MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND METSOROLOGY (MECDM)
CLIMATE CHANGE DIVISION AND NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT OFFICE
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE & DISASTER RISK IN SOLOMON ISLANDS PROJECT (CRISP)
ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
(ESMF)
SEPTEMBER 2013
Page
Community Resilience to Climate & Disaster RiskSocial and Environmental Management Framework
in Solomon Islands Project(ESMF)
(CRISP)
ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS
CITESConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species
CRISP Community Resilience to Climate Change & Natural Hazards in Solomon Islands Project
CHCommunity Helper
ECOPEnvironmental Codes of Practice
EIAEnvironmental Impact Assessment
EMPEnvironmental Management Plan
ESMFEnvironmental and Social Management Framework
IAImplementing Agency
JOCJoint Oversight Committee (for PGSP)
MECDMMinistry of Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Management
MPGISMinistry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening
MoFTMinistry of Finance and Treasury
PCCProject Coordination Committee
PCDFProvincial Capacity Development Fund
PGProvincial Government
PGSPProvincial Governance Strengthening Programme
PMUProject Management Unit
OAGOffice of the Attorney General
SIGSolomon Islands Government
SOSafeguards Officer
TSDPTransport Sector Development Programme
WBWorld Bank
WDCWard Development Committee
WSWork Supervisors
Contents
1Introduction...... 6
2Legal framework
2.1Legislations applicable to projects
2.1.1World Bank Safeguard Policies
2.1.2SIG Environmental and National Disaster Risk Management Legislations...... 8
2.2Existing In-Country Institutional Arrangements for Environmental and Disaster Risk Management 9
3Project Description...... 11
3.1Proposed Investments...... 11
3.2General Project Implementation Arrangements...... 12
4Socio-Environmental Baseline Conditions in Project area...... 14
4.1Physical environment...... 14
4.1.1GSOgraphical Location...... 15
4.1.2Topography and GSOlogy...... 15
4.1.3Climate...... 16
4.1.4Land Resource and Soil...... 16
4.1.5Aggregate mining...... 17
4.1.6Water Resource and Usage...... 17
4.2Biological Environment...... 18
4.2.1Terrestrial environment...... 18
4.2.2Marine resources...... 18
4.2.3Rare/Endangered Species and Protected Areas...... 19
4.3Socio-economic and Cultural Environment...... 19
4.3.1Population and social organisation...... 19
4.3.2Housing...... 20
4.3.3Land Use and Land Ownership...... 20
4.3.4Economy...... 21
4.3.5Jobs and incomes...... 21
4.3.6Water supply...... 21
4.4The challenges to the environment...... 21
5Project’s Social and Environmental Potential Impacts and Risks...... 22
5.1Positive Impacts...... 23
5.2Potential Negative Impacts and Risks...... 23
5.3Avoid Impacts and Mitigation Measures...... 33
5.3.1Avoid impacts...... 33
5.3.2Measures for mitigating potential socio-environmental impacts during construction and operation phases – ECOP 33
6Environmental & Social Management Framework...... 34
6.1Five-steps of Socio-Environmental Management in CRISP...... 34
6.1.1Step 1: Socio-Environmental Eligibility Criteria and Screening...... 34
6.1.2Step 2: Screening Potential Socio-environmental Impacts...... 36
6.1.3Step 3: Select ECOP for eligible sub-projects...... 39
6.1.4Step 4: Implement ECOPs...... 40
6.2Indigenous PSOple Participation and Consultation Framework...... 41
6.3Information Disclosure...... 44
6.4Institutional Arrangements for ESMF implementation...... 44
7Land Acquisition and Compensation Guidelines...... 48
8Grievance Redress Mechanism...... 49
Bibliography and References...... 81
List of Key Persons met during ESMF Preparation...... 82
TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 1 – WB’s Safeguard Policies and Relevance to CRISP
Table 2 – Representative investment sub-projects...... 11
Table 3– Operational arrangements for community-led rural investments under CRISP...... 12
Table 4- Operational arrangements for Provincial Government (PG)-led rural investments under CRISP
Table 5– Land forms of the Solomon Islands
Table 6 – Potential negative impacts of the works under CRISP
Table 7 – CRISP Environmental and Social Safeguard Implementation Procedures
Table 8– Safeguard Implementation Responsibilities for community-led rural investments under the CRISP
Table 9- Safeguard Implementation Responsibilities for Provincial Government (PG)-led rural investments under the CRISP
Table 10- Responsibilities of CRISP Key stakeholders in implementing Safeguard
Table 11 - Comparison of Provisions of the Land and Titles Act 1969 with Bank Resettlement Principles...... 69
