PART I: PROJECT IDENTIFICATION Project Title: Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Nepal Country(ies): Nepal GEF Project ID:1 GEF Agency(ies): IUCN (select) (select) GEF Agency Project ID: Other Executing Partner(s):

Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal

Submission Date: 17 February 2016

GEF Focal Area(s): Biodiversity Project Duration (Months) 30 Integrated Approach Pilot IAP-Cities IAP-Commodities IAP-Food Security

Name of Parent Program: [if applicable] Agency Fee ($) 123,853

A. FOCAL AREA STRATEGY FRAMEWORK AND PROGRAM2:

Focal Area Objectives/programs Focal Area Outcomes

Trust Fund

(in $) GEF Project Financing

Co-financing

BD-3 Program 8 (select) (select)

Outcome 8.1: Legal and regulatory frameworks, and administrative procedures established that enable access to genetic resources and benefit sharing in accordance with the provisions of the Nagoya Protocol

GEFTF 1,376,147 3,068,574

Total project costs 1,376,147 3,068,574

B. PROJECT FRAMEWORK Project Objective: Build capacity of key stakeholders at national, sub-national and local levels to implement ABS in Nepal

Project Components/ Programs

Financing Type3

Project Outcomes

Project Outputs

Trust Fund

(in $) GEF Project Financing

Confirmed Co-financing

1. Policy, Rules and Regulations

TA The rules and regulations that will allow the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol once the ABS law is enacted.

Output 1.1 Stakeholder identification and analysis and capacity self-assessments – Documented results of stakeholder analysis and of 3 capacity self-assessments: initial, mid-term, and final Output 1.2 Gap analysis –Document that analyzes ABS provisions in existing policies, laws

GEFTF

378,877 916,992

1 Project ID number will be assigned by GEFSEC and to be entered by Agency in subsequent document submissions. 2 When completing Table A, refer to the excerpts on GEF 6 Results Frameworks for GETF, LDCF and SCCF. 3 Financing type can be either investment or technical assistance.

GEF-6 REQUEST FOR ONE-STEP MEDIUM-SIZED PROJECT APPROVAL TYPE OF TRUST FUND: GEF Trust Fund

For more information about GEF, visit TheGEF.org

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Project Objective: Build capacity of key stakeholders at national, sub-national and local levels to implement ABS in Nepal

Project Components/ Programs

Financing Type3

Project Outcomes

Project Outputs

Trust Fund

(in $) GEF Project Financing

Confirmed Co-financing

and regulations as well as existing provisions governing the rights of users of biological resources Output 1.3 Strategy and action plan for implementing ABS – Document that sets out the government’s intentions, goals, and timetable for implementing ABS Output 1.4 – National ABS policy document which will reflect the Nagoya Protocol and the input from the policy lab process – 4 policy labs/year Output 1.5 – Draft ABS rules and regulations, which will include the administrative procedures for prior informed consent (PIC) and mutually agreed terms (MAT)

2. Capacity needs and training

TA Representatives of ABS stakeholder groups at all levels have sufficient skills to contribute to implementing ABS and

Output 2.1 –Training materials for general ABS training, citizen scientist training, and negotiation

GEFTF

521,753 1,272,795

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Project Objective: Build capacity of key stakeholders at national, sub-national and local levels to implement ABS in Nepal

Project Components/ Programs

Financing Type3

Project Outcomes

Project Outputs

Trust Fund

(in $) GEF Project Financing

Confirmed Co-financing

communities have enhanced bargaining power for negotiating eventual ABS agreements

skills training Output 2.2 –training of trainers and training for stakeholder groups – ▪ 20 stakeholders at national level and 15 stakeholders at district level given training on ABS issues Output 2.3 – Training for citizen scientists ▪ 48 citizen scientists trained, 24 from each project site Output 2.4 – Training for negotiation skills training – ▪ 150 community members trained in negotiating skills Output 2.5 – Community protocols – at least two community protocols developed Output 2.6 – Process documentation - Systematized documentation on the process of developing at least two community protocols, the issues that arise in training community

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Project Objective: Build capacity of key stakeholders at national, sub-national and local levels to implement ABS in Nepal

Project Components/ Programs

Financing Type3

Project Outcomes

Project Outputs

Trust Fund

(in $) GEF Project Financing

Confirmed Co-financing

members in negotiation skills, and what communities learn as they interact with each other in the context of ABS

3. Education, public awareness, and communications

TA Stakeholders at all levels have greater understanding and awareness of ABS and the issues involved in implementing it.

Output 3.1 – Communications and visibility plan – Document that sets out the means and the resources for communicating information on ABS to all ABS stakeholder groups and also for communicating how the project is supporting the implementation of the plan Output 3.2 – One publication of Nepali language ABS terminology Output 3.3 –Translations of 7 international ABS documents Output 3.4 – Radio spots on ABS in Nepali –24 radio spots developed and broadcast on a monthly basis through two local FM stations at project sites and one FM station at the national level Output 3.5 –

GEFTF

350,413 848,101

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Project Objective: Build capacity of key stakeholders at national, sub-national and local levels to implement ABS in Nepal

Project Components/ Programs

Financing Type3

Project Outcomes

Project Outputs

Trust Fund

(in $) GEF Project Financing

Confirmed Co-financing

Videos on ABS in Nepali – Three videos on ABS in Nepali language developed and broadcast at least six times on national television Output 3.6 –Alternative media resources on ABS in Nepali – At least 28 events using alternative media such as street drama, art competition, and quiz contests, among other things, will be organised at local level

Subtotal 1,251,043 3,037,888 Project Management Cost (PMC)4 GEFTF 125,104 30,686

Total GEF Project Financing 1,376,147 3,068,574

For multi-trust fund projects, provide the total amount of PMC in Table B, and indicate the split of PMC among the different trust funds here: ( )

C. SOURCES OF CO-FINANCING FOR THE PROJECT BY NAME AND BY TYPE Please include confirmed co-financing letters for the project with this form.

Sources of Co-financing Name of Co-financier Type of Co-

financing Amount

($) Recipient Government Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation In-kind 3,000,000 Others Federation of Nepalese Chambers of

Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) In-kind 10,000

Others Tribhuvan University Central Department of Botany

In-kind 15,000

GEF Agency IUCN Nepal In-kind 43,574 Total Co-financing 3,068,574

4 For GEF Project Financing up to $2 million, PMC could be up to10% of the subtotal; above $2 million, PMC could be up to 5% of the subtotal. PMC should be charged proportionately to focal areas based on focal area project financing amount in Table D below.

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D. GEF/LDCF/SCCF RESOURCES REQUESTED BY AGENCY(IES), TRUST FUND, COUNTRY(IES), FOCAL AREA AND PROGRAMMING OF FUNDS

GEF Agency

Trust Fund

Country/ Regional/Global

Focal Area Programming of Funds

(in $) GEF

Project Financing

(a)

Agency Fee a) (b)

Total (c)=a+b

IUCN GEF TF Nepal Biodiversity (select as applicable) 1,376,147 123,853 1,500,000 Total Grant Resources 1,376,147 123,853 1,500,000

a) Refer to the Fee Policy for GEF Partner Agencies.

E. PROJECT’S TARGET CONTRIBUTIONS TO GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS5 Provide the expected project targets as appropriate.

Corporate Results Replenishment Targets Project Targets 1. Maintain globally significant

biodiversity and the ecosystem goods and services that it provides to society

Improved management of landscapes and seascapes covering 300 million hectares

hectares

2. Sustainable land management in production systems (agriculture, rangelands, and forest landscapes)

120 million hectares under sustainable land management

hectares

3. Promotion of collective management of transboundary water systems and implementation of the full range of policy, legal, and institutional reforms and investments contributing to sustainable use and maintenance of ecosystem services

Water-food-ecosystems security and conjunctive management of surface and groundwater in at least 10 freshwater basins;

Number of freshwater basins

20% of globally over-exploited fisheries (by volume) moved to more sustainable levels

Percent of fisheries, by volume

4. Support to transformational shifts towards a low-emission and resilient development path

750 million tons of CO2e mitigated (include both direct and indirect)

metric tons

5. Increase in phase-out, disposal and reduction of releases of POPs, ODS, mercury and other chemicals of global concern

Disposal of 80,000 tons of POPs (PCB, obsolete pesticides)

metric tons

Reduction of 1000 tons of Mercury metric tons Phase-out of 303.44 tons of ODP (HCFC) ODP tons

6. Enhance capacity of countries to implement MEAs (multilateral environmental agreements) and mainstream into national and sub-national policy, planning financial and legal frameworks

Development and sectoral planning frameworks integrate measurable targets drawn from the MEAs in at least 10 countries

Number of Countries: 1

Functional environmental information systems are established to support decision-making in at least 10 countries

Number of Countries:

F. DOES THE PROJECT INCLUDE A “NON-GRANT” INSTRUMENT? No (If non-grant instruments are used, provide an indicative calendar of expected reflows to your Agency and to the GEF/LDCF/SCCF Trust Fund) in Annex B.

G. PROJECT PREPARATION GRANT (PPG)6 Is Project Preparation Grant requested? No If no, skip item G.

PPG AMOUNT REQUESTED BY AGENCY(IES), TRUST FUND, COUNTRY(IES) AND THE PROGRAMMING OF FUNDS*

5 Provide those indicator values in this table to the extent applicable to your proposed project. Progress in programming against these targets for the projects per the Corporate Results Framework in the GEF-6 Programming Directions, will be aggregated and reported during mid-term and at the conclusion of the replenishment period. There is no need to complete this table for climate adaptation projects financed solely through LDCF and/or SCCF.

