The Swaziland Biodiversity Conservation and Participatory Development Project (BCPD)

Download the Project Concept Document (307kb) - gives an overview of the BCPD project.

Download the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) draft document.

Project development objective

The project's Development Objective is to promote environmentally, economically and socially sustainable development in the rural areas of Swaziland, based on conservation, wise use of its rich biodiversity resources and local participation in resource management, with a particular emphasis on enhancing the country's participation in regional tourism markets. This will be achieved through a participatory, integrated spatial development planning (ISPP) process, leading to the development and implementation of an Integrated Corridor Management Plan (ICMP) plan for each of two "Biodiversity and Tourism Corridors" (B-T Corridors) on a geographic scale that captures essential ecological and economic linkages. (Note: B-T Corridors will include four main categories of land use: (i) core conservation/protected areas, (ii) core tourism development zones, (iii) linkage zones to provide connectivity for biological and/or tourism purposes, and (iv) support zones in which investment in improved natural resource management will support the conservation and tourism objectives and areas.)

The Global Development Objective of the Biodiversity Conservation and Participatory Development (BCPD) project is to encourage and support environmentally, economically and socially sustainable development in the rural areas of Swaziland, based on conservation and wise use of its rich biodiversity resources.

The project will develop a programmatic and holistic approach in full partnership with other key stakeholders to meet the goals and objectives of the Swaziland Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP).

The GEF financial contribution to the project will help ensure that the BSAP objectives are met. Specifically, these objectives are to:

• Establish an effective, sustainable institutional framework for coordinating and facilitating the management of biodiversity in Swaziland and for the implementation of relevant policies, strategies and laws
• Provide easily accessible and up-to-date biodiversity information
• Identify components of biodiversity with national, regional and/or international significance and conserve these components within an achievable, prioritized framework of actions
• Promote the conservation of biodiversity through sustainable development of nature based tourism in the country
• Foster a greater public understanding of biological diversity
• Create conditions and incentives for local biodiversity conservation.

The project will focus on establishing a sectorally integrated and sustainable system for the management of biodiversity and important watersheds through a participatory development process in two Biodiversity and Tourism Corridors (BTCs).

The Corridors will connect protected and protection worthy areas of globally significant biodiversity while maintaining and enhancing the integrity and continuity of interlinking habitats. Biodiversity conservation and management in the corridors will be underpinned by complementary activities maximizing economic benefits to rural communities through sustainable livelihoods, targeted infrastructure interventions and the development of tourism routes capitalizing on existing regional tourism dynamics. The piloting of this integrated approach should result in models with a high potential for replication in the rest of the country.

The project's objectives are fully consistent with guidance from the Conference of the Parties of the Biodiversity Convention regarding conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in vulnerable areas. The project will also support agro-biodiversity by promoting indigenous knowledge systems in the use of medicinal plants in the BTCs by improved propagation, marketing and research.

Global and Regional Significance for Biodiversity and Watershed Management

The incremental benefits of the projects, and justification for GEF financing is based on the high biodiversity and number of contiguous, diverse and important habitats found in Swaziland, and the added value of linking these with globally significant habitats which Swaziland shares with South Africa on its north-western boundary and with Mozambique on its eastern boundary.

The project will develop:

1) an east-west corridor in the northern part of the country (described as the Northern BTC) linking the coastal areas of Mozambique and South Africa with the Drakensberg escarpment (Songimvelo, Malolotja, Makhonjwa) and

2) a north-south corridor in the eastern part of the country (described as the Eastern BTC) defined by the entire length of the Swaziland Lubombo plateau and escarpment.

In the north-western part of the country, representing the western extremity of the proposed Northern BTC, Swaziland shares with South Africa important representations of the Afromontane Archipelago. In the eastern part of the country, representing the eastern extremity of the Northern BTC where it merges with the Eastern BTC, Swaziland shares, with southern Mozambique and northern KwaZulu Natal, an area of globally significant biodiversity known as the Maputaland Center of Plant Diversity.

In the interstitial areas (between these biodiversity hotspots) are largely intact stretches of natural habitat encompassing a gradient of ecosystems. The BTCs may be sufficient to maintain genetic variability and natural ecological and evolutionary processes.

In the proposed Northern BTC, the basic distribution and pattern of this habitat continuum is mirrored at:

1) a small distance to the south of Swaziland and

2) northwards into South Africa (up to about parallel 24°S).

