Document of The World Bank

Report No: ICCR97624

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT(TF011853)

 

ON A

GRANT

IN THE AMOUNT OF US$3.83 MILLION EQUIVALENT

TO THE

GOVERNMENT OF MALDIVES

FOR A

WETLAND CONSERVATION & CORAL REEF MONITORING FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT

June 23, 2015

Environment and Natural Resources Global PracticeMaldives Country Management UnitSouth Asia Region

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

(Exchange Rate Effective November 2014)

Currency Unit = Maldivian Rufyaa

MVR 1.00 = USD 0.06

USD 1.00 = MVR 15.44

FISCAL YEAR

July 1 – June 30

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

BEP Break-even PointCAS Country Assistance StrategyCBWMP Community Based Wetland Management PlanCCAP Climate Change Adaptation Project CCTF Climate Change Trust FundCDE Commerce Development & Environment Pvt. Ltd.Cum (m3) Cubic MeterDNP Department of National PlanningEPA Environment Protection AgencyEU European UnionFIRR Financial Internal Rate of ReturnGDP Gross Domestic ProductGOM Government of MaldivesIUCN International Union for Conservation of NatureIWMC Island Waste Management CentrekW kilo wattkWH kilowatt hourlpcd litres per capital per dayM&E Monitoring and EvaluationMEE Ministry of Environment & EnergyMEMP Maldives Environment Management ProjectMoFA Ministry of Fisheries and AgricultureMOHE Ministry of Housing & Environment

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MRC Marine Research CentreMVR Maldivian RufiyahNAPA National Adaptation Programme of ActionNPV Net Present ValuePDO Project Development ObjectivePMU Project Management UnitRO Reverse OsmosisRWH Rain Water HarvestingSAP Strategic Action PlanSPV Solar PhotovoltaicSTELCO State Electricity CompanySWM Solid Waste ManagementUSAID United States Agency for International DevelopmentUSD United States DollarWCCM Wetland Conservation & Coral Reef Monitoring

Senior Global Practice Director: Paula Caballero Sector Manager: Kseniya LvovskyProject Team Leader: Priti KumarICR Team Leader: Gaurav D. Joshi

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ContentsDATASHEET 5

1 PROJECT CONTEXT, DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN.......................................141.1 Context at Appraisal..................................................................................................................14

1.2 Original Project Development Objectives and Key Indicators...................................................16

1.3 Revised PDO and Key Indicators and Reasons/Justifications....................................................16

1.4 Main Beneficiaries.....................................................................................................................16

1.5 Original Components.................................................................................................................16

1.6 Revised Components.................................................................................................................17

2 KEY FACTORS AFFECTING IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOMES.....................................172.1 Project Preparation, Design and Quality at Entry.......................................................................17

2.2 Implementation..........................................................................................................................19

2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Design, Implementation and Utilization............................20

2.4 Safeguard and Fiduciary Compliance........................................................................................21

2.5 Post-completion Operation / Next Phase...................................................................................21

3 ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOMES.....................................................................................................223.1 Relevance of Objective, Design, and Implementation...............................................................22

3.2 Achievement of Project Development Objectives......................................................................22

3.3 Efficiency..................................................................................................................................24

3.4 Justification of Overall Outcome Rating....................................................................................26

3.5 Overarching Themes, Other Outcomes and Impacts..................................................................27

4 ASSESSMENT OF RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME.........................................................285 ASSESSMENT OF BANK AND BORROWER PERFORMANCE.................................................28

5.1 Bank Performance.....................................................................................................................28

5.2 Borrower Performance...............................................................................................................29

6 LESSONS LEARNED......................................................................................................................30

LIST OF ANNEXESAnnex 1 Project Costs……………………………………………………………………32Annex 2: Outputs by Component………………………………………………………..33Annex 3: Economic & Financial Analysis……………………………………………….38Annex 4 Task Team Members…………………………………………………………...43Annex 5: Borrower’s Completion Report………………………………………………..44Annex 6: List of project documents……………………………………………………...51Annex 7: List of supporting documents………………………………………………….51

MAP

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DATA SHEET

Wetland Conservation and Coral Reef Monitoring for Adaptation to Climate Change (P128278)

A. BASIC INFORMATIONCountry Republic of Maldives Project Name Wetland Conservation

and Coral Reef Monitoring for Adaptation to Climate Change (P128278)

Project ID P128278 Loan/Credit (LC)/Trust Fund (TF) Number(s)

TF0110853

ICR Date 03/13/2015 ICR Type Core ICR

Lending Instrument Specific Investment Loan (SIL)

Grantee Republic of Maldives

Original Total Commitment

US$3.83 M Disbursed Amount US$3.671 M

Environmental Category

B

Implementing Agencies Ministry of Environment and Energy

Environment Protection Agency and Marine Research Centre

Co-financier and Other External Partners

None

B. KEY DATESProcess Date Process Original Date Revised / Actual Date(s)

Concept Review 10/26/2010 Effectiveness 11/30/2011 04/26/2012

Appraisal 09/13/2011 Restructuring NA

Approval 02/16/2012 Mid-term Review NA

Closing 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

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C. RATINGS SUMMARYC.1 Performance Rating (by ICR)

Outcome Moderately Unsatisfactory

Risk to Development Outcome High

Bank Performance Moderately Satisfactory

Borrower Or Grantee Performance Moderately Satisfactory

C.2 Detailed Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance (by ICR)

Quality at Entry Moderately Satisfactory

Government Satisfactory

Quality of Supervision Moderately Satisfactory

Implementing Agencies Moderately Satisfactory

Overall Bank Performance Moderately Satisfactory

Overall Borrower Performance

Moderately Satisfactory

C.3 Quality at Entry (QAE) and Implementation Performance Indicators

Implementation Performance

Indicators Quality Assurance Group (QAG) Assessments (if any)

Rating

Potential Problem Project at any time (Yes/No)

No Quality at Entry (QEA) NA

Problem Project at any time (Yes/No)

No Quality of Supervision (QSA)

NA

DO rating before Closing/Inactive status

MS

D. SECTOR AND THEME CODESOriginal Actual

Sector Code (as % of total Bank financing)

General Water, sanitation & flood protection Sector

100 100

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Theme Code (Primary / Secondary)

Biodiversity 30 30

Climate Change 30 30

Water Resources Management 30 30

Env. Policies and Institutions 10 10

E. BANK STAFFPosition At ICR At Approval

Vice President Annette Dixon Isabel Guerrero

Country Director Francoise Clottes Diarietou Gaye

Sector Manager Kseniya Lvovsky Herbert Acquay

Project Team Leader Priti Kumar Priti Kumar

ICR Team Leader and Primary Author

Gaurav D. Joshi and S. C. Rajshekar

F. RESULTS FRAMEWORK ANALYSISProject Development Objectives (PDO; from the Project Appraisal Document)

To strengthen institutional capacity of MOHE and local councils for planning and demonstration of community based wetland and water resources management, and

To implement a coral reef monitoring system.

(a) PDO Indicator(s)Indicator Baseline Value Original Target

Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 1: Two community-based wetland management plans (CBWMP) that are approved and under implementation.

Value (Quantitative or

0 2 Not applicable 2

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Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

qualitative)

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 Not applicable 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

100% achievement. Two CBWMPS for Fuvahmulah and Hithadoo were approved by the respective local councils and the Community Advisory Boards. Ecotourism facilities are under implementation in Hithadoo

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 2: Data on coral reef health from at least five tourist resorts is produced within the coral reef monitoring framework

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 1 time dataset

for each of 5 resorts for each

agreed protocol

Not applicable 82% taking baseline data and 41% taking both baseline and follow-on data sets

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 Not applicable 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

Project envisaged that baseline datasets would be collected during training by the training agency and trained resorts would collect follow-on data sets after training. However, 82% of baseline data sets were collected while no follow-on data sets were collected. Taking both together and assigning equal weights to both data sets, over all achievement is 41%.

(b) Intermediate Outcome Indicator(s)Indicator Baseline Value Original Target

Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 1: Number ofparticipatory planning workshops involving local councillors and community stakeholder groups

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Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 6 Not applicable 6

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

100% achievement. 6 participatory consultations were held with local councillors and community stakeholders in Hithadoo and Fuvahmulah. Community Advisory Boards have been formed for management of wetlands in Fuvahmulah and Hithadoo.

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 2: Number of ecotourismfacilities

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 1 Not applicable Partly completed

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

By end of project, ecotourism works were partly completed in Hithadhoo due to insufficient funds (funds were transferred from this activity to the drinking water works in Ukulhas) and delays in supply of environmentally certified wood.

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 3: Number of BestPractice / Learning / Policy note

Value (Quantitative or

0 1 Not applicable 1

9

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

qualitative)

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

100% achieved. Final report on Best Practices in management of wetlands was submitted by Hidria/Aquatica for Hithadoo and Fuvahmulah was reviewed and accepted by the PMU

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 4: Number of geo-hydrological assessment reports

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 1 Not applicable 1

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

100% achievement. Geo-hydrological assessment report was produced for Fuvahmulah.

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 5: Percentage completionof functional rain water harvesting structures

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 100% Not applicable 100%

10

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

100% achieved. Rain-water harvesting and RO-Desalination based water supply system with solar power has been commissioned in Ukulhas and handed over to STELCO who are awaiting approval of tariff by MEE to start operations.

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 6: Percentage of localcouncils trained in climate change adaptation

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 30% 229 persons from 10 local councils trained

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 06/12/2014 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

158% achievement of target. There are 21 atoll councils in Maldives. The project planned to cover 30% of them, but actually managed to cover 10 of them leading to nearly 50% of them being covered under the training.

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 7: Number of datasets

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 1 time dataset for each of 5 resorts for each agreed protocol on the web with key data available to NGIS

NA Partly completed for baseline data only.

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

Comments 82% achievement. Only baseline data was collected by the training agency from

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Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

(including % achievement)

5 resorts which have been uploaded into the CoralDatabase web portal.

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 8: Number of functionaldecision support systems (tools)

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 2 2

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

100% achievement. CoralDatabase and the Bleach Risk Assessment Tool (BRAT) were both completed and ready to use.