6 PPG of up to $50,000 is reimbursable to the country upon approval of the MSP.

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GEF Agency

Trust Fund

Country/ Regional/Global Focal Area Programming

of Funds

(in $)

PPG (a) Agency Fee7 (b)

Total c = a + b

(select) (select) (select) (select as applicable) 0 (select) (select) (select) (select as applicable) 0 Total PPG Amount 0 0 0

PART II: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

1. Project Description. Briefly describe: a) the global environmental and/or adaptation problems, root causes and barriers that need to be addressed; b) the baseline scenario or any associated baseline projects, c) the proposed alternative scenario, GEF focal area8 strategies, with a brief description of expected outcomes and components of the project, d) incremental/ additional cost reasoning and expected contributions from the baseline, the GEFTF, LDCF/SCCF and co-financing; e) global environmental benefits (GEFTF), and adaptation benefits (LDCF/SCCF); and 6) innovation, sustainability and potential for scaling up.

a) The global environmental and/or adaptation problems, root causes and barriers that need to be addressed The three primary direct drivers of biodiversity loss continue to be habitat loss, overexploitation, and invasive alien species. Arresting and reversing the current trends of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation for which those three drivers are responsible is crucial for achieving all of the Aichi Targets (see sub-section 1.c, below). One of three core objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. The Nagoya Protocol’s objective is to contribute to the CBD’s other two objectives – conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components – by ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. The Protocol acknowledges the potential role of access and benefit-sharing to also contribute to poverty eradication and environmental sustainability and indicates three ways in which benefits may be generated: through appropriate access to genetic resources, appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, and appropriate funding. Access to genetic resources and benefit sharing (ABS) has been the subject of international negotiations for more than 20 years, since the beginning of the process that led to adopting the CBD in 1992 and the Nagoya Protocol in 2010. In spite of two decades of international attention to ABS, implementation at the national level has lagged. Many countries that are Parties to the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol still face, at national and local levels, significant challenges in understanding the issues involved in ABS and differentiating them from other issues involved in conserving and sustainably using biological resources. Nepal – which is a Party to the CBD but not yet to the Nagoya Protocol – is one of those countries. Nepal also must confront substantial gaps in the institutional and individual capacities needed to implement ABS. b) The baseline scenario or any associated baseline projects Baseline scenario Nepal’s ecosystems range from the sub-tropical plains in the South to the Himalayan Mountains in the North. The biological resources in these ecosystems are actual and potential sources of genetic resources that have value for non-commercial research as well as for commercial research and development (R&D), but up-to-date scientific information regarding the country’s genetic diversity is very limited. Indigenous and local communities in Nepal have managed and used biological

7 PPG fee percentage follows the percentage of the Agency fee over the GEF Project Financing amount requested. 8 For biodiversity projects, in addition to explaining the project’s consistency with the biodiversity focal area strategy,

objectives and programs, please also describe which Aichi Target(s) the project will directly contribute to achieving.

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resources sustainably for hundreds of years and hold traditional knowledge related to these resources that may provide potential leads for both non-commercial research and commercial R&D. Non-commercial research and commercial R&D are fundamental for access to genetic resources to create benefits that can be shared. In Nepal, and globally, there is a generalized lack of knowledge exchange among scientific researchers, policy makers and decision-makers, the private sector, and the public. The Central Department of Botany at Tribhuvan University prioritizes publication of non-commercial research on plant diversity and its researchers have identified plants with potentially useful chemical properties. In one case, the Department collaborated with a laboratory in Germany to analyze and isolate new chemicals from a native plant; as far as the Department knows, there has been no attempt to use those findings for a commercial purpose. Also as far as the Department is aware, its research results overall have not been used as input to inform policy development processes. Feedback to local communities that have participated in and contributed to scientific research is weak in most countries. A 2009 study found that, within the academic community generally, “…incentives to produce outputs that reach a broader swath of society through training are so low that if engaged in at all, this occurs as an after-thought once the scientific articles have been published.”9 This is the case in Nepal as well. Although, increasingly, there are initiatives in the country that involve ‘participatory’ research, there is little information on the extent to which the results are made available to communities in ways the communities can use. Despite the potential value of the biological resources they manage and their traditional knowledge, the remoteness of the areas where many of these indigenous and local communities are located means that their people are among Nepal’s poorest. Reconciling the needs of local communities with conserving ecosystems and sharing benefits is a major challenge in Nepal. Since the 1990s, the country has made efforts to institutionalize biodiversity conservation, resulting in the first National Biodiversity Strategy in 2002 and Biodiversity Implementation Plan in 2006. However, despite this, unsustainable exploitation of wild biological resources continues unrestricted due to trade both within Nepal and cross-border with India and China. While Nepal’s local communities may have an idea of the value of biological resources they manage, they are generally unaware of the potential additional value of the genetic resources. In at least two documented cases, entrepreneurs in other countries have used genetic resources extracted from biological resources taken from Nepal to develop commercial products and one of those products is being sold back to Nepal, with no benefits returned to the country or to the communities. Nepal became a Party to the CBD in 1994 and to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in October 2010, but has not yet acceded to the Nagoya Protocol. Nevertheless, the country has already designated its ABS National Focal Point for the Nagoya Protocol. Nepal developed a draft ABS law by 2001 and a draft ABS policy by 2002. The policy has not been updated to reflect the provisions of the Nagoya Protocol. The draft law was revised several times until 2008 but since then had been set aside pending the adoption of a new constitution for the country, a process that began in 2006. The Constitution was formally adopted on 20 September 2015. It establishes that conservation and sustainable use of biological resources are a policy of the State (Article 51(5)).

9 P. Shanley and C. Lopez. 2009. Out of the Loop: Why Research Rarely Reaches Policy Makers and the Public and What Can Be Done. BIOTROPICA 41(5): 535–544, page 537. Available online: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/135485/6777364/1272869065767/Shanley+and+Lpez+2009-+Out+of+the+loop-+why+research+rarely+reaches+policy+makers+and+the+public+and+what+can+be+done.pdf?token=LkIfO2ELGm9%2Bld1VDDUgDoivu4w%3D

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The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2014-2020 identifies the need to finalize and enact the ABS law and to develop mechanisms for implementing it. The Nature Conservation National Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development 2015-2030 also lists enacting the ABS law and implementing it as a priority. The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) had the 2008 draft updated to be consistent in many respects with the Nagoya Protocol, but not with the ITPGRFA. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentarian Affairs (MoLJPA) had indicated to MoFSC that the draft ABS law must remain on hold until (1) the draft law has been harmonized with the new Constitution and (2) until Nepal has acceded to the Nagoya Protocol. The MoLJPA also advised that the draft law must encompass agro-biodiversity and that MoFSC must cooperate with the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) to implement it once it is enacted. As of January 2016, the MoFSC Secretary indicated that the draft ABS law was ready to go to the Parliament. The process underway to revise the new Constitution to address the concerns of the lowland agitating parties will not have implications for the draft ABS law. The MoFSC Secretary also noted that the government has realised that there is no agroforestry policy to support the agrobiodiversity strategy; therefore the MoFSC, in collaboration with the MoAD, will develop an agroforestry policy. The Nagoya Protocol (Article 22.3) specifies that least developed countries, which include Nepal, should identify their national capacity needs and priorities through national capacity self-assessments, as a basis for identifying appropriate implementation measures. As part of the basis for preparing this proposal, IUCN carried out a preliminary capacity self-assessment using an adapted version of the ‘scorecard’ in the United National Development Programme’s (UNDP) Monitoring Guidelines of Capacity Development in Global Environment Facility Projects.10 The individuals who participated in the capacity self-assessment represented MoFSC, IUCN, and institutions that have been identified as stakeholders in this proposed project (see section 3, below): the Department of Livestock Services; Tribhuvan University Central Department of Botany (TUCDB); the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) which represents the private sector11, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). In addition, two independent national experts participated in the self-assessment. The ‘scorecard’ provides 13 indicators and rating criteria for four basic capacities: capacity for engagement; capacity to generate, access and use information and knowledge; capacity for developing strategy, policy and legislation; and capacity for management and implementation. On a rating scale of 0-3, with 0 the lowest and 3 the highest rating, the participants in the preliminary capacity self-assessment rated Nepal at 0-1 across all 13 indicators, providing an initial confirmation of the need to address the overall lack of capacity for implementing ABS in the country. Baseline projects The projects described below all are dealing, or have dealt with, ABS. Each project is carrying out or has carried out activities that are related to the activities proposed for this project. GEFTF project 4464: Biodiversity International, Nepal’s National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) and Department of Agriculture, and the Nepali NGO Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) are currently implementing the GEF full-sized project “Integrating Traditional Crop Genetic Diversity into Technology Using a Biodiversity Portfolio

10https://www.thegef.org/gef/sites/thegef.org/files/publication/Monitoring%20Guidelines%20Report-final.pdf 11 The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) is an umbrella organisation of the Nepalese private sector. It was established in 1965 to promote business and industry. FNCCI provides information, advisory, consultative, promotional and representative services to business and government and organises training, workshops and seminars on a regular basis. FNCCI is represented in almost all national councils, boards, committees, and policy advisory bodies concerned with business and industry. FNCCI has 100 district/municipality-level Chambers in 75 districts of Nepal, including the districts where this proposed project will have its field sites. http://www.fncci.org/intro.php

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Approach to Buffer Against Unpredictable Environmental Change in the Nepal Himalayas”. The activities this GEF project is carrying out include: evaluating the contributions of local genetic resources in climate change adaptation, building capacity and gender equity among farmer groups, local schools, and other community institutions to support the conservation and use of diverse local genetic resources, and promoting an enabling environment for access and benefit-sharing in four districts: Kaski, Humla, Jumla and Dolakha. GEFTF project 4464 is building capacity at the local level to support conservation and use of genetic resources. This project proposes to work in two of the districts where GEFTF project 4464 is working (see Part II, item 7 on cost effectiveness) to assist those communities in developing community protocols that the communities can use to sustain the results of both GEFTF project 4464 and this proposed project. ICIMOD: the Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI), is a transboundary collaborative programme between Nepal, India, and China. The project’s objectives include mainstreaming sustainable ecosystem management approaches in national policies and plans, building institutional capacity, and establishing a regional knowledge sharing platform. The activities the project is carrying out that focus on ABS include training communities to document biological resources and related traditional knowledge, and training communities to understand legal rights related to products and how to link to national-level processes. The project is working in four districts in the far west of Nepal – Humla, Bajhang, Darchula, and Baitadi – that border the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is in the process of implementing the ABS provisions of India’s Biodiversity Law and the KSLCDI is promoting cross-border cooperation on ABS to produce benefits for local communities in both countries. Much of the work on ABS ‘on the ground’ that the project is doing in Nepal focuses on the requirements in India’s Biodiversity Act, since Nepal does not yet have a law governing ABS.12 This proposed project will not be working in the districts where the KSLCDI is working, because of the distance (see Part II, item 7 on cost effectiveness), but ICIMOD will be a partner in this proposed project (see Table 2) and will share KSLCDI experience with institutional capacity building and knowledge sharing. This proposed project will in turn provide input that KSLCDI needs that is specific to Nepal’s regulatory regime for ABS. In 2004, ICIMOD launched an initiative that is still ongoing to raise awareness about ABS and promote interest among its member countries in developing a regional ABS framework in the Himalayan region.13 One of the activities of this initiative has been to support MoFSC in developing the draft ABS law; ICIMOD also plans to support the Government of Nepal’s initiative to accede to the Nagoya Protocol. ICIMOD has indicated that it drafted an ABS manual in Nepali before the Nagoya Protocol came into force, but the draft has not yet been updated to incorporate and reflect the Protocol’s provisions. This proposed project will build directly on the support that ICIMOD has given MoFSC to develop the draft ABS law, by advocating for the draft law’s adoption and assisting MoFSC in drafting the implementing rules and regulations. South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE): SAWTEE is a regional network of South Asian NGOs. In coordination with the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), SAWTEE is currently implementing the project “International objectives for adaptation, access and benefit sharing: Effects on the management of plant genetic resources in India and Nepal”. The principal activity of this project is to analyze mechanisms for and barriers to the implementation of ABS under the CBD, the Nagoya Protocol, and the ITPGRFA, in light of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights (TRIPs). This project started in 2013, was scheduled to complete in 2015, and has been extended to mid-2016.14 The outputs of this project will

