PART I: PROJECT INFORMATION1

Project Title: Expanding the coverage and strengthening the management of wetland protected areas in Sichuan Province, China

Country(ies): China GEF Agency(ies): Conservation International Other Executing Partner(s):

Sichuan Finance Bureau, Sichuan Forestry Department, Conservation International

GEF Focal Area(s): Biodiversity

A. FOCAL AREA STRATEGY FRAMEWORK AND OTHER PROGRAM STRATEGIES2:

Objectives/Programs (Focal Areas, Integrated Approach Pilot, Corporate Programs)

Trust Fund

(in $) GEF

Project Financing

Co-financing

BD-1 Program 1 GEFTF 1,591,376.00 10,800,000.00 BD-1 Program 2 GEFTF 1,060,917.58 7,200,000.00

Total Project Cost 2,652,293.58 18,000,000.00 B. CHILD PROJECT DESCRIPTION SUMMARY

Project Objective: To expand and strengthen wetland protected areas in Sichuan Province China and mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization of wetland resources

Project Components

Financing Type3

Project Outcomes Project Outputs Trust

Fund

(in $) GEF

Project Financing

Co-financing

1. Strengthening Sichuan Province’s institutional capacity on systematic planning and mainstreaming at provincial level to conserve and sustainably use wetlands resources

TA 1.1 Provincial government policies, legislations and development plans successfully incorporating inter-sectoral measures to conserve and use wetland resource sustainably

1.1.1. Provincial policy, legal and regulatory gap assessment for wetland conservation completed and policies and regulations drafted and approved by relevant government agencies 1.1.2 Wetland biodiversity and resource conservation mainstreamed into provincial development and land use policies and plans

GEFTF

1,137,600 7,720,411

1 This Concept Note is intended to convey whatever preliminary information exists at this stage on a child project and that is indicative of how it will contribute to the overall Program. 2 When completing Table A, refer to the Program Results Framework, which is already mapped to the relevant Focal Area Results Framework in

the GEF-6 Programming Directions. 3 Financing type can be either investment or technical assistance.

NAME OF PROGRAM: CHINA’S PROTECTED AREA REFORM

Child Project Concept Note 5

1.2. Wetland parks management effectiveness substantially improved (baseline, targets and indicators to be established during PPG) 1. 3 Sichuan’s government institutional capacity and general public awareness on issues related to wetland conservation and sustainable use built/strengthened

1.1.3 Provincial inter-sectoral (agriculture, land use, public works, tourism, etc.) coordination mechanisms to ensure wetland conservation and sustainable use established 1.2.1. Yearly operation plans for new and existing wetland parks to ensure the effective resource allocations -including human, financial, technical resources- completed and implemented 1.2.2. Monitoring systems to assess management effectiveness implemented systematically and results used to improve provincial policies and plans 1.2.3. Institutional capacities of county, prefecture and provincial governments for effective planning, enforcement and monitoring of protected wetland areas built and strengthened 1.3.1 Environmental education programs, using the newly protected wetland areas as demonstration platforms, designed and implemented at the provincial level 1.3.2 Public awareness campaigns on wetland conservation and sustainable use designed and implemente

2. Strengthening site level

TA 2.1 Sichuan network of protected wetland

2.1.1 Boundaries of 2 newly established wetlands parks defined

GEFTF

1,390,400 9,436,058

management and standard raised for wetland park

areas with globally important biodiversity expanded by at least 298,777 hectares A network for more than 39 wetland parks and 52 wetland nature reserves at provincial level To support at least one more wetland to obtain internationally important wetland status in Sichuan 2.2 Improve wetland park biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of wetland goods and ecosystem services Local household incomes from sustainable wetland alternative livelihood increased by at least 20% above baseline (baseline to be established during the PPG phase)

collaboratively and agreed upon with stakeholders 2.1.2. Relevant government agencies formally approved the established and management plan of 2 new established wetlands parks in globally important sites 2.1.3 A assessment, expansion and conolidation plan for the wetland protected area system in Sichuan Province in place 2.1.4 Network for wetland park and protected area management established at provincial level and supported by government for promotion of best practices 2.2.1. Direct and indirect threats to new and current wetlands parks assessed and mapped 2.2.2. Long-term management plans -including biodiversity conservation, research, enforcement, capacity building and financial/operations programs- for wetlands parks developed in a participatory manner and approved by relevant government agencies 2.2.3. Local community wetland resources use/access rights clarified and roles and responsibilities defined 2.2.4. Environmental carrying capacity and potential for sustainable production systems in 2 wetlands and market

