existing material capacities) for work in other regions in the country. The first stage 5. Creation of inventories of priority requirements and products involves creating a set of base maps, a forestry management inventory 6. Definition of indicators, collection and analysis methods (sampling rate 0 1%), and a biodiversity inventory that will also take into 7. Survey of the land account socio-economic factors. The final aim is to implement a 8. Modeling according to priority problems management plan, which will also involve setting up mechanisms for 9. Production, updating and dissemination of products sharing responsibilities, surveillance mechanisms and documentation and 10 Additional collecting from priority sites communication mechanisms. Particular attention will be paid to these 11. Acquisition of remote sensing data from priority sites aspects. 12. Creation of the large scale topographic database for priority sites Methodology: 13. Creation of the large scale land use database for priority sites I . Digitization of planimetric maps 14. Testing Plan 2. Digitization of forestry maps 15. Socio-economic survey 3. Inventories of species 16 Land surveys - full 4. Socio-economic surveys 17. Addition of land data 5. Forestry management plan 18. Modeling of the management options according to priority 6. Development of an integrated system of environmental information problems 19. Production and dissemination of local products Democratic Republic of Congo The National Park of Upemba in Katanga is the second largest park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unfortunately it has suffered badly in The new govemment of the Democratic Republic of Congo has recent years as a result of: land disputes, illegal occupation by local decided to put the emphasis on the development of infrastructure, populations, poaching, and the cutting of firewood, ... In view of this a task that will have to be underpinned by precise and up-to-date situation the ICCN is seriously hindered in its task of protecting and basic information in order to measure feasibility and evaluate the managing the park. As regards biodiversity, the park, which is situated in impact of such infrastructure on the environment. In the Congo, an area of savannah and open forest, contains many threatened species base maps are often non-existent or obsolete because they date (USAID Evaluation Mission '91). There is also a lot of potential for from the sixties and seventies. This first REIMP activity plans to tourism in the rich mining province of Katanga This is the background to remedy the situation by creating a set of base maps, both the activity which aims to update information (creation of detailed topographic and land-use. It will be drawn to different scales in inventories) on the Park's biodiversity and to improve management by keeping with requirements. from 1 50,000 for priority zones up to obtaining information on the activities and needs of the people in the 1: 500,000 for secondary zones. Initially national geographic area. Emphasis will also beoplaced on disseminating the results to make priorities will be dealt with since work done here will be valuable local populations more aware and to develop a participatory approach to for other REIMP activities in the Congo. In this context, the main managing the Park focus will be on the region of Cuvette Centrale Congolaise- forestry (Activity 2), on the National Park of Upemba (Katanga)- biodiversity (Activity 3) and in the north-east of Kinshasa- peni- urban (Activity 4). The processing method adopted will use satellite data in combination with the methods developed by the FAO-AFRICOVER program. The growth of the population of Kinshasa is worrying in many respects. The townships around Kinshasa have become part of the urban fabric. The rise in the population has put severe pressure on the environment, not 61 ANNEX 2 to mention the direct and indirect effects on the sanitary and social conditions of the population. Faced with these problems the urban population has taken its destiny into its own hands and even attempted to construct infrastructure. The problem is now one of urban rebuilding. Here, the focus will be on where the NGO GRET has already successfully undertaken some basic social restructuring. Some local initiatives are successful, others make no headway often for lack of basic information. The aim is therefore to provide the basic information needed in order to manage the area and coordinate local initiatives in a well-balanced way. The information will be supplied to local populations and local NGOs, and the methods of dissemination used will therefore be adapted to their needs. Neighborhood and parish associations will also be involved in this aspect Methodology: I . Acquisition of basic data, equipment and training 2. Large-scale topographic maps (1:10,000) 3. Study of individual neighborhoods 4. Location of basic infrastructure 5. Maps of the basic church communities 6. Development of a land-use data bank 7. Accessibility of neighborhoods 8. Development of a digital model of the land 9 Study of the constraints (potential and risks) 10. Maps of truck farming properties 11. Data bank of occupation and use of the land 12. Socio-economic database 13. Drafting of a development plan The aim of this activity is to optimize the functioning of the national network. It consists in the first place of monitoring indicators of the various activities and preparing the AWPs In addition to the more obvious routine administrative aspects involved in running a network (monitoring financing, tenders, the purchase ofjoint equipment, financial reports), there are also quite a few technical aspects to consider. These include the dissemination and exchange of information produced within the REIMP. Information on products is managed through the metabase. The setting up and maintenance of a computer telecommunications network such as the INTERNET comes under the heading of national coordination support. Another essential task that comes into the same category is training where it is of interest to the whole network rather than individual requests which are dealt with within each national activity. 62 ANNEX 2 B. Users and Decisions Targeted by the Project Principal clients targeted by Types of deci.ion/action targeted Information needed in order to made decision Proposed products and services the project by the project Administrations in charze of Transparent allocation of concessions * Status of the areas for which requests have a Compilation of legal and regulatory documents forestry and/or forest harvestin and logging licenses been submitted - Cameroon a Name and reliabiliy of company submitting a Consciousness-raising workshops - Gabon, application Equatonal Guinea * Whether the management plan conforms to regulations Directorate of Forests and/or Tax revenue and national accounting a Taxation of harvesting areas a Compilation of legal and regulatory documents harvesting - all countries * Fiscal status of concessions and logging - Cameroon licenses a Monitoring system for wood harvesting - Cameroon (Ebolowa) Monitonng the setting up of the * Indicators for environmental monitonng a Monitonng system for wood harvesting - managemnent plan Cameroon (Ebolowa) Offices of forestry managtement Compiling inventories a Accessibility and road conditions in areas where * Basic topographic products - Cameroon, and nventories inventones are to be camed out Gabon, Congo Kinshasa, CAR * Stratification of the plant cover in the areas * Land-use products - Cameroon, Gabon, CAR where inventones are to be camed out (aeral sampling) Office of Foressty Planning Forestry utilization planning * Topographic features a Muli-resource inventories - Cameron (Western (Eq Guinea) * Accessibility of areas requiring planning region) DIARF (Gabon) ONADEF * Climatic tendencies * National land-management plan - CAR (Cameroon) * Stratification of plant cover * Forest zoning plan - Gabon (coastal areas) PARN (RCA) * Nature of the land * Consciousness-raising workshops - Gabon, SIA (Congo) * Stratification of forest stands Equatonal Guinea SPIAF (Congo Kinshasa) * Potential of marketable species * Rate of regeneration . Quality and quantity of biological resources (fauna and flora) * Location of inhabited areas * Current utilization of resources by the various actors (populations, farmers, loggers, etc ) Offices of Nature Conservation Compiling inventories for protected a Accessibildy in areas where inventones are to be * Basic topographic products - Cameroon, areas camed out Gabon, Congo Kinshasa, CAR * Stratification of the plant cover in the areas a Land-use maps - Cameroon, Gabon, CAR where inventories are to be carried out (areal sampling) UICN Developing sound conservation plans * Topographic features a Multi-resource inventones - Cameroon Direction de la Faune et des a The water network (Westem region) Aires Protegees - DFAP * Accessibility and road conditions in the * Conservation plans for sdes that are protected (Cameroon) conservation area or to be protected - Gabon, Congo Kinshasa, Direction de la Faune et de Is * Location of villages CAR Chasse - DFC (Gabon) * Claims of people in or bordering the WWF (Gabon, CAR) conservation zone * Biological diversity in the conservation zone (d compiling inventones) Institut Congolais pour la Increasing awareness among a Distribution of key species inside protected * National data bank on biodiversiy - Cameroon, Conservaton de la Nature - economic operators areas CAR ICCN (Congo Kinshasa) * Nature and degree of threats to species * Guide of the Uses of non-timber forest Direction Gle de * Location and conddions of access to products - Cameroon IEnvironnement - DOE (CAR) documentation CERVE (Congo Brazzaville) Logging activities Application for concessions or * Regulatory status of the area involved s Compilation of legal and regulatory documents logging permits * Fiscal treatment of the area involved - Cameroon ClE (Congo Brazzavitle) * Commercial potential of the area involved LEROY - GABON (Gabon) RC CORON (Cameroon)) Sound investment planning regarding * Topographic features * Basic topographic products - Cameroon, R 0 G (Gabon) harvesting infrastructure a The water network Gabon, Congo Kinshasa, CAR SFID (Cameron) * Accessibility and road omnddions in the conservation area Working out long-term management * Location of villages * Training in the producion and management of plans * Claims of people in or bordenng the environmental information - Gabon, Equatonat conservation zone Guinea * Biological diversity