12 ICIMOD. http://www.icimod.org/?q=9456 13 ICIMOD. http://www.icimod.org/abs 14 SAWTEE. http://www.sawtee.org/programme/ongoing-programmes/adaption-access-and-benefit-sharing-effects-on-the-management-of-plant-genetic-resources-in-india-and-nepal.html; and

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be relevant for all South Asian countries, including Nepal. The analysis of mechanisms for and barriers to implementation of ABS will provide input for the work this proposed project will do to develop rules and regulations to implement Nepal’s ABS law. Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme (MSFP): supported by the governments of Finland, Switzerland, and the UK, MSFP builds on the achievements of over 20 years of work in the forestry sector. The project’s activities promote community-based forest management and forest-based livelihoods and income earning activities in rural communities, particularly poor and disadvantaged households, and also engage the private sector. It does not specifically work on ABS, but its focus is completely consistent with the purpose of this proposed project. MSFP began in 2012 for an initial four-year phase; the donors anticipate extending it for a total of 10 years. The project is working in Dolakha District, one of the sites for this proposed project, which will build on the work MSFP has done to build community capacity to manage biological resources. World Bank: This proposed project will be linked with the Government of Nepal's Poverty Alleviation Program supported by the World Bank, whose activities focus on improving living conditions and livelihoods and empowering the rural poor, with particular attention to groups that have traditionally been excluded for reasons of gender, ethnicity, caste and location.15 The Poverty Alleviation Project started in 2005-2006. The second phase is working in Dolakha District, one of the sites for this proposed project, which will build on the work the Poverty Alleviation Program has done to empower the rural poor, and particularly groups that have traditionally been excluded. IUCN Nepal: During 2003-2004, with financial support from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID), the Ford Foundation, and the International Development Research Center (IDRC), IUCN Nepal implemented the project “Building Capacity to Protect Biodiversity and Indigenous Rights through Documentation and Registration of Traditional Knowledge in Nepal”. The project worked in 16 districts, including Kaski district, which is one of the districts where this proposed project will work. The 2003-2004 project’s activities included: developing appropriate systems and processes for documenting traditional knowledge related to biological resources; demonstrating how the proposed documentation system fit into the legal framework that existed at the time; raising awareness and developing the capacity of national and local government authorities, institutions, civil society groups and communities to document traditional knowledge; and proposing an action plan for full-scale documentation of traditional knowledge throughout the country. Component 2 of this proposed project will directly build on the work of the 2003-2004 project. Implementing ABS requires stakeholder capacity to work on a range of related issues at the national, district, and community levels. Each of the baseline projects addresses specific ABS issues, but none of them concentrates on the kinds of activities this project proposes, all of which will complement the work that is being done or has been done under the projects described above. None of the baseline projects specifically focuses on the regulatory regime, although ICIMOD has provided ad hoc assistance to MoFSC for the draft ABS law. This proposed project will build on ICIMOD’s ad hoc support to MoFSC for drafting the ABS law by providing structured support and input, particularly for developing a strategy and action plan for implementing ABS, finalizing the national ABS policy, and developing implementing rules and regulations, The GEF project is building capacity specifically related to crop genetic diversity; this project will complement that effort by supporting community protocols that would apply to all genetic resources, not only those from food crops.

FNI. http://www.fni.no/projects/pgr_management_in_india_and_nepal.html 15 World Bank. http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P128303/second-additional-financing-poverty-alleviation-fundii-project?lang=en

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c) The proposed alternative scenario, GEF focal area16 strategies, with a brief description of expected outcomes and components of the project. Proposed alternative scenario In 2015, 14 years after developing its first draft ABS law, Nepal has not yet regulated ABS. Table 1 describes the current scenario, proposed alternative scenario, and how this proposed project can contribute to progress toward the proposed alternative scenario. Table 1. Scenarios

Current scenario Proposed alternative scenario How this proposed project can contribute to progress toward the

proposed alternative scenario ABS stakeholders and organizational responsibilities for ABS have been identified, but stakeholders do not yet fully recognize the authority and legitimacy of the responsible institutions and their participation in ABS management decision-making is limited.

All ABS stakeholders fully recognize the authority and legitimacy of the institutions responsible for ABS and participate fully in ABS decision-making through comprehensive, functional cooperation mechanisms.

The proposed project will strengthen the capacity of MoFSC and the B&ED to implement ABS and build the credibility of the institution with other ABS stakeholders. By training the project sites’ communities in negotiating skills, the project will build those communities’ capacity to participate in ABS decision-making and provide a model that other communities can follow.

Some ABS stakeholders are aware of ABS-related issues, but few stakeholders are aware of options for dealing with them. There are few linkages between ABS-related research and ABS policy development. ABS information needs have been identified, but the information management structure is inadequate and the information available is not sufficient to support ABS decision-making. Traditional knowledge is identified and recognized as important, but is not documented and used in participative ABS decision-making processes. Educational and other awareness-raising materials on ABS and traditional knowledge are partially developed and partially delivered.

Stakeholders are aware of ABS-related issues and are actively involved in implementing options for dealing with them. Comprehensive educational and other awareness-raising programmes on ABS and traditional knowledge are available and are being delivered.

The proposed project will make it possible for national experts to develop agreed Nepali definitions and translations of terms related to ABS and then use them to translate international ABS documentation that can be useful for Nepal. Having agreed national language terminology for ABS will make it easier to implement ABS generally, develop awareness and educational materials that use terms consistently, and eliminate or at least reduce confusion. In addition to this, the project will conduct awareness raising activities at different levels using different media, including radio and television programs and alternative media.

Integrating ABS into planning and development processes is not coordinated and implemented, ABS policy and regulatory frameworks are inadequate. There are some individuals with the skills required for developing ABS policy and legislation, but they are not in a position to work on ABS full-time.

Gap analyses have been carried out, a strategy and action plan for implementing ABS is in place, the ABS policy has been adopted, the ABS Act has been enacted, implementing rules/regulations have been developed, issued, and are being applied, and there is an adequate number of individuals with the skills required to implement ABS and the time available to do that.

The proposed project will finalize the national ABS policy, promote the adoption of the draft ABS law, support developing rules, regulations and guidelines to implement it, and begin the process of building the capacity needed to do that. The teamwork required to develop the strategy and action plan to implement ABS and the project’s Policy Labs will also help to expand the number of individuals with the skills required for implementing

16 For biodiversity projects, in addition to explaining the project’s consistency with the biodiversity focal area strategy, objectives and programs, please also describe which Aichi Target(s) the project will directly contribute to achieving.

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Current scenario Proposed alternative scenario How this proposed project can contribute to progress toward the

proposed alternative scenario ABS.

Institutions responsible for ABS do not have adequate human and financial resources, the required skills and technology are not available, and needs have not been assessed.

Capacity assessments have been carried out and their findings have been used to develop and target capacity-building initiatives. Adequate human, financial and technological resources are available within Nepal and there is a national mechanism for updating the required skills and technologies. (For a prognosis on how this proposed project would contribute to the alternative scenario in terms of ensuring its financial sustainability, (see the last paragraph of Part II, sub-section 1f)).

The project will provide funding that will allow the B&ED to begin to implement one aspect of the NBSAP. B&ED can begin immediately to use the results of the capacity assessments that the project will carry out to develop other proposals to secure funding to further enhance its human and technical resources.

Consistency with GEF’s biodiversity focal area strategy, objectives and programs and the Aichi Targets One of the four objectives of GEF’s biodiversity focal area strategy is to “mainstream conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into… sectors”. Program 8 of the biodiversity focal area focuses specifically on the Nagoya Protocol: “Implementing the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing”, which is designed to support national implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. Nepal’s limited efforts over the past decade to build capacity related to ABS have been ad hoc and have not been geared to lead to accession to the Nagoya Protocol. The proposed project will focus particularly on two of the three core activities that are specified for Program 8: stocktaking and assessment; and building stakeholder capacity to negotiate between providers and users of genetic resources. The proposed project will support the MoFSC’s process of ensuring that the draft ABS law meets constitutional requirements and adequately incorporates agro-biodiversity and implementation of the ITPGRFA, as directed by the MoLJPA (see sub-section 1.b) and will support efforts to advocate its enactment. Working in sites selected to build on the progress made by past and ongoing initiatives, the proposed project will seek to build the capacity of local communities, and particularly the women of those communities, to develop protocols that communities can use as a basis for negotiating eventual ABS agreements.

The proposed project will support Nepal’s contribution to meeting two Aichi Targets: 16, which focuses on implementing the Nagoya Protocol. The project will support the

process of finalizing and enacting national ABS legislation and preparing implementing regulations; and

18, which calls for respecting traditional knowledge and integrating it into national efforts to implement the CBD and Nagoya Protocol with the full participation of indigenous and local communities. The project will support local communities in selected sites to develop community protocols that affirm and document their rights to their traditional knowledge associated with biological resources.

