PROJECT BRIEF
1. Identifiers
Project Number: / PIMS: 964Title: / Biodiversity Management in the Coastal Area of China’s South Sea
Duration: / 8 years
Implementing Agency: / United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Executing Agency: / State Oceanic Administration
Requesting Country: / People’s Republic of China
Eligibility: / CBD ratification: January 5th 1993
Notification of participation in the restructured GEF: May 16th 1994
GEF Focal Area: / Biodiversity
Programming Framework: / OP 2: Coastal, Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
Summary: The project will ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in China’s South Sea coastal area through an innovative mechanism of demonstrations and cross-learning among multiple sites. The participation and co-operation of, and effective management by, all relevant Governmental, private sector, local community and NGO stakeholders will be critical to the project’s success. The project will concentrate activities at six demonstration sites within five coastal provinces. The project has three immediate objectives: (i) Strengthen conservation and sustainable use management capacities at four existing Marine Protected Areas. (ii) Develop, test and demonstrate tools, instruments and approaches for addressing the root causes of critical threats to marine biodiversity in China’s South Sea coastal areas, and (iii) Implement appropriate tools for conservation and sustainable use at the six sites and promote their broader adoption across China’s South Sea coastal area. The first component will address threats that are directly related to weak conservation capacity of existing MPAs, and which do not involve significant demonstration aspects. The set of demonstration components will address key issues and develop much needed tools for managers of these MPAs and of the broader seascape area. These demonstrations have been selected in part because of their relevance to the sites themselves but also because of their relevance to the other project MPAs and coastal locations and the larger southern coastal area. During this stage, intensive cross-site learning will also take place, involving stakeholders from relevant project sites. Government-funded threat removal activities informed by the results of the demonstration components will then continue at each project site. The project’s final stage will be to disseminate lessons to promote replication at other MPAs within the project area.
3. Costs and Financing (US$ Million)
GEF: / Project / $3.195PDF-B / $0.320
Sub-total / $3.515
Confirmed Co-financing:
Government of China / $8.974
USA (NOAA) / $0.260
Sub-total / $9.234
PROJECT TOTAL / $12.749
4. Associated Financing: Baseline financing by the Government of China has been estimated at US$ 9.68 million over 8 years.
5. GEF Focal Point Endorsement
Name: Mr. Yang Jinlin Position: Director
Organisation: Ministry of Finance Date: 14 January 1999
6. Implementing Agency Contact:
Tim Clairs, Regional Co-ordinator, UNDP-GEF Kuala Lumpur, Tel: (60-3) 2095-9122; Fax: (60-3) 2095-2870. E-mail:
List of Acronyms
CICETE / China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges
GEF / Global Environment Facility
HNDR / Hepu National Dugong Reserve
ICM / Integrated coastal management
MEPL / Marine Environmental Protection Law
MPA / Marine Protected Area
NOAA / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA)
OFB / Ocean and Fisheries Bureau
PCU / Project Co-ordination Unit
PSC / Project Steering Committee
RMB / Renminbi (unit of currency)
SNCRNR
SEPA / Sanya Coral Reef National Reserve
State Environmental Protection Administration
SNMR / Shankou National Mangrove Reserve
SOA / State Oceanic Administration
UNDP / United Nations Development Programme
Country Drivenness
1. The present project responds to a number of China’s priorities for environmental management. China has put substantial emphasis on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as tools for improved management of its coastal environment and its living resources; thus, the first of 13 action plans identified by China’s Agenda 21 is for Sustainable Utilisation and Integrated Management of the Coastal Zone. China’s Ocean Agenda 21, which was issued in 1996 as an integral part of China’s Agenda 21, identifies 13 actions, the first of which is the same, i.e., Sustainable Utilisation and Integrated Management of the Coastal Zone. In these policy documents, China has thus clearly established its coastal zone as a high priority area for improved environmental and living resource management. China’s Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan, which was prepared in 1995, including its “Action Plan for Marine Biodiversity Protection in China,” called for increasing the area protected within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), as well as completing the system of reserves. Finally, the newly revised Marine Environmental Protection Law (MEPL, 1999) has made marine environmental protection a high priority.
