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 Practice
Maldives Country Management Unit
South 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
CAS
CBWMP
CCAP
CCTF
CDE
Cum (m3)
DNP
EPA
EU
FIRR
GDP
GOM
IUCN
IWMC
kW
kWH
lpcd
M&E
MEE
MEMP
MoFA
MOHE
Break-even Point
Country Assistance Strategy
Community Based Wetland Management Plan
Climate Change Adaptation Project
Climate Change Trust Fund
Commerce Development & Environment Pvt. Ltd.
Cubic Meter
Department of National Planning
Environment Protection Agency
European Union
Financial Internal Rate of Return
Gross Domestic Product
Government of Maldives
International Union for Conservation of Nature
Island Waste Management Centre
kilo watt
kilowatt hour
litres per capital per day
Monitoring and Evaluation
Ministry of Environment & Energy
Maldives Environment Management Project
Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture
Ministry of Housing & Environment
2
MRC
MVR
NAPA
NPV
PDO
PMU
RO
RWH
SAP
SPV
STELCO
SWM
USAID
USD
WCCM
Marine Research Centre
Maldivian Rufiyah
National Adaptation Programme of Action
Net Present Value
Project Development Objective
Project Management Unit
Reverse Osmosis
Rain Water Harvesting
Strategic Action Plan
Solar Photovoltaic
State Electricity Company
Solid Waste Management
United States Agency for International Development
United States Dollar
Wetland Conservation & Coral Reef Monitoring
Senior Global Practice Director:
Sector Manager:
Project Team Leader:
ICR Team Leader:
Paula Caballero
Kseniya Lvovsky
Priti Kumar
Gaurav D. Joshi
3
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
DATASHEET
5
PROJECT CONTEXT, DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN ....................................... 14
1.1
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
KEY FACTORS AFFECTING IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOMES ..................................... 17
2.1
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
ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOMES ...................................................................................................... 22
3.1
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
ASSESSMENT OF RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME ......................................................... 28
ASSESSMENT OF BANK AND BORROWER PERFORMANCE ................................................. 28
5.1
Bank Performance ....................................................................................................................... 28
5.2
6
Borrower Performance ................................................................................................................ 29
LESSONS LEARNED........................................................................................................................ 30
LIST OF ANNEXES
Annex 1 Project Costs……………………………………………………………………32
Annex 2: Outputs by Component………………………………………………………..33
Annex 3: Economic & Financial Analysis……………………………………………….38
Annex 4 Task Team Members…………………………………………………………...43
Annex 5: Borrower’s Completion Report………………………………………………..44
Annex 6: List of project documents……………………………………………………...51
Annex 7: List of supporting documents………………………………………………….51
MAP
4
DATA SHEET
Wetland Conservation and Coral Reef Monitoring for Adaptation to Climate Change (P128278)
A. BASIC INFORMATION
Country
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
Grantee
Republic of Maldives
Disbursed Amount
US$3.671 M
(SIL)
Original Total
Commitment
US$3.83 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 DATES
Process
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
Approval
02/16/2012
Mid-term Review
NA
Closing
09/30/2014
5
NA
11/30/2014
C. RATINGS SUMMARY
C.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 CODES
Original
Actual
100
100
Sector Code (as % of total Bank financing)
General Water, sanitation & flood
protection Sector
6
Theme Code (Primary / Secondary)
Biodiversity
30
30
Climate Change
30
30
Water Resources Management
30
30
Env. Policies and Institutions
10
10
E. BANK STAFF
Position
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 ANALYSIS
Project 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
Indicator 1:
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
Two community-based wetland management plans (CBWMP) that are
approved and under implementation.
7
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
2
Not applicable
2
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
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
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
1 time dataset
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
Not applicable
82% taking baseline
data and 41% taking
both baseline and
follow-on data sets
Not applicable
11/30/2014
for each of 5
resorts for each
agreed protocol
Date achieved
09/15/2011
09/30/2014
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)
8
Indicator
Baseline Value
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Indicator 1:
Number of
participatory planning workshops involving local councillors and community
stakeholder groups
Value
(Quantitative or
qualitative)
0
6
Date achieved
09/15/2011
09/30/2014
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
Indicator 2:
Number of ecotourism
facilities
Value
(Quantitative or
qualitative)
0
1
Date achieved
09/15/2011
09/30/2014
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.
