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UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Global Environment Facility

PROPOSAL FOR PDF BLOCK B GRANT

Country India
Focal Area Biodiversity
GEF Operational Programme Arid and semi-arid ecosystems
Project Title Conservation and sustainable management of dryland biodiversity
Eligibility Convention on Biological Diversity, ratified 18 February 1994
Participation in the re-structured GEF, notified 12 May 1994.
Executing Agency Ministry of Environment and Forests, through the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI)
GEF Operational Focal Point Ministry of Environment and Forests, letter of endorsement dated 24 October 1996
GEF Implementing Agency UNDP
PDF Funds Requested US$ 329,600

Co-funding US$ 73,000 (SRISTI and IDRC)

Estimated starting date April 1998

Project Preparation 12 Months

Block A Grant Awarded No

_______________________________________________________________________________

I. Summary, Project Objectives and Description

This PDF B project proposes to develop a full project to conserve globally significant biodiversity by protecting endangered biodiversity in the dry arid and semi-arid ecosystems of Northern Gujarat. Through a participatory programme, the PDF will develop strategies necessary to strengthen the existing network of protected areas and nature reserves and complement it with improving management and resource uses in associated network of sacred groves, community forests and grasslands. This project will seek to strengthen local institutions and add value to traditional practices thus ensuring sustainable use of biodiversity and additional income generation. Building partnerships with local communities for their active participation in project design and implementation of the full project will be an important feature of this project.

Background

India is at the junction of the Ethiopian, Palearctic and Oriental bio-geographic realms and is listed among the most biologically diverse countries in the world. Three biomes and ten bio-geographic regions are represented in India, containing over 130,000 species of plants and animals. These biological resources, however, co-exist uneasily with a population of over 900 million. Nowhere is the conflict between humans and biodiversity so intense as in India's dryland regions where communities suffer from especially high incidences of illiteracy, poverty and high population growth rates. These conditions are exacerbated by policy and socio-economic distortions that force marginal populations into an uneasy coexistence with the biodiversity resources.

The Western Indian state of Gujarat falls under the broad Ethiopian bio-geographic realm, and based on the distribution of vegetation types, it can be divided further into four bio-geographic sub-regions: (1) Indian desert (2) Semi Arid Deccan-North Gujarat (3) Salt Marsh and (4) Teak Zone. By virtue of its geographical location, Gujarat has a number of ecosystems. These include the dry deciduous forests with a predominance of Teak (Tectona grandis) and Anogeissus latifolia; dry thorn scrub forests with a dominance of Acacia nilotica and Capparis decidua; and a unique saline desert ecosystem with a dominance of Salvadora oleides and Prosopis cineraria. Gujarat also has grassland ecosystems, moist deciduous forests and a long coastline that includes the Gulf of Kutch. The Gulf of Kutch harbors some of the most diverse coral reefs in the tropics and also some of the world's most endangered mangrove species.

All of these habitats harbor unique, endangered and endemic flora and fauna including Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora oleides, Asiatic lion, Indian wolf, Blackbuck, Chinkara, Chowsingha, Spiny tailed lizard, Sarus cranes, Indian wild ass, and Rusty spotted cat, among others. Gujarat also happens to be a crucial link and wintering ground in the migratory flyways of millions of waterfowl (including cranes, ducks, geese and numerous waders) that migrate from central Asia and Western Europe to Peninsular India.

The number of flowering plants species that have been recorded is 2,198, belonging to 902 genera from Gujarat and representing 12.91 percent of the total flowering plant species in the country. About 1,933 species of algae occur in Gujarat (77 percent of the total in India) and 750 species of medicinal plants and 450 species of economically valuable plants used by local tribes have been identified so far. The number of animal species that have been recorded in Gujarat is 2,720, of which 14 are mammals that are either endangered or threatened. Gujarat is also a repository of considerable agro-biodiversity. Wild relatives of a number of indigenous varieties of crops such as Cumin and Isabgol (Is this the correct spelling? Please provide more examples) as well as several native breeds of cattle, buffalo, ass, sheep and horses originate from Gujarat.