Project Context
2. Environmental context: The seas surrounding China form part of the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Beginning in the north, they consist of the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China Seas. The geographic area addressed by the present project, henceforth “project area,” (see Maps 1 and 2) consists of the inshore waters surrounding the five coastal provinces of southern and southeastern China.[1] From west to east, the provinces are: Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces. Their surrounding waters form the northern extension of the South China Sea, as well as the southwestern portion of the East China Sea.
3. Within this sizeable portion of China’s coastal zone is found an even larger fraction of the country’s marine biological diversity. China is a “mega-biodiversity’ country, hosting an estimated one-tenth of the total number of species in the world. In terms of coastal and marine biodiversity, the highest levels are found in the tropics and sub-tropics along China’s South China Sea coast. In biogeographic terms, the Southeast coast of China is part of the Indo-West Pacific Region, which hosts the world's highest marine diversity, radiating out from biodiversity centres near Indonesia and the Philippines.[2]
4. Various habitat types host numerous globally important species. Estuarine waters are the home for the Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis).[3] Seagrass beds off Hainan and Guangxi are the only remaining habitat in the region for the sea cow (Dugong dugong), while shallow waters and sandy beaches serve as nesting grounds for the "living fossil" horseshoe crab species, Tachypleus tridentatus and several species of turtles including the loggerhead and green turtles. Between Fujian and Hainan, about 200 species of reef building corals have been recorded from coastal fringing reefs. These reefs are best developed around Hainan, where they provide critically important habitat to thousands of fishes and invertebrate species.
5. However, China’s coastal and marine biodiversity is under threat. For the past ten years, the southeast coast of China has experienced unprecedented economic growth, social change and population growth. This process continues today and is threatening the health of ecosystems – both terrestrial and marine – that support a significant portion of the world's biodiversity. The site area faces many problems including poorly planned land use, pollution, over-fishing and other forms of resource extraction.
6. In some localities, these threats to coastal ecosystems have already caused serious damage. For example, several species of lobster, sea cucumbers and grouper have been extirpated at some points along the coast, while other species, such as the Chinese white dolphin are seriously threatened.[4] Coral reefs continue to be exploited directly for building material, as well as other species for direct consumption. Sandy beaches have been mined and built on, removing the nesting areas for sea turtles. Such environmental problems incur a high socio-economic cost, with coastal-resource conflicts among tourism, fisheries and manufacturing industries, among others. In some of the worst affected stretches of the coast of Guangdong, stocks of commercial fish species have declined to the point that inshore fishing is no longer a viable occupation. Fishermen are forced to go farther and to try to locate new stocks, often of less valuable fish. Infrastructure, industry and tourism development is proceeding, creating additional forms of pollution that damage fisheries and aquaculture.
7. Despite this rather bleak overall picture, the nature and intensity of threats are such that many sites that are home to globally significant biodiversity are still in a condition amenable to interventions to sustainably remove the threats.
8. Policy context: At the international level, the so-called ‘Jakarta Mandate’ has established a framework for ensuring protection of marine biological diversity. Key elements of its work programme are:
· Integrated marine and coastal area management;
· Marine and costal living resources;
· Marine and coastal protected areas;
· Mariculture;
· Alien species and genotypes.
9. China’s policy in recent years has emphasized the importance of two fundamental tools for improved management of its coastal environment and its living resources: (i) integrated coastal management, and; (ii) the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). China’s Agenda 21 identifies 13 action plans, the first of which is for Sustainable Utilisation and Integrated Management of the Coastal Zone. China’s Ocean Agenda 21, which was issued in 1996 as an integral part of China’s Agenda 21, identifies 13 actions, the first of which is the same, i.e., Sustainable Utilisation and Integrated Management of the Coastal Zone. In these policy documents, China has thus clearly established its coastal zone as a high priority area for improved environmental and living resource management.
