Adapting to Climate Change: Assessing the World Bank Group ...

Integration of Climate Change Consideration in World Bank Protected Area ProjectsCHAPTER 4ANTICIPATORY ADAPTATION4.34 IEG examined the portfolio of biodiversity and protected area projects approvedbetween 2009 and 2011. Of 34 projects, 8 considered the sensitivity of the project to climatechange, of which half explicitly supported species migration through biodiversitycorridors, while the other half assumed that reducing non-climate threats would supportincreased climate resilience in vulnerable ecosystems. Appraisals for 6 projects describedthe future threats of climate change in detail. Three projects supported climate vulnerabilityassessments and identified mitigation measures. All 8 projects proposed concrete actions toassist in climate change adaptation, including reforestation, creation of buffer zones, andpreparation of management plants. Proposals were generally based on thorough studiesand assessments of local adaptation needs.4.35 Monitoring climate change adaptation in protected areas is still in its infancy. Onlythree projects made provisions to monitor successes and failures of climate changeadaptation for biodiversity conservation. A further three projects included monitoringsystems that did not include climate change considerations in their design, while theremaining two projects did not implement monitoring systems.MACROZONING OF RURAL LAND USE4.36 Conservationists have long advocated zoning of rural land use to maintainbiodiversity and ecosystem processes. Sophisticated optimization techniques have beenproposed to achieve ecological goals at least opportunity cost in foregone agriculturalproduction.4.37 Experience in land use regulation is mixed. On average, formal protected areas havereduced tropical deforestation. Protected areas that allow sustainable land use have beenmore successful than strictly protected areas. In Latin America, putting areas under thecontrol of indigenous people has been extremely successful in deterring deforestation(Nelson and Chomitz 2011). However, macrozoning that attempts to regulate private usesof land has historically been unenforceable. Bank-executed zoning projects in Rondoniaand Mato Grosso failed when they imposed restrictions on powerful ranching and timberinterests. In Indonesia, 40 million people live in areas zoned for forests but lacking trees.4.38 A new approach appeals to banks as an instrument of enforcement. In Brazil, banksare beginning to decline to make loans to farmers and ranchers whose land is out ofcompliance with regulations. The Western Cape Province (South Africa) uses zoning toimpose EIAs on those who would convert critical biodiversity areas (Box 4-4).77