Not applicable
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
9
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
6
11/30/2014
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
Not applicable
Partly completed
11/30/2014
Indicator
Baseline Value
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
Indicator 3:
Number of Best
Practice / Learning / Policy note
Value
(Quantitative or
qualitative)
0
1
Date achieved
09/15/2011
09/30/2014
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
Indicator 4:
Number of geohydrological assessment reports
Value
(Quantitative or
qualitative)
0
1
Date achieved
09/15/2011
09/30/2014
Comments
(including %
achievement)
100% achievement. Geo-hydrological assessment report was produced for
Fuvahmulah.
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
10
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
Not applicable
1
11/30/2014
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
Not applicable
1
Indicator
Baseline Value
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Indicator 5:
Percentage completion
of functional rain water harvesting structures
Value
(Quantitative or
qualitative)
0
100%
Date achieved
09/15/2011
09/30/2014
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
Indicator 6:
Percentage of local
councils trained in climate change adaptation
Value
(Quantitative or
qualitative)
0
30%
Date achieved
09/15/2011
09/30/2014
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
Indicator 7:
Number of datasets
Not applicable
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
100%
11/30/2014
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
229 persons from
10 local councils
trained
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
11
06/12/2014
Formally
Revised Target
Values
11/30/2014
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
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
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
Comments
(including %
achievement)
82% achievement. Only baseline data was collected by the training agency from
5 resorts which have been uploaded into the CoralDatabase web portal.
Indicator
Baseline Value
Indicator 8:
Number of functional
decision 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
Indicator 9:
Number of Best
Practice / Learning / Policy notes
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
Original Target
Values (from
approval
documents)
12
11/30/2014
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Formally
Revised Target
Values
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
Actual Value
Achieved at
Completion or
Target Years
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
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.
G. RATINGS OF PROJECT PERORMANCE IN IMPLEMENTATION STATUS AND
RESULTS REPORTS (ISRs)
NA.
H. RESTRUCTURING
Date
Amount
Reasons for Restructuring
Disbursed
NA
NA
NA
13
1
1.1
PROJECT CONTEXT, DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN
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 middleincome 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 conservation. Similarly, it
recognized the importance of coral reefs in protecting islands from storm surges, sea erosion,
14
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 well-positioned to
assist GOM in the area of climate change adaptation, wetland management, coral reef
monitoring and institutional development.
15
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:


1.3
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.
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 climaterelated 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 harvesting; and (c)
strengthened local government capacity to mainstream climate change considerations.
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
16
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 webenabled 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 the
early implementation period, such as the preparation of detailed design for the Ukulhas Water
Harvesting and Supply Scheme.
17
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.
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
18
implementing Ministry of Housing and Environment into the Ministry to Energy and
Environment (MEE), added significant complexity to the implementation environment.
PDO and indicators
24. 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”,
Risk
25. 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.
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
19
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-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.
2
During the ICRR team’s meeting with members of the Addu City Council under whose jurisdiction Hithdaoo falls.
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.
3
20
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 subcomponents 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 semiannual 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 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.
21
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
3.1
ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOMES
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 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.
22
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-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.
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
23
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
 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
5
Average of 100% achievement of first PDO and 41% of second PDO is an overall achievement of 70%
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
6
24
Table 1: Break Even capacity under various scenarios
Sl.
No.
Item
1 Unit variable cost
Units
MVR/
Scenario 1
(business as
usual)
Scenario
2
Scenario
3
RO only
RO+SPV
RO+RWH
m3
Scenario 4
(project)
RO+RWH+SP
V
63.80
52.60
40.47
29.27
98.29
98.29
98.29
98.29
34.49
45.69
600000.0
0
13132
57.82
600000.0
0
10377
69.02
MVR/
2 Unit selling price
m3
MVR/
3 Contribution margin
Total annual fixed
4 cost
5 Breakeven point
m3
MVR
m
3
600000.00
17396
600000.00
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 subcomponents 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.
