Final Report - Asian Development Bank

a decision by the Board of Directors based on a rolling three year work plan and an annual work plan
budget. Provision for this arrangement will need to be written into the constitution of the new
organization.
83. Conservation Monitoring and Awareness Program The Project will undertake a series of
participatory programs involving biodiversity expertise from over the whole Qinling Mountains using the
Project Area as a basis for developing and testing approaches to field conservation. Shaanxi Forest
Department is currently working through out the Qinling Mountains with WWF to implement an wide
ranging conservation monitoring program. This program operates under a three year MOU based on
WWF provision of funding and seeks to move toward a wider landscape approach to the conservation and
management of Biodiversity through the linking of Nature Reserves with corridors and the remaining
forest farm lands.
84. The Project shall support a process of defining and testing a landscape planning and
management model for the Qinling Mountains where the total Project Area shall be used to complete a
landscape planning and management model. The model will be evaluated and then used to prepare
landscape management guidelines for the Qinling Mountains. The approach seeks to develop consensus,
understanding and skills, as well as identify existing data and approaches that could be applied to the
Qinling Mountains Landscape planning program. Participants will form a professional communication
network for conservation workers that form a central commuication system for the dissemination
program. This network also seeks to build a stronger professional cadre across geographically and
institutionally scattered personnel. An integral part of the landscape plan will be a master tourism plan for
the ex-situ zone and Louguantai in particular. The project will assist stakeholders to develop a tourism
spatial plan that can guide the ongoing investment program in terms of spatial layouts, design
specifications and marketing.
85. An important part of the replication program will be the capture and analysis of data and its
subsequent dissemination. Support is provided for the development of a data collection system including
field monitoring equipment such as camera traps, GPS etc., data collection costs for 4 years including the
purchase and interpretation of imagery, training for existing Louguantai Forest Farm staff to form a field
monitoring team. The tema will be trained by WWF for two years and the data collected will be provided
to the SFD an incorproated into the Qinling Mountains monitoring data base and GIS for analysis and
reporting purposes. WWF is selected due to its existing extensive monitoring program in the Qinling
Mountains and it close association with the Shaanxi Forest Department– the likely owner of the proposed
QNBG. The GIS capability of SFD will form the basis of an information service provider for the Project
and planning processes within the Project. These include a range of research and planning contracts to be
undertaken in other components. The Project will develop a biodiversity monitoring framework for the
Project Area based on work completed to data and similar initiatives being support by SFD through
WWF. Technical assistance is provided for developing advanced field monitoring techniques and for the
provision of field monitoring equipment. The baseline will be formed through a series of contracted field
survey and research studies involving (i) vegetation studies, (ii) vertebrates, (iii) invertebrates, (iv) fish
and aquatic biodiversity, (vii) amphibians, (viii) soil microbial organisms. While the ability to detect and
quantify biodiversity impacts will be limited within the life of the Project, the data sets and analysis will
be used in future evaluations and management decision making.
86. The dissemination program shall be contracted by the PMO to an NGO or institute with proven
experience in awareness and communication in rural China and the Qinling Mountains in particular. The
program will develop a communication strategy for the project as a whole and will work with the SFD
GIS and information services. The Program will include communication of data, analysis and lessons
learned from the project to a wide set of stakeholders in conservation and government administrations
within the Qinling Mountains. The program will also provide training programs for the development of