The First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization adopted a Strategic Framework for Capacity-Building and Development to Support the Effective Implementation Of the Nagoya

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Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing.17 The strategic framework covers five key areas for capacity-building and development:

1. Capacity to implement, and to comply with the obligations of, the Protocol; 2. Capacity to develop, implement and enforce domestic legislative, administrative or

policy measures on access and benefit-sharing; 3. Capacity to negotiate mutually agreed terms; 4. Capacity of indigenous and local communities and relevant stakeholders, including

the business sector and the research community, in relation to the implementation of the Protocol;

5. Capacity of countries to develop endogenous research capabilities to add value to their own genetic resources.

This proposed project includes activities that respond to key areas 1-4. Expected components and outcomes of the project All stakeholders in Nepal – government officers at national and sub-national levels, community members, NGOs, and the private sector – need to understand ABS and what it can mean for local and national development. The decision-makers who will legislate and regulate ABS, and eventually commercialize products based on genetic resources, are in Kathmandu and in other countries. The people who manage the biological resources that contain potentially valuable genetic resources are in the communities where this project proposes to work. This project proposes to engage primarily with government institutions in Component 1 and primarily with communities in Component 2, although Components 1 and 2 will both also involve civil society organizations and the private sector. Component 3 – the education, public awareness, and communications component – will target all ABS stakeholders. Component 1: Policy, Rules and Regulations Expected outcome: The rules and regulations that will allow the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol once the ABS law is enacted. Component 1 outputs: Assessments Strategy and action plan for implementing ABS National ABS policy Draft ABS rules and regulations and guidelines

The relationship between the draft ABS law and the regulations whose drafting this project proposes to support is as follows: for Nepal to set up administrative and operational procedures for implementing the Nagoya Protocol, or even the ABS provisions of Article 15 of the CBD, it must have a law and implementing regulations and guidelines. A law must be enacted before its regulations can be issued, but preparing a law and its regulations at the same time can ensure that they are fully consistent. The current draft ABS law must be revised to bring it into full compliance with the Nagoya Protocol and the ITPGRFA before MoFSC can submit it to the parliament for consideration (see Part II, sub-section 1.b, 5th paragraph). ICIMOD has been supporting MoFSC in preparing the draft law and will continue to do that (see Part II, sub-section 1.b, 3rd paragraph). This project will support the process of finalizing the draft law, as required, and advocate for the parliament to enact the law. No project in any country can guarantee when a legislature will enact a law – that is a political question that is outside the control of a project. This project can, and will, advise and encourage the legislature to act.

17 NP-1/8. Measures to assist in capacity-building and capacity development (Article 22). UNEP/CBD/NP/COP-MOP/DEC/1/8. 20 October 2014. https://www.cbd.int/decision/np-mop/default.shtml?id=13408

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Nevertheless, the project can support MoFSC to proceed with drafting the implementing regulations that will set up administrative and operational procedures for ABS, and the guidelines for using the regulations, so that they are ready and can be issued as soon as the law is enacted. That is what this project proposes to do. Drafting regulations and guidelines takes time. The proposal provides for the drafting to be ongoing throughout most of the period of the project, so that the drafting process can benefit from and reflect what is learned from the policy process (Activity 1.4) and from experience in the field developing the community protocols (Activities 2.3.1- 2.3.3). Carrying out these processes concurrently will help to ensure consistency between the policy and regulatory framework.

This project cannot say that it will implement the regulations, because there is no way to know when the law will be enacted, and MoFSC can issue the regulations only after the law is enacted. The way to ensure that the regulations will work effectively is to include in them as much as possible of what the project learns through the policy process and the community protocol process. The draft ABS law must be consistent with the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol and the implementing regulations will have to be consistent with the law. This means that the law and the implementing regulations will necessarily reflect the Nagoya Protocol’s provisions on obtaining prior informed consent (PIC) from communities for access to genetic resources they control and establishing mutually agreed terms (MAT) for access to their traditional knowledge. The relationship between Component 1, which focuses on policy, rules and regulations, and Components 2 and 3, which focus on training and public awareness is based on the fact that implementing ABS requires stakeholder capacity to work on a range of related issues at the national, district, and community levels. National respondents who participated in the initial capacity self-assessment carried out for the purpose of developing this proposal gave Nepal very low ratings for capacity across 13 indicators, which provided evidence of the need to create and build capacity among all groups of ABS stakeholders in the country (see Part II, sub-section 1.b, 6th paragraph). Once Nepal enacts its ABS law and issues the implementing regulations, it will need to begin to administer the procedures the law and regulations will establish. To administer the ABS law and regulations effectively, the government of Nepal needs to have staff who are sufficiently aware of ABS and the issues involved to be able to implement and enforce the law efficiently and effectively. Similarly, for the ABS law and regulations to operate optimally, communities that manage biological resources need to understand what ABS is, how ABS relates to their traditional knowledge that is linked to biological resources, how ABS can affect their livelihoods, and what measures they can take to ensure that they determine the benefits they need to receive from any eventual use of their traditional knowledge and the resources they manage. Nepal needs to begin to build the capacity to add value in-country, rather than simply issue permits for genetic resources to be taken from the country. The private sector in Nepal currently deals primarily with commodities; it needs to begin to build its own understanding of ABS so that it can determine how best to engage with communities who manage biological resources and hold traditional knowledge, and with the private sector in other countries, to advance Nepal’s own interests in its genetic resources.

Activity 1.1 Baseline data The project will continuously scope, compile and systematize baseline data on issues involved with ABS as they are reflected in national policy and law and their implementation. This activity will be ongoing throughout the life of the project and will provide input for each activity in this component. The project officers in charge of this component will be responsible for ensuring that this activity is carried out on a continuous basis. Stocktaking and assessment

Activity 1.2.1 Stakeholder identification and analysis and capacity self-assessments

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Within the second quarter of project implementation, prior to the inception workshops, the project will carry out an in-depth analysis of stakeholders and social groups in each project site, with particular attention to women and other vulnerable groups, the private sector, and research institutions. During the inception workshops, the project will conduct an initial capacity self-assessment with ABS stakeholder groups, which include the private sector, at national level and at district and local levels for both project sites. In the project sites, the capacity self-assessment will be closely linked to the stakeholder identification and analysis. School teachers will be involved at the local level, because they are often the individuals with the most formal education in a community and are in a unique position to assist in building capacity once the needs are identified. The stakeholder identification and analysis and capacity self-assessments will be used to distinguish how each stakeholder group, including the private sector, will benefit from the project. The project will subsequently conduct a mid-term capacity self-assessment and a terminal capacity self-assessment, using the same criteria, indicators, and rating scale used in the initial self-assessment. To the extent possible, the same individuals from each ABS stakeholder group will participate in all three assessments, to assure maximum possible consistency of the assessment results. The PMU will be responsible for carrying out the capacity self-assessments.

Activity 1.2.2 Gap analysis The project will carry out a gap analysis of ABS-related provisions in existing policies, laws and regulations as well as an analysis of existing provisions governing the rights of users of biological resources. IUCN Nepal will be the principal partner for this activity.

Activity 1.3 Strategy and action plan for implementing ABS The project will develop a strategy and action plan for implementing ABS that will include the work this project will carry out to develop the policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks governing ABS, and will also address the designation of at least one Competent National Authority and other institutional arrangements, monitoring the use of genetic resources, ensuring compliance with the national regulatory regime, and cooperation on trans-boundary issues that involve ABS. IUCN Nepal will be the principal partner for this activity.

Activity 1.4 National ABS policy Nepal prepared a national ABS policy when it developed the first draft ABS law (see Part II, sub-section 1.b, baseline scenario, 5th paragraph), but has not updated the policy as it has revised the draft law. The project will identify key actors, including parliamentarians, in each ABS stakeholder group and conduct a regular Policy Lab series with them, document the discussions, and channel the output of the discussions into finalizing the national ABS policy as well as into ongoing policy development. The project will convene four policy labs each year. The project will use the input from the policy labs to update and finalize the national ABS policy as the implementing regulations for the ABS law are prepared (see Activity 1.6). MoFSC and the B&ED will be the principal partners for this activity.

Activity 1.51 Advocate for and support Nepal’s accession to the Nagoya Protocol The project will advocate for and support the Government of Nepal to accede to the Nagoya Protocol. MoFSC, ICIMOD and MoLJPA will be the principal partners for this activity.

Activity 1.5.2 Support finalization of the draft ABS bill and advocate for its adoption MoFSC and ICIMOD have been leading this effort and will continue to do so. The project will provide support as required in collaboration with other partners, including MoAD and MoLJPA.

Activity 1.6 Draft ABS Rules and Regulations The project will assist the MoFSC to develop rules and regulations and guidelines to implement the ABS Act. The Rules and Regulations will include the administrative procedures for prior informed

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consent (PIC) and mutually agreed terms (MAT), MoAD, MoLJPA, and ICIMOD will be principal partners in this activity. Component 2: Capacity needs and training Expected outcome: Representatives of ABS stakeholder groups at all levels have sufficient skills to contribute to implementing ABS and communities have enhanced bargaining power for negotiating eventual ABS agreements. A study by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute published in August 2015 found that, globally, research on ABS has mainly been theoretical with relatively little research conducted on ABS in practice. The study found that one of the main research gaps is in the field of the actual and potential contribution of ABS to conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of biological resources. This proposed project will contribute to filling the gap in knowledge of how ABS can be implemented in practice, building on work that ABS stakeholders are currently doing in the country and in the region and on work that IUCN Nepal and others have done in the past. The proposed project will work in two districts – Kaski District, Parche and Lwangghale Village Development Committees (VDC) and Dolakha District, Jungu VDC – where GEFTF project 4464 on traditional crop genetic diversity is also working. Both sites encompass mid-hills and mountain ecosystems and are easily accessible from Kathmandu. The Department of Livestock Services Livestock Breeding Center is located in Kaski District; IUCN Nepal’s project on documenting traditional knowledge recommended this district for future work. The MSFP, which is providing co-financing for the proposed project, is operating in Dolakha District, as is the Poverty Alleviation Project supported by the World Bank. Component 2 outputs: Training materials and training Community protocols Process documentation

Activity 2.1 Baseline data

The project will continuously scope, compile and systematize baseline data on ABS in practice. This activity will be ongoing throughout the life of the project and will provide input for all other activities in this component.

