Newsletter
 Newsletter
No. 3
Newsletter
No. 2
Newsletter
No. 1 |
Introduction
to the Project The
overall purpose of the Strategic Environmental Framework (SEF) project is
to assist the countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) to improve
environmental protection by helping to ensure the environmental sustainability
of economic development.The development of the SEF will provide a comprehensive
framework of technical, policy, and suggested institutional improvements
and guidelines designed to overcome obstacles to sustainable development.
Environmental hotspots will be defined and analyzed from a number of different
perspectives - geographical, thematic, sectoral, and ecological.  A main focus of the SEF is to promote the integration of environmental
considerations into the ADB’s Greater Mekong Subregional Program. It is
anticipated that the SEF will also serve as a national planning and assessment
tool that can assist the countries of the GMS in their efforts to achieve
sustainable development, particularly in terms of strengthening the integration
of environmental considerations into energy, water resources, and transportation
development plans. Current
Status The
project’s Inception Phase started in December, 1998 and was completed in
June 1999. The goals of the Inception Phase were to:
- obtain
a clear understanding of the data and information available on natural
resources and environment issues in the GMS ;
- introduce
major stakeholders to the goal, objectives and scope of the SEF project,
and to solicit their comments and recommendations; and use this input
to:
- further
define the work plan and the specific actions and methods to be applied
during project implementation
WORKSHOPS
Due to the far-reaching social,
institutional, economic, environmental, and legislative implications that
this project will have, consultation with a diverse group of stakeholders
forms a crucial component of the overall process. This
group includes a large number of government agencies at the national and
regional level, public groups, NGOs, farmers, landowners, and business
groups. During the Inception Phase a series of meetings were organised and
held in each of the GMS nations to initiate the project. Also, national-level
consultative meetings held in each of the GMS countries, played a
vital role in defining an understanding of national perceptions and priorities
and brought out valuable recommendations for elements to be considered in
the development of the SEF. The
results from national workshops varied from country to country, reflecting
the different priorities and concerns of each nation. However, they
all shared agreement on the need for improved cross boundary environmental
management and its importance in the overall medium and long-term economic
development planning process.To supplement the initiation and national consultative
meetings, a subregional workshop was organized on 27-28 April 1999 in Phnom
Penh, with stakeholders from all GMS nations represented. The workshop achieved
consensus on the draft inception report, major thematic issues, and case
studies.It was highlighted at this subregional meeting that the creation
of the SEF will be a process of building on previous and existing work.
To this end, the governments of the GMS have agreed to provide assistance
to collect information, support project initiatives, and participate in
the process of formulating and applying the SEF. The importance and
involvement of NGOs was also recognised. SUMMARY
 The ADB Working Group on Environment (WGE) has placed
priority on key sectors of activity including Energy, and related
Water Resources Development, Transportation, and Environmental Conservation.
To date, the interest shown by the counterpart agencies has been high.
In order to maintain the early momentum and to continually build upon and
refine the analysis and framework, the establishment of the National Steering
Committees has been completed and the on-going representation of agencies
is consistently sought. A project Logic Framework and related Work Plan
have been defined and will guide the second phase of the project.
ANALYSIS
PHASEThe project is now entering the Analysis Phase which will run through
to May 2000.Environmental “hotspots” will be identified and where there
are likely to be potentially severe conflicts between development and environmental
conservation, and where there are areas of high international conservation
importance that require protection.The anticipated environmental impacts
of major proposed investments in energy and related water resources development,
transportation, and environmental improvements will be identified and their
cumulative impacts estimated. Initial
recommend-ations will be outlined to avoid or mitigate potential adverse
impacts and to introduce or strengthen conservation measures for sites of
high conservation priority.Selected case studies will be undertaken in each
country and will include the involvement of rural perception teams to learn
from on-the-ground experience of past, ongoing, or proposed development
projects, especially taking into account the experience of people affected
by the projects.Six case studies proposed by government counterpart agencies
include:
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Cambodia
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Tonle
Sap Conservation Project
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Yunnan
|
Chuxiong
to Dali Highway
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Lao
PDR
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Theun-Hin
Boun Hydro power project
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Vietnam
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Bangkok-Phnom
Penh-Ho Chi Minh City-Vung Tau Highway
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Myanmar
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Kinda
Dam multi-purpose project
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Thailand
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Chiang
Rai to Kunming Highway
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An
outline of the SEF will be generated for presentation and discussion
during the next subregional meeting. A training seminar on regional assessment
will be organized in conjunction with the subregional workshop. |
