2nd Targeted Workshop for GEF IW Projects in Africa

2nd African Regional Targeted Workshop for GEF IW Projects & Partners
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
12 – 14 November 2012

Agenda - Word Version

Logistic Note

Evaluation Report

The 2nd Africa Targeted Workshop for Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters (IW) Projects was jointly organized by the International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW:LEARN), a GEF project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as its partners Rhodes University, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The workshop took place at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop centered on two themes, Economic Valuation of Ecosystems in Marine and Freshwater environments as well as the forthcoming global expansion of the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UNECE Water Convention) as a legal framework for international waters.

Background & Activity Objectives

The 2nd Africa Regional Targeted Workshop for Global Environment Facility (GEF) IW Projects is the part of a series of regional workshops being organized by the GEF project IW:LEARN and key regional partners. The series of workshops have an expected outcome to enable regional inter-basin co-ordination to enhance the management capacity of institutions and GEF project partners.

The activity’s overall objective is to increase communication between project managers of marine, surface freshwater, and groundwater resources. The workshops are also about transferring management approaches, tools and best practices amongst GEF projects and partners to build capacity based on topics deemed the most appropriate by workshop participants. Finally, the workshops are also about supporting participation in the GEF IW Global Communities of Practice for surface freshwater, groundwater and soon also large marine ecosystems. The IW:LEARN activity also involves project-project twinning exchanges, and is also being mirrored into other GEF regions: Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Asia and the Pacific.

The first targeted workshop in the Africa region (South Africa, April 2012) identified priority topics around which to structure future regional workshops. Economic valuation received the highest ranking from GEF IW project managers during this prioritization session. They wanted to learn more about tools, methodologies and best practices for assessing the Economic Value of Ecosystems Goods and Services in their respective large marine ecosystem (LMEs) and freshwater (RBOs, LBOs and ABOs) environments.

Background Materials

• Human dimensions of the ecosystem approach to fisheries: an overview of context, concepts, tools and methods
• An introductory guide to valuing ecosystem services
• Marine and coastal ecosystem services: Valuation methods and their practical application
• Valuation of Marine Ecosystem Services: A GAP Analysis
• http://gclme.iwlearn.org/publications/our-publications/the-economic-and-the-social-value-of-gclme/view
• Marine Conservation - How Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services Can Help
• CIESM Workshop - Economic Valuation of Natural Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Materials
• FAO - The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Technical Paper
• FAO - The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries Technical Paper
• Coastal and marine ecosystem services valuation for policy and management
• FAO & WB - The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform
• FAO - Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security
• FAO - International Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries

Workshop Objectives

The overall aim of the workshop will be to raise capacity among the GEF IW project managers and representatives of partner organizations on the topic of economic valuation, as well as payments for ecosystem services and ecosystem-based approaches. It is anticipated that an outcome will be the implementation of selected approaches and methods discussed during the workshop in the course of GEF IW project implementation.

IW:LEARN is also working together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), secretariat of the UNECE Water Convention, to raise awareness about the Convention and its potential for global expansion. Over the past 20 years, the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UNECE Water Convention) has provided a sound overarching legal framework and an active intergovernmental platform for the promotion of transboundary water cooperation and the sustainable management of water resources in the pan-European region. It has served as a powerful model to strengthen cooperation for the protection and sustainable use of transboundary surface waters and groundwaters, in different economic, social and environmental conditions, also exerting influence beyond the ECE region. Building on the successes achieved, the Parties to the Convention decided to open the Convention for accession by non-UNECE countries through an amendment which is expected to enter into force in 2013. Many countries and basins outside the UNECE region, including some from Africa, already participate in activities under the Convention and take advantage of its multilateral framework.

In view of the forthcoming globalization a dedicated session on the Convention and its work will be organized during the GEF IW:LEARN workshop in order to inform about this unique legal framework, its achievements and the intergovernmental structure as well as activities under it, for example in the area of monitoring and assessment and climate change adaptation in transboundary basins. In addition, participants will discuss how the Convention can help improve transboundary water management in Africa.