in the conservation zone * Multi-resource inventones - Cameroon * Density of marketable tree species in the logging (Westem region) area Forecasting the benefits * Trends in the tropical timber market a Observatory of market pnces for agricultural _________ ________ __ _____ ________ ________ _______ _________ ________ ____and_ _forend rorestry uro tucts Cam emrr on Administration in charge of Working out management plans for * State of highway and sanitary infrastructure a Management plans for pen-urban agncultural rural development pert-urban areas * Supply channels in the town for fuelwood and areas - Congo Kinshasa, CAR timber a Consciousness-raising workshops - Gabon, * Supply channels to the town for agnriultural Equatonal Guinea products * Supply channels to the town for game . Characteristics of land tenure Measures to eliminate unsound * Location of inhabied areas * Bush-fir mondtoring system - CAR agricultural pracice and a Current agncultural practice consciousness raising . Location and effect of agnrcuture on the environment * Claims of local populations 63 ANNEX 2 Prindpal cliens targeted by Types of dersion/aetion targeted Information needed in order to made decision Proposed products and services the project by the project Rural communities Sound agricultural practices * Current agricultural practice * Make people aware of the dangers of bush * Location and effect af agriculture on the fires - CAR environment * Claims of local populabons * CharaCtenstics of land tenure Estimating the benefits and choosing * Trends in the agncutural products market * Observatory of market prices for agricuRural the next crops * Cost of agricuturat input and forestry products - Cameroon Administrations in chare of Developing a master plan for the * Population * National development plan - CAR planning country * State of infrastructure, roads, rallways, industrial and senitary CGAT (Gabon) * Nature, location, and abundance of natural MINAT (Cameroon) resources a Location and aims of investment projects in progress Civil protecton . Population * Basic topographic products - Cameroon, * Locabon and nature of risks Gabon, Congo Kinshasa, CAR * Land-use maps - Cameroon, Gabon, CAR * National development plan - CAR Donor atencies Investment onentation * Location and amount of capital budget * Environmental monitor - ADIE * Environmental impact of projects in progress Monitoring the progress of projects * Location and aims of the projects in progress * Environmental monitor - ADIE * Monitoring and evaluation indicators * Monitoring and evaluation system - ADIE The teneral public Acquisition of existing information * Location of existing data and access conditions * E-mail - All countries * World Wide Web' (W - All countries Public, Private and Non * File transfer (FTP) - All countries governmentsal agencies . Database archives - ADIE Research Insututes . Environmental documentation center - Development agencies Equatorial Guinea Universities * National biodiversity data bank - Cameroon, Village and urban communities CAR Individuals * Metadatabase - All countries * Catalogues of REIMP products - ADIE Sub-contracting the work of * Familianty with the tools of production, * Directory of REIMP experts - ADIE production, management or management and dissemination of information * Training catalogue - Gabon dissemination of environmental a Current location and conditions of gaining * Theoretical and practical training abroad - All information access to expertise countnes * Location et condibons of gaining access to * Regional technical assistance - ADIE approprnate training courses . National technical assistance - All countnes Exchange of data and environmental * Familiarty with communications tools . E-mail - All countnes experience * 'World Wide Web' (VWWV) - All countnes . File transfer (FTP) - All countnes * Training regional and national managers in the production, management and dissemination of environmental data - Gabon, Equatorial Guinea 64 ANNEX 3 Annex 3: Monitoring and Evaluation System A. Introduction: Objectives and definition of the system I Objectives The monitoring and evaluation system (M & E system) has three objectives: * set mutually agreed, realistic and clear objectives for each activity; * measure the gaps between actual and targeted values, thereby identifying problems; and, * propose corrective measures and alternative solutions. The number of actors involved in REIMP (implementing agencies and donors) and the necessity of coordinating their actions requires that the system be not only a management tool but also a system of communication. 2 Definition The M & E system can be defined by the following principal elements: * the actors who monitor the project and must quickly identify problems * the data that provide information on the activities * the procedures that direct the collection and circulation of the data * the information tools that store, compile and distribute the data. B. Actors 1. The system managers The monitoring and evaluation team that is responsible for keeping the system functioning consists of: I person in charge of monitoring for each implementing agency, responsible for: * organizing monitoring at the agency level * collecting data concerning the activities the agency is responsible for implementing (financial data on accounting and budget management, physical data on activities completed) * monthly transmittal to the NPMU (National Project Management Unit) of all monitoring data required by the consolidated system * ensuring the distribution, in return, of data from the consolidated system. 1 person per country, based in the NPMU, responsible for: * collecting monitoring data * preparing and distributing summary tables and reports * signaling problems highlighted by the monitoring data * researching and proposing solutions to these problems * managing the software used by the NPMU and contacts with the server installed in ADIE * contributing to the regional synthesis reports prepared at the regional level * participating in the biannual planning and monitoring workshops 1 person at the regional level, based in ADIE, responsible for the following regional activities: * collecting monitoring data * ensuring the preparation and distribution of summary tables and reports 65 ANNEX 3 * signaling problems highlighted by the monitoring data * researching and proposing solutions to these problems * ensuring the smooth functioning of the monitoring and evaluation network, in particular the software installed at the ADIE: collating the monitoring information collected at the national level, maintaining an up-to-date database of monitoring indicators and ensuring a satisfactory distribution of all information to data users * preparing regional synthesis reports necessary for the planning and monitoring workshops * participating in the biannual planning and monitoring workshops 1 financial director, based in ADIE, responsible for the following regional activities: * ensuring an up-to-date information system for everything related to financial and accounting information 2 Users There are three types of users for the monitoring and evaluation system The implementing agencies: these consult the periodic summary tables for the activities that concern them or request information from the system when necessary. They identify problems related to their own activities and react quickly to improve their performance. The monitoring team from ADIE: they analyze system data The donors: they use the system to obtain information they need on project activities; they may also identify problems and contribute to their rapid resolution 3 Exchanges among actors All actors attend or send their representatives to the planning and monitoring workshops twice a year. These workshops are the occasion for updating all actors on the status of project activities and they are the forum for making decisions on new directions or improvements in on-going activities. Outside of these workshops, the biannual regional reports and the quarterly summary tables prepared by the monitoring and evaluation team contribute to these exchanges. The details of the modalities of these exchanges are described in Section 4: Procedures. 4 Training of actors Training is necessary for the actors due to the specific information tools used (monitoring and evaluation software, Internet), as well as the system of working in networks. The details of the modalities of this training are in Section 6: Installation of the system. C. Data I Coding To manage a project using a network, it is indispensable that monitoring and evaluation data are coded in the same fashion by all actors and that the different modules of the system (see section 4) manage the codes in a coherent fashion. Coding is therefore essential for good communication. 66 ANNEX 3 The principal codes are the following: The analytical code: this code follows the structure of the logical framework of the REIMP. It contains the following information: the country (coded by two alpha-numeric characters), the objective (coded by one alpha-numeric character), the sub-objective (coded by a one digit number), the year of execution (coded by one number, 0 representing 1998), and the activities (coded by a two digit number representing the chronological order of execution within the year). The following table describes the coding system for the objectives and sub-objectives Objectives Sub-objectives Code Objective 1: Network creation and Telecommunication infrastructure Al service Establishing archival service A2 .___ ____ ____ ____ ____ __ _ Catalogues A3 Objective 2 Decision making and Communication and sensitization among decision-makers BI communication Communication and sensitization in rural areas B2 Communication and sensitization among the general public B3 Objective 3: User-oriented production Baseline information, land use, land management CI Forestry and biodiversity C2 Agriculture and rural development C3 Geology and mines C4 Others (to be defined) C5 Objective 4: Capacity building Training national personnel DI Technical assistance D2 Equipment D3 Table 1: Coding for Objectives and Sub-Objectives An example will illustrate the mechanisms of the analytical code: in Cameroon (CA-), an activity of producing data on forestry (-C2-) begun in 98 (-0-) and currently in the third year (-03-) will have a code of CAC2003. The budget code: this code identifies the budget category into which the activity falls: Investmient Equipment Vehicle Data Short term consultant Technical assistance Service providers Training Recurrent Personnel costs Vehicle maintenance Operational costs Table 2: Budget Code The accounting code: this code is compatible with the coding system used by the World Bank. The financial code: this code identifies the donor (IFAD, GEF, AGCD, CEDA, EU, ADB ...) and the financial category associated with the activity. 