The World Bank Tunisia: Ecotourism and Conservation of Desert Biodiversity (P120561) REPORT NO.: RES35652 DOCUMENT OF THE WORLD BANK RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF TUNISIA: ECOTOURISM AND CONSERVATION OF DESERT BIODIVERSITY APPROVED ON JANUARY 22, 2013 TO MINISTRY OF LOCAL AFFAIRS AND ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly Senior Global Practice Director: Karin Erika Kemper Practice Manager/Manager: Lia Carol Sieghart Task Team Leader: Taoufiq Bennouna The World Bank Tunisia: Ecotourism and Conservation of Desert Biodiversity (P120561) I. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P120561 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 22-Jan-2013 31-Jan-2019 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Ministry of Local affairs and Environment Minitry of Local Affairs and Environment Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The Project Development Objective is to contribute to the conservation of desert biodiversity in the three targeted National Parks. Summary Status of Financing Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed TF-13636 05-Mar-2013 05-Mar-2013 22-May-2013 31-Jan-2019 4.27 3.92 .35 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No II. SUMMARY OF PROJECT STATUS AND PROPOSED CHANGES The World Bank Tunisia: Ecotourism and Conservation of Desert Biodiversity (P120561) The project was approved on January 22nd 2013, became effective on May 22nd, 2014 and has been restructured in June 2018 with an extension for 6 months with a closing date at 31 January 2019. The project has three components:The PIU has achieved the implementation of all activities envisaged at the start of the project and those added following its first restructuration. The project has so far supported 197 Micro-enterprises- based Subprojects and 29 Community-based Subprojects, making a total of 226 micro-projects. These subprojects had an a real socio-economic impact. 472 permanent job have been created allowing the diversification of income sources of parks surrounding local communities and thus the reduction of anthropogenic pressures on natural resources. It is important to emphasize that subprojects financed benefited only young people, 20% of whom were women. These subprojects improved the average monthly income of beneficiaries by 300 Tunisian Dinars. To date, the project has disbursed USD 3,492,569.02 which represents 81.8%. The amount of payments is USD 3,255,190 which represents a percentage of 76.23%. The commitments is USD 3,730,612 which represents 87.36%. If we consider the value of the Tunisian Dinar against the US dollar at the project effectiveness (1 Dollar USD = 1.5 Tunisian Dinar), the disbursement, payment and commitment rates are respectively: 125%, 117% and 135%. Despite these achievements, and due to the ongoing devaluation of the dinar, the project must disburse another USD400,000 in the remaining period. The November 2018 Implementation Status and Results Report (ISR) rates progress towards achievement of the GEO as Satisfactory and Implementation Progress as Satisfactory. The efficient implementation completion of all activities and the maintenance of track towards achievement of PDO, allowed to upgrade the DO to Satisfactory. All legal covenants and safeguards requirements are complied with and there have been no deviation of Safeguards during implementation. The latest audit reports of the project are up to date and deemed satisfactory The Tunisian dinar continue to experience a constant and significant decline in its value against the dollar resulting in an additional funding equivalent to USD 400.000. The Government requested to extend the project by 3 to 6 months to use the remaining balance of USD 400,000 to : 1- finalize and achieve the proposed additional activities; 2-to contribute to initiate the preparation of the requested scaling up of Oasis Development Project, extending the area to the National Parks zones (Dghoumes, Jbil and Bouhedma). III. DETAILED CHANGES LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications TF-13636 Effective 31-Jul-2018 31-Jan-2019 31-May-2019 30-Sep-2019