However, it is only at the latitude of Swaziland that this continuum is compressed to an west-east distance of about 200 kms. This renders it uniquely valuable from a scientific point of view due to the presence of structurally dissimilar but spatially close ecological associations, compressing high levels of biodiversity and significant levels of relict floras and fauna into a relatively small area. Apart from Gorongosa-Marromeu complex in Mozambique, this may be the only area in Southern Africa which has the potential to link montane to coastal ecosystems across such a range of habitat types, and in such a compressed range.

Significant regional benefits will also accrue through improved catchment management of important river systems, such as the Nkomati, Mlumati, and Mbuluzi River systems which supply downstream South Africa and Mozambique. Industrial and irrigated agricultural development in the Maputo Development Corridor is largely reliant on these river systems. Sustainability of the Maputo sub-region water supply is therefore critical for the growth of the whole region. At present Maputo's water supply is inadequate even to meet its short term needs.

Background and Overall Strategic Approach

The overall proposal has been prepared in the context of ongoing development in the Government of Swaziland's policy framework which emphasizes participatory, environmentally sustainable and decentralized development. Government policy, as expressed in the Economic and Social Reform Agenda (ESRA), stresses the importance and beauty of the natural environment of Swaziland and Government's full commitment to its protection through the ongoing development of environmental policy. This seeks to fully integrate environmental considerations into the development process.

The National Development Strategy (NDS) gives the long term vision for the country's development and identifies Environmental Management as one of the eight key macro-economic policy areas. It stresses the commitment that the Government of Swaziland has made to the environment by establishing the Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA) in 1992, EIA regulations and the Swaziland Environment Action Plan (SEAP) in 1997. Furthermore, the NDS emphasizes the significance of the environment to the rural population and how environment cuts across all economic sectors.

The Government of Swaziland has recently completed and approved the Swaziland Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP), an output of the SEAP. An official body, the Biodiversity Program Implementation Committee (BPIC) was mandated to oversee and coordinate the formulation and implementation of all biodiversity projects in the country. The proposed BCPD project has been approved by the BPIC as the main implementation project of the BSAP, fulfilling most of the identified objectives and proposed actions of the BSAP.

The Government of Swaziland is presently finalizing its National Tourism Strategy. After intensive stakeholder discussions, the Biodiversity and Tourism Corridors, as presented in the BCPD, have been incorporated as a central component of this strategy.

The need for Swaziland to fully integrate into regional initiatives which involve South Africa and Mozambique is strongly emphasized in both the Biodiversity Strategy and the Draft Tourism Strategy, and is regarded as an urgent priority by Government at the highest political levels. The BTCs will capitalize on the opportunities offered by the substantial tourism flows predicted along the future Maputo Corridor Toll Road and the Maputaland Coastal Route by creating attractive alternative tourism routes through Swaziland. Revenues accrued will help form the basis for the sustainable management of the BTCs. The dynamic and rapidly evolving regional scenario needs to be addressed proactively by Swaziland to lessen the risk of being marginalized by the more glamorous attractions of its neighbors.

The BCPD project is designed to strengthen Swaziland's participation in these initiatives and add value to the regional integration and development process. The regional initiatives which Swaziland shares with South Africa and Mozambique that will be supported by the BCPD are described briefly below:

• Southern African Borderlands Development Initiative - The Borderlands Committee is guiding the development process in the Maputo Corridor and is promoting a trinational approach to the development of the Biodiversity and Tourism Corridors
• Transfrontier Conservation Areas Initiative (TFCA) - This focuses on a eco-system wide management approach in areas of highly significant biodiversity shared by the three countries.
• The Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative (LSDI) - This is promoting Biodiversity and Tourism focused "Anchor TFCAs" in the Lubombo Region.
• South East Africa Tourism Committee (SEATOC) - This has adopted as its primary activity the promotion of "Theme Routes", with a conservation, cultural and community focus, that are consistent in concept and location with the BTCs.

GEF resources will support the development of 3 TFCAs proposed in the context of the initiatives referred to above. These are the TFCAs provisionally described as:

1. Songimvelo-Malolotja-Makhonjwa
2. Lubombo Conservancy-Goba and
3. Lubombo Nsubane-Pongola.

Baseline and GEF Role

In the absence of GEF assistance for addressing global biodiversity objectives, it is likely that resources would not be forthcoming to capture the 'bigger picture" by implementing an ecosystem wide management approach to the proposed corridors. Information would be inadequate on the biodiversity values and economic potentials of ecotourism and other potentially sustainable natural resource based activities. There would not be the financial and technical support to promote and facilitate landholders to capture these benefits, which would allow them to manage their land in biodiversity-friendly ways. In particular, it is expected that without GEF assistance the following would occur:

• Land use would be directed in a fragmented and possibly unsustainable way, through the existing, sectorally oriented and uncoordinated land ownership regimes.
• The potential of the BTCs for biodiversity conservation and tourism routes would remain unrecognized, and would deprive local communities of important opportunities for developing more productive and sustainable livelihoods.
• Grazing pressure would continue on the upland slopes and watersheds of the proposed BTCs, with potentially negative results in regard to the siltation of the large irrigation dams and the decrease in water retention and productivity of the watersheds.
• Biodiversity conservation would be limited to maintaining the protected areas system, with insufficient attention being paid to important ecosystems occurring outside these. In particular, no emphasis would be given to maintaining and reinforcing the present contiguity of these ecosystems.
• Insufficient resources would be available to provide incentives and a framework to incorporate local communities or the private sector into sustainable natural resource management systems.