Thus, the workshop has the following objectives:

• Presentation of key approaches and methodologies for economic valuation, payment for ecosystem services and ecosystem-based approaches in both freshwater and marine environments
• Exchange of experience on the application of various economic valuation methodologies by GEF IW projects in the region and the results of those applications
• Increase awareness on and understanding of the UNECE Water Convention and its work in view of its forthcoming global expansion, including the guidance documents developed under its framework and the practical experiences of its application; discuss relevance and implications for international waters and their management in Africa;
• Identification of next steps or commitments to action with regard to economic valuation or the expansion of the water convention in the context of GEF IW projects

Workshop Outputs

• Collection of learning resource guides, presentations and other materials added as guidance on iwlearn.net, particularly through the IW project manager’s manual
• Brief synopsis of applied economic valuation methodologies by projects, the results and good practices from doing so
• Formulation of personal action plans for project applications and ongoing learning: an interactive session on how to use this kind of information in project planning

Workshop Organization

The workshop will consist of keynote presentations followed by facilitated discussions. The workshop will also feature breakout sessions and group work. Facilitators will be drawn from the Global Community of Practice Partner (IUCN), regional partner Rhodes University, our host, UNECA and colleagues from other GEF partner agencies (UNIDO, FAO) and consultants (for the economic valuation part of the workshop. For the session on the Water Convention, facilitators will come from the UNECE secretariat, Convention Parties as well as partners.

Participation

The workshop will be attended primarily by GEF IW project managers. GEF agencies and other partner multilaterals are also expected to attend. Regional organizations with water mandates will also be invited as well as representatives from transboundary basin organizations.

Agenda and Presentations

Day One: Monday 12 November

WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS

0930-1000 Workshop Registration

1000-1030 Welcome Addresses

Dr. Josue Dione, Director, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Mish Hamid, GEF IW:LEARN

1030-1045 Tour le Table/Expectations

1045-1115 Coffee Break

SESSION II. RECOGNISING AND RECONCILING MULTIPLE USES OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: ECOSYSTEM APPROACHES TO MANAGEMENT OF AQUATIC RESOURCES

Objectives:

• Provide an introduction to the need for an ecosystem approach: rationale, principles, planning
• Highlight the challenges of reconciling the different objectives of multiple stakeholders and multiple sectors competing for limited resources and the importance of objective information on costs, benefits and values to assist planning and decision-making

SESSION Facilitator: Kevern Cochrane & Warwick Sauer, Rhodes University

1115-1200 Introduction to the ecosystem approach as a framework for management of ecosystem use

1200-1300 Examples of application of an ecosystem approach in marine and inland fisheries

1300-1400 Lunch

1400-1430 Examples of application of an ecosystem approach in marine and inland fisheries (cont.): simple cost-benefit analysis

SESSION II. RECOGNISING AND RECONCILING MULTIPLE USES OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: ECOSYSTEM APPROACHES TO MANAGEMENT OF AQUATIC RESOURCES (continued)

SESSION Facilitators: Mark Smith & Stefano Barchiesi, IUCN

1430-1600 Principles of watershed services from ecosystems and examples of application of an ecosystem approach in river basin management International Union for Conservation of Nature

1600-1630 Break

1630-1800 Small-group work: identification and preliminary consideration of all existing objectives in selected ecosystems (i.e. LME, river basin)

Facilitated by Rhodes and IUCN

WELCOME RECEPTION

1830-2030 Welcome Reception

Location: Habisha 2000

Day Two: Tuesday 13 November

SESSION III. ECONOMIC VALUATION OF ECOSYSTEMS

SESSION Facilitator: IUCN

Objectives:

• Provide a framework to comprehensively evaluate natural and environmental resources
• Introduce integrated economic and environmental accounting as a means to keep a continuous record of the use and status of environmental resources of society
• Present various methods to assessing the value of ecosystems to human well-being as well as examples from marine and freshwater ecosystems to illustrate the different concepts and methods