2 Indicators: Overview In order to monitor the project, the performance of project activities and the relationship between the 67 ANNEX 3 results and objectives it is standard to define a series of indicators that synthesize the monitoring information and highlight gaps between what was planned and what was actually achieved. Such gaps reveal either poor planning (too optimistic, for example), a time lag (the objective will be achieved later than planned) or under-performance (the objective will never be achieved). Types of indicators. There are four types of indicators: * Output indicators: they describe, in a global way, the state of advancement of the activity according to two essential criteria: financial (budget execution rate, disbursement rate) and physical (quantities produced, rate of completing activities ...). * Performance indicators: they describe the gap between the achievements and the predefined objectives (for example: delay in starting activities, delay in completing activities). In practice, output and performance indicators are generated simultaneously; moreover, a simple comparison of an output indicator with a target value provides a performance indicator. For example, the number of maps produced for a certain zone compared to the number of maps planned is a performance indicator for the coverage of the topographic mapping activity. * Utilization indicators: in the case of providing a service (ex. a Web site) or producing a product (ex. a map), a measurement of the utilization rate is a first approximation of the impact of the activity. For example, the number of maps sold would be an indicator of the utilization of the mapping activity and the number of connections to a server would be an indicator of the utilization of a Web site. - Impact indicators: these indicate whether the results of the activities are as planned. Criteria for selecting indicators. To be operational, indicators should respond to the following criteria: - objectivity: two people measuring the same indicator for the same activity should get the same result. - specificity: the indicator should be specific to the activity for which it measures the performance or impact. For example, to measure the performance of an activity to inventory biodiversity, information produced by another activity should not be taken into account. - measurability: this is an essential criterion. Even though the impact or performance being measured is qualitative, only numeric or binary (yes/no) values allow a real evaluation of the success of the activity. - sensitivity: to detect a serious problem with an activity using a given indicator, the problem must produce a significant variation in the value of the indicator Calculated indicators and defined indicators. Certain indicators have a mathematical definition based on precise numerical measures: duration, cost... Temporal and financial output indicators are in this category. In addition, these are standard indicators, applicable to all activities. These indicators are, therefore, calculated by the monitoring software. Conversely, the majority of performance and impact indicators measure more qualitative results (performance, impact). They must be defined in relation to the activities. The actors agree on the wording and mode of measurement during the planning workshops. List of global indicators. The following table presents a list of global indicators. That is to say a list of indicators concerning REIMP in its entirety, agreed upon by the actors at the first planning workshop. 68 ANNEX 3 Objectives Indicators type Unit Mid-term value Target value _________ _________ _________ (after 2 years) (after 5 year) OBJECTIVE I Request forjoining ADIE per year 4 10 Network infneeatiioftheDataExchngePo;licy i ;;rea iO.5 Network N & W PX C~~...................IF........................................ ......................................... ...... .. ........................................................................................ creation and Request for in..r..atton a.ddressed to the metadatabase I per mosth S0 200 see rimerequiri gett piece of urinfiation requeted P days <10 <7 .................................................................................. ......... ..................................................... ....................... .................... _____ Anser ratesto the requests I % ofrequests 70 80 OBJECTIVE 2 Proposal made by ADIE to desion-makers oncerming env info ..P per ye 2 Decision making Analysis riqueased by decision-makers to ADIE for plannini 7 per month i 0 and Leg decisions law, decrec, regulation, plans) quoting ADIE as a I per.ya r i.. reference commanication Diffusion of the regional report on environneat P qu antity i 000 000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~................................... , .... ........................................ ....................I.. .................... Quality of the regional report on environment assessed by the Scientific P quality ratio o Comity Annual income generated by the sales ofREiP products to the public i equ USS 20 000 50 000 OBJECflVE 3 Annual income generted by the sales of REIMP products and services I eq USS 1 000 200 000 Usrorm ed-- cq--i si t --- o---d..- a............................... ,......... ... ....p..... ..................... N !~ .................... ....................... .................... Ulser-orienitad Economy o,f scale on acquisiton o,f data P eqs USS 100o0o0 6000ooo !~ ......................................................................................... ... ......... ...................... ..................... 7.......... ............ ................ .................... production Area covered by topographical and land-use maps with a 2Ž1 200000l P % of total aresl of Congo Bassis S 20 ................................................................................. .... ......... ............................................... ............. ............................. .................... Protece ara equippe with a foristic andfaunistice RsP inventory P %/.of protectd area isthe Cono oBassi 8 20 Protected area equipped with a local REIMP plan for biodiversity P % ofprotected area in the Congo Bassin 4 10 conservation ......................................................................................... ....... ................................................. ...................... .. ................ .. Area equipped with REIDP information required for zoning P % of total areat of Congo Bassia 16 40 Area equipped with s R zoning plan so medium scae P % of totel area of Congo Basis 4 30 Area equipped with a local developing plan P % of total area of Congo Bassin 1 3 OBJECTIVE 4 Staff training man-year 120 240 Capacity building Annual income generated by private contrcts involving REi iP i equ USS 100,000 200,0D0 agencies Coordination d Self-finanoing P rate (IncometCosts) 50 100 REFL Structure sslimition P rae(Strictu;ecototlcosts) <20 10 sRequest for REFLI I quantity 12 25 __________ ime requiredtoanswe;ra request for REPI Pay 60 20 type I = impact indicator type P perfbrmance indicator *Squalityratio I=excellent2=#good,3=fair,4=bad Table 3: Global Indicators Specific indicators: each activity programmed in a Yearly Work Plan or financed by REFLI is associated with a series of indicators that will constitute the monitoring data for the activity. Example of such indicators are shown at the end of this Annex. 3 Format of data outputs The information provided by the monitoring and evaluation system takes essentially three forms: Raw data: system users can request any data in any form. They may, for example, formulate requests for indicators for any activity. Summary tables: actors agree on a standard format for presenting monitoring information. Each activity is represented by a summary table. These tables are prepared quarterly by the monitoring personnel and distributed to the implementing agencies and the donors. They are made available on the server, protected by an access code. Biannual reports: regional monitoring and evaluation reports are produced twice a year in preparation for the planning and monitoring workshops. The first part presents a stock-taking of the activities undertaken, particularly stressing the activities where serious problems have been identified. The second part presents proposals (corrective measures, alternatives) that will be discussed during the workshop. The annex contains the summary tables for all activities. Each report is discussed and amended during the workshop. The final version is distributed free of charge to all the implementing agencies and donors and sold to actors outside the project. A summary is available without charge on the server. 