Activity 2.2.1 Training materials On the basis of the capacity needs that the capacity self-assessment reveals, the project will identify existing training materials at national and international levels, determine which existing materials can be used, and develop new training materials as necessary for general training on ABS, citizen scientist training, and training on negotiation skills. These will include materials targeted at the private sector. TUCBD, FNCCI, LI-BIRD, ICIMOD, and SAWTEE will be principal partners in this activity.

Activity 2.2.2 Organize Training of Trainers for selected representatives of each stakeholder group on ABS-related issues the capacity self-assessment identified. Once trainers from each stakeholder group have been trained, support them to conduct training for each stakeholder group on ABS-related issues the capacity self-assessment identified. This will include training trainers for the private sector. TUCDB, FNCCI, FECOFUN, NEFIN, DANAR and HIMAWANTI will be principal partners in these activities.

Activity 2.2.3 Citizen scientist training

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Implementing ABS will require local-level capacity to systematically identify and record biological resources and traditional knowledge associated with them. In collaboration with FECOFUN, NEFIN, DANAR and HIMAWANTI, the project will identify and train people in communities in the project field sites, including teachers in those communities, who can be trained as “citizen scientists” who can partner with academics and other researchers in studying and documenting biological resources whose genetic resources have potential value. Each stakeholder group will have at least two opportunities for training during the project period. TUCDB will be a principal partner in this activity.

Activity 2.2.4 Negotiation skills training

The project will train community members in the project sites in the negotiation skills that they will need to secure mutually agreed terms in an ABS agreement. FNCCI members will work closely with other partners in this training, to help community members learn how to negotiate with the private sector and to build awareness and understanding among FNCCI members of how to ensure ethical and equitable negotiations with communities. Ten events are planned for two districts, five events per district. In each event there will be at least 15 participants, including community leaders, VDC and tole/ward representatives, Community Forest User Group (CFUG) representatives, and local teachers, 50% of whom will represent women and Dalits. FNCCI, NEFIN, FECOFUN, DANAR, HIMAWANTI, and TUCBD will be the principal partners in this activity.

Activity 2.3.1 Identify and support researchers and academics who can assist communities in

developing community protocols Activity 2.3.2 Organize training programs for community members and selected district level

government officials and CSOs on developing community protocols Activity 2.3.3 Support communities in project sites to develop their own community

protocols. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) collaborated with the NGO Natural Justice to develop the concept of biocultural community protocols in the context of biodiversity conservation, and offer examples of how they have been used, and published the results of their work in 2009.18 Community protocols are “…developed after a community undertakes a consultative process to outline [its] core ecological, cultural and spiritual values and customary laws relating to [its traditional knowledge] and resources, based on which [it] provide[s] clear terms and conditions to regulate access to [its] knowledge and resources.”19 They are intended to be a community response to the challenges of international law, which treats traditional knowledge as a tradable commodity, rather than as an expression of cultural values and customary law. The Nagoya Protocol incorporated the concept, uses the term ‘community protocols’, and explicitly enables their use in the context of ABS (Article 12). Because these protocols are community initiatives, it is not a prerequisite that they be enabled by law, but legal cover for them means provides more security for communities. Assuming that Nepal’s draft ABS law will be consistent with the Nagoya Protocol and enable community protocols, the project will support the development of community protocols in at least two communities in the project sites. NEFIN, FECOFUN, DANAR, HIMAWANTI, and TUCBD will be the principal partners in these activities.

Activity 2.4 Exchange visits

The project will conduct exchange visits for individuals selected by each community in the project sites so that they can learn from each other about developing community protocols and implementing different aspects of ABS. NEFIN, FECOFUN, DANAR, and HIMAWANTI will be the principal partners in this activity.

18 K. Bavikate and H. Jonas, eds. 2009. Biocultural Community Protocols: A Community Approach to Ensuring the Integrity of Environmental Law and Policy. Nairobi:United Nations Environment Programme. Available online: http://www.unep.org/communityprotocols/PDF/communityprotocols.pdf 19 K. Bavikate and H. Jonas, eds. 2009. Page 9.

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Activity 2.5 Learning framework

The project will develop an ABS learning framework and use it in the ABS project sites to document the process of developing community protocols, the issues that arise in training community members in negotiation skills, and what communities learn as they interact with each other in the context of ABS. MoFSC will be the principal partner in this activity. Component 3: Education, public awareness, and communications Expected outcome: Stakeholders at all levels have greater awareness and understanding of ABS and the issues involved in implementing it. Stakeholder representatives who participated in the preliminary capacity self-assessment perceived that even when stakeholders are aware of ABS-related issues, they are not aware of options for dealing with them or how to participate in implementing those options. They also perceived that educational and other programmes that include material on issues relevant to ABS and traditional knowledge have been partially developed and are only partially delivered. Stakeholder representatives also perceived that educational and other programmes that include material on issues relevant to ABS and traditional knowledge have been partially developed and are only partially delivered. There is some understanding in Nepali of terms related to ABS and the Nepali version of the draft ABS law defines a few terms, but there are not yet sufficient generally accepted and understood translations and definitions in Nepali for ABS-related terms. Nine out of 10 of these stakeholder representatives believed that available information on ABS is insufficient to support decision-making processes. The majority of the stakeholder representatives believed that ABS information needs have been identified, but that the existing information management infrastructure is inadequate. The majority of these stakeholders also said that linkages between ABS policy development and science/research strategies and programmes do not exist. Where research needs have been identified or research has been done, the results are not translated into research strategies and do not respond to policy needs. All stakeholders said that traditional knowledge is important, but is not collected and used in participative decision-making processes related to ABS. The activities under Component 3 will target the stakeholder groups that participate in activities under Components 1 and 2, and the two project sites, to ensure that awareness-raising is linked with actual project interventions. Component 3 outputs: Nepali language ABS terminology Translations of international ABS documents Radio spots on ABS in Nepali Videos on ABS in Nepali Alternative media resources on ABS in Nepali

Activity 3.1.1 Baseline data

The project will continuously scope, compile and systematize baseline information, including existing research, on all aspects of ABS. This activity will be ongoing throughout the life of the project and will provide input for Components 1 and 2. Activity 3.1.2 Communications and visibility plan The project will develop and implement a plan that sets out the means and the resources for communicating information on ABS to all ABS stakeholder groups and also for communicating how

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the project is supporting the implementation of the plan. IUCN Nepal will be the principal partner for this activity.

Activity 3.2.1 ABS terms in Nepali The project will convene an expert working group to develop Nepali definitions and translations for terms related to ABS, publish the working group’s output, and promote its use. MoFSC, IUCN, and CDB will be the principal partners in this activity.

Activity 3.2.2 Translations Using the expert working group’s output, the project will translate the following documents related to ABS into Nepali: ABS Glossary (ICIMOD); ABS Information Kit (CBD); ABS Fact Sheet (CBD); Nagoya Protocol Fact Sheet (CBD); IUCN Explanatory Guide to the Nagoya Protocol in Access and Benefit-sharing (IUCN Policy and Environmental Paper No. 83); The ABS Agreement, Key Elements and Commentary, July 2014 (The ABS Capacity Building Initiative); and Strategic Communication for ABS, A Conceptual Guide and Toolkit for Practitioners, 2012 (The ABS Capacity Building Initiative). MoFSC, IUCN, and CDB will be the principal partners in this activity.

Activity 3.3 Radio spots The project will develop radio spots on ABS and have them broadcast regularly. Local FM stations will be identified on the basis of coverage and number of listeners and selected through a competitive process. The project will develop 24 radio spots and arrange to have them broadcast on a monthly basis through two local FM stations at project sites and one FM station at the national level. At the national level, Radio Sagarmatha will be a consulting partner.

Activity 3.4 Videos The project will produce three videos on ABS in Nepali and broadcast them at least six times through national TV stations and online. National TV stations will be identified on the basis of coverage and number of viewers and, through a competitive process, one will be selected as a consulting partner. The project will create a separate YouTube Channel for ABS Nepal and will upload at least 10 videos to it.

Activity 3.5 Alternative media The project will develop alternative media, including but not limited to street drama, songs, and school art and quiz competitions to make ABS more understandable for local communities. The project will sponsor at least 28 alternative media events, such as street drama, art competition, and quiz contests at local level. NEFIN, FECOFUN, DANAR, and HIMAWANTI will be the principal partners in this activity. d) incremental/ additional cost reasoning and expected contributions from the baseline, the GEFTF, and co-financing The proposed project is complementary; it is not substitutional20. It will supplement the baseline (see Part II, sub-section 1.b) by supporting the national ABS policy and regulatory framework and building stakeholder awareness and capacity. It will not change the baseline and will have no direct or major impact on economic activities. The objective of the Nagoya Protocol is to contribute to the CBD’s objectives of conserving biological diversity and sustainably using biological resources by ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. The proposed project will enable Nepal to make its national contribution to the global environmental

20 For an explanation of GEF’s use of the terms “complementary” and “substitutional”, see Global Environment Facility. Streamlined Procedures for Incremental Cost Assessment. 7. Design of the Project. https://www.thegef.org/gef/node/1890

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benefit of conserving biodiversity and sustainably using its components by building national capacity to implement ABS. Nepal needs to build capacity to implement ABS and needs to do so at national, district and local levels. If the project were to omit the proposed Component 1, the relative capacity vacuum at the national level would jeopardize the sustainability of progress at the local level. Similarly, if the project were to omit the proposed Component 2, potential users of genetic resources and national decision-makers would have to find a way to create capacity at the level of the providers of genetic resources to enable them to enter into ABS agreements. Without Component 3, there would be no means to raise general awareness of ABS-related issues among larger numbers of people in all stakeholder groups, including government decision-makers, the private sector, and local providers of genetic resources. The funding requested from the GEFTF will complement existing funding for ABS-related initiatives. The projects that are funding the baseline work on ABS in Nepal are all ongoing. They include: the GEF full-sized project on crop genetic resources, which is a five-year project that started in 2014 and is scheduled to complete in 2018; ICIMOD’s KSLCDI that will continue through December 2016; the SAWTEE project that is scheduled to complete by mid-2016; and the first phase of MSFP, which runs until 2016 and is likely to be extended for a total of 10 years (see Part II, sub-section 1.b).The funding for all of these projects is assured for the life of the projects. The baseline projects on ABS in Nepal are currently ongoing. Their funding, and their potential to leverage additional funding, will not be negatively affected by the proposed project. This proposed project will complement the work the baseline projects are already doing and will provide a basis for coordinating their outputs more effectively. This project will be implemented concurrently with the GEF project on crop genetic resources and will coordinate closely with it by working in the same project sites. Funding for ICIMOD’s KSLCDI that is working in the far western part of the country is assured through 2017 and ICIMOD believes that it is highly probable that that project will be extended. ICIMOD’s ongoing initiative that has been supporting work on the draft ABS law is also expected to continue. SAWTEE’s research project on ABS implementation has assured funding through its extended completion date. FNCCI, which represents the private sector, and all FNCCI members at national and district levels, will assume the costs of their own participation in project activities. MoFSC as the project’s executing agency will contribute the greatest percentage of the project’s in-kind co-financing. IUCN as the GEF implementing agency will also contribute in-kind co-funding. Tribhuvan University Central Botany Department, as one of the project’s principal partners, will contribute in-kind the expertise of its faculty in teaching and training and in contributing to developing Nepali translations and definitions of ABS-related terms. . e) global environmental benefits (GEFTF) The global environmental benefit that this project will contribute to achieving is “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources”. This capacity building project will help to establish the basis for implementing ABS in Nepal, including sharing benefits equitably. It will not attempt to create a situation in which the project identifies a potential user of a specific genetic resource because the legal basis for doing that will not exist until the ABS law is enacted and the regulations are issued. No resources will be directly at risk if there is no GEF project that builds capacity in Nepal for implementing ABS. On the contrary, the GEF project currently ongoing in Nepal is building capacity to identify local crop genetic resources and this proposed project will complement that effort. This capacity building project will not