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values (from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target Years

Indicator 9: Number of BestPractice / Learning / Policy notes

Value (Quantitative or qualitative)

0 3 0

Date achieved 09/15/2011 09/30/2014 11/30/2014

Comments (including % achievement)

0% achievement. No policy notes were produced or disseminated.

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G. RATINGS OF PROJECT PERORMANCE IN IMPLEMENTATION STATUS AND RESULTS REPORTS (ISRs)

NA.

H. RESTRUCTURINGDate Amount

DisbursedReasons for Restructuring

NA NA NA

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1 PROJECT CONTEXT, DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN

1.1 Context at Appraisal

1. The Republic of Maldives is a small-island state to the south-west of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Maldives is the smallest Asian country with a total population of 325,000 (2009). The country comprises about 1,190 islands grouped into 26 atolls forming a chain of over 820 kilometers in length and spread over an area of more than 90,000 square kilometers. These islands are built, protected and sustained, almost entirely, by living coral. Only 33 of the 290 inhabited islands have a land area of more than one square kilometer. The islands are low lying with an average elevation of only 1.5 meters. The two most important economic sectors of the Maldives are tourism and fisheries, contributing to nearly 80 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Performance and even survival of these sectors and thereby, the economy of the country is highly dependent on the health of the natural capital of the country namely, coral and marine wealth. Over a thirty-year period, the Maldives moved from one of the poorest low-income countries (GDP/per capita of US$ 271) in 1980 to upper middle-income status (GDP/per capita of US$ 6,405) in 2011. Between 1990 and 2010, GDP grew at 7.8% per annum and ten folded to reach US$ 2.1 billion in 2010. The human development index for Maldives is 0.602 placing it above the South Asia regional average of 0.516.

2. Its unique geography makes this archipelagic small-islands nation particularly vulnerable to projected adverse consequences of climate change, in particular sea-level rise, increases in sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, and frequency and intensity of droughts and storms. Sea levels are projected to rise within the range of 10 to 100 centimeters by year 2100, threatening submergence of the entire country in the worst-case scenario. Extreme rainfall events are likely to occur at twice the current frequency by 2050. Higher ocean temperatures increase the rate of coral bleaching and increase the risk of massive coral die-off during the local ocean temperature spikes that occur during El Niño events (the severe 1998 El Niño raised sea surface temperatures around the Maldives by as much as 5°C).

3. Thus, apart from the threat of submergence, the country is vulnerable to shortage of fresh drinking water due to frequent droughts, ingress of seawater into the groundwater lens due to loss of wetlands; loss of coral and marine wealth due to increases in sea temperature and acidification of sea water, affecting the GDP of the country.

4. In its response to the December 2004 tsunami, the Government of Maldives (GoM) reinforced its development planning towards concentration of the population on fewer islands in the Safe Host Islands Strategy (changed by the new GoM in 2008 to “Resilient Host Islands Strategy”). This concept has been a major component of the Government’s national development strategy and is compliant with the Decentralization Act enacted by the Parliament in 2010. The National Adaptation Programme of Action, 2006 (NAPA) took cognizance of the importance of wetlands in combating climate change and emphasized its

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conservation. Similarly, it recognized the importance of coral reefs in protecting islands from storm surges, sea erosion, etc., and banned coral mining. The Strategic Action Plan 2009 – 2013 (SAP) set out the policy framework for sustainable development in the Maldives, and stresses conservation and sustainable utilization of bio diversity to ensure maximum ecosystem benefits. In 2009, the Government of Maldives (GoM) announced that the country will become carbon-neutral by 2020.

5. However, at the time of appraisal, of the 37 marine and coastal areas declared as protected areas, only two had a management plan. Even these management plans were not being implemented due to inadequate capacity at the national and sub-national levels to facilitate and manage partnerships with stakeholders in ecosystem management. Coral reefs, which are vital to the economy of the country fared no better. None of the coral reefs systems that fall under the marine protected area or environmentally sensitive area had a management plan. Only 15 coral sites formed the basis of a national coral reef monitoring programme of which only 3 were being actively monitored by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture (MOFA) mainly due to lack of adequate manpower and financial resources. Thus, there was clearly a lack of adequate monitoring of coral reef health, especially in view of climate change and the corals’ own importance to the economy of the country.

6. In 2010, with the enactment of the Decentralization Act by the Parliament, the country moved from being a centrally administered country to a more federal system of governance. Local, elected councils were entrusted with the responsibility of governing islands and atolls. This opened up the opportunity of working at the level of the islands to tackle the threats of climate change through conservation of wetlands. However, for it to be effective, the capacity of these local councils had to be built up. Similarly, a few private resorts were monitoring coral reefs through their in-house marine biologists and divers and were supporting such activities through their Social and Environmental Responsibility Fund. MOFA was keen to build a partnership with such resorts and expand the coral reef monitoring sites.

7. A multi-donor Maldives Climate Change Trust Fund (CCTF) was established in December 2009 with an implementation period of three and a half years to address climate related risks and to strengthen resilience in Maldives. Under the CCTF, the Wetlands Conservation and Coral Reef Monitoring for Adaptation to Climate Change Project was formulated, aligned with GOM policies that prioritized actions to increase the adaptive capacity of communities to manage climate change related risks to freshwater availability and to ensure the conservation of biological diversity. The project was in line with the World Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Maldives 2008-2012. The CAS identified enhanced capacity to manage the country’s pristine, but fragile, natural environment as one of the three strategic development outcomes. The Bank was already engaged in a solid waste management project under the Post-Tsunami Emergency Recovery Project, funded by European Union, and the IDA (International Development Agency)-financed Maldives Environmental Management Project (MEMP). One of the key outputs of the MEMP was a National Coral Reef Monitoring Framework that the WCCM project sought to refine and develop in the form of a working coral reef monitoring system. Given the Bank’s extensive global experience in supporting climate change adaptation, wetland management and coral reef monitoring it was

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well-positioned to assist GOM in the area of climate change adaptation, wetland management, coral reef monitoring and institutional development.

1.2 Original Project Development Objectives and Key Indicators

8. The project had two development objectives, namely to (a) strengthen institutional capacity of Ministry of Housing and Environment (MOHE)1 and local councils for planning and demonstration of community based wetland and water resources management; and (b) implement a coral reef monitoring system.

9. The key intermediate outcome indicators for the project were:

Two community-based wetland management plans (CBWMP) that are approved and under implementation.

Data on coral reef health from at least five tourist resorts is produced within the coral reef monitoring framework.

1.3 Revised PDO and Key Indicators and Reasons/Justifications

10. No changes were made to the PDO or Key Indicators

1.4 Main Beneficiaries

11. The project beneficiaries included the residents of islands where the project activities would be undertaken, particularly the local population in the vicinity of sites whose livelihoods might improve, members of the local councils who would be trained to better understand climate-related implications of their decisions and officials of the MEE, the implementing agency whose capacity would also be built to plan and manage wetlands and water resources in partnership with local stakeholders and thereby tackle climate change issues. In addition, the availability of coral reef monitoring data was to benefit the policy makers in Maldives as well as the Global Reef Monitoring Network’s affiliates.

1.5 Original Components

Component 1: Wetland Conservation and Water Resources Management

12. The component aimed at strengthening the capacity of GOM and communities to plan for coastal wetlands conservation, drainage management, and rain water harvesting through pilot activities. The component provided technical support for building local councils’ capacity on climate change adaptation. The activities to be financed were grouped under the following sub-components: (a) Community-based wetland management; (b) Technical support and demonstrative implementation for drainage management and rain water

1 At the time of implementation, environmental functions of MOHE was taken out and a new Ministry of Environment and Energy was created, which became the implementing agency. Therefore, in further references to the PDO, MEE is used in place of MOHE in this document

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harvesting; and (c) strengthened local government capacity to mainstream climate change considerations.

Component 2: Coral Reef Monitoring

13. The component piloted capacity building in tourist resorts for coral reef monitoring and provided technical support to develop a technology platform (referred to as ‘the Coral Reef Monitoring Framework’) that would enable easy access to data and decision support tools. Component activities included: training and capacity building; monitoring coral reefs; a web-enabled technology platform (‘the Coral Reef Monitoring Framework’); and dissemination and policy inputs.

Component 3: Project Management

14. This component provided for incremental costs to the existing Project Management Unit (PMU) established for MEMP. It also included project monitoring and progress reporting.

15. Specifically, community-based wetland management (which included ecotourism, and drainage management), planning and demonstrative implementation were to be implemented in Fuvahmulah and Hithadoo islands; rainwater harvesting and drinking water system in Ukulhas and coral reef monitoring in private resorts that were willing to participate and were within easy access from Male.

1.6 Revised Components

16. No changes were made to the original components.

2 KEY FACTORS AFFECTING IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOMES

2.1 Project Preparation, Design and Quality at Entry

Project Preparation

17. The National Planning Council, the Climate Change Advisory Council and the Technical Committee led by the President’s office, which constituted the governance structure for CCTF identified wetlands conservation and coral reef monitoring as key areas for developing and implementing projects under the CCTF. Accordingly, the MOHE and the MOFA were invited to prepare concept notes for wetland conservation and coral reef monitoring respectively, which were scrutinized for technical and strategic merit by the Technical Committee and endorsed by the National Planning Council. Initially, the two concept notes were independent proposals but were processed as one project by the Bank to reduce transaction costs.

18. The project preparation took about 1.5 years, which is comparatively long for a project of this size, with discussions on the principal interventions in the project continuing all the way to the end of the preparation phase. This resulted in some preparation tasks being shifted into

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the early implementation period, such as the preparation of detailed design for the Ukulhas Water Harvesting and Supply Scheme.

Assessment of Design

19. Project design was innovative since it seized upon the opportunity that the Decentralization Act had thrown up to work with local councils in tackling climate change under the wetlands component and was proposing to use a public-private partnership to operationalize a coral reef monitoring system.

20. The project was to access financing from the multi-donor Climate Change Trust Fund for Maldives, which was closing in 2013. The short duration of the CCTF required quick response and calibrating expectations for deliverables commensurate with the available time. Project design was therefore kept simple, drawing extensively on previous Bank experience in coral reef monitoring as well as community based planning projects to demonstrate tangible results quickly. Designed project activities were in line and advanced the objectives of the CCTF which were: (a) Strengthen knowledge and leadership in GOM to deal with climate change issues; (b) Improve capacities and regulatory and governance frameworks to integrate climate risk management into development strategies and plans; (c) Build adaptive capacity and climate resilience through tangible pilot interventions; (d) Improve institutional and management capacities in the government and nongovernment sectors to deal with adaptation that will bring both developmental and climate change benefits.