0900-1000 Methods of economic valuation (Marine) - Rolf Willmann, Food and Agriculture Organization

1000-1100 Payment for watershed Services-EPWS: Ecosystem based approach in water resource management. A case of Naivasha basin, Kenya

Josephat Nyongesa, WWF – Kenya

1100-1130 Break

1130-1230 Using valuations to influence decision-making: small-group work on relevance and challenges for applications within projects/institutions

1230-1330 Lunch

SESSION IV. PAYMENTS FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Objectives:

• Introduce the various options for market based incentives and PES schemes
• Illustrate the institutional requirements and processes for stakeholder involvement and engagement that need to accompany these processes
• Highlight the importance of good governance for PES, from public participation to transparency and access to information to property rights and negotiation issues

SESSION Facilitator: IUCN

1330-1430 Tools and Issues in Identifying, Designing and Implementing PES International Union for Conservation of Nature

1430-1530 Case Study: The Benefits of Ecosystem Services, Environmental Economics and Eco-Compensation Schemes - Christian Susan, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem)

1430-1530 Tools and Issues in Identifying, Designing and Implementing PES - International Union for Conservation of Nature

1530-1600 Break

1600-1700 Practical Experience and Lessons Learned on Equitable Payments for Watershed Services (EPWS) Scheme in Ulugurus, Tanzania. - Dosteus Lopa, CARE Tanzania

1700-1800 Elements of a PES Agreement: small-group work on relevance and challenges for applications within projects/institutions

Wednesday 14 November

SESSION V. APPLICATIONS OF ECONOMIC VALUATION AND PES

Objectives:

• presentation of a practical example of performing a valuation;
• description of the methodology used, also dealing with data gaps/uncertainties;
• discussion of the "added information" of such a project for policy decision making

0900-0930 Approaches to Economic Valuation in the Benguela Current LME - Nico Willemse, Benguela Current LME project

0930-1045 Application of Economic Valuation Methodologies in the Guinea Current LME - Eduard Interwies, InterSus – Sustainability Services

1045-1100 Break

SESSION VII. THE ROAD AHEAD: PERSONAL ACTION PLANS & COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Objectives:

• Formulation of personal action plans for project applications and ongoing learning: an interactive session on how to use this kind of information in project planning (where to feed, what the gaps)

1130-1230 Small-group work: development of a personal action plan for designing & implementing of EV Approaches & PES programmes, including through project twinning facilitated by IUCN

1230-1330 Lunch

INTRODUCTION TO THE UNECE WATER CONVENTION

Objectives:

• Increase awareness on and understanding of the UNECE Water Convention and its work in view of its forthcoming global expansion, including the guidance documents developed under its framework and the practical experiences of its application;
• Discuss relevance and implications of the UNECE Water Convention for international waters and their management in Africa

1330-1410 The UNECE Water Convention: main obligations and practical implementation - Ms. Francesca Bernardini, Secretary to the UNECE Water Convention, UNECE

1410-1435 Translating the Convention into practice: concluding agreements and establishing joint bodies - Mr. Werner Wahliss, Bavarian Ministry of the Environment and Public Health

1435-1500 Joint Monitoring and Assessment in transboundary basins: obligations and experience under the Convention - Ms. Zsuzsa Buzas, Hungary

1500-1525 How to cooperate on adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins - Ms. Francesca Bernardini, Secretary to the UNECE Water Convention, UNECE

1530-1600 Coffee Break

1600-1625 The advantages of being a Party to the UNECE Water Convention - Ms. Sibylle Vermont, Chairperson of the Water Convention, Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland

1625-1745 Discussion: The UNECE Water Convention: how is it relevant for Africa - How can you get involved?

1745-1800 Workshop Closing

END OF WORKSHOP

Thursday 15 November – Technical Site Visit

0800 Departure from Panorama Hotel

0830-1030 Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP)

1030- Departure to project site of the Ethiopian Ministry of Water