Agriculture and Natural Resources / Agriculture, natural resources and rural development

The PRC-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Partnership on Land Degradation (LD) in Dryland Ecosystems is a long-term country programming framework (CPF) that was approved by the GEF Council meeting in October 2002. The CPF (2003-2012) seeks to combat LD through investments to strengthen the enabling environment and build institutional capacity, and to demonstrate viable investment project models under the GEF's Operational Program 12 on Integrated Ecosystem Management (IEM). The total cost of the 10-year CPF is estimated at about $1.5 billion, of which GEF will provide $150 million for eligible investments. The above Project is the first in a series of planned investments under the Partnership. It will strengthen the enabling environment and build institutional capacity to adopt an integrated approach. The Project will result in (i) an improved policy and regulatory framework for combating LD; (ii) enhanced national and provincial coordination mechanisms and strengthened capacity for strategic IEM planning; (iii) improved provincial and field level LD control; (iv) provincial capacity for formulating LD control investment projects; (v) improved monitoring and assessment of LD nationwide; and (vi) effective CPF implementation arrangements. The Project will work at the central level and in six priority provinces and autonomous regions that are the most degraded dryland areas of western region: Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, and Xinjiang.

The Grant Project will support the implementation of Project 1 (Strengthening the Enabling Environment and Building Institutional Capacity to Combat Land Degradation, $15 million equivalent) under the PRC-GEF Partnership on LD in Dryland Ecosystems (under OP12), and cofinanced by ADB TA Project No. 36445-01.