21. The common design thread that held together the various apparently disparate activities under the wetlands conservation component of the project was to build the capacities of the MEE and the local councils in planning and managing wetlands and water resources and thereby build capacity to adapt to and tackle climate change. The underlying design principle to build the capacity of local councils was through “learning by delivering” in addition, to the formal training sessions on climate change. Previously, planning and implementation of plans for protected area development was a function of the national government ministries and not the local councils. The new Decentralization law transferred these responsibilities to the local councils. Therefore, project activities related to development and implementation of community-based wetland management plans, which also included drainage management plans, became opportunities for learning by the council functionaries while delivering their mandate.

22. Design of the coral reef monitoring component built upon the National Coral Reef Monitoring Framework developed under the MEMP and existing expertise in the Marine Research Centre. However, while the design was suitable to gather scientific data on coral reefs for decision making, it did not adequately establish utility or incentives for resorts to participate. Failure to gather adequate interest and participation of the Ministry of Tourism under which businesses of resorts are regulated limited the ability of the project to secure active participation from resorts during implementation.

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23. Both components of the project were innovative and pioneering in nature and were therefore, in a sense piloting the approach of the project in working with local councils and testing out a private-public partnership in the area of coral reef monitoring. Rapid changes in the political situation of the country and resultant administrative changes such as the reorganization of the implementing Ministry of Housing and Environment into the Ministry to Energy and Environment (MEE), added significant complexity to the implementation environment.

PDO and indicators24. Given the short timeframe that was available to the project for implementation, it was

correctly assessed that only intermediate outcomes would be achieved by project closure. PDO indicators are accordingly appropriate, and adequately reflect the design principle of building capacity through a “learning by delivering” approach. For example, the PDO level indicator for the wetland component is, “Two community-based wetland management plans (CBWMP) that are approved and under implementation”,

Risk25. Overall implementation risk was rated ‘moderate’. Risk mitigation measures identified

during preparation were adequate. However, the stakeholder risk rating of ‘low’ proved to be too optimistic during implementation. For example, departure of key personnel such as the Project Manager and Coordinators affected project implementation. Given the small pool of qualified and available personnel in the country, replacing them was a problem. Risk of private sector owned resorts not collecting follow-on data on coral reef health was not appreciated during preparation. Better appreciation of this risk may have helped with improvement in the actual implementation of the project activities as well as sustainability beyond project life.

2.2 Implementation

26. The project became effective in end-April 2012, with a delay of 5 months, further limiting the time available for implementation. During this time, Maldives underwent a political transition and power was transferred to a new administration. Resulting implementation delays were addressed through a 2- month project extension.

27. The project was guided by a Project Steering Committee and the Permanent Secretary of MEE acted as Project Director. The project was managed by a Project Management Unit (PMU) which had a Project Manager, financial and procurement staff as well as Project Coordinators and Facilitation Officers at island levels who were guided by an International Technical Advisor. This anchor team provided many on-time inputs to ensure that the consultant teams hired for individual components had specific advice/ support to complete the activities on time. The three tiered structure: national level guidance, a technically qualified management unit that drew experts from institutions such as the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the Marine Research Centre (MRC) and other Ministries, and the on-the-ground presence of island coordinators, proved to be effective and ensured that some of the setbacks the project encountered could be overcome.

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28. Under Component 1, Community Based Wetlands Management Plans (CBWMP) were completed within the project period while implementation of some works spilled over beyond the project closure. Inputs from the PMU and MEE ensured that the bottlenecks encountered during the planning process – identification of candidates who could provide timely advice, logistics of meetings of such a wide variety of stakeholders, were handled properly. The creation of Community Advisory Boards for each wetland and their involvement in the process was an innovative feature of the project and such boards were appreciated by the local councils2. The local councils also appreciated the training received in the area of climate change as assessed by a feedback survey that was carried out by the Local Government Authority that was responsible for designing and delivering training on climate change to local councils.

29. Delays in execution of the Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) scheme and RO (Reverse Osmosis) desalination plant combination ended with supervision of the works being undertaken by MEE rather than the consultants. The plant is now ready to go online and is awaiting the final approval of tariff from the GoM so that STELCO (a GoM company) can start operations in Ukulhas. Due to a policy decision of handing over all Greater Male area utilities to STELCO, the utility company initially involved – FENAKA - was replaced. There was a substantial increase in the final cost of the plant over the initial budget allocation which meant that funds had to be transferred from other activities within component 1.

30. Under component 2, the implementation of the coral monitoring program was limited by several factors. Although resorts initially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for participating in the project and received training and support for the collection of baseline set of data, they had little incentive in undertaking the follow-on data collection. Outputs from the CoralDatabase, the web-enabled tool developed under the project into which the collected data was to be uploaded, were designed for use by the scientific community and therefore not readily useful to the resort management in monitoring the health of their house reefs, and resorts lost interest in this activity.

2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Design, Implementation and Utilization

M&E Design

31. The project M&E system was designed as a simple reporting against the results framework through semi-annual reports, which was appropriate and adequate for the purpose of managing the project. The Project Manager, with inputs from the respective component coordinators, was responsible for preparing the reports. The results framework and indicators for assessing achievement of the PDO were simple and appropriate. The design was pragmatic in identifying that given the short duration available for implementation, only intermediate outcomes would be achieved by the project closure. However, the PDO level indicator for coral reef monitoring could have been more specific and indicated that “follow-

2 During the ICRR team’s meeting with members of the Addu City Council under whose jurisdiction Hithdaoo falls.

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on3” data collection from trained resorts was the expected “data set” to measure progress. An end of project evaluation was to provide learnings and the way forward for scaling up the project.

M&E Implementation

32. In practice, the International Technical Advisor prepared the semi-annual reports with inputs from the coordinators. Coordinators relied on occasional site visits and regular progress reports and periodic outputs from vendors that were entrusted with executing various sub-components of the project. Reports were prepared regularly and in time throughout the duration of the project and documented the progress of the project adequately. No evaluation study was carried out at project closure.

M&E Utilization

33. Reports from contractors and consultants were used to track progress in the field, while semi-annual reports formed the basis for stock-taking, recalibrating and taking corrective action at the project level.

2.4 Safeguard and Fiduciary Compliance

34. The project’s safeguards category B was justified given the scope and complexity of the project. Reporting on safeguards was timely and no serious non-compliances were reported. Financial Management risk was ‘moderate’. Financial Management was satisfactory throughout implementation and there were no outstanding issues at grant closure. Procurement risk was ‘moderate’ and commensurate support for satisfactory procurement implementation was available during the project. Procurement risk was however raised to ‘substantial’ during implementation due to delays. These were due to lack of interest from qualified bidders, time taken in evaluation of Expressions of Interest, and other documentation that impacted the procurement process. However, all procurements were completed to enable execution of project supported activities within the extended implementation period. Execution of some works such as the eco-tourism pilot in Hithadoo spilled over beyond project closing date. Thus, the safeguards and fiduciary aspects were managed adequately during the project.

2.5 Post-completion Operation / Next Phase

35. The WCCM project paper envisaged the development of an exit strategy based on an end of project evaluation study. This study was expected to identify specific activities that were to be transitioned from the WCCM to the relevant GoM ministries. However, no such exit strategy was prepared by project closure. However, the project at the design stage itself had identified that the drinking water supply system in Ukulhas would be managed by a GoM owned utilities company while the CBWMPs (including the eco-tourism facilities) would be

3 The PDO level indicator refers to 1 time data set, but in fact, there were two sets of data to be collected; baseline by the training agency during training and follow-on by trained resorts. The latter was expected to indicate proficiency of the trainees.

21

implemented and managed by the local island councils with support from the Community Advisory Boards.

36. STELCO, a GoM owned utility company has been given the responsibility for operating and maintaining the rain water harvesting and RO desalination plant in Ukulhas. Residents of the island are expected to receive piped drinking water from the rain water harvesting and RO desalination plant once MEE approves the tariff. Development of eco-tourism facilities in Hithadoo is underway and the Addu City Council is looking forward to managing the facilities with supervision from the Community Advisory Board.

37. A follow-on project titled Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP) is currently being prepared under the second phase of the CCTF, which will include interventions in wetland management (under Component 1) and coral reef monitoring (under Component 2). This project is the chief vehicle to provide continued support and momentum to the activities initiated in Hithadoo and Fuvahmulah under the WCCM project especially those related to wetland conservation and development and operation of ecotourism facilities. In addition, the CCAP will also introduce coral reef monitoring in these islands. Thus, the outputs and outcomes emerging from the WCCM are expected to be deepened and sustained by the CCAP. The MEE will have overall responsibility for implementation of the CCAP which will provide continuity in terms of management support from the GoM.

3 ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOMES

3.1 Relevance of Objective, Design, and Implementation

38. The relevance of the PDO remains high for Maldives, especially in the context of threats from climate change, at the time of project closure as it was during appraisal. Its focus on building the capacity of MEE and the local councils for better managing wetland and water resources remains pertinent, especially in view of Maldives’ decentralization and devolution agenda. Coral reef monitoring was and remains highly relevant not only because of the economic potential for fisheries but also because of the fact that the existence of the country as a geographical entity is dependent on the well-being of coral reefs.

39. The project’s focus on conserving wetlands, water resources management including providing drinking water and drainage management solutions and building a system for coral reef monitoring remain relevant since they address both near-term (drinking water and drainage) and long-term (wetlands and coral reef) problems being faced by Maldives due to climate change. The project design also aimed at building capacity of various stakeholders through the process of “learning by delivery”. Local councils were not only trained about climate change and its impacts but also participated in developing wetland management plans thus putting knowledge gained from training into practice.

40. The project pioneered the hybrid system of drinking water supply comprising rainwater harvesting and a desalination plant. Other multilateral donors, notably the UNDP, are rolling out projects with a similar technology. Similarly, coral reef monitoring is attracting other

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actors such as IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) under the REGENERATE project. These developments reinforce the continued high relevance of the objectives of this project.