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maintain resources. The project will take current and past patterns of use of biological resources into account and will endeavour to ensure that its activities do not create direct or indirect incentives for unsustainable harvesting of biological resources for ABS purposes. By building Nepal’s capacity to implement ABS, this proposed project will also contribute to conserving biodiversity and sustainably using biological resources in the country. The Constitution (see Part II, sub-section 1.b, 5th paragraph) and several national policies – including the 2014 Forest Policy, the National Seed Vision 2013-2025, and the National Agro-biodiversity Policy 2006 – provide support for channeling resources into biodiversity conservation. Thanks to its community forestry scheme, Nepal has decades of experience with re-investing the benefits of many different kinds of project interventions into biodiversity conservation. FECOFUN will be a member of the Project Steering Committee (see Table 2) and will channel into the project the insights that community forest user groups (CFUGs) have gained over the years about re-investing project benefits in biodiversity conservation at the local level. The current draft of the ABS bill does not provide for creating a mechanism to channel project benefits into biodiversity conservation at the national level. This proposed project will advocate for including a provision to enable such a mechanism into the draft ABS bill (see Activity 1.5.2). f) Innovation, sustainability and potential for scaling up Work that Nepal has done to date to implement the CBD has focused on biological resources and has not addressed genetic resources. This proposed project will be the first in Nepal to support implementing the ABS provisions of the CBD and the NBSAP and contribute to meeting Aichi Targets 16 and 18. It will also support MoFSC in setting up a unit that will be dedicated to implementing the NBSAP, which includes measures for implementing ABS. The proposed project will, in addition, provide one of the first opportunities for Nepal to implement the Nature Conservation National Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development 2015-2030 (NCNSFSD) (see section 12). It will draw together the efforts of academic and other stakeholders that have been working on issues related to ABS in Nepal for several years and provide a framework for pooling their experience and knowledge. In the process of finalizing the draft ABS law and preparing regulations to implement it, the project will initiate a series of feedback loops to channel academic research findings, the lessons this project learns from the field, and the experience of other ABS stakeholders into the formulation of ABS policy and the ABS regulatory regime. There is significant potential for scaling up the results of the proposed project. Starting with small-scale interventions in sites that will add value to past and ongoing work, the proposed project will refine existing methods and materials and work with communities to draw on their own rules and values to develop locally-appropriate frameworks to guide their eventual involvement in ABS agreements. Members of the communities that develop the skills to do this, with the support of the proposed project, can orient other communities on how to do this in the future. Implementing the ABS Act, once it is promulgated, will require continuous efforts to build the capacity of all ABS stakeholders in the entire country. Approaches and materials that this project develops will be available for use in future initiatives to build capacity to implement ABS. MoFSC is in the process of developing proposals for projects to implement the NBSAP. The National Planning Commission is also developing proposals to implement the NCNSFSD. The proposals for implementing both the NBSAP and the NCNSFSD will include activities that will build on and scale up the results of the proposed project. The proposed project is need driven and will be implemented in full collaboration and coordination with the MoFSC, which is the focal ministry for implementing the CBD. The MoFSC intends to integrate lessons learned from the project into further initiatives to implement Nepal’s National

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Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2014-2020). For the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that the Government of Nepal will be able to financially sustain the proposed project’s outcomes without external financial support. Post-project, the government will in all likelihood need to continue to rely, as it has since Nepal became a Party to the CBD, on national NGOs and international organizations and their donors to provide the baseline funding to enable national experts to follow through on the project outcomes, while the Government provides in-kind support. 2. Child Project? If this is a child project under a program, describe how the components contribute

to the overall program impact. No

3. Stakeholders. Will project design include the participation of relevant stakeholders from civil society organizations (yes) and indigenous peoples (yes)? If yes, elaborate on how the key stakeholders engagement is incorporated in the preparation and implementation of the project.

The following stakeholders named in Table 2 were consulted during the preparation of this proposal: NEFIN, FECOFUN, LI-BIRD, SAWTEE, ICIMOD, TUCDB, MoFSC, and the Department of Livestock Services. The other stakeholders will be involved beginning with inception workshops at national, district, and project site levels. Table 2. Stakeholders

Stakeholder Group Name of Organization/Community Expected Role in the Project Local and indigenous community groups, including women’s groups

Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN)

Be a member of the Project Steering Committee and ensure the effective participation of indigenous groups in project activities at local level

Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN)

Be a member of the Project Steering Committee and ensure coordination of project initiatives with existing community forest users groups (CFUGs) and the participation of CFUGs where appropriate

Dalit Alliance for Natural Resources (DANAR)

Be a member of the Project Steering Committee to represent the voice and concerns of the under-privileged in natural resource management as it relates to ABS

National and regional NGOs

Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD)

Coordinate collaboration between the proposed project and GEF project 4464, jointly with MoAD and MoFSC

South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)

Contribute to developing ABS rules and regulations

Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI)

Be a member of the Project Steering Committee to represent the voice and concerns of women in natural resource management as it relates to ABS

International organizations

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Contribute to developing ABS rules and regulations

Research institutions Tribhuvan University Central Department of Botany (TUCDB)

Be a key participant in activities under all three project components – building capacity at national and local levels and contributing to developing ABS rules and regulations

Private sector Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI)

Contribute to developing ABS rules and regulations, assist with negotiation skills training for community members, and ensure the involvement of its own networks of entrepreneurs

Government institutions

MoFSC Chair the Project Steering Committee and provide overall guidance for the project as national focal point for the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol

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Stakeholder Group Name of Organization/Community Expected Role in the Project National Biodiversity

Coordinating Committee (NBCC)

Participate in monitoring the project’s progress

MoAD Be a member of the Project Steering Committee and coordinate the input of MoAD departments into the project as national focal point for the ITPGRFA

Department of Livestock Services

Participate in formulating community protocols, especially activities related to animal genetic resources, and ensure liaisons with District Livestock Service Offices

Department of Agriculture Participate in formulating community protocols, especially activities related to crop genetic resources, and ensure liaisons with District Agriculture Development Offices

Ministry of Industry Department of Industry Contribute to developing ABS rules and

regulations MoLJPA Contribute to developing ABS rules and

regulations Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD), District Development Committees (DDC)

Be a member of the Project Steering Committee and contribute to coordinating activities at the district and local levels

Media Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ)

Support dissemination of information among environment journalists as well as broadcasting radio programs through its FM station at national level

National Television Station Contribute to broadcasting videos at national level

Local FM Stations Support broadcasting FM programs at district and local levels

4. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. Are gender equality and women's empowerment taken into account (yes /no )? If yes, elaborate how it will be mainstreamed into project implementation and monitoring, taking into account the differences, needs, roles and priorities of women and men.

The Constitution guarantees women’s rights and representation for women and other socially and economically disadvantaged groups. In Nepal, gender roles differ in different parts of the country. In several areas where there are fewer men, for a variety of reasons, women have taken on roles that men used to fill. The Department of Livestock Services, a stakeholder in this proposed project, has documented that women manage more than 60 percent of indigenous livestock, but have traditionally been marginalized from the economic returns of their work and from opportunities for training. The 2004 National Agricultural Policy set a target of 50 percent representation of women in farmers’ groups and community based programs. MoAD’s Gender Equity and Social Inclusion, Annual Progress Report 2014 documented that farmers’ labor accounts for 40-75% of the total cost of producing agricultural commodities. Women’s labor accounts for 55%-75% of all farm labor, but only 48% of women are beneficiaries of agricultural extension services. The situation has improved somewhat in recent years but much more needs to be done to fully recognize and compensate women’s contributions to managing indigenous biological resources and the genetic resources they contain.

The policies of several ABS stakeholders acknowledge gender differences and provide for actions that promote and support the roles of women as well as men in managing biological resources. The MoFSC in 2007 adopted a strategy to address gender and social inclusion issues. Community Forest User Committees are required to have proportional representation of women, members of indigenous communities and disadvantaged groups. FECOFUN, another stakeholder in this

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proposed project, established rules to include women in its decision-making processes and encourages Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) to include women and disadvantaged groups in all activities. The 2004 National Agricultural Policy targeted 50 percent representation of women in farmers groups and community-based programmes. The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development and the National Planning Commission have dedicated sections that deal with gender equity and social inclusion issues. Most other government agencies and NGOs have gender and social inclusion policies.

The proposed project will adhere to the MoFSC’s gender mainstreaming strategy and will use FECOFUN’s and HIMAWANTI’s rules for gender and social inclusion as guidelines for developing and implementing activities under the proposed project. It will also closely coordinate its approach to gender and social inclusion with that of GEFTF project 4464 on traditional crop genetic diversity and apply a similar approach to activities involving livestock genetic diversity.

5. Benefits. Describe the socioeconomic benefits to be delivered by the project at the national and local levels. Do any of these benefits support the achievement of global environment benefits (GEF Trust Fund) and/or adaptation to climate change?