Table 12 - Resettlement Actions in the Project Cycle...... 73
Figure 1 – SI Disaster Risk Management Institutional Framework...... 10
Figure 2-- Location of Project Area...... 15
FORMS
Form 1 – Socio-environmental ELIGIBILITY Screening Questions
Form 2 – Socio-environmental IMPACTS Screening Questions
Form 3 –ECOP of subproject...... 39
Form 4 – Records of Public Consultation
ANNEXES
Annex 1: Prescribed Developments Listed in Schedule 2 of the Environmental Act
Annex 2: Complaints Record Form
Annex 3: ECOP for Investments under CRISP
Annex 4: Draft Terms of Reference for Environmental & Social Safeguards Officer – CRISP
Annex 5: Some Issues observed and Lessons Learned from previous RDP sub-projects in Solomon Islands
Annex 6: Resettlement Policy Framework
Annex 7: Sample Consent Form
Annex 8: Compensation and Entitlement Form for Affected Person
1.Introduction
The Solomon Islands Government (SIG) has sought World Bank assistance in preparing the Community Resilience to Climate Change and Natural Hazards in Solomon Islands Project (CRISP). The CRISP will be implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM).
The CRISP will ensure compliance with the World Bank Safeguard Policies and the requirements on environmental management of the SIG. Potential social and environmental impacts will be identified at early stage of project preparation and negative potential impacts will be addressed during project implementation. This Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been prepared during CRISP preparation to meet these requirements. In addition, the ESMF will aim to introduce good environmental practices from other relevant projects that are being implemented in Solomon Islands and the Pacific region.
The key contents of the ESMF are:
- Legal framework: summary of the World Bank Safeguard policies and SIG Environmental and National Disaster Risk Management legislations applicable to CRISP, including description of existing environmental management capacity in Solomon Islands.
- Project Description: focus on the type of physical investments that may have negative potential social and environmental impacts.
- Description ofSocio-environmental baseline conditions in Project area: briefly describe the environmental and social contexts of Solomon Islands where the project will be implemented
- Prediction of Project’s social and environmental potential impacts and introductions onmitigation measures through site selection, construction and operation phases
- Environmental Management procedures applicable to subprojects, including arrangements for subproject socio-environmental screenings, identification of mitigation measures, the implementation and monitoring of these mitigation measures
- Public Consultation and Information Disclosure plan of CRISP
- Grievance redress mechanism under CRISP
The final draft ESMF will be disclosed at MECDM office for public access and comments prior to Project Implementation.
2.Legal framework
2.1 Legislation applicable to projects
2.1.1 World Bank Safeguard Policies
Table 1 – WB’s Safeguard Policies and Relevance to CRISP
Safeguards Policies / Triggers and Requirements / Triggered by CRISPYes / No
OP 4.01 - Environmental Assessment / This policy requires environmental assessment (EA) of projects proposed for World Bank financing to help ensure that projects are sound and sustainable. CRISP has been primarily classified as environmental category B by the World Bank as most of the potential negative impacts are foreseeable, at low or moderate level and can be avoided or mitigated effectively.
An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF, this document) has been prepared and serves as an EA document. The ESMF considers the project’s potential social and environmental impacts and sets a mechanism for impacts screening, mitigation and monitoring during project implementation phase.While questions are developed for impacts screening, the Environmental Codes of Practices (ECOP) introduced in the ESMF will be applied during construction phase to mitigate potential negative impacts of sub-projects. As the project is designed with participatory approach, extensive consultation will be incorporated in every step of sub-project implementation including design phase. / X
OP4.04- Natural Habitats / The project could have limited negative impact on natural habitats (rivers, waterway, .), given the nature of the sub-projects and the fact that the exact location is not known.
Sub-projects with limited impact could be eligible provided that the benefits outweigh the negative impacts and that mitigation measures are put in place in accordance with OP/BP 4.04.