3.2 Achievement of Project Development Objectives

41. The project’s development objectives were to (a) strengthen the institutional capacity of MEE and local councils for planning and demonstration of community based wetland and water resources management; and (b) implement a coral reef monitoring system.

42. Institutional capacity building: The first objective was substantially achieved. Two Community Based Wetland Management Plans (CBWMP) which included a detailed ecotourism development plan (Hithadoo) and drainage management plan (Fuvahmulah) were developed and approved for wetlands in Hithadoo and Fuvamulah. While implementation of drainage works was completed in Fuvahmulah, construction of Eco-tourism facilities in Hithadoo was delayed and works were still ongoing after project closure. These works will be completed under the CCAP.

43. Working closely with international experts in assessing the status of the wetlands and designing measures to safeguard it including developing ecotourism plans has helped build capacity of the community (participation is through Community Advisory Board) and the local councils to prepare wetland management plans. “Learning by delivering” is the key strategy of the project to develop capacity in the local councils and communities. Therefore, capacity developed so far in planning will be deepened through implementation of the eco-tourism works and through operating and maintaining the facilities. In addition, training provided on climate change to local council members through the LGA has helped create more awareness on the importance of factoring in climate change aspects into the island and atolls plans that have to be prepared by the local councils as per the Decentralization Act. The LGA which is responsible for helping local councils prepare their annual plans has modified the planning templates to include climate change considerations thus, making it mandatory for trained local councils to apply knowledge gained from training in climate change. MEE through deputing its staff to the PMU has directly gained capacity to protect and manage Protected Areas by working through the local councils. Thus, the first project development objective is substantially achieved notwithstanding pending works in Hithadoo.

44. Coral reef monitoring. The project largely did not succeed in achieving its second objective. The coral reef monitoring system consists of trained resort personnel collecting data using the coral reef monitoring protocols, uploading the data into the CoralDatabase and the data being available for decision making. The project aimed at delivering one data set on the health of coral reefs in at least 5 resorts, using the coral reef monitoring protocols4. At the time of project closure, about 82 percent of the baseline data had been collected and uploaded into the CoralDatabase. However, no participating resort collected data as a part of follow-

4 As per the ToR for CDE, the agency contracted to train resort personnel, two sets of datasets were to be collected: first by CDE during training called the baseline dataset and second by trained resort personnel post training called the follow-on dataset. The latter was to be a measure of the extent to which the trainees had understood and were able to use the protocols

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on data collection. Resorts lacked ownership of the coral reef data collection and management process since apparently, they were not convinced of the utility of the data or its relevance to their business operations, contributing to the underperformance of this part of the project.

45. Taking baseline and follow-on data collection together as an indicator of outcome and giving equal weights to both, the overall achievement against this objective is reduced to 41%. Thus, the achievement of the second objective was negligible.

46. Thus, overall the achievement of project objectives taken together is 70% giving equal weights to both PDO level indicators5 and is therefore rated modest.

3.3 Efficiency

47. No ex-ante efficiency assessment of the project was carried out at appraisal. The project paper concluded that since the project dealt with capacity building and investments in wetland conservation and water resources management that had environmental benefits that were hard to assess, a qualitative comparison of business as usual scenario and project scenario justified the project.

48. An ex-post analysis of the entire project is not being undertaken for similar reasons. Further, due to the short duration of the project and with most of the outputs being delivered in the last two semesters of the project6, impacts are not clear and measurable. Of the two major investments undertaken in the project, the water supply system in Ukulhas7 is complete but not yet operational while the ecotourism in Hithadoo is not complete. Thus, there is no operational data to work out financial and economic performance of the project.

49. However, based on available data, financial analysis for these two investments has been carried out.

Ukulhas Water Supply System

50. Using data provided by STELCO, the GoM owned utility that will operate the water works in Ukulhas, breakeven analysis has been carried out comparing business as usual8 (RO Desalination plant) with various scenarios with different combinations of technologies. Details are in Annex 3.

51. The key data used for the analysis are: RWH capacity of 7665 m3/year which is utilized fully RO capacity of 21364 m3/year

5 Average of 100% achievement of first PDO and 41% of second PDO is an overall achievement of 70%6 Contract for building the water supply system in Ukulhas was signed in January 2014 and installation completed in September 2014. Similarly, contract for training on coral reef monitoring was signed with CDE in September 2013, but actual training started only in March 2014.7 This accounts for 31% of the total project budget and is the single largest subcomponent in the project.8 pacificwater.org/userfiles/file/Case%20Study%20B%20THEME%201%20Maldives%20on%20Desalination.pdf

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Domestic consumption of 15 lpcd and total demand of 12,318.75 m3/year for all categories of customers

Energy consumption of 9 kWh/m3 of water produced from RO system and 2.75 kWh/ m3 of water from RWH system

Energy production from 14 kW SPV system is 22,995 kWh @ an average 4.5 kWh/kW/day

Table 1: Break Even capacity under various scenarios

Sl. No.

Item

Units

Scenario 1(business as usual)

Scenario 2

Scenario 3

Scenario 4(project)

RO only RO+SPV RO+RWHRO+RWH+SPV

1 Unit variable costMVR/ m3 63.80 52.60 40.47 29.27

2 Unit selling priceMVR/ m3 98.29 98.29 98.29 98.29

3 Contribution marginMVR/ m3 34.49 45.69 57.82 69.02

4Total annual fixed cost MVR 600000.00

600000.00

600000.00 600000.00

5 Breakeven point m3 17396 13132 10377 8693

52. The project scenario (4) yields a lower break-even point than the business as usual scenario (1) and therefore, is more efficient. Further, under the project scenario, breakeven is achieved at just 70% of the estimated demand. Scenarios 2 & 3 show the impact on break-even point for individual technological innovations in the project, viz., SPV power plant and RWH system respectively. However, BEP analysis has been conducted on a cash basis only. If depreciation were also included as an expense, the investment does not break-even for all the scenarios. This analysis demonstrates that financially the investment is not viable, but on a cash basis the project scenario breaks even at lower level of volume and is more efficient than the business as usual scenario. This important learning has been taken on board and while other sub-components are taken forward, the follow-on project has not included any water supply scheme.

Ecotourism Facilities at Hithadoo

53. Using data from the business plan for ecotourism facilities at Hithadoo9, FIRR has been calculated for two scenarios: 1. Revenues as proposed in the business plan; 2. Revenues discounted by 20%. Details are in annex 3. The key data used in the analysis are: Revenue is expected from annual charges paid by resorts, entry fee collection, hiring of

tourist guides, use of facilities, etc.

9 Annex 4 of the CBWMP for Hithadoo

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Salaries of ecotourism staff and rangers (4 no.s) employed for protection of the wetland are accounted as expenses in addition to office supplies and utilities

Annual maintenance of 3% of total capex of US$ 444,000 Life of 30 years for the ecotourism facilities

Table 2 FIRR of Investments in Hithadoo Ecotourism facilities Parameter

Scenario 1Revenue @ 100% as per CBWMP

Scenario 2Revenue @ 80% as per CBWMP

FIRR 8.11% 3.03%

54. The analysis shows that under both scenarios, the project would not attract commercial investment. However, even at 80% of the estimated revenue, the project would make modest profits and may therefore be operationally viable.

3.4 Justification of Overall Outcome Rating

Rating: Moderately Unsatisfactory

55. The overall outcome of the project has to be rated moderately unsatisfactory since, it is rated modest on two factors, viz., efficacy (achievement of PDO) and efficiency and rated high on relevance as per current IEG guidelines for rating outcomes. However, it is noted that this rating does not reflect the considerable work done in the project. For a small-scale pilot with innovative approaches to delivery that was pioneering in the context of Maldives, despite rapid changes in administration during implementation, the project outputs are substantial. They are forward looking and build a strong foundation for the follow on project to take forward.

56. Given the short duration of implementation, the project rightly targeted and achieved preparation of wetland conservation plans for both Hithadoo and Fuvahmulah with implementation beginning in at least one location. The plans that cover a time horizon of 5-10 years are detailed, forward looking and lay a sound foundation for the follow on project to take forward. Although, the outcomes will be more fully realized and evident after implementation of the follow on project if successfully done; the current project has shown a new approach to managing environmentally sensitive areas and protected areas by working together with local councils, community and using eco-friendly economic activities to drive and to some extent sustain the management of these areas.

57. Although the coral reef monitoring component did not deliver the expected outcomes, it did deliver a comprehensive, hierarchical database system in the form of a web-enabled CoralDatabase portal, a set of peer-reviewed coral reef monitoring protocols along with templates for collecting field data and a coral bleach risk assessment tool based on remote sensing. Thus, there is sufficient output in the present project to operationalize a coral reef

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monitoring system, if there is better understanding of the needs of participating resorts and appropriate incentives are designed to ensure their active participation.

3.5 Overarching Themes, Other Outcomes and Impacts

Poverty Impacts, Gender Aspects and Social Development

58. The project had no specific focus on these themes, but participation of women in community consultations was ensured. Due to migration of men in search of better employment opportunities, women run households in many islands of Maldives. In most of the islands/atolls they are organized into Women Development Committees. During the preparation of the CBWMPs representatives of the Women Development Committees were included in the consultation/preparation process. Further, in the Community Advisory Boards of Fuvahmulah and Hithadoo for planning of the CBWMP, representation of women from the Women Development Committee was mandatory.

59. The project had no focus on poverty alleviation and other social issues. However, attention has been given in the CBWMP to provide alternate livelihoods to households that were hitherto dependent on the wetland. The driving force for the CBWMP is the development of eco-tourism facilities which would provide employment and livelihood opportunities to local communities which in turn would create a stake for them to protect the wetlands. Thus, albeit, indirectly, the project is expected to have an impact on economic development in the area.