demand needs for wetland environmentally-friendly products assessed 2.2.5. Business plans for the development of sustainable wetland productive schemes and community livelihoods developed in a participatory manner 2.2.6. Sustainable wetland agriculture production/livelihood systems -pollution-free, green-labelling, organic products, etc. - successfully implemented via conservation agreements with local communities and relevant government agencies 2.2.7. Design of community-based alternative livelihood in 2 priority wetlands completed and implementation underway 2.2.8. Capacity/skills of local communities to adopt sustainable wetland use practices built/strengthened through the training of 300~500 local farmers

Subtotal 2,528,000 17,156,469

Project Management Cost (PMC)4 GEFTF

124,293.58 843,531

Total Project Cost 2,652,293.58

18,000,000

For multi-trust fund projects, provide the total amount of PMC in Table B, and indicate the split of PMC among the different trust

C. CO-FINANCING FOR THE PROJECT BY SOURCE, BY TYPE AND BY NAME

Sources of Co-financing Name of Co-financier Type of Co-financing Amount ($)

4 For GEF Project Financing up to $2 million, PMC could be up to10% of the subtotal; above $2 million, PMC could be up to 5% of the subtotal.

PMC should be charged proportionately to focal areas based on focal area project financing amount in Table D below.

Recipient government Sichuan Finance Bureau, Sichuan Forestry Department

Grants 12,565,000

Recipient government Sichuan Finance Bureau, Sichuan Forestry Department

In-kind 5,385,000

GEF Agency CI Grants 50,000 Total Co-financing 18,000,000

D. TRUST FUND RESOURCES REQUESTED BY AGENCY(IES), COUNTRY(IES) AND THE PROGRAMMING OF FUNDS a)

GEF Agency

Trust Fund

Country/ Regional/

Global

Focal Area

Programming of Funds

(in $) GEF Project

Financing (a)

Agency Fee (b)b)

Total (c)=a+b

UNDP GEFTF China Biodiversity N/A 2,652,293.58 238,706.42 2,891,000

Total GEF Resources 2,652,293.58 238,706.42 2,891,000

PART II: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

Project Overview A.1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION.

Biodiversity significance and project context: Sichuan Province is located in Southwest China, which borders Qinghai to the northwest, Gansu to the north, Shaanxi to the northeast, Chongqing to the east, Guizhou to the southeast, Yunnan to the south, and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west. Within its present borders, Sichuan consists of two very geographically distinct parts. The eastern part of the province is mostly within the fertile Sichuan basin. Western Sichuan consists of the numerous mountain ranges forming the easternmost part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which are known generically as Hengduan Mountains. Lesser mountain ranges surround the Sichuan Basin from north, east, and south. The Yangtze River and its numerous tributaries flow through the mountains of western Sichuan and the Sichuan Basin. The great differences in the terrain and climate conditions give rise a wide variety ofwetland types in Sichuan. The total wetland area in Sichuan is about 17,478 km2; about 3.6% of total area of the Province. The huge majority (about 95.29% of total wetland areas in Sichuan) of this area is natural wetland (mainly marsh wetland, riverine wetland, lakes and lacustrine wetland) is and mainly located in northwest and southwest Sichuan. Artificial wetlands, which include reservoirs, paddy fields, ponds etc., are mainly located the Chengdu basin and hills and lesser mountain ranges around the Sichuan basin. Sichuan Province is rich in biodiversity and part of the “Mountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspot” falls within its territory. Wetlands in Sichuan Province harbor about 1,008 higher plants species and 495 vertebrate species, with more than 102 animal species that are key protected species in China. Sichuan Province started establishing wetland protected areas in the 1970s. There are about 52 wetland nature reserves in Sichuan and about 20 national wetland parks (in pilot phase), 19 provincial wetland parks, 1 internationally important wetland and 3 nationally important wetlands. Sichuan Wetland Protection Regulation was formally issued on October 1, 2010. The 12th 5-year plan for Sichuan wetland conservation has put establishing wetland park establishment and management improvement as priorities for wetland conservation. Buiding a long-term and sustainable financing and development mechanism is also one of the priorities and main focus. In Sichuan, there are four major types of wetland: lake, marsh land, riverine, pond and cultivated wetland. Of the 39 wetland parks established or plan to be established in Sichuan, lake and riverine wetland (50% of the wetland parks are riverine wetland) are the major types. The project has selected Xichang Qionghai Wetland and Xinjin White Crane Beach Wetland as demonstration sites for wetland park management. The two projects sites are all within the priority areas identified in National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan. Qionghai Wetland is within Southern Hengduan Mountain

