Objectives

To build social, economic, and socio-ecological resilience in Sri Lanka of Knuckles Conservation Forest and its buffer zone, the coastal region from Mannar Island to Jaffna, and the Colombo urban wetlands through community-based activities for global environmental benefits and sustainable development

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

The durability of the multiple global environmental benefits generated through the community-driven interventions in the project landscapes will largely depend upon sustained socioeconomic benefits for local communities. Introduction and adoption of income generating measures. At the local level, increased income generating measures and economic incentives will be promoted that give local communities reason to adopt them, and these measures will generate economic benefits to the communities in the short as well as longer term in order to be considered sustainable. The technologies and approaches promoted are expected to increase land productivity and enhance food security.Support community development, particularly those initiatives that contribute towards generating environmental benefits. There are 36 villages within Knuckles conserved forest and its buffer zone. Access to most of these villages is difficult, and there are very few opportunities for income generation avenues in those villages. Large numbers of men, especially the younger generations, leave villages to find other income generating means, mostly as unskilled labour. Similar situations have been observed in the communities of Mannar landscape, as well. This situation leads to a fragile family structure, with only women with children and elderly people remaining in the villages. The project will address this issue by targeting income generating programmes, e.g., eco-tourism, small scale social entrepreneurship, green agro-business etc., especially for women, youth, elderly, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. Normal 0 false false false en-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} Increased access and adoption of new technologies for sustainable livelihoods. The communities in all three landscapes are lacking in new knowledge and technologies for farming and other non-agricultural activities leading to poor productivity and inferior quality. Inappropriate technologies are low in efficiency and harmful to the sustainability of production systems and the environment. Providing communities with new knowledge and suitable technologies will improve productivity while strengthening sustainability. This will lead to adoption of new income generating avenues. Enhanced access to micro finance facilities to women entrepreneurs. Poor access to financial facilities is another drawbacks identified especially in the development of small-scale entrepreneurship in green, agro-based industries. Securing a loan from commercial banks is a herculean task for these communities, as they do not possess required knowledge and are unfamiliar with the processes. Therefore, most of the community members – particularly women – use unauthorized micro credit facilities or pawn their valuables to obtain their financial needs. Facilitating partnerships through the multi-stakeholder landscape platforms, delivering capacity building on improving financial management skills, and disseminating information on available financing options for local community organizations will help enhance small-scale entrepreneurship. Capacity development and women’s empowerment. Capacity building is one of the pillars of the SGP. Capacity building activities will be implemented based on a training-of-trainers approach through farmer field schools, etc., which are considered more sustainable. Once the new technologies are adopted it is expected that farmers will continue to innovate and apply them, achieving greater profitability while at the same time generating environmental benefits.New entrepreneurships and access to new markets. Project interventions will improve the community products and services which are already available in the landscape and will assist in developing small-scale entrepreneurship with improved market channels, including local and international markets. This intervention aims at removing interference by intermediaries in the value chain, so that the benefits will be directly transferred. Eco-tourism. Each of the project landscapes has been identified by the government as eco-tourism destinations. The project will capture the potential for ecotourism, which will assist communities to increase their income in this sector. The project will also work with government line agencies as well as the private sector to develop ecotourism, so that the communities receive benefits directly.Improved well-being. Home gardening and good agricultural practices (GAP) are the two main aspects related to agroecosystems. These two approaches will be promoted to produce healthy and safe foods. Under these programmes, new water saving technologies will be introduced to the farming communities, so that the communities and their agricultural production are more resilient to climate change. Both these programmes will reduce the use of agro-chemicals, resulting in production of safe food for the home community as well as for the market. Improved land productivity through SLM and availability of quality green products. The project will promote sustainable land management (SLM) practices in all landscapes using farmer Field Schools. It was also revealed during discussions with the farmers that the majority of them do not pay much attention to land levelling and good tillage practices due to financial constraints. Inadequate land levelling leads to inefficient use of irrigation water, fertilizers and pesticides. The impact of drought and floods too can be severe in improperly levelled paddy fields. The project is relevant with respect to several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most notably SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals, as outlined below in Table 2 of the Project Document. Table 2 of the Project Document: Project contributions towards Sustainable Development Goals Normal 0 false false false en-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}

Objectives

Brazilian metropolitan regions reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve biodiversity and achieve economic, social and environmental co-benefits through an integrated urban planning approach.