The primary benefits of this proposed project will be socio-economic – particularly social. By the end of the proposed project, Nepal’s ABS stakeholders will have increased their capacities to engage with each other, to develop and implement ABS policy and legislation, and to implement ABS generally. This increased capacity will enhance Nepal’s ability as a country to contribute to conserving biodiversity and sustainably using its components. Most, if not all, of the economic benefits of this increased capacity will be realized over the longer term rather than during the life of the project.

6. Risks. Indicate risks, including climate change, potential social and environmental future risks that might prevent the project objectives from being achieved, and if possible, propose measures that address these risks: Another earthquake would be a national disaster that could prevent this proposed project from achieving its objective. Although experts have predicted another major earthquake in western Nepal at some time in the future, it is not feasible for the purposes of this proposal to attempt to assess that risk or propose risk management measures. Table 3 describes an overall risk and risks for each proposed project component and indicates measures to manage those risks.

Table 3. Risks

Potential Risks Risk Assessment

Proposed Risk Management Measures

The MoFSC has limited capacity for implementing this ABS project

High IUCN Nepal will support MoFSC in all aspects of implementing and managing this project.

Political instability and demands of political groups dissatisfied with the new Constitution result in strife/strikes

High The project cannot influence the political and social processes that have continued since the new Constitution was adopted. The project has selected project sites that are relatively accessible and should be less vulnerable to political disruption.

Communities become disenchanted with the process of creating the mechanisms needed to implement ABS because they do not receive benefits in the short-term

Medium The project will ensure a continuous feedback loop with the communities in the project sites as it supports them in getting prepared to negotiate eventual ABS agreements, explaining that benefits may not be immediate but that communities need to build capacity now to be ready to engage in negotiations when the time comes.

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7. Cost Effectiveness. Explain how cost-effectiveness is reflected in the project design:

The proposed project will be implemented through existing government institutional mechanisms, with technical facilitation from IUCN Nepal, and will not create any project-specific implementation mechanisms that would draw funding away from project activities. By working in the same project sites as the GEFTF project 4464 on traditional crop genetic diversity and sharing office space with District Forest Offices wherever possible, the proposed project will keep administrative costs to a minimum. The project designers considered the possibility of assisting the Ministry of Industry (MoI) in developing the Intellectual Property Rights Bill. Regulating intellectual property rights (IPR) to recognize the rights that indigenous and local communities have in the traditional knowledge associated with the biological resources they own and manage is an important part of the regulatory framework for ABS. IPR is a complex regulatory issue, as is ABS. Including the development of another draft law in the project would have helped to build capacity in a relatively small, select group of stakeholders. The project designers considered that the resources of this capacity building project would be more effectively used to complete the basic ABS law and begin to build the capacity to implement it among all stakeholder groups, who could then more effectively contribute to the process of integrating traditional knowledge protection into an eventual IPR Bill. Information the project gathers and generates will be available to those who develop a future IPR Bill. The project designers also considered the possibility of choosing a project site in common with ICIMOD’s KSLCDI to better share experience and find opportunities for each project to add value to the other. Because that project is working in districts in the far west of the country, the time and cost involved in travel becomes an issue. For this proposed 2.5-year project, the issues of time and costs are more significant than they are for the five-year KSLCDI. The project designers considered that project resources would be more effectively used in more easily accessible project sites, where the proposed project can work side-by-side with GEFTF project 4464.

8. Coordination. Outline the coordination with other relevant GEF-financed projects and other initiatives [not mentioned in 1]: The MoFSC, which will execute the proposed project, houses Nepal’s National Focal Points for the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol, is responsible for implementing Nepal’s NBSAP 2014-2020, and is generally responsible for coordinating all biodiversity-related initiatives in the country. As directed by the MoLJPA, the draft ABS law will be revised to provide for implementing the Nagoya Protocol and the ITGRFRA and for close coordination between the MoFSC and MoAD in its implementation. The project will work in two districts where the GEF project on crop genetic resources is also working, and MoFSC will coordinate with MoAD to ensure that all project activities are complementary and do not duplicate efforts. Part I, Sections 1.b, 3 and 4 describe all other ABS-related initiatives in Nepal and the ways in which the proposed project will coordinate with them.

9. Institutional Arrangement. Describe the institutional arrangement for project implementation: MoFSC’s Biodiversity and Environment Division (B&ED) will serve as the Executing Agency’s focal point for the proposed project. However, as the B&ED has limited institutional capacity and limited human resources, it has requested IUCN Nepal to act as the project’s technical assistance provider. The MoFSC Joint Secretary and B&ED Chief will serve as the National Project Director.

A Steering Committee will guide and oversee the proposed project’s implementation. MoFSC will chair the Project Steering Committee (PSC). The other members of the PSC will be: MoAD, MoFALD, DANAR, FECOFUN, NEFIN, HIMAWANTI and IUCN. The National Project

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Director will serve as Member Secretary of the PSC. The PSC will meet every three months during the first year of project implementation and semi-annually after that. The Project Management Unit (PMU) will be located within the premises of the B&ED, or in another place the B&ED may provide. The PMU will be responsible for day-to-day management and administration of all project activities. The project will recruit a Project Field Officer for each site. IUCN will manage the project’s field offices with support from the respective district offices responsible for forests, agriculture, and livestock. There will be a District Level Project Information Sharing Meeting and Site-Level Project Information Sharing Meetings every three months. The PMU will coordinate these district and site level meetings. The minutes of project information sharing meetings and other feedback and input will be submitted to PSC meetings through the PMU as required.

10. Knowledge Management. Outline the knowledge management approach for the project, including, if any, plans for the project to learn from other relevant projects and initiatives, to assess and document in a user-friendly form, and share these experiences and expertise with relevant stakeholders.

The proposed project’s field sites correspond to two of the three project sites of GEFTF project 4464 on traditional crop genetic diversity. This will allow both projects to share information more easily and to more effectively find ways for each project to add value to the other. Although this proposed project will not work with ICIMOD’s KSLCDI in the field, ICIMOD will be a partner in Component 1, which will provide a channel for sharing its experience with India’s system for regulating access, in the process of finalizing the draft ABS law and preparing the regulations. To ensure that all project documentation and outputs are as user-friendly as possible for all stakeholders, they will be produced initially in Nepali so that they are easily accessible as soon as they are ready for review. After project documents and outputs have been finalized in Nepali, they will be translated into English as required.

11. Consistency with National Priorities. Is the project consistent with the National strategies

and plans or reports and assessements under relevant conventions? (yes /no ). If yes, which ones and how: NAPAs, NAPs, NBSAPs, ASGM NAPs, MIAs, NCs, TNAs, NCSA, NIPs, PRSPs, NPFE, BURs, etc.

NBSAP: Most of the ABS-related priorities set out in Nepal’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2014-2020 focus on genetic resources for food and agriculture, but the NBSAP does prioritize accession to the Nagoya Protocol and enactment of the ABS Act. The proposed project will support the process of finalizing and enacting national ABS legislation that covers all genetic resources, including those for agro-biodiversity, and preparing implementing regulations. NCSA: Nepal’s NCSA found that the most important challenge facing biodiversity conservation in Nepal is related to governance, specifically the limited and unclear rules and decision-making procedures that are the only guidance government agencies have on how to implement biodiversity-related legislation and plans. Another challenge to CBD implementation arises from the need for more research, training, and public awareness. The recommendations from the stocktaking and thematic assessment exercise identified financing as the single most important means to address these capacity weaknesses. The proposed project will support the process of finalizing and adopting national ABS policy and legislation, provide training on ABS-related issues and on implementing ABS, support the development of nationally-appropriate Nepali terms related to ABS, translate selected international documentation on ABS for use by all stakeholder groups, and generate greater awareness and understanding of ABS by targeting stakeholder groups using different media.

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Nature Conservation National Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development 2015-2030 (NCNSFSD): The National Planning Commission developed this strategic framework, which is not required under a convention, but supports the priorities of the NBSAP and NCSA. Similar to the NBSAP, the NCNSFSD focuses on genetic resources for food and agriculture and the ITPGRFA, but also prioritizes accession to the Nagoya Protocol. The proposed project will support the process of acceding to the Nagoya Protocol and will support the process of finalizing and enacting national ABS legislation that enables implementation of the ITPGRFA.

12. M & E Plan. Describe the budgeted monitoring and evaluation plan. The project will follow IUCN’s project monitoring guidelines and tools, which require:

Collecting data on the implementation of activities and outputs, according to the annual workplan and milestones;

Collecting data on the delivery of results and impacts according to the indicators identified in the logical framework;

Collecting data on the indicators specified in the Environmental and Social Management Plan; and

Reviewing the financial situation of the project, including co-financing.

Based on the project’s logical framework, the project team will produce an annual work plan with milestones to define activities, outputs and milestones for each project year. The project team will monitor and update the annual plan and the milestones once each quarter and a supervisory mission will monitor the project once each year. The project will carry out a mid-term review and a terminal evaluation. The mid-term review will be carried out by an external evaluator and will be primarily a desk review of documentation of project activities and outputs, supplemented with interviews with project stakeholders. The mid-term review will follow IUCN’s evaluation guidelines. The terminal evaluation will be carried out according to GEF requirements and procedures for terminal evaluations.

PART III: APPROVAL/ENDORSEMENT BY GEF OPERATIONAL FOCAL POINT(S) AND GEF AGENCY(IES)

A. Record of Endorsement21 of GEF Operational Focal Point (S) on Behalf of the Government(S): (Please attach the Operational Focal Point endorsement letter(s) with this template. For SGP, use this SGP OFP endorsement letter).

NAME POSITION MINISTRY DATE (MM/dd/yyyy) Madhu Marasini Joint Secretary MINISTRY OF

FINANCE 02/20/2015

B. GEF Agency(ies) Certification This request has been prepared in accordance with GEF policies22 and procedures and meets the GEF criteria for a medium-sized project approval under GEF-6.

Agency Coordinator,

Agency name

Signature

DATE (MM/dd/yyyy)

Project Contact Person

Telephone

Email Address

Dr. Jean-Yves Pirot, Head, GEF

12/03/2015 Dr. Prahlad

Thapa, Country

+97715528781 Prahlad.Thapa@iucn.org

21 For regional and/or global projects in which participating countries are identified, OFP endorsement letters from these countries are required even though there may not be a STAR allocation associated with the project. 22 GEF policies encompass all managed trust funds, namely: GEFTF, LDCF, and SCCF

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Coordination Unit, IUCN

Representative, IUCN Nepal

C. ADDITIONAL GEF PROJECT AGENCY CERTIFICATION (Applicable only to newly accredited GEF Project Agencies)

For newly accredited GEF Project Agencies, please download and fill up the required GEF Project Agency Certification of Ceiling Information Template to be attached as an annex to this project template.