Priority Area. Xinjin Wetland falls within Minshan Mountain and Northern Hengduan Moutain Priority Area. Xichang Qionghai is one of largest high plateau lakes in Sichuan and second largest freshwater lake, which is one the most important habitats for many endangered species, inlculding endangered bird species listed in IUCN Red List. Qionghai Wetland is only 5 km to Xichang City, the capital city of Liangshan Yi Minority Autonomic Prefecture. Qionghai is facing severe threats from unplanned infrastructure construction and inappropriate tourism development. Xichang and Liangshan government has invested over US$500 million to improve the infrastruce around Qionghai wetland to restore the wetland, including “ecological migration” project to move out the habitants in the wetland. However, there is no management plan in place. Xinjin riverine wetland is only 30 km from Chengdu Municipal City, the capital city of Sichuan Province and largest city in South West of China, with population over 14 million. Riverine ecosystems and biodiversity are being destructed due to the increased pollution brought by rapid industrial development and population growth. The two wetlands selected are typical sites for demonstration of importance of establishing effectively managed wetland parks for protecting biodiversity. Sichuan government is taking an approach to increase the wetland protected area to include the all the watershed surrounding the wetland. This approach will significantly increase the wetland protection area. Under this scenario, the total area for two project sites under protection will increase to at least 298,777 hectares.

Table 1: General information

Name Type Protected

Area (hectares)

Threatened Species Specialty and major functions of the wetland park

Sichuan Xichang Qionghai Wetland

High plateau lake wetland

265,888 Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus), Baikal Teal (Anas Formosa),Baer's Pochard (Aythya baeri), Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus),Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug), Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga), Swinhoe's Rail (Coturnicops exquisitus),Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis),Omei Shan Liocichla (Liocichla omeiensis)

Improving structure and function of lakeshore wetland, restoration of waterfowl habitat, restoration of fish spawning grounds, protection of local culture, eco-tourism, etc. Potential for global important wetland

Sichuan Xinjin White Crane Beach Wetland

River-sandbank wetland

32,889 Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus),Baikal Teal (Anas Formosa), Baer's Pochard (Aythya baeri), Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga), Sichuan Digging Frog

Conservation of river-sandbank wetland, restoration of degraded sandbank wetland, restoration and restoration of bird island, ecotourism, etc.

Major threats to biodiversity and wetland ecosystem in Sichuan include the following: Due to rapid increases in the human population and social economic development in China, natural resources are being utilized in an unsustainable way. Construction of dams, roads and other development infrastructure are generally undertaken without adequate coordination and consultation with protected area authorities and sometimes without proper environmental impact assessments (EIA), avoidance and mitigation measures to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. The development of large scale tourism also puts huge pressure on fragile wetland ecosystems without appropriate planning and designing Overgrazing: Overgrazing is preventing many wetland plants species from completing their life cycles, which in turns threatens the survival of other species and disrupts the provision of many key ecosystem services upon which humans depend. It has been estimated that the yield and output of vegetation matter in the Ruoergai Wetland has decreased about 20% since 1960s. At the same time, the presence of weed species and poisonous weeds species have increased about 10-30% since then. Marsh wetlands in Sichuan have been seriously degraded because of human influence and destruction. Some marsh wetlands are drying out due to artificial drainage. Surface water is becoming shallower, with depths of only about 10-20 mm during the summer. Underground water levels are also decreasing rapidly. Wetland habitats that serve as feeding and breeding grounds to many wildlife species, especially birds, are being rapidly degraded and sometimes even completely destructed.