GEF resources would be used to:

• Develop an integrated sub-regional conservation and development strategy which will institute a ecosystem wide management approach to the maintenance of the contiguous ecosystems within the proposed BTCs
• Provide additional support for the management of the core biodiversity conservation areas of Malolotja and Mlawula Nature Reserves
• Support the development of three TFCAs incorporating these core conservation areas.
• Identify and implement appropriate biodiversity management regimes with local communities and the private sector in the interstitial areas between the biodiversity 'hotspots'
• Leverage the support of other donors for complementary activities (tourism, sustainable livelihoods, watershed management and infrastructure) vital to accomplishing the sustainability of the integrated program.
• Establish an 'adaptive biodiversity management' process and institutional framework, linking participatory planning, research, monitoring and evaluation to decision-making processes, to initiate and sustain the BTCs in the long term.

In the baseline scenario, establishing an integrated optimal land use strategy both at national and sub-regional levels is not likely to occur. Elements of this strategy would include: greater integration between environmental, conservation and tourism planning; policy, financial and infrastructure incentives for private sector investment in environmentally and socially sustainable nature based tourism and other natural resource based activities; incentives and enabling policy and legal framework for community participation in joint ventures and development of protocols and agreements with South Africa and Mozambique for tri-national BTC and TFCA development.

Swaziland's full participation in ongoing regional conservation and development initiatives is critical to the success of these initiatives. Regional development will also benefit if Swaziland addresses watershed management at a programmatic level which accommodates both grass roots and transboundary levels. Without GEF support, it is unlikely that Swaziland's participation in these regional activities would be fully effective.

Project Description

The project, to which the GEF would contribute, aims to develop a sustainable, holistic, ecosystem wide management approach to the conservation and management of biodiversity resources and to assist Swaziland fully participate in regional tourism, conservation and environmental initiatives. The participation of key sectors and stakeholders is envisaged through sector related implementation components. These would be integrated and coordinated through a participatory planning process and management framework.

Project Implementation Components

Component 1: Integrated Spatial and Participatory Planning (ISPP) and Management Framework.

This will provide:

• the basic information and data for ecosystem wide planning and management in the BTCs,
• a participatory development program involving local communities and the private sector and
• an overall integrated institutional project management framework.

Strategic Environmental and Social Assessments will be undertaken in the corridors as part of the ISPP process. The zoning of areas for conservation, tourism and sustainable livelihoods in the BTCs during the ISPP will help provide the enabling environment for private sector investment. This component will be closely linked with Component 6 (Research, Information Management and Monitoring and Evaluation), to develop a sustainable framework to 'institutionalize' the ecosystem management approach for the BTCs.

Component 2: Support to Conservation and Participatory Biodiversity Management.

This will strengthen the capacity of appropriate natural resource management agencies to:

• Manage, develop and consolidate existing protected areas
• Identify and establish new protected areas
• Identify and implement appropriate biodiversity and watershed management regimes
• Support the establishment of 3 proposed TFCAs

Component 3: Sustainable Tourism and Private Sector Development.

This will reinforce activities developed in the ISPP by providing complementary fiscal incentives, a supportive policy framework, and institutional strengthening and development. Opportunities and constraints for sustainable tourism development in the BTCs will be identified, and activities implemented. Support will be given to developing the BTCs as globally competitive tourism destinations and highly marketable tourism products based on strategic "Theme Routes".

Attention will be given to the strengthening and development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) within the corridors. Preparation activities would help define the way this would be done, including possible support to 1) an Enterprise Fund for locally driven ecotourism investments; 2) improved service delivery for existing SMEs and to the development of new tourism-related SMEs and 3) a 'Human Resources Development Plan' for ensuring broad-based cross-sectoral capacity and support for achieving sustainable tourism objectives within the BTCs

An enabling framework for private sector investment would be further enhanced by the provision of the following in the BTCs:

• strategic investment locations;
• incentives for the formation of joint-ventures with local communities and
• concessional financing for the joint public-private sector management of biodiversity resources.