69 ANNEX 3 D. Procedures Each quarter the national monitoring and evaluation staff collect monitoring data (indicator values) from the implementing agencies. They up-date the system and transfer the data to ADIE. This transfer is made by the monitoring and evaluation system in the agreed format using three different technologies, depending on the state of the system: * by sending diskettes with updated data * by transferring the data by the network * by directly contacting, via the network, the software located at ADIE Each quarter the regional monitoring and evaluation officer collects data from the implementing agencies concerning regional activities and up-dates the system at ADIE. In addition, the financial office in ADIE collects the financial and accounting data and up-dates the ADIE system. The monitoring and evaluation software then generates summary tables for each activity. These tables are distributed by: * hard-copy sent exclusively to the implementing agency, donor and NPMU directly concerned with the activity * placing a copy on the server. A password distributed to all members of ADIE and the donors prevents access by anyone outside the network Biannually a monitoring and evaluation workshop brings together members of ADIE and the donors. The objective of these workshops is to present a progress report and agree on corrective measures. A regional monitoring and evaluation report (described in Section 3: The data) prepared by the monitoring and evaluation team serves as the basis for the workshop. Its amended version is adopted by the general assembly of the ADIE, distributed without cost to members of the ADIE and the donors and sold to external actors. A summary prepared by the monitoring and evaluation team is placed on the server. Tlhe implementing agencies put in place the corrections indicated in the report; the next regional report must present an analysis of the implementation, performance and impact of the corrective activities. Unscheduled procedures: at any time, any member of ADIE or any donor financing a REIMP activity may consult information in the monitoring and evaluation system. No information can be hidden for any reason. This consultation may be done using the following methods (depending on the state of the system) * by request to one of the monitoring staff who is then responsible for providing the information * by accessing the monitoring and evaluation software through the network. The following chart shows these different mechanisms: 70 ANNEX 3 - - - - - - Monthly data collection PMU Project Management Unit ~~~ ~~Quarterly diffusion NMPU = National Project Management Unit .mm~~llb Ad hoe Request (note that all the possible procedures are not shown so that the chart can be legible) Figure 1: M&E procedures E. The Tools 1 Introduction The monitoring and evaluation tools allow tbe integration of the following different types of information: * temporal: duration, delay, chronograms * physical: outputs... * financial and accounting: disbursements, receipts • spatial: location, surface coverage 'This integration is done at the output level for the summary tables, the reports or simple requests for integrated data through the monitoring and evaluation software. Nevertheless, to preserve a clear distribution of responsibilities, the responsibility for inputting data is differentiated: up-dating financial and accounting information is done under the supervision of the financial director at ADIE, updating other information is the responsibility of the monitoring and evaluation staff. 71 ANNEX 3 2 Software The monitoring and evaluation software is organized in a modular and hierarchical manner: * different modules cover distinct different monitoring functions * one of the modules compiles the indicator values and provides the output requested The financial monitoring software: it receives financial and budgetary data (disbursement values, amounts engaged by budget line...) and provides values for output indicators (budget execution rate, disbursement rate). The software utilized is FINPRO, developed under SQL Windows. This software has already been used by more than eighty projects. It benefits, therefore, from an experience that has made it a viable and stable tool. The chronological monitoring software: it receives the temporal data (actual termination date for a task, actual start date for another task) and provides values for temporal output indicators (delays in execution, time overruns). The software utilized, MS-PROJECT, is a widely used time management tool for projects. Important remark: one task, or an activity for which the result is a product destined for the archives is declared finished when the product is effectively referenced in the metabase and placed in the archives. The central monitoring software: it compiles the values of the impact and performance indicators received directly from the interfaces as well as the values of the indicators provided by the two modules mentioned above. It prepares the periodic summary tables and responds to the requests from users. The software is developed under MS-ACCESS which offers all the classic tools for database management. The interface for this software is developed in Visual Basic. 3 The operation of the GIS Principles: the advantage of combining a GIS with monitoring and evaluation software as described above is to obtain a synthetic spatial view of the different monitoring activities. The GIS acts principally as an interface and in this capacity acts on two levels: * for inputs, it allows the storage of indicator values (for example, in designating the surface area already covered by a mapping activity) * for outputs, it allows the formulation of information requests concerning an activity in spatial terms (and not by its name or code, as is the case in standard data base interfaces), and the provision of results in the context of a map. This software allows, therefore, the preparation of thematic maps representing for example the region of the Congo Basin showing the location of biodiversity or forestry information; the areas representing these activities could have, for example, darker shades as the activities advance and a histogram representing planned and actual disbursements at the date the map was prepared. This spatial vision enhances considerably the value of the monitoring and evaluation tool by allowing the identification of common problems in a particular area. Operations: the system requires that each activity and each indicator capable of being visualized be associated with a map point, in other words a spatial representation. When the users input the parameters of the activities (name, logical framework, chronogram, provisional 72 ANNEX 3 budget, indicators), they define, if they wish, the spatial representation of the activity (for example, for a park mapping exercise, they may associate the surface representation of the park) and also a graphical representation of the indicators (a histogram to represent planned and actual disbursements). This link is assured by a system generated code, unique and specific to each activity and each indicator. An interface has been developed between the monitoring and evaluation software that manages the monitoring data and the GIS software (a commercial software: Map Object) that manages the cartographic data. It is this interface that manages the process described above of associating a project activity with a cartographic object. 4 The network Principles: using a network in the context of a monitoring and evaluation system is interesting for two principal reasons: data capture and long-distance access to the system. * Data capture: the different agencies in the network transfer the monitoring data to the NPMU which then transfers it to ADIE. Utilizing an electronic network for these transfers is done in two steps: the first step consists in sending to ADIE up-dated data formatted according to an established protocol (email, ftp...), integrating these data into the software system is done at ADIE; a second step corresponds to a more integrated vision of the system: the information is taken directly at a distance by the software via the network. "; Data utilization: here again there are two methods: The periodic summary tables prepared by the system are available on the server; data security is assured by using passwords that block access to those without authorization. Authorized personnel (ADIE members, donors) may make requests at a distance and receive the desired information. Operation: the software packages used to develop the monitoring and evaluation software (primarily MS- ACCESS and MapObject) use data export formats in HTML that can be put directly on a server. Moreover, the networking capacities allow direct data consultation via the Internet network. 5 Operational chart The following chart presents the global operation of the monitoring and evaluation tool and the relationships between the various elements of the system. 73 ANNEX 3 differentiated INPUTS .::~2i; ...,. integrated OUTPUTS Inputting financial [and accoutn data - ~ I inputting }~-mp monitoring data-smaytbe .-.- ~transfer of data Figure 2: Operational chart F. Installation of the system. Training. The monitoring and evaluation software will be put in place at ADIE in January 1998. Training for the monitoring and evaluation team will take place during the four weeks following the installation of the software. It will include, in particular, training in the different functions of the software, familiarization with the software interface and an introduction to the different data capture procedures. Initial data capture. The Yearly Work Plan for 1998 will be inputted by March 1998. This will be done in two stages: * establishing the system by inputting the project logical framework (objectives and sub-objectives) and by determnining parameters for the different functions * Inputting the Yearly Work Plan: inputting the activities, chronograms and indicators for the general monitoring software and inputting provisional budgets for the financial monitoring software. 74 ANNEX 3 G. Models of monitoring indicators for the different types of agreements Narmrtive summary Indicators type Unit Trt pY5| Objective 1 Ensuring infrmation circulation and optimizing efits from existing Initiatives. Activities I Settng up the pnmawy network :Coordination efficiency P quality ratioI * Conflicts between REiP members solved P % conflicts 95 * Agreements between network member compatible with DEP P unit so *External requests tojoin the network I per annum 30 2 Promoting and harmonizing standards for data *Offictal adoptions of standards I unit so collection and integration *Labels delwered P unit 100 3 Implementing or improving telecommunication *Completion rate R % scheduled work 100 infrastructure including Internet faeilities *Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 *Emads sent within the region P per month 300 *Emails sent outside the region P per month 100 4 Developing infomation services (archive database, :Completion rate R % scheduled work 100 national and regional libranes, compilation of laws * Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 and rules) *New proposals for infonmation services P unit 30 * Consultatons I per month 100 a Intemnal requests for information I per month 100 *Extemal requests for information I per month 100 5 developing directories and rosters (meta-database, *Completton rate R %scheduled work 100 rosters of experts, training and products directories) *Disbursemest rate R % allocated budget 100 .Database actuality P quality ratio I*Access to the directones and rosters I per month 100 Objective 2 Encouraging decision-makers to use environmental information and facilitating sound land use planning in the Congo Basin. Activities I Organizing sensitzation and communication .National workshops hd I % total of workshops planned 100 workshops for decision-makers -Regional workshops held R % total of workshops planned loo * Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 * Participants P