Project Area

This project will focus on conserving biodiversity in two areas in northern Gujarat. WWF/WCMC have elevated conservation of this bio-region to the highest priority (level 1a) at the global scale in order to achieve bio-regional representation (Dinerstein, et al. 1997).

  1. The Kutch district in north and northwest Gujarat includes the wildlife sanctuaries of Narayan Sarovar, Indian Wild Ass and Flamingo City.
  1. Banaskantha in northeastern Gujarat where the Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary is located.

The unique saline desert ecosystem of Kutch can be broadly divided into three landscape elements namely (a) the great Rann of Kutch (b) the little Rann of Kutch and (c) adjoining mainland areas of Kutch bordering these two Ranns. Historically, these two Ranns formed the arms of the sea and even today periodic inundation of these two Ranns occurs seasonally. Kutch is the sole habitat of the last surviving population of the endangered endemic Indian Wild Ass. It also supports the largest breeding colony of the Greater and Lesser Flamingoes in South and South East Asia. More than one million Flamingoes are estimated to breed in the great Rann of Kutch. It is also home to the unique saline grassland called Banni (approximately 3,847 sq. km in area) which harbors unique and endemic salt tolerant grasses and numerous wild relatives of commercially cultivated and economically valuable species. The Narayan Sarover sanctuary supports a large population of the Indian gazelle (chinkara) which is listed in Schedule 1 of India's Wildlife Protection Act. 1972 as threatened and highly endangered.

The ecosystem of Banaskantha comprises the southern tip of the Aravallies i.e., the Jessore and Balaram Wildlife Sanctuaries. The ecosystem is a repository of several wild relatives of cultivated crops and vegetables notably Cumin, Isabgol and members of the Cucurbitaceae family.

The ecosystem also serves as a crucial habitat for several highly endangered dryland mammals and birds including the Indian wolf, Blackbuck, Houbara bustard, Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican and others.

A key feature of the conservation regime in Gujarat is the practice of community-managed forests, sacred groves, grasslands and water bodies. Although not afforded formal legal protection, the biodiversity in these areas has remained remarkably intact as a result of cultural values, social controls and indigenous knowledge, maintained and enforced by mechanisms of community government such as village community institutions and panchayats (councils). These community-managed areas are extremely significant since a key feature of dryland faunal ecology is the continually changing distribution of animals (in response to ecosystem stresses such as drought) and the uniqueness of the protected areas. Community managed areas also harbor a large part of Gujarat's domestic and agro-biodiversity. The survival of indigineous varieties of cattle, buffalo, sheep, horse and crops is therefore linked with the continuation of these areas.

The best approach for biodiversity conservation in Gujarat is therefore considered to be the development of a network of community-managed areas to support the existing protected areas and for these to act as corridors between protected areas.

Unfortunately, due to development pressures, population growth and government policies, social controls in community managed areas are weakening. Symptoms of weaker controls are increased human/livestock conflicts with wild biodiversity (e.g., poaching and unsustainable exploitation of biodiversity); changes in land use practices (e.g., the mushroom growth of salt mining); and proliferation of exotic species.

Threats

The major threats to the biodiversity include:

  1. Colonization by exotic species (especially the Prosopis juliflora tree and Acacia auriculiformes).
  2. Destruction and fragmentation of habitats as a result of deforestation and rapid industrialization (logging, chemical industry, salt mining, coal production). Rapid development has placed pressure on natural habitats and has increased conflicts between local populations and wildlife. For example, the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary in Surendranagar district is fast turning into a major salt industry. Proximity to the Gulf of Kutch has resulted in mining of salt in most parts of the sanctuary with encroachment on the wild ass habitat. This has resulted in the asses raiding crop fields bordering the sanctuary.
  3. Increased poaching of endemic species such as the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica), chinkara, sloth bear.
  4. Lack of inter-agency coordination. This results in disparate and uncoordinated programmes. Overlapping of jurisdiction among State departments over key resources (e.g., water bodies and grasslands) in the protected areas has affected management and enforcement.
  5. The deferred formal classification of several protected areas (including the Wild Ass Sanctuary) and the transfer of legal control to the Forest department from the Revenue Department has created a management crisis whereby the Forest Department's role is essentially limited to monitoring.