Component 4: Sustainable Livelihoods and Cultural Support Program.

Rural development in the BTCs will based on the sustainable use of natural, social and cultural resources. Local-level institutions and communities will be strengthened to take greatest advantage of economic opportunities identified through stakeholder participatory activities (Pre-ISPP and ISPP). Emphasis will be given to reinforcing cultural and social capital and the involvement of youth and women in training and provision of services to the BTCs. This process will be strongly supported during implementation by continued participatory planning (ISPP) and ongoing feedback from the research, monitoring and evaluation component.

Component 5: Appropriate Infrastructure Development.

Infrastructure will play a critical role in stimulating tourism flows, private sector investment and the development of sustainable livelihoods for local communities. The ISPP and strategic EA processes will help ensure that infrastructure investment optimizes the opportunities for integrated conservation and development in the BTCs.

Component 6: Research, Information Management, Monitoring and Evaluation.

The ecosystem approach will require focusing on the adaptive management of whole systems for a variety of purposes and transcends sectoral approaches. Research will therefore focus on assessing the state of the ecosystem and its biodiversity and the impact of the project's development dynamics on stakeholders, particularly local communities. Information management, monitoring and evaluation will take place on an ongoing basis to ensure sound and timely management responses.

Details of Project Financing

The following table gives an analysis of indicative costs of the project, outlining proposed GEF contribution.

Eligibility

Swaziland ratified the Convention of Biological Diversity in November, 1994 and has recently fulfilled a significant requirement of the Convention by completing a Swaziland Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP).

The proposed project will be consistent with the GEF Operational Strategy by:

• Promoting the long-term protection of globally important ecosystems through sectorally integrated, sustainable and, where appropriate, regional approaches
• Demonstrating a practical and operational approach to integrating global environmental objectives into national planning and decision-making processes
• Developing policies and strengthening institutions and coordination for integrated landscape management at both national and regional levels
• Increasing knowledge about sustainable and integrated approaches to adaptive biodiversity management
• Widely disseminating lessons learned based on information that has been accurately tracked and analyzed through ongoing participatory monitoring and evaluation systems
• Reducing financial risk to the private sector, government and local communities to invest in sustainable tourism and natural resource management activities.

In terms of GEF Operational Programs, the project will directly address OP 2 (Coastal, Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems), OP 3 (Forest Ecosystems), OP 4 (Mountain Ecosystems) by broad scale implementation of landscape management across a number of important ecosystems.

National Level Support

The proposed project has been endorsed by the GEF Focal Point, and the Swaziland Biodiversity Program Implementation Committee (BPIC), which is comprised of a broad spectrum of stakeholders including the Swaziland National Trust Commission (SNTC), the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy (MNRE), the Department of Tourism (DoT), the University of Swaziland (UNISWA), the private sector and NGOs. The BPIC endorsed the proposed BCPD project on the grounds that it fully or partially met all the objectives of the BSAP within its prescribed holistic and integrated ecosystem management approach.

The Department of Tourism has also endorsed the concept of the BTCs in both national and regional contexts. The BTCs will form an integral component of the National Tourism Strategy (presently being finalized). At the regional level the BTCs have been endorsed by the Borderlands Committee and by the South East African Tourism Committee (SEATOC). Swaziland participates with South Africa and Mozambique in both these Tri-national Committees.

Justification for PDF Grant

GEF funds will be the catalyst for establishing the initial processes leading to an integrated, cross-sectoral, regional and multi-donor approach to ecosystem management in Swaziland and the sub-region. This approach will be reflected in the project proposal that will result from the preparation process. That this process is initiated and supported at this critical time is important both for the conservation of the highly threatened and unique biodiversity of the sub-region, and for its sustainable development.

The funds will establish the framework in which an integrated approach can be institutionalized and implemented. The process of project preparation to date demonstrates clearly how the articulation of an integrated strategy, even without project resources, can contribute substantially to promoting the integrated ecosystem approach through mobilizing and consolidating the resources and commitment of both government and donor. For example, agencies dealing with tourism, conservation and environment both at national and regional levels, have 'united' around the concept of the Biodiversity and Tourism Corridors.

GEF assistance is required to help further coalesce the different initiatives that support, in various ways, the sustainable development of the sub-region. This consolidation is essential in the light of severe financial and human constraints, and the narrow 'window of opportunity' presented by the occurrence of large areas of fairly intact and contiguous habitats for improved biodiversity conservation and the development of sustainable livelihoods and tourism.

34. GEF funds will leverage funding from other sources to assist with project preparation. In particular this will focus on the design of the project activities, 'strategically complementary' to biodiversity management, to be undertaken during project implementation.