Population growthand industrial development under urbanization: Rapid industrial development and population growth is increasing the levels of pollution and untreated sewage discharged to rivers. Riverine ecosystems and biodiversity are being destroyed due to the increased of pollution. Current management of riverine wetlands is generally poor, which causes the increase of Oncomelania snails and the infectious Schistosome worms. Land reclamation from marshes and riverine wetlands also cause degradation of the flood control played by wetlands. Infrastructure construction and uncontrolled mass tourism: Unplanned infrastructure construction, inappropriate tourism development and poor management, including sewage and waste water discharge, garbage disposal, and automobile exhaust emissions, is creating additional pressure on lakes and lacustrine wetland ecosystems. Lakes and lacustrine wetlands, especially lakes on the high plateau, play important roles in flood control, irrigation, water supply for downstream industries, electricity generation and tourism. Some of the lakes are key habitats, breeding and wintering grounds for some endangered bird species, such as Black-necked Crane (Grusnigricollis). Lakes that have been developed as mass tourism destinations are facing severe threats from tourism development. Baseline activies: Given the importance of Sichuan in biodiversity conservation and critical status of water supply to Yangtze River, the government invests over US$13 million annually for managing the protected areas in Sichuan. The State and provincial government also invested in wetland conservation over US$6.7 million annually. Some local government also make large scale investments in restoration of wetland which involves mutli-sector of government agencies, including transportation, tourism sectors etc. For example, Liangshan Prefecture government has plan to invest over US$500 million on infrastructure construction and “ecological migration” projects for the purpose of restoration of Qionghai wetland in Xichang. However, in spite of the large level of current investment by the government, baseline activities for wetland management will be geared towards on-site ecological conservation and restoration of wetland areas and limited to few areas. Currently the majority of the resources are expended to be invested on infrastructure and engineering solutions without addressing biodiversity threats in a systematic way. At the PA site level, threats from agriculture, aquaculture, tourism and other sectors will continue to increase with no mechanism for coordination between the different sectors that will promote development of respective sectors without much regard to the impacts of their activities on the fragile wetland ecosystem. Furthermore, the Province will continue to fail to consider wetland issues in its development planning and policies. Local government agencies intends to consider wetland as tourism attraction. The protected wetland areas network in the Province will remain weak and unable to effectively safeguard globally and nationally significant biodiversity. In addition protected areas staff capacities levels will remain weak and outdated posing a serious setback for increasing management effectiveness of the protected wetland areas. This project will support the government to influence government investment towards greater conservation impact, and to address more conservation threats through increasing government funding for wetland PA management. Proposed alternative scenario: The objective of the proposed project is to expand and strengthen wetland protected areas in Sichuan Province China and mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization of wetland resources. The proposed project will address the above problems and threats through the implementation of key activities described below: Component 1: Strengthening Sichuan Province’s institutional capacity on systematic planning and mainstreaming at provincial level to conserve and sustainably use wetlands resources The focus of this component will be on strengthening Sichuan Province’s institutional capacity on systemectic planning and mainstreaming at provincial level to conserve the wetland ecosystem and sustainable use of wetlands resources, and including biodiversity conservation into provincial development policies and plans. The project will support and establish a mechanism to conduct scientific research and analysis on the wetland parks (species, habitat, value, etc.) in a systematic and routine manner. The data collected and results achieved will be used as basis for provincial policies and plans. Through demonstration of development and construction of the 2 wetland parks, the project will support the inclusion of the wetland resource and biodiversity conservation in the government development and land use policies and planning. In the meantime, the project will support to establish provincial inter-sectoral coordination mechanism for coordinating development and construction activities within and adjacent to wetland parks (agriculture, land use, tourism, etc.).