 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
9
Annex 4 of the CBWMP for Hithadoo
25
Table 2 FIRR of Investments in Hithadoo Ecotourism facilities
Parameter
Scenario 1
Revenue @ 100% as per CBWMP
FIRR
8.11%
Scenario 2
Revenue @ 80% as per CBWMP
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
monitoring system, if there is better understanding of the needs of participating resorts and
appropriate incentives are designed to ensure their active participation.
26
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 ecotourism 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
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.
27
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
5.1
ASSESSMENT OF BANK AND BORROWER PERFORMANCE
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 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
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.
28
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 Supervision
Rating: 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 nonavailability 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 Performance
70. Overall Bank performance is rated as Moderately Satisfactory in view of the ratings for
quality at entry and supervision.
5.2
Borrower Performance
Government Performance
Rating: 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.
29
Implementing Agency
Rating: 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 Ukulhas 11) 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.
Rating of Overall Borrower Performance
75. 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.
11
The 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.
30
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
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.
31
Annex 1 Project Costs
By Component
Original Estimated Cost Actual/Latest cost
(USD million)
(USD million)
Project Component
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
32
Annex 2: Outputs by Component
A 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.
2.
3.
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
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.
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 webenabled 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.
33
Outputs by Components
Wetland Conservation
Subcomponent
Output
Indicator
Number of
participator
y planning
workshops
involving
local
councillors
and
community
stakeholder
groups
No.
Planned
6
Eco-tourism
facility
developed at
least one
wetland site
Number of
ecotourism
facilities
1
Best Practice
/ Learning
/ Policy note
developed on
wetland
management
Number of
Best
Practice /
Learning /
Policy note
1
Output
Participatory
mechanisms
established
for wetland
management
and executed
1.1
Communitybased
wetland
management
34
No. Achieved
at project
closure
Remarks
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
6 consideration.
Not
completed
due to paucity
of funds and
delays in
supply of
environmental
ly certified
partly done
wood.
1
Final Best
Practices
submitted by
Hidria/Aquatic
a for Hithadoo
and
Subcomponent
1.2
Technical
support and
demonstrati
ve
implementat
ion for
drainage
management
and rain
water
harvesting
1.3
Strengthen
local
government
capacity to
mainstream
climate
change
consideratio
ns.
Output
through a
consultation
process and
disseminated
Reports on
geohydrological
assessment
and rain
water
harvesting
technologies
are produced
based on
technical
studies
Report on
rain water
harvesting
technologies
produced
based on
technical
studies and
demonstrativ
e investments
on rain water
harvesting
are
implemented
based on
options
identified in
the report.
Percentage of
Local
Councils
trained in
climate
change
adaptation
Output
Indicator
No.
Planned
Number of
geohydrologic
al
assessment
reports
1
Percentage
completion
of
functional
rain water
harvesting
structures
100%
Percentage
of local
councils
30%
No. Achieved
at project
closure
Remarks
Fuvahmulah
were accepted
and treated as
completion of
this output
1
35
100%
30%
Completed
rain-water
harvesting and
RODesalination
based water
supply system.
Awaiting
approval of
tariff by MEE
to start
operations
Nearly 50% of
the 21 atoll
councils were
covered in the
training. In all
229 persons
from 10 atoll
councils were
trained on
climate
Subcomponent
Developed
and tested
training
module for
coral reef
monitoring
and trained
government
and resort
staff
Protocol
derived
datasets
developed by
at least 5
resorts
No. of
resorts
trained
2.3 Webenabled
technology
platform
(‘the Coral
Reef
Monitoring
Framework’
)
Functional
decision
support
systems on
coral reef
monitoring
available on
the website
Number of
functional
decision
support
systems
(tools)
2.4
Disseminati
on and
policy
inputs
Best Practice
/ Learning
/ Policy notes
on coral reef
monitoring
Number of
Best
Practice /
Learning /
2.1 Training
and capacity
building
2.2
Monitoring
coral reefs
Coral Reef Monitoring
Output
Output
Indicator
Number of
datasets
36
No.