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PIF ANNEX ON GEF FINANCING CEILINGS FOR GEF PROJECT AGENCIES 23 Date: 3 December 2015

To: The GEF Secretariat

Washington, DC 20433 Subject: GEF Project Agency Certification of Ceiling Information Per Council requirement for GEF Project Agencies, I am pleased to inform you that

(a) the value of the largest project implemented (or executed) by IUCN to date is

USD 27.4 million24; and

(b) the total value of all projects under implementation by IUCN as of the end of FY 2014 was USD 379 million.25

I certify that the GEF financing currently being requested by IUCN for the project, Nepal – Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, in the amount of USD 1,500,000, is lower than the largest project that IUCN has implemented (or executed) to date. I further certify that the total amount of GEF financing currently under implementation by IUCN plus the requested GEF financing for the above mentioned project does not exceed 20 percent of the total amount of all projects that IUCN had under implementation as of the end of FY 2014.

Sincerely,

Jean-Yves Pirot GEF Coordinator IUCN

23 This annex needs to be submitted together with the PIF. 24 This amount excludes co-financing. 25 In support of these statements, a copy of (a) the signed loan/grant agreement for the largest project implemented (or executed), and (b) a list of all projects (together with their amounts in US dollars) need to be sent via email, under a separate cover, to the GEF Secretariat at Project_Agency@theGEF.org. These supporting documents will be treated as confidential and will not be shared with any parties external to the Secretariat. The PIF will not be approved in the absence of these supporting documents.

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ANNEX A: PROJECT RESULTS FRAMEWORK (either copy and paste here the framework from the Agency document, or provide reference to the page in the project document where the framework could be found). Project Name: Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Nepal

Project ID Number:

Date Prepared: 30 September 2015

Prepared by: Patti Moore, IUCN Nepal

Project Result/objective Outputs/Activities Indicator(s)/Targets Risks/assumptions 1. The rules and regulations that will allow the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol once the ABS law is enacted.

Outputs 1.1 Stakeholder identification and analysis

and capacity assessments

Indicator (target) 1.1 Documented results of stakeholder analysis and of 3 capacity self assessments: initial, mid-term, and final (Complete initial capacity self-assessment within the 2nd quarter of project implementation; complete the mid-term assessment no later than the 16th month of project implementation; complete the final assessment no later than the final quarter of project implementation)

Risk: Political instability and demands of political groups dissatisfied with the new Constitution result in strife/strikes Assumption: All stakeholder groups, including the private sector, are committed to playing their respective roles in implementing ABS

Activities 1.1.1 Continuously scope, compile and systematize baseline data on issues involved in mainstreaming ABS in national policy and its implementation

1.1.2 Stakeholder identification and analysis and capacity self-assessments

Outputs 1.2 Gap analysis

Indicator (target) 1.2 Documented analysis of gaps in ABS-related provisions in existing policies, laws and regulations and an analysis of existing provisions governing the rights of users of biological resources (Complete within the second quarter of project implementation)

Activities 1.2.1 Conduct gap analysis and analysis of user rights

Outputs 1.3 Strategy and action plan for implementing ABS

Indicator (target) 1.3 Document that sets out the government’s intentions, goals, and timetable for implementing ABS (Complete by the end of the third quarter of project implementation)

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Project Name: Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Nepal

Project ID Number:

Date Prepared: 30 September 2015

Prepared by: Patti Moore, IUCN Nepal

Project Result/objective Outputs/Activities Indicator(s)/Targets Risks/assumptions Activities

1.3.1 Carry out consultations and develop strategy and action plan

Outputs 1.4 National ABS Policy

Indicator (target) 1.4 Finalized national ABS policy which incorporates the input from project Policy Lab discussions (Report of each Policy Lab discussion available in Nepali within 1 month of each Policy Lab session; Finalized draft policy completed before the final quarter of project implementation)

Activities 1.4.1 Policy Labs

1.4.2 Revise and finalize national ABS policy

Outputs 1.5 Draft ABS Rules and Regulations and

Guidelines

Indicator (target) 1.5 Draft ABS Rules and Regulations and Guidelines available to be issued (Draft ABS Rules and Regulations and Guidelines completed before the final quarter of project implementation)

Activities 1.5.1 Advocate for and support the Government of Nepal to accede to the Nagoya Protocol

1.5.2 Support finalization of the draft ABS bill and advocate for its adoption

1.5.3 Draft ABS Rules and Regulations and Guidelines

2. Representatives of ABS stakeholder groups at all levels have sufficient skills to contribute to implementing ABS and communities have enhanced bargaining power for negotiating eventual ABS agreements

Outputs 2.1 Training

Indicator (target) 2.2.1 Training materials identified and adapted or new materials developed that are used in general ABS training, training citizen scientists, and negotiation skills training (Training materials available no later than the

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Project Name: Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Nepal

Project ID Number:

Date Prepared: 30 September 2015

Prepared by: Patti Moore, IUCN Nepal

Project Result/objective Outputs/Activities Indicator(s)/Targets Risks/assumptions end of the 1st year of project implementation) 2.2.2 20 stakeholders at national level and 15 stakeholders at district level given general training on ABS issues 2.2.3 48 citizen scientists trained, 24 from each project site 2.2.4 150 community members trained in negotiating skills (Training completed before the final quarter of project implementation)

Activities 2.1 Continuously scope, compile and systematize information to support training and raising awareness on ABS

Activities 2.2.1. Identify existing training materials and develop new training materials as necessary

Activities 2.2.2 Training of trainers and stakeholders

Activities 2.2.3 Citizen scientist training

2.2.4 Negotiation skills training

Outputs 2.3 Community protocols

Indicator (target) 2.3 At least 2 community protocols developed (Complete the process of developing community protocols before the final quarter of project implementation)

Risk: Communities become disenchanted with the process of creating the mechanisms needed to implement ABS because they do not receive benefits in the short-term Assumption: Communities will understand the potential long-term benefit that may accrue from ABS

Activities 2.3.1 Identify and support researchers and

academics who can assist communities in developing community protocols

2.3.2 Organize training programs for community members and selected district level government officials and CSOs on developing community protocols

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Project Name: Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Nepal

Project ID Number:

Date Prepared: 30 September 2015

Prepared by: Patti Moore, IUCN Nepal

Project Result/objective Outputs/Activities Indicator(s)/Targets Risks/assumptions

2.3.3 Support communities in project sites to develop their own community protocols

Outputs 2.4 Process documentation

Indicator (target) 2.3 Systematized documentation on the process of developing community protocols, the issues that arise in training community members in negotiation skills, and what communities learn as they interact with each other in the context of ABS (Document each project process as it is being carried out and have the documentation available in Nepali within 1 month of completing each process)

Activities 2.4.1 Exchange visits

Activities 2.4.2 Develop and use an ABS learning framework

Activities 2.5 Develop and implement project joint monitoring mechanism (monitoring and reporting) and conduct project mid-term and final evaluation

3. Stakeholders at all levels have greater awareness and understanding of ABS and the issues involved in implementing it

Outputs 3.1 Communications and visibility plan

Indicator (target) 3.1Communication and visibility plan developed (Plan is completed no later than the end of 1st quarter of project implementation)

Risk: Stakeholders will show no interest in understanding ABS Assumption: Decision-makers and other ABS stakeholders are interested in understanding ABS and how it can benefit them and Nepal’s biodiversity

Activities 3.1.1 Continuously scope, compile and systematize baseline information on how to communicate ABS

Activities 3.1.2 Develop communication and visibility plan

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Project Name: Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Nepal

Project ID Number:

Date Prepared: 30 September 2015

Prepared by: Patti Moore, IUCN Nepal

Project Result/objective Outputs/Activities Indicator(s)/Targets Risks/assumptions Outputs

3.2 Nepali language ABS terminology and translations of international ABS documents

Indicator (target) 3.2.1 Nepali language ABS terminology published (Publication no later than the end of the 1st year of project implementation) 3.2.2 Nepali translations of 7 international documents related to ABS (Translate 7 documents and make them available before the final quarter of project implementation)

Activities 3.2.1 Convene group of experts that will develop ABS terminology in Nepali

Activities 3.2.2 Translate 7 documents

Outputs 3.3 Radio spots on ABS in Nepali

Indicator (target) 3.3 24 radio spots developed and broadcast on a monthly basis through two local FM stations at project sites and one FM station at the national level (Information on ABS broadcasts from the beginning of the second quarter of project implementation)

Activities 3.3.1 Develop radio spots and arrange for them to be broadcast

Outputs 3.4 Videos on ABS in Nepali

Indicator (target) 3.4.1 Three videos on ABS in Nepali language developed and broadcast at least six times on national television (The first video with general information on ABS is developed by the end of the first quarter of project implementation; the second video, with information on project interventions, is developed during the sixth quarter of project implementation; and the final video on project outcomes is developed during the last quarter of project implementation) 3.4.2 At least 10 videos on ABS uploaded to

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Project Name: Strengthening Capacities for Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Nepal

Project ID Number:

Date Prepared: 30 September 2015

Prepared by: Patti Moore, IUCN Nepal

Project Result/objective Outputs/Activities Indicator(s)/Targets Risks/assumptions YouTube (Different videos are developed during the project period and uploaded to YouTube, including the videos developed for broadcast as well as other short videos capturing the voices of local people. This is done regularly during the whole period of project implementation)

Activities 3.4.1 Create videos, post them on YouTube, and arrange for them to be broadcast on TV

Outputs 3.5 Alternative media resources on ABS in Nepali

Indicator (target) 3.5 At least 28 events using alternative media such as street drama, art competition, and quiz contests, among other things, will be organised at local level (a0t least four events per quarter, starting from the second quarter of project implementation)

Activities 3.5.1 Develop alternative media resources on ABS in Nepali

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ANNEX B: CALENDAR OF EXPECTED REFLOWS (if non-grant instrument is used) Provide a calendar of expected reflows to the GEF/LDCF/SCCF Trust Funds or to your Agency (and/or revolving fund that will be set up)

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