The root causes of these threats include the lack of valuation of biodiversity at policy and economic levels. There is also the open access to forest lands and grasslands and a breakdown of social controls and indigenous knowledge among pastoralists in these areas, which encourages the non-sustainable extraction of forest resources for commercial purposes.

Policies, Institutions and Existing Conservation Measures

The Wildlife Protection Act (1972) provides legal protection to species listed in its Schedules I to IV. Habitat protection is also provided under the Forest Act (1927), the Forest Conservation Act (1980) and the Environment Protection Act (1988). In recognition of the need to integrate local communities in any successful conservation initiative, the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution were passed in 1994. The amendments devolve powers to rural communities and local tribes with respect to management of watersheds, water bodies and community assets (e.g., pastureland). National level priority setting for biodiversity conservation has recommended the arid and semi-arid ecosystems of northern Gujarat for immediate action.

Of the 19,178 sq. km of forest area of the Gujarat, a total of 17,972 sq. km has been declared as protected areas. These protected areas comprise 15 sanctuaries and national parks (What is the correct number of sanctuaries and national parks?). Protected areas are under the jurisdiction of the Gujarat Forest Department, which, due to inadequate resources and capacity is often restricted to a policing role in the protected areas. Other state departments active in the protected areas include the State Revenue Department, State Agriculture Department, Animal Husbandry Department, Irrigation Department and Department for Rural Development.

The Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) is a grassroots NGO working primarily in arid and semi arid areas of Gujarat. SRISTI has developed a national network of NGOs, local communities, local government, scientists, State Administration and Forest Department working towards conservation of biological diversity and indigenous knowledge. SRISTI has initiated a global network of grassroots organizations and individuals via the "Honey Bee Network" which is operational in 71 countries to date. Through the Internet, member organizations have developed databases on indigenous knowledge and provide information on developing resource management strategies, techniques for value addition and marketing. (Add one or two more sentences on this network.)

SRISTI works on the premise that adding value to indigenous knowledge will help local communities co-exist with biodiversity resources by reducing primary extraction, generating long-term benefits, thus enhancing sustainable use. Consequently, SRISTI has developed an enormous database of information on biodiversity as well as documented and created a database of associated indigenous knowledge, innovations and common property resource institutions. The database on indigenous knowledge and innovations contains thousands of uses of plants by farmers, pastoralists and others for crop protection, medicinal use, and veterinary disease control, among others.

Project Objectives and Activities:

The goal of the full project is to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of globally significant dryland biodiversity in Gujarat. There are three objectives:

  1. To protect and conserve biodiversity within selected sanctuaries and national parks.
  2. To conserve biodiversity in community managed areas (pastures, grasslands, sacred forests) peripheral to the project sites, which provide habitat/corridors for endangered species. To develop and implement sustainable alternative livelihood options and ensure the conservation of domesticated and agricultural biodiversity.
  3. To carry out upstream activities to ensure the conservation of biodiversity within the protected area and their buffer zone, as well as to incorporate biodiversity conservation into existing land-use and development plans and environmental legislation.

Activities will be carried out in selected project sites in two ecosystems in Gujarat. The project sites will be selected from the saline desert and grassland ecosystem of Kutch district and the dry thorn scrub forest ecosystem of Banaskantha district.