Institutional Change / Strengthening

60. The PDO was to strengthen the institutional capacity of MEE and local councils in planning and implementation of community based wetland and water resources management which has been substantially achieved as described in section 3.2. Some of the other institutional impacts attributable to the project are as follows:

a. Seconding senior government staff from the relevant ministries to manage the project as coordinators in the PMU has helped build capacities of the staff as well as the ministry.

b. The LGA plans to modify the planning templates to incorporate climate change aspects as a follow-up to the training that was provided to members and staff of local councils. This change will help local council put into practice the learning gained from the trainings and also mainstream climate change into developmental planning

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c. The project, through the development of CBWMPs and ecotourism plans, has helped local councils at Fuvahmulah and Addu (Hithadoo) appreciate the value of conserving wetlands and that they could be developed as a resource base for several eco-friendly economic activities.

Other Unintended Outcomes and Impacts

61. No unintended outcomes or impacts were observed in the project.

4 ASSESSMENT OF RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME

Rating: High

62. The risk that development outcome with respect to the coral reef monitoring system will not be maintained is high. The high risk rating is based on the low interest from participating resorts to collect and upload coral reef monitoring data into the CoralDatabase and importantly lack of determined actionable follow-up from the PMU and the MRC. Left to itself, it is very likely that coral reef monitoring system will not remain operational.

63. The risk that development outcome with respect to the wetland and water resources management will not be maintained is significant. Capacity built among local councils and the local community needs to be deepened by implementing the plans and managing the wetlands. Ecotourism is a major driver for interest in wetland conservation. In Hithadoo, at project closure, work had just begun, while in Fuvahmulah, only design concepts have been presented in the CBWMP. It is very likely that wetlands will not be protected and managed as per the CBWMP unless the ecotourism plans are implemented and operational. Thus, the capacities built under the project will not be sustained unless the plans are implemented and become operational.

64. Overall risk to project development objectives is the higher of the two risk ratings for the two development objectives. However, the proposed CCAP is expected to continue to support several sub-components of this project and will mitigate the risk to development outcomes substantially.

5 ASSESSMENT OF BANK AND BORROWER PERFORMANCE

5.1 Bank Performance

Bank Performance in Ensuring Quality at Entry Rating: Moderately Satisfactory

65. Although the project development phase was stretched over 2 years due to changes in political situation as well changes in borrower expectations10, the Bank team’s performed

10 The request for including the drinking water system to be designed and implemented in Ukulhas came late in the project preparation phase from GOM and hence could not be scoped out adequately at appraisal.

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well in ensuring that the project addressed climate change issues relevant to Maldives with appropriate project interventions. It seized the opportunity that the Decentralization Act, 2010 had created to mainstream climate change into local councils’ planning process. It built upon existing outputs form the MEMP to design the coral reef monitoring system. It also ensured that the project had an adequate balance of soft and hard outputs.

66. The Bank recognized at project design stage itself that for a small-scale pilot that was trying innovations, the expectations of outcomes must be realistic and appropriately calibrated given the short timeframe that was available for implementation. Accordingly, the results framework was designed to capture only intermediate outcomes. However, the Bank did not adequately assess the interest and willingness of resorts (stakeholders) to participate in the coral reef monitoring component. Risk on account of resorts failing to collect follow-on data was not identified at design and no mitigation measures (in the form of incentives) were formulated. However, as a pilot to test out new arrangements for delivery of services through the newly empowered local councils, and willingness of resorts to participate in monitoring of coral health, the activities under the project did break new ground.

Quality of SupervisionRating: Moderately Satisfactory

67. The Bank team regularly fielded implementation support missions (4 missions during project implementation) and resolved important issues in a pragmatic manner throughout project implementation. Despite changing political situation and delays in procurement due to non-availability of qualified bidders and staff turnover in the PMU, the Bank team provided support to keep the delivery of project outputs on track, especially for component 1.

68. Almost all missions included support from the fiduciary and environment team members. Additionally, the Bank team included a technical expert to provide backstopping for water supply and drainage management related activities. Their inputs helped the PMU overcome shortcomings wherever these were noticed, such as in site based issues of environmental management. Smooth and prompt disbursement of claims was also cited as one of the advantages of such timely support.

69. In response to problems reported on component 2, successive missions discussed and highlighted the need to have staff working on this aspect, through MRC and at PMU for the duration of the project. They could also have assessed if slow internet speed was the reason for resorts not collecting follow-on data and uploading it into the CoralDatabase, or resorts lacked interest and incentives to carry out the activity. Efforts could also have been made to have resorts collect the site-specific data and handover these to project staff to upload these where internet speed was adequate.

Rating of Overall Bank Performance70. Overall Bank performance is rated as Moderately Satisfactory in view of the ratings for

quality at entry and supervision.

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5.2 Borrower Performance

Government PerformanceRating: Satisfactory

71. Ministry of Finance and the Steering Committee were the key GoM counterparts. GoM was committed to the project from preparation through implementation. While not involved in the day-to-day administration, GoM kept itself informed about the project’s progress and its key challenges and achievements. Timely request from GoM led to an extension of the project which enabled several of the outputs of the project to be completed.

Implementing AgencyRating: Moderately Satisfactory

72. MEE as the implementing agency hosted the PMU and provided a platform for other entities such as the EPA, the MRC and the LGA to interact with the project. Despite rapid political changes, the MEE remained committed to the project. Given the challenges of procuring good quality service providers in small island developing states (SIDS), the MEE ably managed to not only procure services but also ensured that most of the works were executed.

73. Despite the large geographical spread and the high cost of travel which limited actual site visits, the PMU with support from the International Technical Advisor provided adequate oversight which helped in timely execution of works (water supply in Ukulhas11) and improvement in quality of outputs under component 1.

74. The outcome on component 2 as defined in the results framework was limited but the project delivered substantive outputs in the form of the coral reef monitoring system. These included conversion of the coral reef monitoring framework in to a set of ready to use monitoring protocols, development of a hierarchical database, and a bleach risk assessment tool. These are ready for use in the follow-on project. Limited outcome under component 2 was, apart from other external causes, mainly due to lack of championing within the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture operating through the Marine Research Centre (MRC) and the PMU and the lack of a proactive, problem-solving approach in tackling issues12. For example, when it was found that poor internet speeds were affecting uploading of data at the resorts, leading to loss of interest among resorts personnel (divers and marine biologists at the resorts), the PMU could have asked the resorts to collect the data as per the monitoring protocol and uploaded it in the PMU office in Male where internet speeds are better. Thus, by separating the two tasks of collecting data at site (resorts) and uploading (off-site), the PMU could have helped remove bottlenecks and enabled resort personnel to put their time and effort into activities which only they could have performed, viz., collection of coral reef monitoring data.

11The Water Resources Coordinator along with colleagues from the MEE worked closely with the contractor who was hired as late as in January 2014 to ensure that works were completed by November, 2014.12 In the Coral reef monitoring Coordinator and the International Technical Advisor, the best technical expertise on coral reefs in Maldives was available to the PMU. But all this expertise did not translate into action that could have led to better outputs.

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Rating of Overall Borrower Performance75. In view of the foregoing, the rating of overall borrower performance is Moderately

Satisfactory.

6 LESSONS LEARNED

76. Tackling long term issues like climate change in small island country situations should consider following a programmatic approach. Capacity to handle increased investments should be built in the initial phase(s) and investments in any infrastructure should take into account the constrained availability of man-power and consciously try to build this capacity.

77. A multi-tiered implementation arrangement can advantageously use the opportunities provided by the ongoing push for decentralization. The newly empowered local / island councils were quite open to new ideas and supported the PMU efforts. It was also useful that island coordinators were available for assisting the local council members.

78. The fusion of independent ideas, as the two components of the project were originally conceived, into a single project needs careful monitoring and adequate resources for supporting each one. Delays in activities under the more technically complex Component 2 could have been handled better if there was persistent follow-up with the resorts, who seemed to have lost interest after their initial support, to confirm actual collection of data using the protocols. While progress in the development of infrastructure under Component 1 received a lot attention, the departure of the Coordinator for this component may have been a missed signal for potential issues of coordination with resorts and quality of policy notes.

79. Projects trying to pilot novel ideas need to have a tight and realistic results framework. The implementation of a coral reef monitoring system with tourist resorts, which were to be participating voluntarily, for the first time, in a rigorous scientific monitoring of coral health, was an ambitious undertaking. Given the likely duration of the project, a narrower focus on refinement of the coral monitoring protocol and its demonstration as a working system, without a focus on resorts being the agent for data collection, would also have been adequate.

80. For successful private sector participation in development projects, their expectations should be carefully assessed during design of the project and the assessed expectations should be met during implementation. Resorts were chosen to collect data for the coral reef monitoring framework since they were deemed to have a big stake in a healthy coral reef. Solid science did not translate easily into good project outcomes. Since output of the CoralDatabase does not provide any feedback to the participating resort’s management on its house reef which they could use to gain advantage, for example by comparing the health of reefs nearby or improvements in the same reef over time, they did not devote sufficient resources to the exercise.

81. Given the highly technical nature of the coral reef monitoring protocols, refresher courses should have been built into the training program. A one-time training of just 1-2 days was not sufficient for all participants to become proficient in using the coral reef protocols on their

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own. Similarly, the climate change training given to local councils was just a half a day event.

82. Part-time component coordinators drawn from government staff is a good response to lack of qualified personnel in the country, but clarity that project work will be given priority is needed. Often, component coordinators were drawn away from project duty due to pressures of work on the departmental front. Clear terms of reference prioritizing activities should be shared with potential candidates so that their expectations are met.

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Annex 1 Project Costs

By Component

Project Component

Original Estimated Cost (USD million)

Actual/Latest cost (USD million)

Component 1 – Wetland conservation and water resources

2.13 2.55

Component 2 – Coral Reef Monitoring 1.03 0.78

Component 3 – Project Management 0.46 0.34

BASE cost 3.60.

Physical Contingency 0.025

Price Contingency 0.18

TOTAL Project Cost 3.83 3.67

By Source of financing

Financing Source Estimated Amount (USD million)

Actual / Latest Amount (USD million)

CCTF/EU 3.83 3.67

GoM 0 0

Total 3.83 3.67

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Annex 2: Outputs by ComponentA brief description of the two components of the project is provided below to help the reader understand the outputs under the components better.

