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| Loan Name | Shaanxi Qinling Biodiversity Conservation and Demonstration Project | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | China,People'sRep.of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan Number | 2572 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Number | 39321- 01 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fund Source/Amount[Approved] |
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| Thematic Classification |
Economic growth
Environmental Sustainability Social Development |
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| Project Rationale | Qinling Mountains (QM) is biologically rich with many endangered, threatened, and endemic animal and plant species which need to be well protected. There are about 25 national and provincial nature and forest reserves in QM, many of which have received World Wildlife Fund (WWF), World Bank, and Global Environment Facility (GEF) assistance and are currently receiving WWF support.
The geography is dominated by mountains, rivers, streams, and forests. The major environmental problems are related to land and environmental degradation, endangered animals and plants, presence of some exotic or alien tree species, the need for long-term animal and plant species regeneration and expansion, and sustainable conservation and preservation management techniques. Other major problems include employment and income-generating opportunities for the inhabitants, finances available for biodiversity conservation in the PA and QM, and basic rural services in the PA. About 37% of the population overall in the PA is poor, with poverty increasing markedly from Louquantai to south into the rugged mountain and forest terrain. Because of the prevailing poverty, the PA and nature reserves in QM are subject to a high level of competing land use pressure. This is a major reason why the sustainable management of biodiversity resources is important to the Shaanxi government, ADB, GEF, and WWF. However, the financial sustainability of biodiversity conservation is precarious, since conservation cannot compete with other less environmentally friendly forms of land use. Species diversity is a largely public good and the prices of creation and management do not cover the costs incurred. To improve the funding situation, protected areas must generate their own revenue. One avenue for doing this is eco-tourism. Because of its favorable location in relation to Xian, the PA will be able to generate revenues to cover most if not all of its operational and management costs. The Project will pursue a market-based approach to biodiversity conservation, featuring sustainable revenue generation and use, land maangement, and conservation management. Biodiversity conservation is a high priority of the Government, as reflected in the 11th Five-Year Plan, the State Environmental Protection Agency's biodiversity strategy, and the QM Ecosystem Function Conservation Plan. The Project will strengthen the management of nature reserve areas in QM through integrated approaches including market-oriented measures to sustain environmental and biodiversity objectives while increasing rural incomes and reducing poverty. The public sector is required to ensure preservation of the natural and cultural heritage sites in the project area. The lessons learned from previous integrated agriculture and rural development and environment projects in the PRC and Shaanxi province, as well as other major provinces with biodiversity activities, including Sichuan and Yunnan, have been incorporated in the Project. The provincial government and the imlementing agency (IA), QNBG, have strong commitment and ownership of the Project. All major stakeholders have been extensively consulted. Linking biodiversity conservation with revenue generation in the PA and QM is fully supported. The Project is well-focused in terms of area coverage and the outputs are well-defined, closely linked, and within the capacities of the IAs to effectively manage. The Shaanxi Provincial Government (SPG) has successfully implemented theree ADB-financed projects in environmental protection, roads, and railways. It has also successfully implemented 14 World Bank-financed projects in forestry, water, agriculture, poverty reduction, and environmental protection, several of which are co-financed with GEF. Many of the successful features of WWF assistance in biodiversity conservation nad income generation have been included in the Project. |
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| Impact | To improve sustainable biodiversity conservation to protect globally-significant species and to sustain economic growth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Geographical Location | Qinling Mountains are located 40 km south of Xian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Safeguard Categories
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| Environment | B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resettlement | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indigenous People | C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary of Environmental and Social Issues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Social Aspects | There are significant differences with the levels of poverty in the mountainous area (QBCDA) being over 70% compared to 23% for the plains area, where the great majority of the population reside. The Project will benefit women significantly and will not have an ahouseholds in QBCDA will receive benefits from (i) employment, (ii) opportunities to start small businesses, (iii) forest-use rights with supporting conservation forest plantings, and (iv) improved access to water supplies and alternative energy sources. There will be direct employment during project construction. Benefits will arise from increased eco-tourism and economic development. The shift into forest-based livelihoods will provide long-term benefits. dverse impact on women or children. They will benefit from the eco-tourism facilities, greater access to information and jobs, and increased opportunities for starting small income-generation activities. Women will gain employment during the construction aspects. The Project will not have significant negative impacts on women, and there will be equal participation of women in project activities and equal opportunities of women for access to social services, training, employment, land relocation, and beneficiary agreements | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environmental Aspects | The major environmental related benefits include (i) improved welfare of animals; (ii) the advancement of science related to endangered species recovery SARC; (iii) the genetic collection established at QNBG; (iv) public awareness and education with respect to QM and biodiversity conservation; (v) overall conservation of biodiversity; (vi) improved ecological functions in the mountainous area from increased forest cover and the quality of forest cover; (vii) intangible benefits arising from the conservation of Daoist religious sites; and (viii) improved environmental quality through the provision of improved sanitation, wastewater, and management systems. Some adverse impacts may occur including (i) the introduction of non-native plants into the botanical garden with the potential to become invasive species, and (ii) impact on faunal species including the Giant Panda and the Crested Ibis both in the wild and in captivity. The potential impacts have been assessed and it is anticipated that these can be mitigated to acceptable levels through appropriately designed and financed mitigation measures. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stakeholder Participation and Consultation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| During Project Design | Consultation with stakeholders, beneficiaries, and directly-affected people has been undertaken and will continue during design and implementation of the Project. Detailed discussion with the Xian City government, the line agencies, representatives of QBNG and other investors, cultural and eco-tourism operations, and groups of rural residents were held. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Procurement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consulting Services | Consultants will be recruited in line with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2007, as amended from time to time). The Project will provide 84 person-months of consulting services, comprising 15 person-months of international experts and 69 person-months of national experts. These services will be procured in two packages. For package A, which will be financed under the GEF grant, QNBG's SARC division will select and engage six individual consultants for 1 month each-one international and one national expert for each of the giant panda, crested ibis, and golden monkey habitats and plans for effective conservation. For package B, which will also be financed under the GEF grant, the PMO will select and engage a consulting firm using the quality- and cost-based selection method (80:20) and the full technical proposal procedures. The consulting firm will provide expertise in biodiversity conservation, species recovery management, ecotourism planning, village development planning, animal exposition and breeding, wildlife veterinary services, species recovery and survey, conservation forestry, and geographic information systems. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Civil Works/Goods | All procurement of goods and works will be carried out in accordance with ADB's Procurement Guidelines (2007, as amended from time to time). Contracts for goods estimated to exceed $1.0 million and contracts for works estimated to exceed $10.0 million will be procured using international competitive bidding procedures. Contracts for goods and works estimated to cost less than the international competitive bidding values, but more than $100,000, will be procured through national competitive bidding procedures in accordance with the PRC Tendering and Bidding Law, 1999, subject to modifications agreed upon with ADB. Contracts for goods and works estimated to cost $100,000 or less shall be procured using shopping procedures. The relevant sections of ADB's Anticorruption Policy (1998, as amended to date) will be included in all procurement documents and contracts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Responsible ADB Officer |
Raymond Z. H. Renfro |
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| Responsible ADB Department |
East Asia Department |
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| Responsible ADB Division |
Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Div, EARD |
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| Executing Agencies |
Shaanxi Provincial Government ABO@SEIN.SXGB.COM.CN |
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| Timetable | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concept Clearance | 10 Aug 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fact-finding | 13 Aug 2007 to 25 Aug 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appraisal | 29 May 2008 to 10 Jun 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Board Approval | 22 Oct 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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