10. China’s Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan, which was prepared in 1995, and a subsequent “Action Plan for Marine Biodiversity Protection in China,” called for increasing the area protected within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as well as completing the system of reserves. There are currently 12 state-level and 32 provincial and county-level nature reserves along the South China Sea coast. The State Council has issued regulations concerning the management of these marine protected areas. Various agencies have responsibility for management of marine protected areas. Responsibilities vary according to: (i) the type of ecosystem, and; (ii) which agency has proposed the creation of a given MPA. In addition, different levels of Government are involved, with local administrations having the most direct responsibility for management.
11. Socio-economic context: Since the boundaries of most MPAs extend inland only a few meters beyond the shorelines, there are typically no human populations living within the MPAs themselves. However, a heavy anthropogenic presence makes itself felt both through human actions within the MPAs (mainly buffer and experimental zones), as well as from watershed areas whose waters flow directly into the MPAs. Important segments of the local populations still depend to a greater or lesser extent either on the direct harvesting of resources from the MPAs or on the use of MPA waters for activities such as aquaculture or as a sink for their domestic and industrial effluents.[5]
12. Legal context: The following are among the key legal mechanisms designed to ensure sustainable use and conservation of marine biodiversity:
· A Marine Environmental Protection Law (MEPL) was first promulgated in 1983. The law was revised in 1999, including the addition of a new chapter concerning marine ecological protection.
· A Sea Area Use Law was adopted in 1996 and is aimed at strengthening the management of sea areas to promte their rational and sustainable development. The Law has established, inter alia, a functional zonation scheme based on both natural properties of specific sea areas as well as the social development needs of adjacent coastal areas.
· A Wildlife Conservation Law (1993) protects rare and endangered terrestrial and aquatic wildlife in China;
· A Fisheries Law (1986; revised in 2000) is aimed, inter alia, at protecting and improving the marine ecosystems, including the control of pollution. This law also bans the catching and killing of aquatic animals under state special protection.
13. Institutional context: A number of institutions in China are involved in marine environmental protection. While no single agency has overall legal responsibility for coordinating integrated coastal management (ICM), or for ensuring marine biodiversity conservation, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), and in particular its Third Institute of Oceanography, have often taken the lead in these areas. From 1980-86, SOA led a comprehensive national programme to make a thorough investigation of the coastal zone. In recent years SOA has been involved in several projects that have helped China to develop its capacity to employ the ICM method.[6] As part of its effort to employ an ICM approach throughout the country’s coastal areas, SOA has called for the completion of an Ocean Functional Zonation Scheme by all counties by 2004 and for those provinces and municipalities that are directly under the State Council by 2015.[7] SOA is also responsible for implementation of key areas of the recently revised MEPL. Finally, the State Council has given SOA the responsibility to establish and manage marine nature reserves and marine special reserves.
14. In addition to the above, SOA’s other main areas of responsibility include: (i) sea use licensing and charging, (ii) maritime issues and (iii) the organization of major scientific projects. SOA has a total of some 10,000 employees, only 100 of whom are working at its headquarters in Beijing. SOA operates three sub-administrations, or regional headquarters, which are responsible for enforcing relevant laws within their respective geographic areas of responsibility. As far as the provinces covered by the present brief, the East China Sea branch covers Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, while Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces are covered by the South China Sea branch. It is important to note that the project sites are not directly managed by the above-mentioned sub-administrations of SOA, but rather by the provincial Departments of Oceans and Fisheries together with local authorities. For this reason, site-specific components of the project have been designed to cooperate mainly with the latter. SOA’s priorities under its draft 10th Five-Year Plan include strengthening the network of marine protected areas.
15. Technical co-operation context: In recent years, China has benefited from various sources of technical co-operation for marine resource management and marine environmental management, many of which have taken place within the project site area. It is not possible to list all of these projects here, but the following are of particular relevance[8]:
· Capacity Building for Integrated Coastal Management in Northern South China Sea (UNDP, CICETE and SOA);