Component 1: Wetland Conservation (to be implemented in Gnaviyani Fuvahmulah Island, Hithadoo Island in Addu City and Alif Alif Ukulhas Island)

1. Community-based Wetland Management: provision of technical support for (a) the development and implementation of community-based wetland management plans; (b) the establishment of pilot eco-tourism facilities at selected wetland sites in Hithadoo and Fuvahmulah islands; and (c) the documentation of best practices in community-based wetland management

2. Drainage Management and Rain Water Harvesting: provision of technical and demonstrative implementation support: (a) to carry out a geo-hydrological assessment of selected islands for identifying measures to improve drainage and reduce flood incidence, and demonstrative investments on drainage management; and (b) to develop innovative models for water harvesting and demonstrative implementation of water harvesting technologies.

3. Mainstreaming Climate Change Considerations: provide technical assistance, including training and training of trainers programs, to build capacity of government officials, particularly local councils, to equip them with the necessary skills to integrate climate change adaptation considerations into island ecosystem planning and management.

Component 2: Coral Reef Monitoring (to be implemented in private resorts situated in Kaaf Atoll)

1. Training and Capacity Building: provision of training to tourist resort staff (a) to undertake field data collection and to use the Coral Reef Monitoring Framework for data entry, analysis and decision-making; (b) to strengthen the capacity of government bodies in specialized areas relevant to coral reef monitoring

2. Monitoring of Coral Reefs: undertake field and remote sensing data collection using the coral reef monitoring protocols, including the coral reef monitoring framework and the bleach risk assessment tool

3. Web-enabled Coral Reef Monitoring Framework: support the development of a web-enabled system for the coral reef monitoring framework that is integrated with the national geographic information system (NGIS)

4. Dissemination and Policy Inputs: facilitate the extension, mainstreaming and sustainable use of the Coral Reef Monitoring Framework through wider dissemination of best practices in participatory coral reef monitoring and inputs to strengthen relevant policies and decisions.

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Outputs by Components

 Sub-component Output

Output Indicator

No. Planned

No. Achieved at project closure Remarks

Wetland Conservation

1.1 Community-

based wetland

management

Participatory mechanisms established for wetland management and executed

Number ofparticipatory planning workshops involving local councillors and community stakeholder groups

6

6

6 meetings have been delivered in Hithadoo and Fuvahmulah. Formation of semi-formal Protected Areas Community Advisory Boards have been formed for Fuvahmulah and Hithadoo. Draft constitutions prepared and reviewed by communities and submitted, with comments, to EPA for consideration.

Eco-tourism facilitydeveloped at least one wetland site

Number of ecotourismfacilities

1

partly done

Not completed due to paucity of funds and delays in supply of environmentally certified wood.

Best Practice / Learning/ Policy note developed on wetlandmanagement

Number of BestPractice / Learning / Policy note

1 1 Final Best Practices submitted by Hidria/Aquatica for Hithadoo and Fuvahmulah

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 Sub-component Output

Output Indicator

No. Planned

No. Achieved at project closure Remarks

through a consultation process and disseminated

were accepted and treated as completion of this output

1.2 Technical

support and demonstrati

ve implementat

ion for drainage

management and rain

water harvesting

Reports on geo-hydrological assessment and rain water harvesting technologies are produced based ontechnical studies

Number of geo-hydrological assessment reports

1

1 Report on rain waterharvesting technologies produced based on technical studies and demonstrative investments on rain water harvesting are implemented based on options identified in the report.

Percentage completionof functional rain water harvesting structures

100% 100%

Completed rain-water harvesting and RO-Desalination based water supply system. Awaiting approval of tariff by MEE to start operations

1.3 Strengthen local government capacity to mainstream climate change considerations.

Percentage of LocalCouncils trained in climate changeadaptation

Percentage of localcouncils

30% 30% Nearly 50% of the 21 atoll councils were covered in the training. In all 229 persons from 10 atoll councils were trained on climate change adaptation.

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 Sub-component Output

Output Indicator

No. Planned

No. Achieved at project closure Remarks

Coral Reef M

onitoring

2.1 Training and capacity building

Developed and tested training module for coral reef monitoring and trained government and resort staff

No. of resorts trained

5 5

Staff of 5 resorts and 3 government staff were trained.

2.2 Monitoring coral reefs

Protocol deriveddatasets developed by at least 5 resorts

Number of datasets

1 time dataset for each of 5resorts for each agreed protocol on the web withkey data available to NGIS

0

No follow-on data set was collected by any of the resorts after receiving training.

2.3 Web-enabled technology platform (‘the Coral Reef Monitoring Framework’)

Functional decisionsupport systems on coral reef monitoring available on the website

Number of functionaldecision support systems (tools)

2

2

Both the CoralDatabase and the Bleach Risk Assessment Tool were developed as planned and operational, although, the CoralDatabase system was reportedly slow to use

2.4 Dissemination and policy inputs

Best Practice / Learning/ Policy notes on coral reef monitoringdeveloped in 3 areasthrough a

Number of BestPractice / Learning / Policy notes

3 0 No policy notes were produced or disseminated

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 Sub-component Output

Output Indicator

No. Planned

No. Achieved at project closure Remarks

consultation process and disseminated

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Annex 3: Economic & Financial AnalysisFinancial analysis has been carried out for the two largest investments that the project made viz., water supply system in Ukulhas and ecotourism facilities in Hithadoo.

A. Break-even Analysis of Water Supply System in Ukulhas

Plant Capacity Unit ValueSource of data

RWH Capacity m3/year 7665 WAPCOS reportRO Plant Capacity m3year 21363.45

Total plant capacity m3/year 29028.45

Demand Unit ValueSource of data

Domestic m3/year 5475 WAPCOS report, but discounted

to reflect conservative estimates

Institutional m3/year 456.25Commercial 1 m3/year 912.5Commercial 2 m3/year 5475

Total m3/year12318.7

5

Proposed tariff & expected usage13

Domestic Unit Value

Expected usage as percentage of demand

Source of data

Band 1 0 - 100 Ltr/dMVR/ m3 65 55%

Communication from

consultant to STELCO, the

proposed utility to take

over operations

Band 2 101 - 200 Ltr/dMVR/ m3 75 30%

Band 3 Above201 Ltr/dMVR/ m3 100 15%

InstitutionalMVR/ m3 100

Commercial- 1MVR/ m3 110

Commercial- 2MVR/ m3 120

13 The proposed tariff compares well with the tariff being offered in Maafushi by Male Water & Sewerage Company. Maafushi has a total population of ~2000, two times the population of Ukulhas. http://www.mwsc.com.mv/services.php?p=mm4&cpid=14&sp=21

39

Estimation of energy cost   RWH Desalination TotalSource of data

Production - Water MT 7665 4653.75 12318.75 STELCO for energy

consumption data.

Electricity Consumption/ m3 kWh 2.75 9

Electricity consumption for the total production kWh

21,078.75 41,883.75

62,962.50

Less: Solar ( 4.5 kWh/kW/day for 365 for a 14 kWh SPV installation)

(22,995)

39,967.50

Electricity Cost / kWh (at cost from STELCO) MVR 6.00

Electricity Consumption per m3 of Water (RO+RWH+SPV), project scenario MVR

19.47

Based on the above table, the unit variable energy cost for various scenarios is derived and presented in the table below.Energy cost/m3 under various scenarios  Unit Value 

 Remarks 

Energy cost for RO plant only without SPV

MVR/ m3 54

9 kWh/cum @ MVR6/kWh

Energy cost for RO plant with 14 kW SPV plant

MVR/ m3 42.8

14kW SPV plant produces 22995 kWh/year @ 4.5 kWh/day

Energy cost for RWH+RO plant without SPV

MVR/ m3 30.67

Utilizing the RWH capacity fully

Energy cost for RWH+RO plant with SPV

MVR/ m3 19.47

Utilizing the RWH capacity fully

Item Unit ValueSource of data

Variable cost excluding energy cost MVR/ m3 9.8 Derived from STELCO dataTotal fixed cost MVR/year 600000

Total revenue(including fixed charges MVR/year 1210824 Derived

40

collected from customers)

from data on tariffs, expected usage and demand.

 Sl. No.

 Item

 Units

Scenario 1 (Business as usual) Scenario 2 Scenario 3

Scenario 4 (Project scenario)

RO only RO+SPV RO+RWH RO+RWH+SPV

1

Unit variable cost (unit variable energy cost + unit variable cost, excluding energy cost) MVR/ m3 63.80 52.60 40.47 29.27

2 Unit selling price MVR/ m3 98.29 98.29 98.29 98.293 Contribution margin MVR/ m3 34.49 45.69 57.82 69.02

4Total annual fixed cost MVR 60000.00 600000.00 600000.00 600000.00

5 Breakeven point m3 17396 13132 10377 8693

Note: Break-even analysis has been done on the basis of cash and therefore, depreciation has not been included in the total annual fixed cost. The project does not break-even under any scenario, if depreciation is included. Further, since the capex has already been invested from the WCCM project, the operator has to only make cash profits to sustain operations.

41

B. FIRR for proposed ecotourism facility at Hithadoo @ 80% of estimated revenue

All figures in '000 MVR

Cape

x on

Ec

otou

rism

Cape

x on

Offi

ce

equi

pmen

t

Tota

l cap

ex

Reve

nue

from

tax,

se

rvic

e ch

arge

s, co

nces

sions

, etc

.

