Forest Landscapes Development and Conservation The objective is to enable forest products and the ecosystem services that forests provide to make significant contributions to economic development and environmental protection.  Mongolia Forest Landscapes Development and Conservation Project The Context Despite data deficiencies on forests and forestry-related issues, indications are that both are rapidly approaching a crisis situation for which the Government and communities seem largely unprepared. For example: In the northern coniferous forests "   both forest cover and forest quality is declining; "   the present estimated levels of forest harvesting are unsustainable; "   harvesting licenses are awarded annually rather than as long-term use rights, thus giving no incentive for sustainable management by communities or companies; "   between 36 and 80% of total harvest is illegal; GoM receives no royalties or taxes on this and it severely distorts domestic prices for both construction wood and fuelwood; "   fuelwood currently constitutes  between 65 and 80% of total wood harvest and is used by many poor rural and urban households for both cooking and residential heating; "   it is estimated that if current levels of forest depletion continue unabated and alternative sources of domestic fuel are not developed, serious fuelwood shortages will begin to be experienced in urban areas by the end of this decade. "   the forest area zoned for utilization is inadequate to support a viable domestic wood-based industry or to attract the investment capital it needs to modernize for greater efficiency; "   until now, instead of dealing constructively with the primary problem of unsustainable resource exploitation, GoM has tended to focus on peripheral issues, such as an forest inventory system, fire control, insect and disease control, and (largely unsuccessful) reforestation for which neither an ecological nor an economic rationale is apparent; and "   top-down enforcement of regulations has been ineffective. Southern saxaul forests "   saxaul, once commonly seen as belts of 10 m tall trees across a landscape of fragile soils, are now found primarily as fragments of shrubby growth interspersed with exposed, friable soils; "   saxaul's hard wood make it a hot and slow-burning fuel favored by people living in the Gobi; "   cutting for fuelwood and excessive grazing by goats and camels are reducing a valuable resource to the point of local extinction causing hardship to nomadic and settled people in the region; "   the degradation and loss of this forest landscape is a major factor causing the dust storms which originate in the Gobi desert and which each spring plague communities and cities in Mongolia, its neighbors and beyond. Thus Mongolia's forests are under severe threat and there are currently no mechanisms in place which would encourage communities or commercial timber companies to give attention to their sustainable management. If Mongolia is going to enjoy the economic and environmental benefits of their forests, and if communities in the forest landscapes are to engage in meaningful sustainable management, then action is required by both the government and donors. A two-pronged strategy involving gradual expansion of community forest management and strengthening of the existing Government enforcement regime seems to offer the best possibility to reduce illegal harvesting and other threats. Donor Interest The World Bank's Mongolian Forestry Sector Review (2003) recommended that the Government take action in six areas in order to resolve current difficulties before the forest resources of Mongolia are so severely degraded that options for future management are foregone: "   Community-based management of forest resources "   Market-based instruments to encourage more efficient use of wood resources and alternatives to wood consumption "   Sustainable forest management and enforcement of regulatory compliance "   Forest zoning "   Resource assessment and information management "   Wood and non-wood forest product industry development The Review also suggested four possible areas where the World Bank could make a significant contribution to Mongolia's forest sector: "   Community forest management "   Capacity building in regulatory control, monitoring, and compliance "   Fuel-efficient stoves and alternatives for reducing fuelwood consumption "   Donor coordination. The donor community has been actively engaged in forest management issues over the last decade. The largest donor-funded forestry projects have been executed by GTZ and have covered forest fire management, pest management, community-based approaches, forest conservation etc. FAO/UNDP assisted with the Mongolia Forest Strategy (2001), with fire and pest management and has recently been very active in seeking to develop a legal environment in which participatory approaches to forestry could be executed. In addition, the ADB had a $0.5 million GEF-MSP on the prevention and control of dust and sandstorms in Northeast Asia to promote establishment a regional cooperation mechanism for prevention and control of dust and sandstorms, and to encourage and facilitate coordinated interventions of all the stakeholders at a regional level. Case studies on Mongolia were published which stressed the importance of community-based approaches. The World Bank's own Sustainable Livelihood project seeks to manage risk in pastoral livestock production, set up a community investment fund etc. but is concentrating on Mongolia's pastoral areas. The above initiatives have generated important pilots in the area of community-based