unit 300 * Satisfaction rate among paticipants I quality ratio .Follow-ups and requests for more information I % partcipamts so 2 Developing user-friendly information tools (tableamr - Completion rate R % scheduled work 100 de bard) and elaborating a regional report on the -Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 Environment * Relevance of indicators as assessed by a panel of scientists P quality ratio * Demonstrations to decision-makers at their request I unit 150 * Requests for REIMP reports on the Environment I unit 150 3 Developing communication tools for rural popalations * Completion rate R % scheduled work 100 (village-centered workshops, posters, radio, ) . Disbursement rate R % allocate budget 100 -Population targeted R thousands of people 400 - Attendance regulanty I quality ratio I *Changes observed in behaviors I quality ratio I 4 Developmig commumcation tools for public (guides, . Completion rate R % scheduled work 100 dictionanes, ) *Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 * Documents sold I umn 500 _f I* REIMP notonety I quality ratio I_ I Objective 3 Providing users vwith additional environmental Information meeting their demand Activities I Producing and updating basic information * Completion rate R % area to be covered 100 (topographical and land cover maps) - Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 * Geometrical accuracy p meter < 30 * Confusion rate between the map and the fields as regards land cover P % area to be covered < 5 * Maps sold I unit 10,000 . Database licenses provided I unit 40 2 Producing and updating information on foresty and a Completion rate R % area to be covered 100 biodiversity (national amd subnational forest zoning *Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 plans, local conservation plans, forest and biodiversity *Confusion rate between the plan and the fields as regards inventories < 10 monitonng system) and surveys P % area to be covered * Relevamce of the methodology as assessed by a panel a scientists P quality ratio a Respect of the methodology validated by the panel of scientists P quality Tatio * Agreement between the vanous economical stakeholders I quality ratio 20 -Database licenses provided I unit 2,000 -Plans sold I unit 50 . External Tequests sent to the monitoTing system I per month 100 * Enforcement of forest zoning or conservation plan recommendations I % total area zoned 3 Producing and updating information on agnculture and - Completion rate R % area to be covered 100 rural development (market pnce observatory, land use nDisbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 zoning plans, pert-urban management plans, slash- *Confitsion rate between the plan and the fields as regards inventories P % are to be covered < 10 and-burn monitoring system) and surveys P quality ratio *Relevance of the methodology as assessed by a panel of scientists P quality ratio -Respect of the methodology agreed by the panel of scientists I quality ratio a Agreements between the vanous economical stakeholders I unit 20 -Database licenses provided I unit 2.000 .Plans sold I per month 50 *External requests sent to the monitoring system I % area to be covered 100 *Enforcement of land use zoning or peri-urban management plan recommendations 4 Producing and updating information on geological * Completion rate R % area to be covered 100 ressources and mine extraction (geological and nDisbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 hydrogeological databases) *Confusion rate between the database and the fields as regards P % area to be covered <10 geological features I unit 10 * Database licenses provided Objective 4 Strengthening national capacities. _ Activities I Equipment of local agencies a Completion rate R % equipment to be isutlled 100 * Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 * Equipment suitability to fulfill REtMP needs P quality ratio 2 Technical assistance and training of national staff - Completion rate R % scheduled work 100 a Disbursement rate R % allocated budget 100 . Staff successfully trained P % staff to be trained 100 .Techmcal assistants' abilities P quality ratio 3 Marketing of the national agencies and experts - Brochures sent and bulletins broadcast P unit 5,000 .________________________________________ *Extemalt requests for special services I eq US$ 200,000 Type of indicator: R=Realisatton, I=Ilnpact, P= Performance Quality ratio: I=excellent; 2=good; 3=fair; 4=poor 75 ANNEX 4 Annex 4: Link With Other Projects The definition of the relation with the projects can be based on the logical framework of the REIMP and its four objectives : information circulation, involvement of decision-makers, production of information and strengthening of local capacities. A. National Projects Central African Republic 1. WB / Projet d'Amenagement des Ressources Naturelles (PARN). The objective of the project is to provide a better knowledge of the dense humid forest of CAR. The development of a GIS and the production of cartographic information on woody resources has been, so far, the main component. The project is now in its final phase and needs a wider structure of information dissemination in order to meet user's request for information. The extension of the PARN area to the entire CAR forest zone is also relevant, particularly to the dense dry forest of the East. The project is, due to its technical development and to the quality of its products, an essential source of information for the REIMP. The REIMP will ensure the dissemination of the PARN information, will complement and will integrate PARN's work into its CAR component. With its technical experience, the PARN staff will join the REIMP. (Objectives I and 3) 2. EU / Projet de Developpement de la Region Nord (PDRN). The improvement of the management of environmental resources by local population of the CAR Northern region is the general objective of the project. To achieve this goal, a large amount of information has been collected: aerial surveys, remote sensing mapping, biodiversity field surveys. The various information should be integrated in a structured system in order to be preserved. The participatory approach with local population is an interesting experience in the context of the dissemination of the information. The REIMP will provide the system for the integration and for the dissemination of the PDRN data to a wider public. The PDRN experience in the dialogue with local population will be used by the REIMP to reach with its products the local population. (Objective 1) 3. GEF / Bangassou. The GEF project on the dense forest of Bangassou is in its implementation phase. The objective is to develop and to test decentralized approaches to protect biodiversity in this unique forest area of Eastern CAR. The needs for basic information are clearly defined in order to be able to develop consistent biodiversity surveys. These surveys must follow and be integrated in a standardized structure. As for the PDRN, the approach represents an opportunity for a dialogue with local population. The development of specific environmental products is a necessity. The REIMP should develop the base of information for the project and work closely with Bangassou staff to define specific population-oriented products. (Objectives 2 and 3) Cameroon 4. GEF / Cameroon. The project will enhance biodiversity conservation and management in six priority areas of Cameroon. It will also strengthen local biodiversity institutions. The project involves a lot of organizations (NGO and local institutions). Recommendations undertaken during the project on the standardization of the biodiversity field surveys and on the information integration in a national system will be followed by the REIMP components in order to develop an unified approach. A technical support for the application of these recommendations will be offered 76 ANNEX 4 by the REIMP, beside the production of basic cartographic information for field work. The support to the project will also be the extrapolation of the biodiversity surveys to other sites and the development of a dissemination structure for the products. (Objectives I and 3) Congo 5. GEF / Projet de Gestion et de Conservation des Aires Protegees (PROGECAP). The building of a framework for effective biodiversity conservation in Congo is a necessity. The management of selected reserves is entrusted to international NGO (WCS, IUCN) and national institutions. Numerous data have been collected. A centralized unit (CERGEC) is in charge of providing the basic information. At this stage, the strengthening of this unit by the REIMP is useful in order to keep the experience acquired and to develop a reliable structure for biodiversity information management. The strengthening will also ensure a better coordination of the site activities at national scale by providing common standards and common basic products. The development of a reliable and a secure archiving system is now the first objective. (Objectives I and 4) 6. GTZ / PROECO. In the North of Congo, GTZ, funded by German Cooperation, has started the development of a buffer zone management system near the Ndoki reserve. The system requires the development and the use of GIS technology to manage and to monitor buffer zones and logging concessions. The application of GIS for logging concessions is quite new and is certainly a key field of application for the REIMP. GTZ work will be integrated in the REIMP framework, as a component of the project. GTZ and the REIMP staff will discuss the standardization of the methods and the products. The REIMP will ensure the information dissemination. A close link has been established. (Objectives I and 3) Gabon 7. WB / Projet Foret Environnement (PFE). The objective of the PFE is to strengthen national capacity for the management and the valorization of the forest resources of Gabon. Activities include: strengthening the local intervention capacity, follow up of research activities in forestry, support to the creation of natural reserves. The information component in this project is surprisingly not very important. The REIMP is therefore a very complementary project to the PFE. The PFE is a privileged user of the REIMP products and is a perfect dissemination and valorization unit for the REIMP products. The synergy between the two projects is strong. (Objectives I and 3) 8. ITTO / Gabon. As for the PARN in CAR, the ITTO project objective in Gabon is the preparation of an accurate information base for a better management of the coastal forest area of Gabon (Zone 1). The approach