Dire

ct sa

lary

, uti

lities

and

Indi

rect

sala

ries o

f ra

nger

s

Repa

ir &

M

aint

enan

ce o

f

Depr

ecia

tion

30

year

s

Tota

l exp

ense

s

Net profit

Net

cas

h flo

w

Years MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR MVRMVR MVR MVR MVR MVR

0667

8 226690

3 -6903

1 902 178 361 200 223 962 -60 163

2 1081 255 361 200 223 1039 42 265

3 1094 255 361 200 223 1039 55 277

4 1106 255 361 200 223 1039 67 289

5 1119 255 361 200 223 1039 80 303

6 1133 268 379 200 223 1070 63 285

7 1146 268 379 200 223 1070 76 299

8 1160 268 379 200 223 1070 90 313

9 1174 268 379 200 223 1070 104 327

10 1188 268 379 200 223 1070 118 341

11 1202 281 398 200 223 1102 100 323

12 1217 281 398 200 223 1102 114 337

13 1231 281 398 200 223 1102 129 352

14 1246 281 398 200 223 1102 144 366

15 1261 281 398 200 223 1102 159 381

16 1276 295 418 200 223 1136 140 363

17 1291 295 418 200 223 1136 155 378

18 1307 295 418 200 223 1136 171 393

19 1322 295 418 200 223 1136 186 409

20 1338 295 418 200 223 1136 202 425

21 1354 310 439 200 223 1172 183 405

22 1371 310 439 200 223 1172 199 422

23 1387 310 439 200 223 1172 215 438

24 1404 310 439 200 223 1172 232 455

25 1421 310 439 200 223 1172 249 471

26 1438 326 461 200 223 1209 228 451

27 1455 326 461 200 223 1209 246 468

28 1472 326 461 200 223 1209 263 486

29 1490 326 461 200 223 1209 281 503

30 1508 326 461 200 223 1209 299 521

NPV @ 12% Rs. -3,959.40 IRR 3.03%

42

@100% of estimated revenueAll figures in '000 MVR

  Cape

x on

Eco

tour

ism

faci

lities

Cape

x on

Offi

ce

equi

pmen

t

Tota

l cap

ex

Reve

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from

tax,

se

rvic

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arge

s, co

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, etc

.

Dire

ct sa

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, util

ities

an

d co

nsum

able

s

Indi

rect

sala

ries o

f ra

nger

s

Repa

ir &

M

aint

enan

ce o

f fa

ciliti

es

Depr

ecia

tion

30

year

s

Tota

l exp

ense

s

Net profit

Net

cas

h flo

w

Years MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR MVR

0 6678 226 6903 -6903

1 1128 178 361 200 223 962 166 388

2 1351 255 361 200 223 1039 312 535

3 1367 255 361 200 223 1039 328 551

4 1382 255 361 200 223 1039 343 566

5 1399 255 361 200 223 1039 360 582

6 1416 268 379 200 223 1070 346 568

7 1433 268 379 200 223 1070 363 585

8 1450 268 379 200 223 1070 380 603

9 1467 268 379 200 223 1070 397 620

10 1485 268 379 200 223 1070 415 638

11 1503 281 398 200 223 1102 401 623

12 1521 281 398 200 223 1102 419 641

13 1539 281 398 200 223 1102 437 659

14 1557 281 398 200 223 1102 455 678

15 1576 281 398 200 223 1102 474 697

16 1595 295 418 200 223 1136 459 682

17 1614 295 418 200 223 1136 478 701

18 1633 295 418 200 223 1136 497 720

43

19 1653 295 418 200 223 1136 517 740

20 1673 295 418 200 223 1136 537 759

21 1693 310 439 200 223 1172 521 744

22 1713 310 439 200 223 1172 542 764

23 1734 310 439 200 223 1172 562 785

24 1755 310 439 200 223 1172 583 806

25 1776 310 439 200 223 1172 604 827

26 1797 326 461 200 223 1209 588 810

27 1819 326 461 200 223 1209 609 832

28 1840 326 461 200 223 1209 631 854

29 1863 326 461 200 223 1209 653 876

30 1885 326 461 200 223 1209 676 898

NPV @ 12% Rs. -1,891.92 IRR 8.11%

Annex 4 Task Team Members

Name Title UnitPriti Kumar Senior Environmental Specialist GFADRAnupam Joshi Senior Environmental Specialist GENDRKalyani Kandula Consultant – Natural Resources /

EcosystemsGFADR

Darshani De Silva Environmental Specialist GENDRSupul Wijesinghe Financial Management Specialist GGODRSunethra Samarakoon Procurement Specialist GGODREnoka Wijegunawardane Financial Management Specialist GGODRSumith Pilapitiya Consultant GENDRPoonam Pillai Senior Environmental Specialist GENDRMarinela Dado Senior Operations Officer GENDRHenry Opdam Consultant – Hydrology GENDRS. Vaideeswaran Consultant – Institutional Analysis GENDR

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Venkata Rao Bayana Consultant – Social Safeguards GSURRVani Kurup Consultant GFADRLakshmi Narayanan Team Assistant SACINMarie Florence Elvie Team Assistant GSURRMary Ann Ashra Fernando Team Assistant SASDOParthapriya Ghosh Senior Social Development Specialist GSURRD. M. Mohan Consultant – Water GFADRGaurav D. Joshi Senior Environmental Specialist GENDRS. C. Rajshekar Consultant – ICR Lead Author GFADR

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Annex 5: Borrower’s Completion Report

BORROWERS REPORT14

WETLANDS CONSERVATION AND CORAL REEF MONITORING PROJECTMINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

MARCH 2015

ContentsProjects Objectives.Design Implementation

Component: Wetlands Conservation and Drainage Improvement Component: Rainwater Harvesting in AA.Ukulhas Component: Capacity building on Climate Change Adaptation Component: Coral Reef Monitoring

Outcomes Operational Experience Performance

MEE (PMU) World Bank

Findings and Lessons Future and Sustainability \

14 The full text of the report from MEE has been reproduced. Formatting changes are made for ease of reading.

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Projects ObjectivesThe development objectives for this project were (i) To strengthen institutional capacity of Ministry ofEnvironment and Energy and local councils for planning and demonstration of community –based wetland and water resources management, and (ii) to implement a coral reef monitoring system.

The Wetland Conservation and Coral reef Monitoring (WCCM) project’s primary objective were to strengthen capacity of Government of Maldives and communities to plan for coastal wetlands conservation, drainage management and rain water harvesting through pilot activities as well as to pilot capacity building in tourist resorts for coral reef monitoring and provide technical support to develop a technology platform (referred to as ‘the Coral Reef Monitoring Framework’) that will enable easy access to data and decision support tools. The project also provided technical support for building local councils’ capacity on climate change adaptation.

The activities were grouped under the following sub-components: Community-based wetland management Technical support and demonstrative implementation for drainage management and rain water

harvesting Strengthen local government capacity to mainstream climate change Coral reef monitoring

DesignThe WCCM Project was conceptualized as two distinct projects but, given the common aspects of feeding into the governance frameworks, the two components had been combined into a single project. Although initially intended to commence effectiveness in November 2011, the process was delayed due to the political situation and became effective on April 25th 2012.

The project was guided by a National Steering Committee and the Permanent Secretary of MEE acted asProject Director. The project was managed by a Project Management Unit (PMU) which had a ProjectManager, financial and procurement staff as well as Project Coordinators and Facilitation Officers at island levels whom were guided by a Technical Advisor.

The components of the project were directly related to the mandates of Environmental ProtectionAgency (in regards to wetlands conservation), MEE (in regards to rainwater harvesting) and MarineResearch Centre (MRC) for coral reef monitoring. In this regards the support of EPA and MRC were highly crucial to the successful implementation of the project on a tight time frame. Hence, to get the required technical oversight and coordination support, MEE had requested the component levelCoordinators to be hired on a top-up basis from Civil Service.

At the community level, the project was designed in a way; the local councils became a partner to the project at every stage of the project. Project Implementation Units were established in Addu City Council and Fuvahmulah. There were resort liaison officers in MRC for communicating with resorts and other stakeholders for coral reef monitoring. An MOU was signed between MEE, Ministry Of Fisheries and Agriculture, the participating resorts and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) prior to the commencement of the training activities in order to clarify stakeholder roles and responsibilities.

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Implementation

Component: Wetlands Conservation and Drainage ImprovementThis component supported the development and implementation of Community-Based WetlandManagement Plans (CBWMPs) including pilot on ecotourism, drainage improvement in the protected wetlands of Fuvahmulah and best practices documentation. It also provided local governance capacity building to mainstream climate change.

Community-based wetland management activities (development of CBWMPs, concept design for ecotourism package, detailed architectural design including ICM materials for eco-tourism facility inHithadhoo, drainage management plan for Fuvahmulah as well as detailed designing of improving drainage in the protected wetlands of Fuvahmulah and documentation of best-practices in wetland conservation) were contracted to a single consortium comprising Hidria/Aquatica from Aril 2013 toSeptember 2014.

Although there substantial delays in the deliveries of Hidria/Aquatica, however, with huge inputs fromPMU and MEE in providing the much needed guidance to Hidria/Aquatica, the deliverables were completed on time.

CBWMPs developed by Hidria/Aquatica were endorsed by MEE, Addu City Council, Fuvahmulah AtollCouncil as well communities of both Hithadhoo and Fuvahmulah.

The works contracts for drainage improvement in Fuvahmulah were contracted to Maldives Roads Development Corporation (MRDC) in May 2014 and the works contracts for construction of eco-tourism facility (excluding the visitors centre) in Hithadhoo were contracted to Southern Maldives Contracting and Trading Company Pvt Ltd on July 2014. Both these works were completed by November 2014 and Hidria/Aquatica had provided construction supervision for these works in addition to the construction supervision provided by MEE.

A Protected Areas Community Advisory Board (CAB) was also formed for both Hithadhoo and Fuvahmulah and the constitution for the Board were approved by both Councils and MEE.

Component: Rainwater Harvesting in AA.UkulhasAA.Ukulhas is an island faced with water shortage and with a heavily polluted water aquifer, hence,Ukulhas was selected to demonstrate a pilot project on rainwater harvesting under WCCM project. AnIndia company, WAPCOS was hired in March 2013 to develop feasibility study and detailed scheme report for the rainwater harvesting system Ukulhas. WAPCOS had serious delays in submitting their deliverables on time, however, the final scheme report approved by EPA and the works contract was awarded to a Maldivian Company, Static on 16th January 2014. It was decided to discontinue with the services of WAPCOS providing the supervising engineering services and MEE continued with supervision of works. RWH based water supply work in AA Ukulhas was completed in 30th September 2014 and handed over to MEE. Government has identified State Electric Company (STELCO) as the utility company which would be operating the water plant in Ukulhas under an endorsed tariff.

Component: Capacity building on Climate Change AdaptationThis component was aimed to build capacity of local councilors and government officials, to mainstream climate change adaptation considerations into development planning and management functions. It added value to the decentralization initiative that requires all atoll and island councils to make local development plans.

48

This was carried out by developing a curriculum and training materials. The contract for the curriculum and training material development was signed on 27th May 2013 and modules for a certificate level course as well half day training modules were produced and translated into Dhivehi as well.

