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WB approves $61m for marine, coastal conservation scheme
2005-07-23 07:30:29
By Guardian Reporter
The World Bank Board of Directors has approved US$61m for the Marine and Coastal Environmental Management Project in Tanzania.
The bank said in a statement released in Washington and obtained by The Guardian in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the funds comprise a US$51m credit from the International Development Association (IDA) and a US$10m grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The grant from GEF was included in the work program approved by the GEF Council on April 6, 2005.
The Marine and Coastal Environment Management project aims to strengthen the sustainable management and use of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), territorial seas and coastal resources of Tanzania.
The funding is aimed at enhancing revenue collection, reducing threats to the environment and bettering livelihoods for participating coastal communities living in the coastal districts and improved institutional arrangements.
”The grant has a six-year objective to develop an ecologically representative and institutionally and financially sustainable network of marine protected areas and to build capacity in the United Republic of Tanzania to measure and manage transboundary fish stocks,” the statement says.
The lack of a sound governance regime for both offshore marine fishery and the nearshore fisheries results in serious loss of revenue for Tanzania and lost economic opportunities for local fishermen and the growth and possible export of other marine products, it adds.
According to the statement, the project will strengthen the governance regime for both the commercial fishery in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone as well as the nearshore marine resources.
’The project also aims to achieve improved quality of life and social well being in the target areas through better information and training to promote innovation, access to markets, value addition of marine products, reduction of post harvest loss and the identification of public-private partnerships to reduce risk and vulnerability.’
The Marine and Coastal Environment Management project will target all coastal districts on mainland Tanzania as well as Unguja and Pemba islands in Zanzibar and the 200,000 km square Exclusive Economic Zone.
’The strategies being implemented are intended to be replicable throughout the coastal area, thus representing a potential target population of 8-9 million inhabitants along 1,424 km of coastline,’ says the statement.
It indicates the project will improve governance of the EEZ, and increase the effective management and protection of the 37,000 km square of territorial seas.
GEF is a mechanism for providing new and additional grant and concessional funding to meet the agreed incremental costs of measures to achieve agreed global environmental benefits in the six focal areas - Climate change, Biodiversity, International waters, Ozone, Land degradation, and Persistent organic pollutants.
GEF also supports the work of the global agreements to combat desertification and eliminate persistent organic pollutants, according the World Bank website.
The Bank is one of GEF’s implementing agencies and supports countries in preparing GEF co-financed projects and supervises their implementation.
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