The project will support activities to improve the management effectivieness on wetland parks in Sichuan. The project will support Sichuan government to establish operational plans for new and existing wetland parks to ensure the effecitvie resource allocation, including human, financial and technical resources. Monitoring systems will also be established to assess management effectiveness and to ensure results being used to improve provincial policies and plans. The project will also support capacity building activities of county, prefecture and provincial governments for effective planning, enforcement and monitoring of protected wetland areas. For the existing and newly established 39 wetland parks and more wetland parks to be established, this project will provide demonstration and standards for Sichuan Province. This project will help Sichuan Province to formulate the overall plan for establishment and management of wetland parks. Component 2: Strengthening site level management and standard raised for wetland park This component will focus on strenghthening site level management and raise standard for wetland park management. The project will support to expand the areas of protected area by establishing wetland parks in Sichuan and increasing new protected areas management effectiveness. The project will support to establish 2 new wetland parks (see table 1 for details), which include defining the boundaries of the 2 protected wetlands; setting, refining and optimizing the general plans and long-term development plan for building the 2 wetlands into wetland parks; completing the biodiversity conservation plan. With approval from the relevant government entities, the project will have 2 wetland parks operations system designed and implemented to ensure the effective resource deployment, including human resources, financial resources, technical resources, etc. The 2 wetland parks will be demonstration sites for the wetland park creation and management in whole Sichuan Province. The integrated design for creation, operation and management system of different types of wetland parks will also contribute to the development of wetland park planning and policies/regulations at provincial and national level. In the meantime, through improvement of institutional capacities of county, prefecture and provincial government management agencies for effective planning, monitoring and enforcement of wetland parks management, the project will help to avoid, mitigate or offset threats to the wetland parks and their adjacent areas. This component will focus on mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and the sustainable utilization of wetland resources. The project will support planning and development of sustainable wetland ecological industries by identifying products, production methods and markets. The project will support the identification of market needs for wetland ecological products by conducting consumer surveys and feasibility studies. Environmental capacities of the 2 wetlands will be estimated and used as the basis for wetland ecological industries plans. Wetland based livelihoods will be introduced to local communities by providing trainings on skills, techniques, management, etc. Local community use rights of wetland resources will be clarified, roles and responsibilities will be defined and conservation agreements will be signed between local communities and relevant government agencies over the rights of conservation and utilization of wetland resources. The project will also introduce pollution-free/green/organic wetland agricultural products and their plant/grow pattern, and construct production base of pollution-free/green/organic wetland products and compile the primary countermeasures for improving industrialization of wetland products to ensure sustainable management of the wetlands while increasing local households’ income. At the same time, the project will help to design and operate appropriate eco-tourism businesses on the 2wetlands based on each wetland’s characteristics to increase local households’ income. The project will support the establishment of participatory management frameworks and guidelines for the 2 new wetland parks. Community conservation agreements will be signed and communities be supported to provide management oversight through trainings to local communities on participatory management and encourage their participation in PA management. The project will also support to establish a network which include more than 39 wetland parks and 52 wetland nature reserves to promote the best management practcies and standards in Sichuan Province. By implementing the above-mentioned components, the project is expected to achieve great benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem with global significance. These will be achieved from the reduction of pressures on biodiversity and ecosystem of important wetland and improvement of effective management of wetland PA and its adjacent areas. The project will increase the total area of wetland under protection, and through enhancing the management effectiveness, establish construction and management standards, and build up sustainable development model for wetland resources and local communities’ co-management of wetland PA, the project will identify long-term financing mechanism for wetland conservation.

Summary of Incremental Approach and Global Environmental Benefits: Incremental Approach: This project will build on and add significant incremental value to the foundation of existing programs in the area. Sichuan has a lack of management institutions and wetland conservation policies/regulations. Local government is lack of recognition and planning for sustainable development. When there is conflicts between conservation and development, there is no mechanism to coordinate and solve the problems. Many wetlands in Sichuan are located quite close to human settlement with a density of population. Wetland conservation is facing great pressures for human activities and economic development. This GEF investment will support to explore a model to improve the management of the wetlands and integrate the sustainable utilization of natural resource to avoid and mitigate negative impacts. The financial resources for wetland conservation is inadequate. It is lacking of long-term financing mechanism. The funding for monitoring, scientific research, infrastructure construction, training and capacity building for local staff, and law enforcement are in sufficient. This project will help to establish a financing mechanism to improve the management capacity. Local communities will be enabled to get involved of wetland management. Creation of new wetland parks in the Sichuan Province is at initial stages. The Province is still lacking relevant government regulations and overall planning and development strategies for wetland parks creation and management. In addition, institutional arrangements and staff capacities are inadequate to effectively manage wetland parks. The GEF investment will support the formulate the regulations and guidelines. Global environmental benefits: This project is expected to achieve great benefits for biodiversity and ecosystems with global significance. These will be achieved from the reduction of pressures on biodiversity and ecosystems of important wetland and improvement of effective management of wetland protected area and its adjacent areas. The project will increase the total area about 298,777 hectares under protection, and through enhancing the management effectiveness, establish construction and management standards, and build up sustainable development model for wetland resources and local communities’ co-management of wetland protected area, the project will identify long-term financing mechanism for wetland conservation.

The project will support Sichuan government to establish policies and regulations for managing new and existing 39 national and wetland parks. Sichuan government is taking a holistic approach to increase the area under protection by including all the watershed area surrounding the wetland, which will significantly increase the wetland protect area.