Environmental screening will exclude subprojects that significantly convert or degrade critical natural habitats. / X
OP 4.10 - Indigenous People / This policy requires assessment of whether indigenous people (IP) including ethnic minority (EM) groups, as distinct from the dominant social/ethnic groups, will be more vulnerable to, or unable to fully participate in, and benefit from, a project. Since the majority of the beneficiaries can be considered as communities of indigenous people, a stand-alone IPP (Indigenous People Plan) is not required. Instead, the elements of the IPP will be integrated into the Project design. / X
Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 / Tabu and known cultural sites will be avoided. A chance find protocol is included in the ESMF to address the possibility of unexpected discovery of physical cultural resources, indigenous or foreign human remains dating from the Second World War occupation. / X
OP 4.12 - Involuntary Resettlement / The policy is triggered. The project will provide support to establish arrangements, through Community Officers (COs), and assist communities to manage conflicts that undermine community security, development and social cohesion. One key area of conflict is land disputes over tenure and ownership.
Construction of structural disaster risk and adaptation investments at the community and provincial levels may require access to land or impact livelihoods of affected people. The project will develop a participatory approach and sub-projects should therefore have broad community support, and access to communal or privately used land may be expected to be largely through voluntary donation.
A Resettlement Policy Framework (annex to the ESMF) has been prepared by the Project in case involuntary resettlement is unavoidable, Because development of policy and process is an important Component A output, this policy is also triggered to guide incorporation of principles into standard operating procedures of the line agencies engaged in DRR and DRM. The RPF provides guidance in integrating resettlement principles in the development of policy that will regulate implementation of sub-projects under Component C.
. / X
2.1.2 SIG Environmental and National Disaster RiskManagement Legislations
The key Solomon Islands environmental legislations applicable to the CRISP are the Environmental Act 1998 and the Wildlife Protection and Management Act (WPMA) 1998.
The Environmental Act includes 5 parts in which Part 1 provides basic definitions and interpretation of key terms used in the Act. Part II sets out the functions and the nation’s two key environmental authorities namely the Environmental and Conservation Division (ECD) and the Environmental Advisory Committee. Part III sets out regulations on Environmental Impacts Assessment, review and monitoring of development activities. Under this part, the Law requires that the Director, the ECD and relevant public authorities will consider the potential impacts of development proposals on the environment. Developers of prescribed development (listed in Schedule 2 of the Act and annexed in this ESMF) bear the responsibilities of preparing an environmental report and submitting it to ECD for consideration. Part IV provides provisions on pollution control.
The objective of the WPMA is to provide regulations on international trading of the country’s wildlife resource including birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, insects, plants and marine organisms. As SI became a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2007, the development of regulations now include all CITES requirements.
Regarding disaster risk management, SIG has prepared the National Disaster Risk Management Plan (NDRMP) in 2010 and the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) for 2012-2017. The NDRMP covers both disaster risk reduction and disaster management. The NCCP represents SIG’s responses to the challenges and opportunities related to climate change with a focus on better coordination, cooperation and collaboration. While the CRISP will ensure compliance with the environmental acts mentioned above, the project will operate within the frameworks of the NCCP and NDRMP.
Another legislation that may also govern the CRISP is the Land and Titles Act (1988 and amended in 1996) which consolidates the law relating to the tenure of land, registration of interests in land, and compulsory acquisition of land.
The Act covers customary land rights. The Act defines customary land as " ... any land (not being registered land, other than land registered as customary land, or land in respect of which any person becomes or is entitled to be registered as the owner of an estate pursuant to the provisions of Part III [of the Act]) lawfully owned, used, or occupied by a person or community in accordance with current customary usage."
Part V of the Act deals with the purchase or lease of customary land by private treaty, and compulsory acquisition of land. For public works the land is not acquired as such, it is gifted or contributed following an extensive period of consultation and agreement through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU waives the customary interest in the land in lieu of the public infrastructure (wharves, roads, schools, clinics and other public utilities).