Proposed PDF B activities

The PDF Block B Grant would help finance activities leading to the development of a investment program for GEF and bilateral financing. Preparation activities for this program would focus on the following:

Initial Project Preparation Framework. This will establish an institutional framework for guiding project preparation and include co-ordination and consultation mechanisms. Early training needs and requirements for effective coordination, networking and information dissemination will be identified and where necessary implemented (GEF financed, with possible support from Maputo Corridor Company).

Design of Component 1 (ISPP/Management). A "Preliminary Integrated Spatial and Participatory Planning Process" (Pre-ISPP) will establish the initial physical definitions of BTCs, based on ecological, socio-economic and demographic studies. Strategic Environmental and Social Assessments of the Corridors will be undertaken as part of the Pre-ISPP. Medium to long term institutional arrangements will be defined. (GEF financed, with possible support from DFID for the Strategic EAs)

Design of Component 2 (Conservation and Participatory Biodiversity Management). This will identify capacity building needs and avenues for sustainable and participatory conservation and biodiversity management at both local and ecosystem wide scales. Initial definition of conservation areas will be based on information gained from pre-ISPP and TORs for next phase will be developed. (GEF/EU financed)

Design of Component 3 (Sustainable Tourism and Private Sector Development). This will identify tourism opportunities within the initially defined BTCs, and institutional development needs of the tourism sector for promoting environmentally, socially and culturally sound tourism. The preparation activity will also involve defining policies and other incentives creating an enabling environment for private sector investment in the BTCs. (EU financed)

Design of Component 4 (Sustainable Livelihoods and Cultural Support). This will based on participatory processes linked to the Pre-ISPP and will focus on identifying, with the early participation of stakeholders, sustainable livelihood opportunities for local communities in the proposed BTCs. Institutional and financial constraints to meeting these opportunities will be identified and a set of activities to address these constraints defined (GEF financed, with broader donor participation envisaged at implementation stage).

Design of Component 5 (Appropriate Infrastructure Development). Financial and economic feasibility studies will be undertaken for the corridors, with particular emphasis on the viability of proposed road and other infrastructure for improved tourism flows. (Potential AfDB participation)

Design of Component 6 (Research, Information Management, Monitoring and Evaluation). A number of studies will be undertaken that will contribute to the establishment of various economic, financial, social and ecological indicators for project success. A long term participatory and sustainable M&E program will be formulated. (GEF financed with broader donor participation envisaged at implementation).

The following table summarizes indicative costs and proposed funding sources for the preparation activities:

PDF Block B Outputs

Therefore the overall output of the preparation process will be a proposal for a multi-donor financed and multi-sectoral project for the establishment of an integrated and sustainable system for the management and conservation of biodiversity for Swaziland with emphasis on the establishment of two Biodiversity and Tourism Corridors.

Awareness raising and mobilization of stakeholders during the preparation process is anticipated as an important output. This should lead to 1) consensus on the need for an integrated, eco-system wide approach for biodiversity management within the two BTCs and possibly at a nation-wide scale; 2) clearly defined roles and commitment by sector agencies and 3) a preliminary institutional framework for implementation that reflects this understanding and commitment.

Expected Date of Project Preparation Completion

The preparation phase will be completed by December 2000, ready for implementation in 2001.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY PROPOSAL FOR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT (PDF) BLOCK B GRANT

Country : Swaziland

GEF Focal Area : Biodiversity

Operational Program : OP 2 (Coastal, Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems); OP 3 (Forest Ecosystems); OP 4 (Mountain Ecosystems)

Project Title : Swaziland Biodiversity Conservation and Participatory Development Project (BCPD)

Total Project Cost : US$ 26.1 million (provisional estimate)

Financing Plan : US$ 5.5 million GEF US$ 20 million Other Co-Funding (other bilaterals, provisional estimate) US$ 0.6 million Government of Swaziland

PDF Block B Funds Requested : US$ 350,000

In-kind Contribution : US$ 50,000

Requesting Agency : The World Bank

Executing Agencies : The Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA), the Department of Tourism (DoT), and the Swaziland National Trust Commission (SNTC); with the participation of the Department of Land Use Planning; Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy (MNRE); Deputy Prime Minister's Office (Tinkhundla - Local Communities); University of Swaziland (UNISWA); Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Project Duration : 7 years

PDF Co-financing : US$ 100,000 (EU) US$ 18,000 (South African Government through Maputo Corridor Company) US$ 230,000 Other Donors (not committed)

Block A Grant Awarded : No Project Objectives

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This page was last updated on 18 February 2004