Planned
5
1 time
dataset for
each of 5
resorts for
each
agreed
protocol on
the web
with
key data
available to
NGIS
2
3
No. Achieved
at project
closure
Remarks
change
adaptation.
Staff of 5
resorts and 3
government
staff were
5 trained.
0
No follow-on
data set was
collected by
any of the
resorts after
receiving
training.
Both the
CoralDatabase
and the Bleach
Risk
Assessment
Tool were
developed as
planned and
operational,
although, the
CoralDatabase
system was
reportedly
2 slow to use
No policy
notes were
produced or
0 disseminated
Subcomponent
Output
developed in
3 areas
through a
consultation
process and
disseminated
Output
Indicator
Policy
notes
37
No.
Planned
No. Achieved
at project
closure
Remarks
Annex 3: Economic & Financial Analysis
Financial 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
RWH Capacity
RO Plant Capacity
Total plant capacity
Unit
m3/year
m3year
m3/year
Demand
Domestic
Institutional
Commercial 1
Commercial 2
Unit
m3/year
m3/year
m3/year
m3/year
Total
m3/year
Source
Value
of data
7665 WAPCOS
report
21363.45
29028.45
Source of
Value
data
WAPCOS
5475
report, but
456.25
discounted
912.5
to reflect
5475
conservative
12318.75
estimates
Proposed tariff & expected usage13
Domestic
Band 1
Band 2
Band 3
0 - 100 Ltr/d
101 - 200 Ltr/d
Above201 Ltr/d
Unit
MVR/ m3
MVR/ m3
MVR/ m3
MVR/ m3
MVR/ m3
MVR/ m3
Institutional
Commercial- 1
Commercial- 2
Estimation of energy cost
Production - Water
Electricity Consumption/
m
3
Expected
Source of data
usage as
percentage
Value
of demand
65
55% Communication
from
75
30%
consultant to
100
15%
STELCO, the
proposed utility
100
to take over
110
operations
120
RWH
Desalination
MT
7665
4653.75
kWh
2.75
9
13
Total
12318.75
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
38
Source of
data
STELCO for
energy
Estimation of energy cost
RWH
Electricity consumption for the total
production
kWh
21,078.75
Desalination
41,883.75
Less: Solar ( 4.5 kWh/kW/day for 365 for a 14
kWh SPV installation)
Total
62,962.50
Source of
data
consumption
data.
(22,995)
39,967.50
Electricity Cost / kWh (at cost from STELCO)
MVR
6.00
MVR
19.47
3
Electricity Consumption per m of Water
(RO+RWH+SPV), project scenario
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
Energy cost for RO plant only without
SPV
MVR/
m3
Energy cost for RO plant with 14 kW
SPV plant
MVR/
m3
9 kWh/cum @
54 MVR6/kWh
14kW SPV plant
produces 22995
kWh/year @ 4.5
42.8 kWh/day
Energy cost for RWH+RO plant without
SPV
MVR/
m3
Utilizing the RWH
30.67 capacity fully
Energy cost for RWH+RO plant with
SPV
MVR/
m3
Utilizing the RWH
19.47 capacity fully
Item
Variable cost excluding energy cost
Unit
MVR/ m3
Total fixed cost
MVR/year
Total revenue(including fixed charges
collected from customers)
Remarks
Value
MVR/year
39
Source
Value
of data
9.8 Derived
from
STELCO
600000 data
Derived
from
data on
1210824 tariffs,
expected
usage
and
demand.
Sl. No.
Item
Unit variable cost
(unit variable energy
cost + unit variable
cost, excluding energy
1 cost)
2 Unit selling price
3 Contribution margin
Total annual fixed
4 cost
5 Breakeven point
Units
Scenario 1
(Business
as usual)
Scenario 2 Scenario 3
RO only
RO+SPV
RO+RWH
MVR/ m3
MVR/ m3
MVR/ m3
MVR
m
3
63.80
98.29
34.49
52.60
98.29
45.69
Scenario 4
(Project
scenario)
RO+RWH+SPV
40.47
98.29
57.82
29.27
98.29
69.02
60000.00 600000.00 600000.00
17396
13132
10377
600000.00
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.