The project will expand the areas of protected area by establishing new wetland parks in Sichuan and increasing new protected areas management effectiveness through strengthened institutional and staff capacities. It will also help realizing and mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and the sustainable utilization of wetland resources mainstreaming the wetland ecosystem and biodiversity conservation into provincial development policies and plans. The project will support and establish a mechanism to conduct scientific research and analysis on the 2 wetland parks (species, habitat, value, etc.) in a systematic and routine manner. The project will support to formulate and enact policies and regulations on wetland conservation and provide guidelines on effective management of wetland protected areas in Sichuan. As such the project will secure through enhance protection over 298,777 ha important wetland areas in Sichuan Province, containing globally significant species and habitats for a number of migratory water birds including black neck crane.

Common name Scientific name IUCN Threatened Status Baer's Pochard Aythya baeri EN Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus VU Black-necked Crane Grus nigricollis VU Baikal Teal Anas formosa VU Scaly-sided Merganser Mergus squamatus EN Saker Falcon Falco cherrug EN Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga VU

Swinhoe’s Rail Coturnicops exquisitus VU Omei Shan Liocichla Liocichla omeiensis VU

The following table shows the endemic and narrowly distributed birds in China in project area:

Common name Scientific name Chestnut-throated Partridge Tetraophasis obscurus Temminck’s Tragopan Tragopan temminckii Lady Amherst’s Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae Crimson-breasted woodpecker Dendrocopos cathpharius Bull-headed Shrike Lanius bucephalus Passeriformes Musicicapidae Luscinia pectardens White-throated Laughingthrush Garrulax albogularis Moustached Laughingthrush Garrulax cineraceus Barred Laughingthrush Garrulax lunulatus Steaked Barwing Actinodura souliei Grey-cheeked Fulvetta Alcippe morrisonia White-collared Yuhina Yuhina diademata Great Parrotbill Conostoma aemodium Three-toed Parrotbill Paradoxornis paradoxus Brown Parrotbill Paradoxornis unicolor Grey-headed Parrotbill Paradoxornis gularis Spot-breasted Parrotbill Paradoxornis guttaticollis Golden Parrotbill Paradoxornis verreauxi

Innovation, sustainability and potential for scaling up: Innovation: This project will support to establish linkage between wetland protected area management and livelihoods through supporting local communities to sustainablly utilize wetland natural resources. This project will introduce good practices and experience in promoting nature-friendly products and support wetland parks to have their own business plan, with participation of local communities. This project will create models of sustainable management of wetland parks, which will provide demonstration sites and replicable models for other wetland PAs in Sichuan, and form a foundation for policy issuance. This project will integrate the wetland conservation and sustainable utilization of natural resource, especially to these wetlands locates near to human settlements with a density of population, such as cities and towns. The project will explore a model for managing the wetland parks in an effective and sustainable way. Through establishing different types of wetland parks to expand areas under protection is one of the focus of Sichuan government on wetland conservation. The project will support Sichuan government to form relevant standards, guidelines and policies. The project will support Sichuan government to take a holistic approach to include surrounding watershed under protection, and explore long-term sustainable financial mechanism on wetland park management. Sustainability: The formulation of policies and regulations on management for wetland protected areas will ensure the sustainability of the project results. The improvement on the capacity of staffs for wetland park and local government will improve the institutional sustainability. The creation and new wetland parks and improvement on the management will ensure the conservation of wetland areas in Sichuan in a sustainable way.

The project will support development of business plans for sustainable wetland productive schemes and community livelihoods development. The implementation of sustainable wetland agriculture production/livelihood systems - pollution-free, green-labelling, organic products – via conservation agreements with local communities and relevant government agencies will support the financial sustainability of the wetland parks. Potential for scaling up: Many provinces in China are establishing wetland parks. However, there are no systematic guidelines for construction and management. There is no sustainable financing mechanism for wetland parks. This project will provide a replicable model in other provinces that have similar issues and wetland types like Sichuan. Gender Considerations: To ensure that the project meets CI-GEF Project Agency’s Gender Mainstreaming Policy, a Gender Mainstreaming Plan (GMP) will be developed during the PPG phase of the project. The aim of the GMP will be to identify needs and opportunities to mitigate potentially adverse effects of the project on men and women, as well as promote gender equity as an aspect of the project. The GMP will include an assessment of gender roles, responsibilities, uses, and needs relating to the environment/natural resources on which the project will be based (e.g., patterns, participation in management, etc.), as well as both short-term and long-term costs and benefits of the project to men and women. It will also include potential roles, benefits, impacts, and risks for women and men of different ages, ethnicities, social structure, and status. Specific actions and activities will be identified to ensure that gender-related adverse impacts of this project are appropriately avoided, minimized, and/or mitigated. The GMP will explicitly describe the actions and processes to be put in place during the PPG and implementation phases in order to ensure that women and men: 1) receive culturally compatible social and economic benefits, 2) do not suffer adverse effects during the development process, and 3) receive full respect for their dignity and human rights. Finally, the GMP will provide specific indicators for monitoring and evaluating progress towards gender equity within the project. The GMP will ensure that gender equity is sought in all project components, including all of the outcomes, targets, products and in general to all actions carried out where equity should and will be sought. Data will be disaggregated for gender throughout the life of the project and in all project reports. Actions planned for integrating gender criteria in project planning, implementation and evaluation include:

