Adaptation to Climate Change in Coastal Zones of West Africa (ACCC)

Project details

The project understands the risks that climate change poses to conservation efforts intended to sustain fisheries. The specific actions that the project is undertaking includes: country-specific coastal erosion assessments, consultations with stakeholders to identify exitisting strategies and capacities to address the problem of erosion, the selection of promising strategies (and implemented at pilot test sites), to monitor the results, and to disseminate lessons learned. “Strategies” include both adaptation actions (e.g., mangrove reforestation) and capacity-buildling (e.g., awareness-raising). Findings from the pilot projects will be used to integrate climate change and adaptation issues into existing coastal management, to develop plans and policies that induce cooperation across sectors,  to spur the creation or improvement of national policies that facilitate adaptation to climate change in coastal areas, to enhance regional cooperation in undertaking these challenges, and to establish a clearinghouse to store and disseminate lessons and best practices.

Other partner organizations (local, national and international):

• Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Protection de la Nature, Direction de l’Environnement et de la Protection de la Nature (Senegal)
• Ministère du Développement Rural et de l’Environnement, Direction de l’Environnement (Mauritanie)
• Ministerio dos Recursos Naturais, Direcçao Geral  do Ambiente (Guinea Bissau)
• National Environment Agency (Gambia)
• Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, Direction Générale de l’Environnement (Cape Verde)

The overall objective of the Full Project is to mainstream adaptation to climate change into Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) planning in the participating countries through the development and implementation of pilot adaptation activities in response to shoreline change. This will involve the development of strategies, policies and measures, based on technical/scientific information and appropriate policy instruments. A major preliminary objective will therefore be to pilot adaptation activities in a local to sub-regional context. There is a strong rationale for addressing the issue of adaptation and shoreline change not only at the national level but also through the development of a regional approach.

The ACCC project which is about adaptation to climate change in coastal countries of West Africa started in November 2008 by the regional inception meeting. Since then the main achievements of the project were: the installation of the regional and national teams; the organization of national inception meetings in 4 countries; the organization of  3 regional training workshops, one on climate change and coastal zones and two  on technical aspects of mangrove restoration and dune stabilization; the new web site was launched.

Background

Climate change scenarios for the West African region include an anticipated increase in mean surface temperature of up to 0.5º C per decade, increased evapotranspiration, increased rainfall variability and intensity, accelerated sea level rise of around 1 m per century, any reduced coastal upwelling resulting from weakening of the Azores high and the trade winds, exacerbated by disruption from freshwater plumes of continental origin (for additional details, refer to Annex A3). The resultant shifts in the hydro-graphical and oceanic conditions due to climate change are likely to exacerbate coastal erosion and sedimentation problems in the West African region (Allersman and Tilsmans 1993 – quoted in Africa Environmental Outlook (2000).

As all five countries are within the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (and thereby aligned across an important environmental transition which is likely to be modified by sea level rise and climate change), a coastwise shift in climatic, hydro-graphical and oceanic conditions northward along the coast with global warming will be better identified and addressed by each of these countries if they understand features and processes in neighbouring state (as highlighted by Eric Bird during the STAP review of this proposal). 

This project is designed to foster such a collaborative effort by implementing a series of activities that lead to the improvement in the adaptive capacity to climate change of sensitive coastline ecosystems in the five countries. At the heart of the project is a combination of community based demonstration projects and UNDP & UNESCO led support to facilitate and build capacity to foster national level integration of policies that promote adaptive capacity to climate change of coastline ecosystems.

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Key results & output

Overall Project Objective: Develop and pilot a range of effective coping mechanisms for reducing the impact of climate change induced coastal erosion in vulnerable regions in five countries in West Africa.

• Outcome 1: Pilot activities to increase he adaptive capacity and resilience of coastal ecosystems in regions vulnerable to climate change impacts implemented
• Outcome 2: Climate change and adaptation issues and coastal area management policies and programmes integrated
• Outcome 3:Monitoring of coastal erosion and capacity building in coastal management and planning enhanced
• Outcome 4: Learning, Evaluation and Adaptative management increased

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Monitoring & evaluation

Project monitoring and evaluation wa conducted in accordance with established UNDP and GEF procedures and will be provided by the project team and the UNDP Country Office (UNDP-CO) with support from UNDP/GEF.  Monitoring and Evaluation Plan provides for a series of linked activities, including annual Project Implementation Reviews (PIR), Tripartite Reviews, Quarterly Project Reports, Work Plans, and independent mid-term and final project Evaluations. A novel feature of the monitoring strategy is that it provides for Program level monitoring, to ensure that project synergies are being realized, and activities dovetailed as planned.

Project Start:

Project Inception Workshop: held within the first 2 months of project start with those with assigned roles in the project organization structure, UNDP country office and where appropriate/feasible regional technical policy and programme advisors as well as other stakeholders.  The Inception Workshop is crucial to building ownership for the project results and to plan the first year annual work plan. 

Daily:

Day to day monitoring of implementation progress: will be the responsibility of the Project Manager, based on the project's Annual Work Plan and its indicators, with overall guidance from the Project Director. The Project Team will inform the UNDP-CO of any delays or difficulties faced during implementation so that the appropriate support or corrective measures can be adopted in a timely and remedial fashion.

Quarterly:

Project Progress Reports (PPR): quarterly reports will be assembled based on the information recorded and monitored in the UNDP Enhanced Results Based Management Platform. Risk analysis will be logged and regularly updated in ATLAS.

Annually:

Annual Project Review/Project Implementation Reports (APR/PIR): This key report is prepared to monitor progress made since project start and in particular for the previous reporting period (30 June to 1 July).  The APR/PIR combines both UNDP and GEF reporting requirements.  

Periodic Monitoring through Site Visits: 

UNDP CO and the UNDP RCU will conduct visits to project sites based on the agreed schedule in the project's Inception Report/Annual Work Plan to assess first hand project progress.  Other members of the Project Board may also join these visits.  A Field Visit Report/BTOR will be prepared by the CO and UNDP RCU and will be circulated no less than one month after the visit to the project team and Project Board members.

Mid-Term of Project Cycle:

Mid-Term Evaluation: will determine progress being made toward the achievement of outcomes and will identify course correction if needed.  It will focus on the effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness of project implementation; will highlight issues requiring decisions and actions; and will present initial lessons learned about project design, implementation and management.  Findings of this review will be incorporated as recommendations for enhanced implementation during the final half of the project's term.  

End of Project:  

Final Evaluation: will take place three months prior to the final Project Board meeting and will be undertaken in accordance with UNDP and GEF guidance.  The final evaluation will focus on the delivery of the project’s results as initially planned (and as corrected after the mid-term evaluation, if any such correction took place).  The final evaluation will look at impact and sustainability of results, including the contribution to capacity development and the achievement of global environmental benefits/goals.  The Terminal Evaluation should also provide recommendations for follow-up activities.

Project Terminal Report: This comprehensive report will summarize the results achieved (objectives, outcomes, outputs), lessons learned, problems met and areas where results may not have been achieved.  It will also lie out recommendations for any further steps that may need to be taken to ensure sustainability and replicability of the project's results.

Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Results from the project will be disseminated within and beyond the project intervention zone through existing information sharing networks and forums. 

The project will identify and participate, as relevant and appropriate, in scientific, policy-based and/or any other networks, which may be of benefit to project implementation though lessons learned. The project will identify, analyze, and share lessons learned that might be beneficial in the design and implementation of similar future projects.

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