40
B. FIRR for proposed ecotourism facility at Hithadoo
@ 80% of estimated revenue
6678
MVR
226
MVR
MVR
MVR
MVR
Net cash flow
MVR
Net profit
MVR
Total expenses
Repair &
Maintenance of
facilities
Depreciation 30
years
0
MVR
Direct salary,
utilities and
consumables
Indirect salaries of
rangers
MVR
Revenue from tax,
service charges,
concessions, etc.
Years
Total capex
Capex on
Ecotourism
facilities
Capex on Office
equipment
All figures in '000
MVR
MVR
6903
MVR
-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%
41
@100% of estimated revenue
0
6678
226
MVR
MVR
MVR
Net cash flow
MVR
Net profit
MVR
Total expenses
MVR
Depreciation 30
years
Repair &
Maintenance of
facilities
Total capex
MVR
Indirect salaries of
rangers
MVR
Direct salary, utilities
and consumables
MVR
Revenue from tax,
service charges,
concessions, etc.
Years
Capex on Office
equipment
Capex on Ecotourism
facilities
All figures in '000 MVR
MVR
6903
MVR
-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
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%
42
Annex 4 Task Team Members
Name
Priti Kumar
Anupam Joshi
Kalyani Kandula
Darshani De Silva
Supul Wijesinghe
Sunethra Samarakoon
Enoka Wijegunawardane
Sumith Pilapitiya
Poonam Pillai
Marinela Dado
Henry Opdam
S. Vaideeswaran
Venkata Rao Bayana
Vani Kurup
Lakshmi Narayanan
Marie Florence Elvie
Mary Ann Ashra Fernando
Parthapriya Ghosh
D. M. Mohan
Gaurav D. Joshi
S. C. Rajshekar
Title
Senior Environmental Specialist
Senior Environmental Specialist
Consultant – Natural Resources /
Ecosystems
Environmental Specialist
Financial Management Specialist
Procurement Specialist
Financial Management Specialist
Consultant
Senior Environmental Specialist
Senior Operations Officer
Consultant – Hydrology
Consultant – Institutional Analysis
Consultant – Social Safeguards
Consultant
Team Assistant
Team Assistant
Team Assistant
Senior Social Development Specialist
Consultant – Water
Senior Environmental Specialist
Consultant – ICR Lead Author
43
Unit
GFADR
GENDR
GFADR
GENDR
GGODR
GGODR
GGODR
GENDR
GENDR
GENDR
GENDR
GENDR
GSURR
GFADR
SACIN
GSURR
SASDO
GSURR
GFADR
GENDR
GFADR
Annex 5: Borrower’s Completion Report
BORROWERS REPORT14
WETLANDS CONSERVATION AND CORAL REEF MONITORING PROJECT
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
MARCH 2015
Contents
Projects 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.
44
Projects Objectives
The development objectives for this project were (i) To strengthen institutional capacity of Ministry of
Environment 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
Design
The 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 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 whom were guided by a Technical Advisor.
The components of the project were directly related to the mandates of Environmental Protection
Agency (in regards to wetlands conservation), MEE (in regards to rainwater harvesting) and Marine
Research 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 level
Coordinators 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.
45
Implementation
Component: Wetlands Conservation and Drainage Improvement
This component supported the development and implementation of Community-Based Wetland
Management 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 in
Hithadhoo, 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 to
September 2014.
Although there substantial delays in the deliveries of Hidria/Aquatica, however, with huge inputs from
PMU 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 Atoll
Council 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.Ukulhas
AA.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. An
India 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 Adaptation
This 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.
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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 Local
Government Authority (LGA) to deliver the training between September and November 2014. Staff from
LGA participated in a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop and they in turn trained a total 229 local
councilors and government officials.
Component: Coral Reef Monitoring
This 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 to
University 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.
Outcomes
One 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
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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 Experience
WCCM 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 _‫ ބ‬replicated 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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Performance
MEE (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 Bank
The 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 Lessons
The 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 Sustainability
An 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%20Maldive
s%20on%20Desalination.pdf
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