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

The GEF-7 project aims to generate social, economic and environmental benefits for Brazil and its citizens. The project objective makes reference to co-benefits that will be generated in addition to mitigation and biodiversity benefits. 1) Social Benefits The project aims to create significant social benefits for local city populations by applying an integrated approach which facilitates collaborative and participatory urban development, leading to more inclusive cities. For instance, the development of project plans and pilot investments will be designed through participatory processes in each city. This will ensure that the concerns, needs and priorities of residents, local communities and civil society organizations will be considered and incorporated in such interventions, leading to outcomes that respond to social needs. Project activities will improve the management of important urban issues such as transportation, sanitation and urban sprawl, leading to an improvement in people’s quality of life in the pilot metropolitan regions. This will include as with regards to health (low-emission transport, improved sanitation management), safety (reduced urban sprawl leading to more compact cities, with better provision of urban services including lighting and policing), and productivity (reduced travel times, greater safety). The development of platforms for the integration of municipal plans and data, and the strengthening of capacities for better metropolitan governance, are some examples of activities that can increase the population’s access to important public services. Furthermore, the developed climate mitigation plan will promote a low-emission development pathway, leading to reduced air contamination and consequently reduced negative health impacts upon the local community. Plans to promote the scale-up of low-emission zones focus on developing spaces that promote a more livable and people-focused space. These will be designed as places for people, rather than for transport thorough-fares. A second category of benefits, which in some cases can be translated, or converted, into economic terms (in others not), consists of the social benefits derived from increased access to green space, both within urban centers and in urban and nearby protected areas. The project’s support for green space establishment and conservation has the potential to make a significant contribution to the wellbeing of urban residents in each of the pilot cities. Benefits are associated with recreational opportunities that encourage residents to spend increased amount of time outdoors in natural surroundings. In addition to physical and health benefits associated with enhanced opportunities for exercise (walking, biking, etc.), a range of additional health and wellness benefits, including enhanced cognition, arise from the restorative benefits of nature exposure. As noted, such benefits have an economic component as well, via improved health and wellbeing and enhanced productivity. Another important benefit correlates specifically with the theme of gender – and inclusivity more broadly. Mapping opportunities, training on issues and addressing gender, in addition to fostering a governance structure that strengthens women’s action, give voice to vulnerably etc., can be a gateway to empowerment of women and other marginalized groups within the project’s sites (see also the gender analysis and action plan for details). One example is the support for sustainable value chains on the Combú Island Environmental Protection Area (Belém), which has a strong potential to contribute to the strengthening of female leadership, in addition to rescuing culture and traditions of riverine traditional populations in the region. 2) Economic Benefits Through its component 3, the project aims to directly lead to economic benefits for Brazilian municipalities by enhancing the availability of financial offer for investing in sustainable urban development. By having enhanced access to such public financing, municipalities will be able to increase investment, and attract greater private investment, for promoting the development of sustainable cities. Increased investment in urban infrastructure is a significant job-creator and stimulus for responding from economic downturns, which many Brazilian cities currently find themselves within. The project also focuses on creating economic benefits for civil society and the private sector. On the former, through the development of integrated plans in component 1, the project aims to lead to reduced travel times (through prioritization of public and non-motorized transport) and reduced energy usage costs (through uptake of efficiency measures) for communities, resulting in increased productivity and household savings. The project also aims to directly kick-start new economic opportunities for the private sector. Building on the component 2 investments, national financing institutions will strengthen and create financial instruments for catalyzing new opportunities for private sector investment in areas such as transport, energy services and waste management. For instance, the project will support FINEP to strengthen financial instruments for incentivizing micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises to innovate solutions for responding to local sustainable urban development challenges. This