The following is an indicative list of activities for the full project:


Activity                                                                 Objective  

Strengthen the management of existing protected areas (develop and           1      
implement management plans).                                                        

Clarify the status of protected areas, determine boundaries, gazetting.      1      

Establish biological corridors to ensure safe migration of species.         1,2     

Build the capacity of government institutions and local communities        1,2,3    
involved in conservation activities and develop better communication                
and coordination networks.                                                          

Improve management of sacred groves, community forests and grasslands      1,2,3    
by helping define roles, responsibilities of stakeholders and                       
mechanisms to ensure control and responsibility.                                    

Improve database and inventory of dryland biological resources and         1,2,3    
indigenous knowledge.                                                               

Develop and implement strategies to control exotic, invasive species.       1,2     

Add value to indigenous uses of biodiversity, improve technology,            3      
access to markets, commercial uses and promote adoption/sharing of                  
innovative resource uses with a view to reducing resource extraction                
and generating sustainable income                                                   

Public awareness and environmental education.                              1,2,3    

Conserve domestic and agro-biodiversity.                                   1,2,3    

Provide input into development of land-use plans and amendment of           2,3     
environment policies for drylands at the state and national level

This PDF B project will further elaborate on the activities to be undertaken by the full project.

II. Description of proposed PDF B activities:

PDF B activities to develop the details and implementation arrangements for the full project will be carried out over a period of 12 months by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, through SRISTI. The MoEF will provide a Project Coordinator for general project oversight. A full-time project manager will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project. A socio-economic expert, botanist, zoologist and range ecologist will comprise the project team. An incremental cost expert will be utilized at two stages; at the inception of the project to help determine the scope of the full project and structure project activities; and to carry out the incremental cost analysis after formulation of activities for the full project.

The Project Manager will take responsibility for organizing and conducting three state-level workshops and nine consultations as follows: two consultations each for; (a) preparation of a socio-economic study and policy issues; (b) ecological inventory and threat analysis; (c) study on indigenous knowledge and incentives for conservation. Two consultations will be undertaken to develop the strategic work plan of activities to be implemented during the full project. One consultation will be held to determine stakeholder participation and responsibilities.

Activity 1 The Project Coordinator will be identified and the Project Manager recruited. A project steering committee will be constituted and will meet to discuss the full project component, provide policy guidance, finalize the PDF work plan, establish coordination and communication arrangements, identify stakeholders and catalyze cross-sectoral ministries and agencies. Representatives will be drawn from stakeholder state departments and national ministries (Gujarat Forest Department, Agriculture, Rural Development, Revenue Department, Animal Husbandry, MoEF), SRISTI, UNDP, NGOs, Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, communities and scientists.

Output: Work plan, selection of project team, identification of stakeholders.

Activity 2 The project manager and experts will gather background information on the biodiversity resources through a review of existing literature and elaborate on the threats to biodiversity conservation and their root causes. They will also elaborate on the policy and institutional setting, and existing measures to facilitate delimitation of the project's system boundary. Site selection criteria and a list of potential sites will be developed.

Output: Discussion papers of biodiversity resources, threats, root causes, socio-economic causes, preliminary list of project sites.

Activity 3 A project inception workshop will be convened, and will include participants from local communities, state and central government, NGOs, academic and scientific institutions, private sector. On the basis of the discussion papers, participants will define the system boundary and goals of the full project. The work plan of the PDF B, methodology, implementation arrangements and activities will be discussed and feedback sought from local communities. Project sites will be selected. Strategies to ensure the participation of all stakeholders (with an emphasis on gender) will be developed.

Outputs: Selection of project sites, delineation of system boundary, project activities, goals and scope of full project, participatory processes, coordination and communication arrangements, identification of stakeholders, gaps and priorities for action.

Activity 4 A socio- economic study and analysis of root causes and threats will be carried out. Economic and social policy will be analyzed to identify relevant policies and programmes of cross sectoral ministries. Root causes and threats such as policy distortion (subsidies, incentives) will be identified. The capacity and existing measures and programmes of state departments and stakeholder institutions will be analyzed.