forest resource management. A more comprehensive, larger-scale approach has however been absent till now. Preliminary discussions with the donor community indicate that a multi-donor program of support in the area of community forestry could be developed. The Proposed Project The goal of this project is to support the Government's vision of sustainable management of its important forest landscapes which would allow Mongolia's timber and non-timber forest products, and the ecosystem services provided by the forest landscapes, to make significant contributions to economic development, and environmental protection. The proposed project would assist in the combating of 'desertification', protecting permafrost (and the carbon sinks within it), conservation of national, local, and community protected areas, and would thus support Mongolia's obligations under both the UNCCD and CBD. The project would seek to build on and scale up from some existing initiatives which have yielded positive results, in order to ensure sustainable management of Mongolian forest landscapes, in both the coniferous forests in the north and the saxaul 'forests' in the south. This would be facilitated by helping to create the legal, institutional, and capacity conditions to encourage investment. Desired Outcomes "   The Mongolian forest estate is stabilized and improved in quality "   Mongolia Forest Policy and Forest Law actively encourage sustainable management of the forest landscapes "   Relevant institutions are dynamic, effective and count with strong human resources "   Professionalism of forestry management, inspection, research and operation improves, especially in local forest units "   Long-term concessions are available to community groups and the private sector "   Enforcement of relevant laws and regulations are greatly improved at national and local levels "   Illegal logging is no longer the dominant source of construction timber and fuelwood "   Simple forest management plans are developed and used by forest user groups Component 1. National- and Local-level Strategic Frameworks This component would cover the development of appropriate laws and regulations on cross-sectoral coordination , zoning criteria, decentralization approaches, reforestation procedures, institutional organization and responsibilities, and concession systems for private-sector and community-based operations such that their engagement in sustainable forest management will be encouraged. There are currently two government initiatives to review forest legislation: one coordinated by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, and one led by MNE. Some international support to the overall process of reform will probably be necessary. The component would: "   make the necessary changes to legal provisions such that the investment will be improved and the private sector and communities are prepared to invest in Mongolian forest landscapes "   make the necessary changes to institutional frameworks at both national and regional levels, clarifying their mandates, responsibilities and obligations "   assist Mongolia in delivering on its commitments under the Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (ENA-FLEG) "   assist in the refinement of cross-sectoral policies on land use, land tenure, licensing, rural finance and local governance which can sometimes act against the interests and traditions of the rural poor "   build capacity for sustainable forest management at regional/local levels both for community-based and private sector led activities "   build capacity for regulatory control and compliance "   develop effective enforcement frameworks and training "   facilitate the provision of appropriate levels of rural finance that would allow communities to invest in hardware necessary for small-scale forestry operations "   monitor timber stocks, rural incomes, conflicts, enforcement, community involvement, biodiversity abundance, etc., thereby feeding into an adaptive management approach within the project. Component 2. Community-based Approaches to Forest Landscape Development and Conservation This component would cover the participatory planning and execution of sustainable resource management in both the northern and southern forest landscapes. It will build on experience already gained through bilateral projects in Mongolia (especially those of GTZ) on participatory, people-centered, process-oriented support recognizing traditional knowledge and resource management systems as well as local communities as rights-holders to local resources. The component will work closely with aimag and soum governments and communities. Piloting of approaches in other types of forest landscapes (e.g. riparian willow woodland) not covered by other initiatives could also be supported. "   promote and disseminate participatory management rules and regulations within the selected forest landscapes to gain acceptance of community-based natural resource management "   provide community-to-community training and capacity building, knowledge-sharing activities "   provide guidance on appropriate planning for sustainable forest management "   provide appropriate training in marketing and entrepreneurship to communities in the forest landscapes "   develop opportunities for adding value to sustainably-produced raw forest resources (timber and non-timber) rather than encouraging trading in roundwood "   develop carbon-financed activities "   provide assistance with the identification of markets, including specialized niche markets, for goods produced "   promote fuel-efficient or alternative energy stoves.