Two articles of the Constitution also provide for compulsory acquisition. Article 111 which states that in regard to land which has ceased to be customary land, Parliament may; (i) provide for the conversion into a fixed-term interest of any perpetual interest in such land held by a person who is not entitled to hold such a perpetual interest (as defined by Article 110); (ii) provide for the compulsory acquisition where necessary of such land or any right over or interest in such land; and (iii) prescribe the criteria to be adopted in regard to the assessment and payment of compensation for compulsory acquisition (which may take account of, but need not be limited to, the following factors: the purchase price, the value of improvements made between the date of purchase and the date of acquisition, the current use value of the land, and the fact of its abandonment or dereliction).
In respect of customary land, in Article 112, the Constitution allows the compulsory acquisition of customary land or any right over or interest in it, as long as there have been negotiations with the owner(s) of the land, right or interest prior to the acquisition, the owner(s) have a right of access to independent legal advice, and the interest in the acquired land is limited to a fixed-term interest.
2.2 Existing In-Country Institutional Arrangementsfor Environmental and Disaster Risk Management
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) is the agency responsible for state management of these covered aspects. MECDM consists of four divisions, namely:
- Environment Conservation Division (ECD);
- Climate Change Division (CCD);
- National Disaster Management Office (NDMO); and
- Meteorology Division (MD)
EIA appraisal and approval is the function of ECD as regulated by the Environmental Act 1998. Currently (2012), ECD’s monitoring and supervision capacity is limited with only 14 staff based in Honiara and there are no provincially-based staff. ECD is managing a pool of five to six individual qualified environmental consultants who are capable of preparing EIA reports for investment projects. Therefore, during the preparation phase of CRISP, mobilisation of a qualified environmental consultant to oversee the project’s environmental issues to ensure compliance to applicable environmental legislations would be necessary.
Institutional arrangements identified for DRM in SI covers four main levels including international/regional, national, provincial and community as shown:
Figure 1 – SI Disaster Risk Management Institutional Framework
Source: Natural Disaster Risk Management Plan, 2010
3.Project Description
3.1 Proposed Investments
The project development objective (PDO) is to “increase the capacity of selected communities to manage the impacts of natural hazards and climate change”. The project would achieve this objective by strengthening government capacity in disaster and climate risk management, and implementing disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation investments in selected communities in up to four Provinces including Guadalcanal and Temotu.
The specific details of sub-projects will be determined during the CRISP project implementation. Sub-projects will need to meet a number of eligibility criteria. Community-led investments must be of a scale and level of complexity that can be addressed through community labour, and will require a community contribution in cash or kind as per the RDP. Under CRISP, sub-projects must have a risk reduction purpose, either to improve resilience to natural hazards or adapt to climate change effects. Some sub-projects may be fully funded by CRISP, but it is also envisaged that CRISP may provide the incremental funding to address the risk reduction component of a sub-project identified under the RDP (or the PCDF in the case of PG-led investments) which have a more general development purpose.
A schedule of representative rural investment sub-projects is listed in Table 2
Table 2 – Representative investment sub-projects
Works / Threshold ScaleCommunity [emergency evacuation] buildings or shelters (may be multi-purpose) / > 400 sq. M
Improved water supply and storage systems / > 2,000 users
Earthquake retrofit strengthening of building frames and foundations / > 1,000 sq. M
Cyclone strengthening of buildings frames and foundations / > 1,000 sq. M
Foundation raising for flood alleviation and mitigation of tsunami effects / > 3 m lift
Climate proofed small bridges and piers / > 20 m
Flood alleviation drainage / > 100 m
Shoreline protection systems / > 50 m
Road realignment as a risk reduction option / > 250 m
Sanitation facilities / > 200 users
Energy generation (other than hydro) / > 10 kW
New irrigation schemes, or improved irrigation systems / All
Integrated watershed and land management schemes to minimize degradation of watersheds / All
Infrastructure (not listed above) likely to cause changes in water use and/or water availability / All
Mini-hydro generators / All
Development of village/community disaster preparedness, evacuation and recovery plans for landslides, earthquake, tsunami and volcanic hazards / None
3.2 General Project Implementation Arrangements
Two classes of rural investment sub-projects are proposed under CRISP, namely:
- Community-led rural investments in which each built facility is implemented, operated and maintained by a particular village/community; and
- Provincial Government (PG)-led rural investments for larger scale or more complex sub-projects for which the beneficiaries span several communities or wards, and each facility is implemented, operated and maintained by the PG.
Community-led rural investments will be undertaken using the RDP model but with some improvements, as explained inTable 3.