Final Report - Asian Development Bank

119. The SPG commitment is demonstrated in its commitment to (i) invest in the preparation of the
Project, (ii) the alignment of the Project with the 11 th FYP reflecting Government’s initiatives to improve
conservation management and address rural development inequities as part of the wider “new socialist
rural countryside” portfolio. The Executing Agency (EA), the Shaanxi Provincial Development Reform
Commission, will take responsibility for overall implementation of the ADB loan and GEF grant financed
projects, and coordinate the three sub-borrowers (Qinling Botanic Garden, Shaanxi Animal Rescue
Center, and Louguantai Fuda Hot Spring Joint Venture) in ensuring that the Project achieves its
objectives in the way it has been designed.
120. GEF’s commitment to the ongoing CBCLDP in SPG (also supported by ADB) and the other 5
provinces/regions has laid the basis for developing far greater awareness of land and resource degradation
issues and has started to develop understanding of potential means to address the underlying causes of
degradation. The Project aims to keep building on this through further demonstrating new approaches to
achieve sustainable development outcomes.
b) Consultation, Coordination and Collaboration between IAs and EAs
121. The PRC-GEF Partnership on Land Degradation in Dryland Ecosystems has provided the
umbrella mechanism for coordination of GEF IA and EA contributions. With ADB serving as the lead
GEF agency, the Partnership and its Capacity Building to Combat Land Degradation Project has helped to
establish a long-term and comprehensive strategy embodied in the Country Programming Framework
(CPF). Through this mechanism, there has been strong coordination of all participating GEF agencies – at
this stage, including the World Bank (through the ongoing Gansu-Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project)
and IFAD. IFAD is preparing a project aimed at improving comprehensive agricultural capacity for food
production in Ningxia (to the south of this Project) which will build on and replicate the Project’s
approach. The Project Identification Form (and PDF/PPG allocation) for this project – the Dryland
Ecological Conservation and Rehabilitation Project – has been included in the pipeline of 2007 IFAD
projects under the framework of the PRC-GEF Partnership on Land Degradation in Dryland Ecosystems.
Close coordination will be maintained between these two GEF-assisted projects.
c) Project Implementation Arrangements
122. The Project will be implemented through the SPFD as the Chinese EA with support of a Project
Management Office operated by SPDRC and staffed from SFD, PDRC, DOF. The selection of SFD as the
EA reflects the mandate of SFD and its relationship to QNBG enabling SFD to have sufficient influence
over the Implementing Agencies to ensure agencies respond to Project’s needs; a lesson from the other
donor programs is the need for sector level cordination of Project work programs. The SPG has formed a
high level Project coordination committee with representatives of sector agencies and Provincial
adminstration under the chairmanship of the Vice-Governor that will provide coordination across sectors
and levels of administration, undertake high level reviews of proposed institutional reforms, and provide
decisions for project implementation. Inter-sector conflict or implementation issues requiring higher level
authority will be addressed through the Coordinating Committee.
123. The Project Management Office (PMO) will operate from the SPDRC. While the PMO will not
implement investment activities financed by ADB, it will be responsble for implementing institutional
strengthening programs using GEF and counterpart funds and will also contract the use of GEF funds.
The will provide implementation reports to the Coordination Committee and ADB. It will also provide
implementation coordination by consolidating work plans, planning and implementing procurement,
financial management, and safeguard monitoring. The PMO will link to the implementing agencies that
will form Project Implementation Offices (PIO) and will ensure the PIO staff are fully trained in Project
adminstration, reporting and procurement procedures.