Field activities including consultations and participatory rural appraisals will be conducted to determine:

  1. patterns of resource use, extraction rates
  2. demographic and cultural aspects
  3. gender aspects
  4. site specific threats and socio-economic conditions
  5. roles of local institutions and ways to strengthen them

Output: Analysis of socio-economic root causes, site-specific baseline information, prioritization of socio-economic threats and development of cost-effective interventions.

Activity 5 An assessment and baseline surveys will be conducted to identify ecological impacts of harmful activities, vulnerable habitats, endemic, indicator and threatened species, economically valuable species(and wild relatives of cultivated plants) and domestic/agro-biodiversity. The population densities and distribution patterns of key species will be determined. Areas of conflicts among wildlife, livestock and people will be identified. Information on hydrological features and rainfall patterns will be gathered due to their importance in dryland ecology.

Output: Targeted baseline information in the form of analyses, maps, multiple use plans for different sites, policy recommendations, identification and prioritization of threats.

Activity 6 Indigenous knowledge, incentives for conservation, and gender issues

This activity will be carried out in conjunction with Activity 4. Building upon SRISTI's considerable work and database of information, the indigenous knowledge of local communities living in the vicinity of project sites will be documented. Information will be gathered on:

IDRC has committed funds towards a component on value addition to indigenous innovations and practices which will act as incentives for conservation. This will encourage sustainable use and benefit sharing by encouraging long-term community support towards conservation, This component will be closely linked to Activity 6, but carried out by personnel hired through the IDRC grant.

Output: Documentation of indigenous uses of wild biodiversity, report on gender issues, techniques for value addition and development of incentives to local communities and conservators engaged in conserving biodiversity.

Activity 7 Workshop to develop strategic actions to address threats

The results of the field activities will be analyzed and maps and strategy papers will be prepared. This information will be discussed and analyzed during the workshop by stakeholders. Participants will include state and local government, local communities, NGOs, private sector and scientific institutions. The information gathered will be analyzed to prioritize threats, and develop activities to address proximate and ultimate causes of biodiversity loss.

Output: Methodology for conservation of the dryland biodiversity consisting of multiple use and management plans, modules for capacity-building, training, improving protected area management, strengthening indigenous use and knowledge, alternative livelihood strategies, awareness-raising.

Activity 8: The roles of stakeholders in the full project, implementation arrangements, coordination and communication arrangements (especially with other resource use sectors) will be finalized through consultations. Measures will be determined to ensure participation of stakeholders with special reference to marginalized groups and women. Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms will be finalized and built into the project.

Output: Plan for stakeholder participation, implementation arrangements and institutional roles and responsibilities for full project. Methodology for monitoring and evaluation for full project.

Activity 9: An assessment of the baseline and incremental cost of the full project will be carried out. The activities proposed for the full project will be separated into baseline and incremental activities. The resources needed for these activities will be calculated to determine GEF funding components and components to be funded from other sources.

Output: Calculations identifying incremental and baseline costs.

Activity 10 Identification of co-financing sources and financial sustainability study

Based on the assessment of incremental and baseline costs, commitment for co- financing of both baseline and incremental costs will be sought. The possibility of establishing a National Desertification Fund and/or community biodiversity funds will be explored (this is especially relevant given the on-going efforts to set up a National Environmental Fund and an Eco-development fund in India).

Output: Indicative level of co-financing from donors.

Activity 11 Final workshop and preparation of final project brief and draft project document.

The results of the PDF B process will be developed into a full project brief and draft project document (in standard UNDP format). A final workshop will be held with the steering committee and major project stakeholders to reach an agreement on the selected project sites, activities proposed, implementation and institutional arrangements, benefit sharing, baseline and incremental scenarios. A final full project brief will be developed consequent to the workshop and submitted to the GEF for consideration.

Output: Project brief and draft project document.

III. Eligibility

This project falls within the GEF Operational Programme of arid and semi-arid ecosystems18. This project is also consistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity and its guidance from the Conference of the Parties. This includes a treatment of agrobiodiversity. This project also addresses cross-sectoral issues such as desertification and drought, land degradation and agro-biodiversity. India ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity on 18 February 1994 and notified its participation in the restructured GEF on 12 May 1994.

