Seychelles: Ecosystem Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Seychelles (Fully developed project document) (UNDP) (SYC/MIE/Multi/2011/1; US$6,455,750)

 

 

Having considered the comments and recommendations of the Projects and Programme Review Committee, the Adaptation Fund Board decided to:

(a) Not approve the project document, as supplemented by the clarification response provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the request made by the technical review;

(b) Suggest that UNDP reformulates the proposal taking into account the following:

i. Field surveys need to be carried out in the target watersheds in order to assess the current level of the targeted ecosystem services, through the 

measurement of different parameters, inter alia, levels of vegetation cover and soil erosion, species diversity, current soil water retention capacity etc. This would help to determine the appropriate interventions that will take effect in each watershed;

ii. Once activities are selected, based on the field surveys, the proposal should articulate how these activities allow for achieving the “management of watersheds to enhance functional connectivity and the resilience of these areas to climate change and reduce water scarcity”;

iii. In addition to the local watershed management committees, the activities under output 1.2 should also include the establishment of a supra-local coordination group that would monitor and assess that the watersheds functional connectivity was enhanced;

iv. To ensure the achievement of its long-term project objective, the project should help put in place a national monitoring system, including a “functional connectivity” monitoring system in order to assess the effectiveness of the project interventions in the long term and to ensure an adaptive management of the watershed systems. Such a monitoring system entails investment and training in monitoring tools, inter alia geographic information system (GIS), on-the-ground measurement methods, environmental planning tools, and the monitoring of key indicators and long-term collection of key data that will be identified through the project. That could be complemented by additional rigorous scientific studies and modeling where necessary. The system should be developed by the project implementation team, in conjunction with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy, Public Utilities Corporation, the University of Seychelles, and relevant partner non-governmental organizations, the local watershed committees and the Rivers committee, and should be institutionalized and operational by the end of the project. Its sustainable financing could be assessed along with the options that will be explored under output 3.1.3;

(c) Request UNDP to transmit the observations referred to in paragraph (b) above to the Government of Seychelles.