is technology-driven with the use of remote sensing and GIS techniques. The dialogue between the REIMP and the ITTO project has started with the objective of selecting a common standard for the database products at national scale. The REIMP will complement the ITTO project by the development of a similar database approach for the Gabon's zone 2. This will allow a national and an integrated management of the Gabonese forests. The REIMP will be in charge of the development of synthetic products for decision-makers and for the dissemination of the information at national scale. (Objectives 1, 2 and 3) Democratic Republic of Congo 9. EU and UNHCR / Virunga. The European Union and UNHCR activities in the context of the management of Rwandese refugees near the high biodiversity areas of the Virunga National Park are very significant. Mapping of the areas affected by population migration have been realized on an emergency basis, using satellite and aerial remote sensing techniques, unfortunately 77 ANNEX 4 sometimes too late to allow the conservation or the effective management of the biodiversity resources. Common activities between the REIMP and the UNHCR have already started. The objectives are to assess the quality of the existing environmental databases according to UNHCR purposes, to develop recommendations for new products, and to develop general scenarii to tackle the refugees-environment problems. Following the conclusions of these first activities, the REIMP will be in charge of implementing the recommendations and of providing the basic information in sensitive areas. (Objectives I and 3) 10. WCS / WWF. International NGO (WCS, WWF) activities in DRC are currently carried out outside of any internationally funded programs. Local scale projects (Okapi Reserve of Epulu, National Park of Garamba, Kahuzi-Biega, ...) whose objectives are mainly the management of protected areas and the training of local staff, are nevertheless developing essential environmental databases. Remote Sensing and GIS techniques are often used. REIMP will strengthen these initiatives by providing additional basic information, such as the often expensive topographic base, in order to support biodiversity surveys. REIMP will also ensure the dissemination of the NGO information to the public in a suitable way. These data are often poorly utilized partly because of their production outside of international programs. The experience of the NGO staff will be used to develop training courses, involving REIMP institutions, in biodiversity surveys and monitoring. (Objectives 1, 3 and 4) B. Regional Projects 11. EU / ECOFAC and APFT Projects. The program of conservation and sustainable use of the forest ecosystems (ECOFAC) is an unique regional experience in Central Africa. The program implies the development of several activities located in a selected study site in each country. Various topics are handled: valorization of forest products, eco-tourism, agro-forestry, conservation of biodiversity, sustainable forest management, research activities, ... Each study site has its major topic. The training of local staff and the sensibilization of the local population to the environmental issues are common topics for each site. An integration framework to synthesize the local results at regional level is needed. ECOFAC has also produced some basic information: airborne RADAR imagery and vegetation maps of each of its sites. Beside their funding relations (through the EU), ECOFAC and REIMP will closely work together in the field. The REIMP will offer a dissemination structure for ECOFAC products (metadatabase, ...) and will complement the ECOFAC biodiversity surveys in order to improve the current knowledge of the biodiversity of the Congo basin . The Remote Sensing and GIS expertise of the REIMP institutions will be used by ECOFAC staff for the development of specific products. The experience of ECOFAC will help the REIMP in the definition of the biodiversity products and in the training of the local institutions. The program "Avenir des Peuples de Forets Tropicales" (APFT) is the socio-demographic component to ECOFAC. The objectives are to put the ECOFAC activities in a sociological context. The experience and the first results of the APFT program will be used, by the REIMP, to define its relation with local population in terms of products and methods of communication but also, to evaluate its local impact. (Objectives 1, 3 and 4) 12. USAID / Central Africa Regional Program for Environment (CARPE). The general objective of CARPE is to reduce the rate of forest degradation in the Congo Basin, to promote biodiversity conservation and to minimize the negative impacts linked to global climate change. CARPE is a multi-partners project: WCS, WWF, NASA, WRI, BSP, ... Field activities and information surveys are carried out by WCS and WWF in high biodiversity value areas. Between the partners, a data policy has been prepared in order to standardize the field surveys and to facilitate the dissemination of the project data. The collaboration between the REIMP and CARPE 78 ANNEX 4 is effective through a constant dialogue and an exchange of information. CARPE will bring its technical expertise in networking and in biodiversity management. At the local level, the REIMP, with the development of basic cartographic products, will improve the CARPE NGO works. At the regional level, common synthetic products will be developed. The REIMP will also contribute, through its network, to foster the relation between CARPE and local institutions, and will offer a relevant platform to disseminate the CARPE products and results. (Objectives 1, 2 and 4) 13. FAC (French Cooperation) / FORAFRI project. The regional project FORAFRI is carried out by CIRAD and CIFOR. The objectives of the project are the valorization and the dissemination of the French expertise in tropical forestry in order to develop new strategies for the sustainable management of the forests. Beside the definition of new strategies, the first component of the project is the synthesis of the current knowledge on forest management and the dissemination of this knowledge in Central Africa. In this context, the relation with the REIMP is obvious. Common synthetic database and metadatabase will be developed, and an active cooperation is foreseen for the dissemination of the information through the organization of seminars and training courses. (Objectives I and 4) 14. EU-JRC / TREES, NASA / LANDSAT PATHFINDER, NASDA / GRMF. National and international research institutions are currently carrying out global mapping exercises of the tropical forest of Central Africa. Their goal is mostly to model forest degradation at regional scale. The REIMP will benefit from their scientific work, in terms of interpreted data (forest maps) but also in terms of raw remote sensing data. Their expertise will be used for specific high level training courses. For them, the REIMP network is an interesting structure for the dissemination of their products and offers a straightforward platform for the validation of their scientific results. (Objectives 1, 3 and 4) 15. Universities. University research activities (US, Japanese, European) are numerous in Central Africa but the results of their works are often poorly known, poorly disseminated or unavailable. Several universities are working in collaboration with existing programs (ex. Vegetation mapping by the University of Edinburgh - University of Gent for ECOFAC), in the context of individual Ph.D. research (ex. Study and mapping of Bonobo habitat in DRC - University of Oxford) or under well-structured research programs (ex. Global Change Program TlIGER - UK, IGBP program, ...). Due to the weakness of local institutions, the dialogue between the universities and the local institutions is nearly non existent. Information is going back to universities where no system is available to conserve them for the long term. The REIMP will reinforce local institutions in order for them to be able to handle and to preserve the information collected. This will also allow a better dissemination of the research results and more efficient field works for the research community. The realization of a REIMP metadatabase will be the synthesis of the state of the current knowledge on the Congo Basin. The REIMP will try to use the university training facilities to strengthen local institutions 79 ANNEX 5 Annex 5: Detailed Project Costs The next pages describe the following tables: Financiers: Tables A and B give the distribution of expenditure accounts and activities by financiers. The Self- financing category covers the estimated benefits from derived products sales. Tables C and D give a tentative financing plan as it appeared after negotiations (for the 5 years and for the first year of the project). Activities: Table E gives the distribution of the budget for each activity over the five years of the project. Detailed costs by countries: Tables F to L respectively give the expenditure accounts for each activity of Cameroon, CAR, Congo, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Regional Project Management Unit. Detailed costs by components: Tables M and N respectively give the project cost and the financing plan by component. A. Financiers: Expenditure Accounts Expenditure Accounts by Financiers (US$ '000) Global Environmental Other G overnment Facility donors Self-financing Total I. Investment Costs B. Goods 553 254 931 61 1,799 C. Data 1,166 2 2 1,171 D. Vehicles 418 80 335 3 836 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consultants 0 109 595 4 707 Long-Term Technical Assistance 349 4,077 4,426 Services 97 41 490 19 648 Subtotal Consultant Services 97 499 5,162 23 5,781 F. Training and Fellowships 0 65 750 30 845 G. Regional Fund for Local Initiatives 1,000 1,000 Total Investment Costs 1,068 2,065 8,180 119 11,432 II. Recurrent Costs A Staff 748 1,434 2,460 104 4,746 B. Operation and maintenance of VehiWes 116 82 259 5 462 C. Other Operating Costs 643 496 1,878 99 3,117 Total Recurrent Costs 1,507 2,012 4,597 208 8,325 Total Project Costs 2,575 4,077 12,778 328 19,757 80 ANNEX 5 B. Activities by Financiers Activities by Financiers (US$ '000) Global Environmental Other Govemment Facility donors Self-financing Total A. Cameroon Topographic products 108 133 298 539 Land use 46 174 220 Biodiversity national guide 25 89 114 Non ligneous products 10 1 70 80 Market prices 51 5 164 221 Legal database 26 1 90 118 Telecom and dissemination 25 80 80 186 EIS 63 3 259 325 Coordination 109 571 679 Subtotal Cameroon 463 232 1,707 