may build upon existing innovation calls it has in the areas of Technology 4.0, Innovative Women, and Investment in Innovative Startups, as related to the urban context. Improving metropolitan governance is also expected to promote better management of public resources and investments, potentially increasing the availability of resources to address other urban issues. If executed effectively, the project has the potential to change realities and leverage economic development where it intervenes locally. An example is the coordinated action between municipalities for basic sanitation solutions, which can potentially optimize public and private investments in each municipality through economies of scale, thus potentially generating a surplus for investment in other projects. Within the scope of pilot interventions to be carried out by the project, activities that revive the local trade and services through urban upgrading projects may generate economic gains and potentially also employment opportunities. Another example relates to fostering sustainable tourism and the sustainable production of local produce from certain protected areas. They represent an important source of income to local people and an incentive to protect nature and support these areas. Taking a longer-term view, it is also possible to consider reductions in public health costs as a result of stimulating low-emission zones and transport modes. Likewise, better structuring of the urban environment through requalification can also have climate change adaptation benefits and result in potential savings for addressing the consequences of climate change, for example, in connection with the recovery of urban infrastructure affected by natural disasters. 3) Environmental Benefits Beyond mitigation and biodiversity benefits to be generated by the project, described in section 6, there are many other environmental benefits that result from its interventions. These include: (i) reduced pollution in the form of noise, water, air and soil pollution; (ii) reduced heat island effect associated with excess traffic and the burning of fossil fuel; (iii) the spontaneous creation of urban gardens by surrounding communities as a result of the enhancement of green areas and their inclusion into the overall management of the wider landscapes, fighting thereby land degradation and food security locally. Concretely, in Belem, Teresina and Florianopolis the climate mitigation and low-emission technology action plans, the low-emission zone pilots, and the low-emission zone plans will lead to reduced air contamination and heat island effect. Furthermore, in Belem, the integrated solid waste plan will lead to less solid waste disposal, more solid waste recycling and re-use, and consequential reduced land and ground water contamination.Furthermore, the GEF project, through its interventions in component 1 and 2, will contribute directly to increasing the resilience and supporting the adaptation of the metropolitan regions of Belem, Florianopolis and Teresina. On the one hand, the integrated planning platforms will support metropolitan actors to visualize key geospatial data, including layers related to geographical and physical attributes of the city’s environment. Through these platforms and such visualization, the cities will be able to plan more effectively for building resilience, for instance with regards to managing coastline development to avoid erosion and increased possibility of flooding in Belem and Florianopolis. Furthermore, the integrated plans that the cities develop in component 1 will take into account risk matrices, ensuring that new developments incorporate considerations of urban resilience. For instance, in Teresina, the climate mitigation and low-emission technology plan may also focus on nature based solutions and other interventions to reduce the urban heat island (UHI) effect, one of the key challenges in the city. In this way, through natural and low-emission cooling measures, the plan will support the city to reduce GHG emissions generated through air conditioning, as well as increase the city’s resilience to temperature rise.Component 2 also contributes directly to climate adaptation and resilience benefits. While the exact solutions will be determined during project execution, the integrated low emission street, block and district in Belem, Teresina and Florianópolis (Ouputs 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4) may include nature-based solutions that reduce UHI effect, but also serve to support storm-water runoff management and reduce flood impacts. This may also include solutions related to green infrastructure (such as green façades and roofs). The low-emission zones may also pilot solutions such as the retrofitting of public buildings and the use of sustainable materials with high thermal inertia to address UHI effects, increasing local resilience to increased temperatures in all three cities. Furthermore, the agroforestry production chain in Combu Island (Output 2.2) aims to provide benefits for climate resilience by reducing the vulnerability to extreme events both with regards to agriculture productivity and for the families that rely on the income from such agriculture. In synthesis, project interventions aim to reduce the vulnerability of communities directly involved in the areas of intervention by the implementation of integrated and climate-resilient solutions.