• All project activities, such as consultations, meetings, training courses and workshops, coordinating body meetings, working groups, generation of baseline information, will be developed with an emphasis on gender integration, with the goal of having equitable participation of men and women as well as youth and other vulnerable groups.

• Activities for incorporating gender criteria consider both female and male participants, creating gender awareness.

Some examples of actions that can promote gender equity as a cross cutting approach:

• Component 1: Ensure that both men and women benefit from environmental education programs and ensure that public awareness campaigns on wetland conservation and sustainable use target both men and women.

• Component 2: Active participation of men and women will be encouraged, especially during the PPG phase, stakeholder consultations, the development of the conservation agreements and any discussions on resource use and access rights.

Indigenous People: Qionghai Wetland is located in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Around 80% people of the communities around Qionghai Wetland are Yi ethnic people. This project is taking a participatory approach for communities involvement. Community conservation agreement will be signed and communities will be supported through trainings on participatory management. This project will promote the model of community conservation agreement and community participatory management framework to the provincial level and wetland parks in the province. As part of the community conservation agreement process, Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) will be implemented in all of the indigenous communities.

A.2. Stakeholders. Stakeholders Mandate and relevant roles in the project

Sichuan Forestry Department Responsible for planning and managing the provincial PA system, and conservation of fauna and flora in the province. Also responsible for wetland

management. The Provincial Forestry Department will be the main executing agency of the project and will play the lead role in project implementation, management and coordination.

Sichuan Finance Bureau Responsible in reviewing and approving project budgets and ensuring project finance management to be in line with Chinse government, and coordinating other relevant provincial departments to support the project implementation

Sichuan Forestry Research and Planning Institute

Key partner in project implementation and management of the project, drafting the project framework, coordination with local government agencies, monitoring and evaluation of the project and project promotion at provincial level

Sichuan Wetland Centre Key partner in project implementation, drafting the project framework, project promotion and public communication and awareness raising

Xichang Forestry Bureau Key partner in project design, formulation and implementation. Key partner for planning and site management and outreach and work with local communities.

Xinjing Forestry Bureau Key partner in project design, formulation and implementation. Key partner for planning and site management and outreach and work with local communities.

Universities and research institutions Partner in providing technical assistance, including carrying baseline surveys, conservation action plan, and research on species

NGOs and community-based organisations

Key partner in supporting local communities in sustainable alternative livelihood development and project implementation, including domestic NGOs, and community groups

Local communities Key stakeholders in conservation and wetland resource management at site level

A.3 Risk.

Risk Rating Preventive Measure Negotiation and coordination between different levels of authority and sectoral government agencies is challenging.

Medium This project will be led by the Finance Bureau and Forestry Bureau of the Province, it is expected that effective partnership between different (and sometime competing) agencies will be achieved. Given the importance the Central Government and provincial government has put on ecological management of this region, there is an added impetus for all agencies in the Province to work together and the project is being formulated with this spirit of partnership. In addition, the full participation of the private sector, local communities, scientists and other members of the civil society in the project design and implementation will also be helpful to mitigate this risk.

The conflict between conservation measures and local residents livelihood development demand

low to medium

The project will actively explore and promote alternative livelihood development for local residents, which include wetland ecological products development, eco-tourism, to increase the income of local communities. In the meantime, the Project will use Conservation Agreement as a model to involve the active participation of local communities into the conservation and management of wetland PA.

Co-financing is not materialized as expected

low Sichuan Forestry Department and Finance Bureau have provided endorsement for co-financing for this project.

Not enough interest from local people to engage in sustainable practices

Low to medium

One of the focuses of the project is to encourage the local communities to adopt more sustainable and eco-friendly livelihood practices. Through pilot demonstration, the benefits and income increase of local communities will attract more local people to accept our project concept.