80 2,482 B. Central African Republic Rural Planning 86 69 433 587 Ecology Monitoring 46 186 232 Forestry 84 4 252 340 Biodiversity 19 409 428 Periurban Planning 19 72 84 175 Coordination 208 798 18 1,024 Subtotal Central African Republic 461 554 1,753 18 2,787 C. Congo Communication Tools 9 39 39 86 Core Environmental Info. 147 57 487 691 Forestry 113 34 338 485 Rural Development 75 61 184 321 Biodiversity 72 518 590 Coordination 73 503 576 Subtotal Congo 488 670 1,551 39 2,748 D. Democratic Republic of Congo Forestry 226 160 812 1,198 Biodiversity 67 340 407 Urban Development 87 37 239 63 427 Coordination 97 788 884 Subtotal Democratic Republic of Co 477 537 1,838 63 2,916 E. Equatorial Guinea Documentation and communication 15 8 194 49 266 Biodiversity 5 163 168 Forestry 87 8 241 337 Training 26 280 306 Coordination 59 416 475 Subtotal Equatorial Guinea 192 179 1,132 49 1,552 F. Gabon Core Environmental Info. 59 171 274 505 Coastal Zone Mngt 58 319 377 Biodiversity 29 230 259 Forestry 20 221 241 Training 19 172 191 Telecom. and Dissemination 31 78 78 187 Coordination 129 387 516 Subtotal Gabon 344 401 1,452 78 2,276 G. Regional Coordination Regional Project Mgnt Unit 151 1,502 3,344 4,997 Subtotal Regional Coordination Total Disbursement 2,575 4,077 12,778 328 19,757 81 ANNEX 5 C. Detailed tentative Financing Plan (5 years) Q '~ C . E, Ce so E o Cameroon C_ _ _ A Telecom. and dissemination 186 - 3 157 - 26 186 A Biodiversity national guide 114 97 17 114 B EIS 325 3 49 208 65 325 B Legal database 118 1 27 28 90 B Non ligneous products 80 34 1 35 10 80 C Land use 220 171 49 220 C Market prices observatory 221 165 5 51 221 C Topographic products 539 300 133 106 539 E Coordination 434 _ 321 113 434 Total 2,237 670 240 408 208 157 464 2,147 90 Congo A Communication Tools 86 5 10 15 71 B Rural Development 321 61 75 136 185 C Core Environmental Info. 691 489 57 145 691 C Forestry 485 I 34 344 107 485 C Biodiversity 590' 467 47 76 590 E Coordination 330 _ 256 - - 741 3301 Total 2,503 489 624 303 344 487 2,247 256 Gabon A Telecom. and Dissemination 187 151 - 36 187 B Coastal Zone Mngt 377 314 63 377 C Core Environmental Info. 505 171 278 56 505 C Biodiversity 259 145 21 62 31 259 C Forestry 241 220 21 241 D Training 191 171 20 191 E Coordination 516| 601 1021 118 2801 236 Total 2,276 630 81 486 498 345 2,040 236 Equatorial Guinea A Documentation and communication 266 8 17 25 241 C Biodiversity 168 162 | 6 168 C Forestry ||3371 2431 81 86l 337 D|Training 306 | 1 280 126 306 E|Coordination 230 172 158 230 Total 1,307 243 178 172 280 193 1,066 241 Central African Republic C Rural Planning | |587| | 350 69 80 88 587 C Periurban Planning '175 63 72 18 22 175 C Ecology Monitoring | 232| 143 j 38 51 232 C Forestry 340 218 4 34 84 340 C Biodiversity | 428| 408 I I | 20 428 E Coordination | 778 582 | | |196 778 Total 2,540 774 553 752 461 2,540 Democratic Republic of Congo C[|rban Development 427 148 37 151 91] 427 ClForestry 1,198 810 | 160| 228 1,198 C|Biodiversity 407 338 69' 407 E Coordination | 393 | | j303 _ 1 90| 393 Total 2,425 810 148 535 303 151 478 2,425 Coordination and ADIE E Regional Coordination 1 2,397l 1,156 1,071 19 151J 2,397 E|National coordination 1,474| | 1,474| 1,474| E Other regional Technical Assistance 1,300 500 1 25 500 | 1,025 275 E Technical support and studies (IFAD) | 300|1 300 300 Regional Fund for Local Initiatives (REFLI) 1,000 3 300 700 | | | | 1,000 Total 6,471 500 600 1,156 2,545 719 25 500 151 6,196 275 Grand total 19,75 13,4861 7481 3,9161 4,56411,3581 2511,143 344 498|2,579 18,661 1,098 82 ANNEX 5 D. Detailed tentative Financing Plan for the first year of the project o 0 - Cameroon 0 A Implementing the telecommunication network 107 cofin cofin. 1 1 106 A Creating an Environ. Documentation Center 135 134 1 135 A Implementabng a metadatabase 55 cofhn 9 9 46 B Guide of non timber Forest Products 98 91 7 98 C Mulb-resource mapping in the West province 137 112 20 5 137 C Creabng an observatory for timber market prices 114 107 7 114 D Enhancing INC capacities (topo. maps) 50 45 5 50 E Implementing the National Coordination Unit 175 175 _ _ _ 175 _ Total 871 248 20 175 107 134 35 719 152 Gabon A Implementing a metadatabase 68 4 19 68 C Improving Geodetic network and spatiomaps 369 30 59 233 47 369 C Biologicalstudyon 3 Pleistoceneforestshelters 248 230 18 248 E Subregional stafftraining in info. management 25 115 18 1 25143 E Implementing theaNabtonal CoordnmabonUgmnt 143 109 5 16 143 Total 890 260 109 29 148 233 111 890 Equatorial Guinea A lImplementng the telecommunication network 58 1 1 57 A lImplementing national environmental archives 76 2 2 74 A Implementng a metadatabase 48 11 1 |37 D Nabonal staff training 40 40 1 1 40 E Implementng the National Coordination Unit 105 105 105 | Total 327 40 105 14 159 168 Central African Republic A, |Implementing the telecommunication network 311 1 1 |30 A Implementing biodiversity information archive 104 103 1 104 A lImplementing a metadatabase 59 50 9I I 591 |Nabonal land use planning 137 132 5 1371 C Bushfire monitonng system 140 138 | 2 140| E Implementing the Natonal Coordination Unit 174 _ 174 _ _ | | 174 | Total 645 270 153 174 18 615 30 Democmtic Republic of Congo A Implementing the telecommunication network 147 130 130 1 7 A Implementing national environmental archives || 75 74 1 75 A Implementing a metadatabase | 501 47 3 1 s50 C Basic mapping over I million km2 466 451 1 5 466 C Study of one high biological value area 180 152 20 8 180 C Kimbanseke pen-urban land use planning [| 70 80 26 60 4 1701 E lmplementing the National Coordination Unit | 1381 | | | 1381 | | | | 1381 Total 1,226 531 26 286 138 177 20 31 1,209 17 ADIE - Regional Management Unit Technical Assistance [| 00 10 ° 1F 0l I iementing the Management unit i 500 1 661 2501 301 1 241 130 Total 1,500 66 250 1,030 24 130 1,500 Grandtotal 5s,45s9s 11,0891 1121 9491 1,7311 2841 531 2821 201 1301 233i209 592 367 83 ANNEX S E. Activities by Year Project Activities by Year (US$ '000) Totals Including Contingencies 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total A. Cameroon Topographic products 49 334 84 45 27 539 Land use 126 41 20 15 17 220 Biodiversity national guide 55 32 22 6 114 Non ligneous products 69 9 1 0 80 Market prices 115 26 27 28 24 221 Legal database 54 22 21 22 118 Telecom. and dissemination 101 20 21 21 22 186 EIS 134 89 42 29 30 325 Coordination 272 140 142 62 64 679 Subtotal Cameroon 866 768 391 244 213 2,482 B. Central African Republic Rural Planning 135 243 92 101 16 587 Ecology Monitoring 134 35 32 30 232 Forestry 150 105 45 40 340 Biodiversity 105 212 101 5 5 428 Periurban Planning 113 12 40 10 175 Coordination 273 281 226 120 124 1,024 Subtotal Central African Republic 647 1,034 569 341 195 2,787 C. Congo Communication Tools 40 17 15 14 86 Core Environmental Info. 230 154 165 142 691 Forestry 143 111 124 107 485 Rural Development 138 67 62 54 321 Biodiversity 157 195 128 110 590 Coordination 82 177 153 88 76 576 Subtotal Congo 82 885 696 582 503 2,748 D. Democratic Republic of Congo Forestry 481 222 261 150 84 1,198 Biodiversity 184 123 71 19 9 407 Urban Development 180 161 39 24 21 427 Coordination 294 228 228 67 68 884 Subtotal Democratic Republic of Con 1,139 734 600 260 183 2,916 E. Equatorial Guinea Documentation and communication 94 46 45 39 41 266 Biodiversity 50 43 39 35 168 Forestry 123 85 72 57 337 Training 72 143 32 33 25 306 Coordination 159 118 119 39 40 475 Subtotal Equatorial Guinea 326 480 325 222 199 1,552 F. Gabon Core Environmental Info. 373 111 21 505 Coastal Zone Mngt 102 141 77 58 377 Biodiversity 184 54 16 2 2 259 Forestry 172 69 241 Training 45 69 41 20 16 191 Telecom. and Dissemination 105 24 19 19 19 187 Coordination 167 83 86 89 92 516 Subtotal Gabon 874 615 392 207 187 2,276 G. Regional Coordination Regional Project Mgnt Unit 1,242 1,246 1,267 637 605 4,997 Subtotal Regional Coordination 1,242 1,246 1,267 637 605 4,997 Total PROJECT COSTS 5,176 5,763 4,240 2,493 2,085 19,757 84 ANNEX 5 F. Detailed Project Costs by country: Cameroon Expenditure Accounts by Activities - Totals Including Contingenci (US$ '000) Cameroon E e ~ 0' 0 0. ~ ~ 0. - 5 I. Investmnent Costs B. Goods 88 48 10 1 12 8 27 54 75 C. Data 133 1 1 5 1 3 D. Vehicles 79 37 37 37 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consuftants 18 17 35 34 3 49 Long-Term Technical Assistance 246 Services 17 20 9 10 21 12 2 29 57 Subtotal Consultant Services 34 37 9 44 56 12 5 78 303 F. Training and Fellowships 73 10 43 10 Total Investrnent Costs 407 85 20 46 110 21 41 216 425 II. Recurrent Costs A. Staff 55 35 35 19 69 54 61 34 158 B. Operation and main3nance of Vehicles C. Other Operating Costs 77 100 59 15 42 43 83 75 97 Total Recurrent Costs 132 135 94 34 111 97 144 109 25 Total PROJECT COSTS 539 220 114 80 221 118 186 326 679 I. Detailed Project Costs by country: Central African Republic Expenditure Accounts by Activities - Totals Including Contingenses (US$ '000) CAR Es E 0,0 I. Investrnent Costs B. Goods 50 64 84 C. Data 69 4 120 72 D. Vehicles 39 77 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consultants 80 38 34 18 Long-Term Technical Assistance 246 Services 22 3 31 10 11 Subtotal Consultant Services 101 41 34 31 28 257 F. Training and Fellowships 88 9 4 Total Investrnent Costs 309 114 77 151 100 422 I. Recurrent Costs A. Staff 234 58 199 206 48 415 B. Operation and maintenance of Vehicles 32 29 C. Oth erO ating Costs 45 60 33 71 28 158 Total Recurrent Costs 279 118 264 277 76 602 Tobtl PROJECT COSTS 587 232 340 428 175 1,024 85 ANNEX 5 H. Detailed Project Costs by country: Congo Expenditure Accounts by Activities - Totals Including Contingencies (US$ '000) Congo o _ O V C. Data 5 57 34 61 68~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 - C 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~n C. 1. Investment CostsC - - B. Goods 23 76 44 55 101 20 C. Data 5 57 34 61 68 D Vehicles 39 41 41 41 20 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consultants 78 21 47 21 Long-Term Technical Assistance 246 Services 5 58 Subtotal Consultant Services 83 21 47 325 F. Training and Fellowships 7 9 18 5 6 6 Total Investment Costs 35 264 157 162 262 371 II. Recurrent Costs A. Staff 42 312 234 100 234 111 B. Operation and maintenance of Vehicles 58 41 29 41 29 C. Other Operating Costs 9 57 53 29 53 64 Total Recurrent Costs 51 428 327 159 327 205 Total PROJECT COSTS 86 691 485 321 590 576 I. Detailed Project Costs by country: Democratic Republic of Congo Expenditure Accounts by Activities - Totals Including Contingencies (US$ '000) Democratic Republic of Congo Urban Forestry