IV. National level Support

This project is the outcome of discussions between SRISTI, Gujarat Administration, Forest Department, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests. In a paradigm shift, State and Central Governments have recently acknowledged the importance of building partnerships with communities to conserve biodiversity. As a result, the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution in 1994 specifically created a provision for community management of natural resources. The National Biodiversity Legislation (under preparation) and India's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (to be initiated) are expected to further emphasize this approach.

Given SRISTI's work on community participation in biodiversity conservation, and indigenous knowledge, the Gujarat Forest Department and Administration have expressed interest in building a partnership with SRISTI.

V. Relationship with other on-going GEF and related initiatives

The GEF Eco-development project is working to strengthen the management of seven protected areas in India. The main focus of the Eco-development project is to alleviate pressures on the protected areas by village eco-development i.e., developing alternative income. Sasan Gir, in Gujarat, is one of the sites selected under the Eco-development project.

The following two paragraphs need to be re-written to clearly explain the WB GEF Eco-development project. What does it set out to do? What is the biodiversity that is being protected in the WB GEF project? It should be clearly different from the biodiversity being protected by this project. In what areas will this project complement the WB GEF project? It should be clearly stated that there is NO overlap between the two projects.

Activities of the Eco-development project include analyses of regional planning and regulation, processes to broaden participation, and financial sustainability strategies and plans specific to the project's protected areas. One of the WB's project sites is the Sasan Gir. This ecosystem is very different from the areas that this project will cover. Sasan Gir is essentially a dry teak and deciduous forest with a different species composition. Migration is not a key element of the behavior of species inhabiting Gir and consequently most of the biodiversity lies primarily within the protected area. This creates different management issues.

This project has a fundamentally different focus from the Eco-development project since it proposes to conserve biodiversity in saline grassland and semi- desert ecosystems by developing a network community forests and sacred groves to support the existing protected areas. Thus building partnerships with local communities and building support for biodiversity conservation is a key element of this project. Sustainable use of biodiversity will be promoted by adding value in indigenous knowledge practices. Strategies need to be developed keeping in mind that migration is a key feature of the wildlife ecology in these areas, and protected areas are not representative of the species composition in these ecosystems. Partnerships with communities are vital to the success of this project. Currently most of the biodiversity occurs in communally managed areas, or areas managed by the State Revenue Department. Therefore, building community awareness, adding value to indigenous knowledge and developing corridors for wildlife movement are key components of this project.

GEF has also committed funds towards preparatory projects in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Gulf of Mannar. These project are focused on coral reefs and coastal areas. However, the community management plans and strategies for stakeholder involvement and financial sustainability will be examined for lessons learned. Participation of experts (especially incremental cost experts) from other GEF financed projects will be opportunistically sought to reduce costs.

VI. Special Features

Given the population and developmental pressures on biodiversity in Gujarat, the success of this project will contain lessons for other arid, semi-arid regions experiencing similar conflict. The following features hold great demonstrative potential:

Work plan


Activity                          1    2    3   4    5   6    7    8    9    10   11    12  

Steering committee meetings       x                  x                                  x   

Gathering of background           x    x                                                    
information                                                                                 

Workshops                              x                                x          x        

Preparation of the                     x    x   x    x   x    x    x    x                   
socio-economic study                                                                        

Preparation of the ecological          x    x   x    x   x    x    x                        
study                                                                                       

Documentation of indigenous            x    x   x    x   x    x    x                        
knowledge                                                                                   

Stakeholder participation and               x   x    x   x    x    x                        
gender issues                                                                               

Consultations                               x        x        x    x                        

Analysis of information and                                   x    x    x    x     x        
development of strategies                                                                   

Incremental cost missions              x                                x                   

Financial sustainability study                                          x    x     x        

Preparation of full project                                                        x    x   
brief and draft project                                                                     
document
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