A.4. Coordination. Outline the coordination with other relevant GEF-financed and other initiatives: The project is part of the GEF-6 China’s Protected Area Reform (C-PAR) Programme of the Chinese Government, and will directly contribute to the programmatic framework (please see table 3 in the PFD for more information). The project will work closely with the MEP-FECO executed national PA Reform project, providing direct technical inputs to the project and the reform process as a whole. Project will seek synergies with provincial child projects in Gansu and Qinghai, by applying innovative systems and techniques at the provincial and field level. Programme level steering committee will ensure and oversee coordination among the child projects. A mechanism of information and experience exchange will be established and coordinated by the coordination project – China’s PA Reform project - for the programme.

Description of the consistency of the project with: B.1 IS THE PROJECT CONSISTENT WITH THE NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND PLANS OR REPORTS AND ASSESSEMENTS UNDER RELEVANT CONVENTIONS? FOR BIODIVERSITIY RELATED PROJECTS, PLEASE REFERENCE THE AICHI TARGETS THAT THE PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ACHIEVING. (YES /NO ). IF YES, WHICH ONES AND HOW: NAPAS, NAPS, ASGM NAPS, MIAS, NBSAPS, NCS, TNAS, NCSAS, NIPS, PRSPS, NPFE, BURS, ETC.:

The proposed project is well aligned with national and provincial policies, programmes and plans. In the report to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012, President Hu, Jintao emphasized that China should pursue development in a scientific way and advance in an all-around way economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress that puts people first and that is comprehensive, balanced and sustainable. The efforts to be made include 1) improve development of China’s geographical space, 2) promote all-around resource conservation, 3) intensify protection of the ecosystem and environment and 4) enhance system building to promote ecological progress. The proposed project covers all of the above and can be made a pilot program to demonstrate for ecological-civilization development. The 12th National Five-year Plan (2011-2015) urges environmental protection and sustainable growth, enhancing “ecological conservation and restoration.” The plan urges the reinforcement of biodiversity conservation, strengthening monitoring in Nature Reserves (NR) – the main protected area category - and improving their management and protection. The project will enable the State Forestry Administration (SFA) to achieve its target of adequately protecting 55% of the natural wetlands in China by the end of 2015, mitigating further loss of natural wetland areas and degradation of their functions. The National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (NBCSAP 2011-2030) also emphasized the importance of wetland ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. The project will address key priorities under the NBCSAP, through implementing its priority program 14: choosing different types of wetlands in some key conservation areas to establish demonstration sites for wetland conservation and restoration and key wetland monitoring system, so as to form the model of wetland conservation, restoration and sustainable use in China. Under the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Targets, the strategic goals emphasizes the reduction of direct pressure and threats on biodiversity, promotion of sustainable use, and integration of biodiversity values into national and local development and planning process. It also encourage governments, business and stakeholders at all levels to take steps to implement plans for sustainable production and keep the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits. The proposed project will support to create a sustainable financing mechanism to involve different stakeholders and take innovative approaches to integrate conservation and sustainable utilization of natural resources. The objective of the project is fully in line with the strategic goals of Aichi Targets, through strengthening the financial

sustainability and management effectiveness of the PA system to mitigate existing and emerging threats to globally significant biodiversity and ecosystems in China. The project is also in line with the China Biodiversity Partnership and Framework for Action (CBPF), which is China’s primary investment strategy for biodiversity conservation through the GEF and other partners. This project has been designed to address urgent, priority and catalytic issues identified under the CBPF, in particular under Theme 3: Investing and Managing Effectively in Reducing Biodiversity loss in PAs. It will contribute directly and substantially to Results 4, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the agreed CBPF Framework which are respectively: financial flows to biodiversity conservation increase over current baseline; effective governance and legal framework for the national protected area system; harmonised and effective national system for selecting, designing, managing and monitoring protected areas; NRs and PNRs are effectively managed; National NRs and PNRs have stable and sufficient finance. The 12th Five-year Plan of Sichuan Province regards improvement of ecological environment as one of its key goals. Sichuan Province has issued 12th Five-year Plan for Ecological Construction and Environment Protection, which clearly stated the wetland conservation and restoration as one of the key goals. The project is perfectly aligned with goals which include establishing or improving more than 25 wetland parks, strengthening the conservation function and management capabilities of wetland nature reserves and wetland parks, exploring sustainable financing mechanism, and establishing demonstration sites for wetland monitoring and sustainable use.