The half day training course was carried out in 10 atolls under an MoU signed between MEE and LocalGovernment Authority (LGA) to deliver the training between September and November 2014. Staff fromLGA participated in a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop and they in turn trained a total 229 local councilors and government officials.

Component: Coral Reef MonitoringThis component supported capacity development in tourist resorts for coral reef monitoring and technical support for developing a technology platform ‘the Coral Reef Monitoring Framework’ that would enable easy access to data and decision support tools.

To accomplish this objective, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with 5 Resorts/Dive Centers on 04th December 2012 for coral reef monitoring. The training and capacity building consultancy was signed with a Maldivian consultancy, CDE, on 16th September 2013. CDE were tasked with development of training modules and materials, field training in 5 resorts; documentation of best practices and developing policy notes.

Baseline monitoring was carried out in the 5 resort and the resort/dive centres were trained, however, due to problems with coral database, the monitoring results from the participating resorts were not entered into the database.

Remote sensing monitoring and decision tools for climate change risk assessment were sole-sourced toUniversity of Queensland (UQ) in early 2013. An initial site visit involving Nicholas Wolff took place from 04th-06th February 2014. The draft Bleaching Risk Assessment Tool (BRAT) was provided 20/02/14. A three person team provided BRAT training from 9-11 June 2014 and a final working website launched on 06th June 2014.

The Web enabled database consultancy was signed with Lim Associates on March 2013. All deliverables of this consultancy have been provided including the web enabled database “CoralDatabase5”. Coral database suffered from slow compilation speeds and bugs until August. These problems significantly affected the CDE resort baseline and resort training.

OutcomesOne of the key outcomes of the wetland component were two CBWMPs, and one drainage management plan developed and under implementation by end of the project. This was in line with the primary objective of the project that communities were to plan for coastal wetlands conservation and wetland associated drainage management. The objective was also achieved by the development of eco-tourism related infrastructure in the protected Eydhigali Kilhi area of Hithadhoo. This outcome also complimented the national level biodiversity action plans by providing a management regime for a protected area, which has remained unregulated for almost 20 years.

Another outcome that was achieved was functioning rainwater harvesting model that would be replicated in another islands of the country and leading to community level water resource management.

The project also achieved the objectives providing technical support for building local councils’ capacity on climate change adaptation. The key output was a tested training module on climate change adaptation and enhanced capacity of local councilors for integration of climate change adaptation considerations into

49

the local planning process. Another outcome was the number of participatory planning workshops involving local councils and community stakeholder groups and developed a networking relationship between these groups.

A baseline on coral reef health is five resorts achieved the objective of an established system for coral reef monitoring. The capacity building trainings and data entry platform provided an easy approach for divers in resort to monitor the health of their reef and bring the data to the technical and policy makers. In general within the two and half period of implementation of the WCCM project, the objectives of the project were achieved.

Operational ExperienceWCCM project was designed in a way the project components were in line with existing policies and strategies of MEE and focused on areas where technical and demonstrative actions were needed to mitigate climate change impacts. Hence, the project components were very result oriented and the focused on outputs that were not carried out previously (eg: wetland management with an eco-tourism output, rainwater harvesting as a model for water stressed island). It has to be noted that, to achieve these ambitious tasks, due to various reasons and delays, the actual allocated implementation timeframe of 2 and half years was relatively short. However, due to a sound and appropriate technical design of the project, even with shortcoming, all the deliverables of the project were achieved by the end of November 2014.

The project also focused on capacity building on biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation at different levels such as at government institutional levels, local council levels, in private sector (in resort and at dive schools), NGOs and at community levels. This project paved a way for synergies to be built between these sectors.

Due to the nature of the project components, the implementation involved a lot of procurement work.Due to the three different projects of CCTF procuring the works at the same period and with lack of competitive bidders, with civil works and tight timelines, with a lot of plans and reports based on field works and community consultations, the operational phase was complicated at various stages along the way.

The most notable achievement from the project implementation was building institutional capacity of MEE. The project, through the top-up staff in project PMU, offered in building their capacity in handling complex procurement works and in independent project management and project monitoring skills., which helped MEE in setting up an effective monitoring system for current and future initiatives.

The wetland conservation components achieved in developing community management wetlands for protected wetland area, which was a first of its kind in Maldives. Through the experiences from this project, these would be modified and through the same participatory process that was followed in Hithadhoo and Fuvahmulah, would be replicated to other protected wetland sites in the country. Similarly, the coral reef monitoring would be replicated in other resorts; through the established protocols ،baselines of the reef area would be established. The drainage management plan and rainwater harvesting model would also _ބ replicated in islands which has similar conditions.

The operational experience from WCCM project is invaluable as Maldives is a party to biodiversity related international conventions and projects and initiatives that conserve terrestrial and marine biodiversity and water resource management are highly needed to achieve the targets of these conventions as well as national level policies.

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PerformanceMEE (PMU)Given the climate adaptation focus and the lack of awareness of adaptation issues with the two and half years’ time frame the Project was overly complex. The PMU worked to its maximum best in achieving the deliverables, at times with limited size of budget for some civil works, repeated procurement process due to lack of competitive bidding and qualified consultants also proved a significant factor in reducing the rate of project delivery. With all these factors, the PMU effectively used foreign consultants and local consultants as well as local councils to achieve project objectives.

There was a great ownership of the project from MEE; especially due to the fact the technical coordinators were staffs from MEE who were assigned with similar task as their routine work. Wetland management, coral reef monitoring and mainstreaming climate change adaptation into island level planning are complex areas to address and given that WCCM could not offer immediate practical solutions, the project achieved in paving a way forward with basic infrastructure and building capacity of MEE for future initiatives of the Government in these area. The most effective subcomponent relating to roof-water harvesting provided a pragmatic solution to a clearly evident problem.

Learning-by-doing has been a valuable opportunity created by the Project it requires committed participation and the momentum going to maximize from the Project.

World BankThe Bank worked closely with MEE during all stages from project preparatory to appraisal and to the end of the project. Technical design of the project was sound and for a complex project as WCCM which lead to improved design and higher quality civil works. There was robust social due-diligence process established and the Bank’s procurement standards were followed strictly, which lead to a transparent bidding process. The Bank emphasized and encouraged on the beneficiary participation from the beginning of the project and visited the beneficiary communities on a timely basis.

Supervision was proactive and timely and Task Team Leader played a leadership role in providing the much needed guidance to the PMU. The Donors (EU and AusAid) also provided mid-term and yearly supervision and monitoring visits.

Findings and LessonsThe project clearly demonstrated that systemic approach to wetland conservation and coral reef monitoring is needed to mitigate the effects of climate change. Focusing on a specific geographical area(eg: Addu City and Fuvahmulah) maximized the benefits derived from the project funds and the beneficiary got a better outcome, as in the case of Fuvahmulah where the community received a drainage management plan with demonstrative implications as well a wetland management plan.

The experiences from this project showed that the design and nature of deliverables should be as simple as possible to provide the maximum opportunity for learning by delivery.

Some of the setbacks faced during the implementation showed that there is a need to pay continuous attention, as in the case of coral reef monitoring, so the resort staffs who were trained to monitor coral reef health keeps on doing this, as the datasets from these reefs can be used in a larger scale. Activities should deliver objective and pragmatic sustainable outcomes and using the capacity built through the project, the project monitoring should continue even after the end of the project.

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Future and SustainabilityAn immediate return would be generated from the rainwater harvesting plant in AA.Ukulhas. The government has also identified a utility which would be operating and responsible for maintaining the plant. The Government has already endorsed a tariff and the plant would be run on this tariff for an initial period of one year and following that the tariff would be revised depending on the fact whether the revenue generated is sufficient to cover operations, depreciation and a profit.

The eco-tourism facility should be properly established with the construction of visitor’s centre for it to be properly managed. When the facility is completed under CCAP project, staffing and governance arrangement would be established to run this facility in Eydhigali Kilhi as a protected park, with entry fees and user charges.

Policy level decisions to follow-up monitoring by resorts under the coral component need to be established and a proper mechanism to finance the maintenance and administration of CoralDatabase to feed the data need to set up.

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Annex 6: List of project documents

1. WCCM Project Paper, World Bank, April 19, 2012

2. Bleaching risk assessment tool – working model report: Development of Remote Sensing, Monitoring and Decision Tools, University of Queensland, February 19, 2014

3. National Coral Reef Monitoring Framework (NCRMF) Experience Exchange and Introduction To Policy Directions Workshop Report, CDE, July 10, 2014

4. Mid-term Evaluation of the Climate Change Trust Fund in the Maldives Final Report, SACO/COWI, for European Union, May 2014.

5. Community-Based Wetland Management Plan For Fuvahmulah Island, Final Version, Hidria/Aquatica, January 2014

6. Drainage Action Plan For Fuvahmulah Island Final Version, Hidria/Aquatica, January 2014

7. Community-Based Wetland Management Plan For Hithadoo Island, Final Version and Annex 04: Ecotourism Plan, Hidria/Aquatica , January 2014

8. Feasibility Report, Detailed Scheme Report, Bidding Documents and supervision of construction for a Roof Water Harvesting based Water Supply Scheme in AA.Ukulhas –Final Detailed Scheme Report, WAPCOS

9. Local Planning and Climate Change. 2014. Wetlands Conservation and Coral Reef Monitoring for Adaptation to Climate Change. Climate Change Trust Fund. Ministry of Environment and Energy and Local Government Authority. Republic of Maldives. Jauharee A. R. (2014).

10. Local Planning and Climate Change- Training Report, 2014

11. WCCM Legal Agreement

12. Aide memoires

Annex 7: List of supporting documents

1. Functional Translation of the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives, 2008, Done By Ms. Dheena Hussain for Ministry Of Legal Reform, Information and Arts, GoM, accessed at http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/mv/mv001en.pdf

2. Water resources management in Maldives with an emphasis on desalination, Ms Shaheedha Adam Ibrahim, Mr Mohamed Rasheed Bari, Dr Leon Miles accessed at http://pacificwater.org/userfiles/file/Case%20Study%20B%20THEME%201%20Maldives%20on%20Desalination.pdf

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