Biodiversity Development Coord. I. Investment Costs B. Goods 117 97 124 41 C. Data 160 144 37 D. Vehicles 75 37 19 20 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consultants 68 Long-Term Technical Assistance 491 Services 57 7 11 Subtotal Consultant Services 126 7 503 F Training and Fellowships 12 38 52 8 Total Investment Costs 490 316 239 572 II. Recurrent Costs A. Staff 188 B. Operation and maintenance of Vehicles 63 20 33 17 C. Other Operating Costs 646 70 155 107 Total Recurrent Costs 708 91 188 312 Total PROJECT COSTS 1,198 407 427 884 86 ANNEX 5 J. Detailed Project Costs by country: Equatorial Guinea Expenditure Accounts by Activities - Totals Including Contingencies (US$ 000) Equatorial Guinea Documt. and comm. Blodiv. Forestry Training Coord. I. Investment Costs B. Goods 13 24 17 23 C. Data 8 8 8 D. Vehicles 39 19 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consultants Long-Term Technical Assistance 246 Services 11 9 23 25 11 Subtotal Consultant Services 11 9 23 25 257 F. Training and Fellowships 194 Total Investment Costs 32 18 95 236 300 II. Recurrent Costs A. Staff 185 131 174 59 108 B. Operation and maintenance of Vehicles C. Other Operating Costs 49 19 68 11 68 Total Recurrent Costs 234 150 242 70 176 Total PROJECT COSTS 266 168 337 306 475 K. Detailed Project Costs by country Gabon Expenditure Accounts by Activities - Totals Including Contingencies (US$ '000) Gabon C~~~~~~~~~~ I. Investment Costs B. Goods 64 105 45 32 27 64 48 C. Data 171 D. Vehicles 19 37 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consultants 4 61 62 15 4 Long-Term Technical Assistance 96 21 164 Services 46 57 2 36 34 Subtotal Consultant Services 146 118 83 164 17 40 34 F. Training and Fellowships 1.1 76 2 100 23 23 Total Investment Costs 411 299 130 196 144 127 143 II. Recurrent Costs A. Staff 91 48 53 23 12 30 157 B. Operation and maintenance of Vehicles 3 13 6 C. Other Operating Costs 29 76 22 23 29 210 Total Recurrent Costs 94 78 129 45 47 60 373 Total PROJECT COSTS 505 377 259 241 194 187 516 87 ANNEX 5 L. Detailed Project Costs: Regional units Expenditure Accounts - Totals Including Contingencies (US$ '000) Regional units Regional PMU I. Investment Costs B. Goods 118 C Data D Vehicles 83 E. Consultant Services Short Term Consultants Long-Term Technical Assistance 2,671 Services Subtotal Consultant Services 2,671 F. Training and Fellowships 19 G. Regional Fund for Local Initiatives 1,000 Total Investment Costs 3,891 II. Recurrent Costs A. Staff 775 B Operation and maintenance of Vehicles 49 C. Other Operating Costs 283 Total Recurrent Costs 1,106 Total PROJECT COSTS 4,997 M. Project Cost Summary by Component (FCFA 'COO) (USS '000) Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Total 1. Network Creation and Service 445,879 199,754 645,633 743 333 1,076 2. Decision-Making and Communic. 601,950 255,540 857,490 1,003 426 1,429 3 User-Oriented Production 2,104,139 1,274,773 3,378,912 3,507 2,125 5,632 4. Capacity Building 855,917 1,541,788 2,397,705 1,427 2,570 3,996 Coordination of the activities* 1,941,744 1,663,793 3,605,537 3,236 2,773 6,009 Baseline Costs 5,949,630 4,935,647 10,885,277 9,916 8,226 18,142 Physical Contingencies 136,863 246,782 383,646 228 411 639 Price Contingencies 1,031,699 368,588 1,400,287 716 259 976 Total Project Costs 7,118,193 5,551,018 12,669,210 10,860 8,897 19,757 * Coordination covers both regional and national coordination of the project's activities It does not include the Regional Fund for Local Initiatives, which is spread over the four components. N. Financing Plan by Component (US$ '000 equivalent) Other Government GEF donors Self-financing Total 1. Network Creation and Service 74 35 926 111 1,146 (250) (250) 2. Decision-Making and Communic. 238 146 1,153 27 1,565 (300) (300) 3. User-Oriented Production 941 2,177 3,076 42 6,235 (200) (200) 4. Capacity Building 599 158 3,443 93 4,293 (250) (250) Coordination of the activities 723 1,561 4,180 54 6,518 Total 2,575 4,077 12,778 328 19,757 (1,000) (1,000) Note: Figures in parentheses are the respective amounts dedicated to the Regional Fund for Local Initiatives (REFLI). ifl W N~~~~0 i00 =000 0 0 p0~0=0000 >0>>>ff1 0J [1~ - . 3 [ 11 S1 3 11 1i I HI 1 11111 -111 11 I a' * !|!I | 111 Ii j >1 ' g | III' I_ _ II I 3 f- = 0i|H111 S1 i l 11 f- _ 1111 I -S S ! ~~~1 00 0 00t l ||1 3tn X 4 . H1i- "Iu|aa .. - lW |4 4+|M IiEl2 l la:T: .H4; H1 f 0 0 |e ||1 f1| f :11E 3f 0a' | iS|X lAS t 13 en 1|M111HIS :I ] - Cl31 1I IXI|II lr LI 31 1 | | b i | +l + | | | 1 f S 0 X X I I r M u ,- 0 ] | | | | i ] 111 ]| | ] 1 ] | a 11CI 1 | | | | +Si | | | | 1 e t i M 1M11lE i111 H h1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~e ] | | [ X | X a m m | | ] ] ] | | 17 1 [L! l E I~~~~~0 . S | E [ ! | d H | | | 1 X 1 ! X 1g11S H H W~~~2 ...~ 0 3 I | | g q W E| ] X t+E I g I1 H-K C : S I | | | | | | | | | S q -S H H S- ] I | [E E 1 H| g 1 11 1 E 1 1 S:X J ET] - I S | | h | X , | | | | f q 1|11 H H S~~~ X 11 | rilLll 1 L 1:ll : r g m 10 TG rX 1 l ra W1 ra E ra >0 51 1 E | | | +l WE | | |4 W X q 1|111 1 H H C 0 ] X | | E | X u l S 0 X | XTi E 3| l z: oowo "'9So-2 cct 1 >>9>> 03il >o;> 0t0i0; ooo]o2° 3 .;~; a' *>lo~~= e=o _- _ 3I 33~ ~~ - ;iH X:::ji 41FUE|tS -f |1111S 1' 2 t n t 1 I if o 1 I T~ T3 n :1 ' 3~~~~ 3 51 JEZ j IiM 0 s I B 2 R. o b :s 13 | IL ;J ! I IlXX11114h1 1 IL .tb 3% I * _13 13 1 + J}} i:j;11 !Ih nB h1~~~~~I Wii i!TE I '1 IjillE I -X o I 111 ffi ..1I2 ~~lm EU W1=1)nWfA1 X1 ajul' '0" NiR on ANNEX 6 1998 Work Plan for Equatorial Guinea M. I A., I M, F =.yar EDA i OTALI'OALNI A ONIRUIATION AND VALORIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION 0 OAPAOITY DUILOIiJO ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . 00-1 CeterA no.0 nArd ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ TE. II II service pronioer 31N.. 55 M 7 7 o. ROlE Reeeo NeOnni poor I Inloronenon Anolrnonononrie 040 4001~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. 4 MLOAVlo.Poed doN deevvv glo.Aon 0P A- III III IIII3 AOI AsAso pvur I.O.elp17or leIliomaIs Eolonennea 1 @l H: H g X Ml ' - X: ill, 0 I _ cr £ no o£o ooX Ao 5 C + *soo fl0o 0 oo'" 00100 L - 0 0 0 _00.1 00 00 _ l~~~ 0 00 : 4 o.oP::ISF'0 4 W Hit C 0 [oI 0 0 Ii 00 IE W . E | l v r X EN1111 1 I I r - 0-3 X TX J I I , I dEr = 1 11 l 00 _4 £2L ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~00 . o.4 SO4 0~~~~~~ 1- - - - - - - - - - 011| - 1- - t i U X | 1 011g1SE 111t m W~~~~~~R @ I I 11! 1 g I Li 1 I I Ld I ! j i II ! L t - " L _ L ] LLL ] i i ~~~~~I I _fI, L LIXiI[_I[ 1 . > L_ 1 111 3111 gIiLHIM| e L l + | F ~~~~~~~~~~~4 l SLaLU --- E tt11E1 M L it| F 1 | !---- -------- .~~~~~~~ - - - - - - - - - -Lg_|| 1l|| l|E1 .~~~~~~- - I - - - - - - - -3 IfI g01 cz~~~~~~~~~~- - - - - - - L - - - - - - - - - 1 1111 ||| |*|[ 1 .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- --- ---- .6iS] WS 93 ANNEX 7 Annex 7: Appraisal mission matrix This annex shows the large participation of donors and NGOs during the preparation stage of the REIMP, and lists the donors appraisal team. Les deux semaines d'evaluation en groupe ont ete suivies par l'atelier de Brazzaville du 24 au 26 Mars 97 qui a reuni l'ensemble des partenaires pour une synthese des travaux. Groupe 1: RCA (au Gabon) du 9 au 14 Mars 1997 Groupe 2: Guinee Equatoriale: du 9 au 14 Mars 1997 Groupe 3 Gabon. du 9 au 14 Mars 1997 1iLegr1WOFl swgiouale Nombre Groupes Congo: du 16 au 21 Mars 1997 Cameroun: do 16 au 21 Mars 1997 Zaire: du 16 au 21 Mars 1997 au mars 1 7 dexperts Chefsnote (1 - de groupe M Femnandez (UE) J.M. Bouvard (FAC) M Simeon (BM) F. Rantrua (BM) I 1. Thematiques: 2. Techniques: 3. Autres: 1. Thematiques. 2. Techniques: 3. Autres: 1. Thernatiques- 2. Techniques: 3 Autres: 1.1. Biodiversit6 2.1. Systeme Info 3.1. 1.1 Biodiversitd 2.1. Systeme 3.1. Gestion/organ. 1 .1. Biodiversite 2.1. Systeme Info 3.1. Chef de mission Sp6cialit6s 1.2. Foresterie 2.2. Telecom Gestion/organ 1.2. Forestene Info 3.2. Juridique 1.2. Foresterie 2.2. Telecom Gestion/organ. a fait r6valuation de la X 1 3. Agriculture 3.2. Juridique 1 3. Agriculture 2.2. Telecom 1.3. Agriculture 3 2. Jundique proposition r6gionale et Partenaires 1 4 Aspects socio- 1 4 Aspects socio- 1.4 Aspects socio- participe aux travaux des 6conomiques economiques economiques groupes I et 3 H.Hoffman M. Henze Allemagne (1.2.+ 3.1.) (1.1 + 1 2 + 1.3) 2 -R- -R- Congo _-R- Cameroun Banque C. Taupiac P. Gerbe M. Bekhechi A Lema (I 4) M. Simnon 1.2 C. Taupiac mondiale (1.2 et 3.1.) , .. {- (2.2. et 3.2.) ( .2........ ) . . . . .. -... (3 1 ,1.2. et 1.3.) 3.1. M. Simeon 5 _ . ._. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(3232. 3 M. Bekhecli __ D. Lantieri S. Lombardo 1 3. D Lantieri FAO [ - (1.3. et 2.1.) (2.1.) _ __ 2 1. S. Lombardo 2 V. Galastro (1 4) T. Rico-MOT FIDA Gabon, Cateroun (3.1) Guin6e Eq. 1 4 V. Galastro* 2 France J.M. Bouvard R. Nasi 2 -R- --[ * * * .....--.-..-. - -- (3.1. et 1.2 )-R- (1.2) -R- Gabon _______ ___ .__ __ M. Langul ui ONGs . (1.1.) 1 1. C Tutin 2 -R- _ 11.) ._- -R- Congo, Zaire __j ___ . ____ ECOFAC C. AvelingM Feandez (Union (1.1 )-R- Zaire (3.1 etrn.a 2-R- Europenne) .... . . ._ _ _. Autres 1 G Schorochoff 2 1. M Massart2 partenaires M Massairt (2. 1.) (3 I- (ae DL etSL) 2 (USA,Belgique) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Total 3 3 1 2 par thame 1 2 3 2 2 Total 7 6 d19+1 (FR) par groupe ________________________dont 8 -R -R-: personne prdsente dans la region, lorsqu' un pays est prdcise, la personne n'a participd a I'dvaluation que dans ce pays (1): certains experts ont parfois eu des responsabilites specifiques qui ne sont pas prdcisdes dans ce tableau de synthese en particulier pour niveau rdgional. * Rapports spdcifiques sdpards Se sont joints a la mission lors de la conference de Brazzaville: Cynthia Cook, Albert Greve (BM), David Kingsbury (FIDA), Filippo Saracco et Bas Huijbrejts (Union Europeenne), Bertrand Galtier, Alain Chaudron (France), James Graham (USAid), et F Z. Bennani-Baii (ONUDI) MAP SECTION Central Africa Faro~~~u ORG~>ANIZATIONJSt Benou MtKlumAju f entral African Republomt bt tCarneroon or ansou 05t ~~Dja Gramb , ~~~jWB ~ ~ ~~BU ,AV/~~ POITCA BOUNARIE (DW)Szngh Figur o uabale-Ndpkl f i Equatora ,8 en, EpuIlu Guinea . Minkeb: )DDanajg Euuwf X, XGabon g Odzala t1 >LJi uala-aux-Herbes FJITTO l% i Virunga \ * f3 opeCongog ^ Gamb f Salonga KahuzFBiega trsoulou I Conkouab ) fZ l:)emocratic Republic of Congo BIODIVERSITY AND OETY \ J PROJECT ORGANIZATIONS o CARPE o GEF ORGAN IZATIONS t EU _EU/UNHCR GEF ITTO ODA and EU 3USAID- CARPE (WCS, WWF) 50050Klmtr WB ooo50Klmtr /\/POLITICAL BOUNDARIES (DCW) Figure 3 : Map of existing projects