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PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)
CONCEPT STAGE
Project Name
Region
Sector
Project ID
Borrower(s)
Implementing Agency
Environment Category
Date PID Prepared
Estimated Date of
Appraisal Authorization
Estimated Date of Board
Approval
Report No.: AB3337
Maldives Environmental Management Project
SOUTH ASIA
Solid waste management (50%); Central government
administration (50%)
P108078
REPUBLIC OF MALDIVES
Ministry of Energy, Environment and Water
[X] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined)
September 25, 2007
February 24, 2008
June 10, 2008
1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement
The Republic of Maldives is a small island nation located in the Indian Ocean Southwest of Sri Lanka. It
consists of some 26 major atolls and hundreds of smaller islands. The total land area is less than 300
square kilometers.1 The population of Maldives is about 319,000 and is highly concentrated on relatively
few islands. The atolls are ringed by coral reefs that are among the richest in terms of species diversity
and aesthetic appeal. Tourists are attracted to the Maldives for the pristine beaches and dive locations, the
latter considered among the finest in the world.
Economic performance has been robust over the past two decades with growth averaging 7 percent per
year. Much of this success has been fueled by the country’s substantial and unique marine endowments.
An estimated 500,000 tourists per year visit the Maldives─nearly twice the country’s population. Naturebased tourism is the primary industry, accounting for about 70 percent of GDP (in terms of direct and
indirect contributions), followed by fishing and fish processing (10 percent of GDP).
Like other small island states, the Maldives faces daunting environmental risks. The population is
concentrated on relatively few islands where high density has exacerbated problems of solid waste
management, waste from fish processing, and sewage. With rising prosperity and buoyant tourism, the
quantities of waste generated exceed the disposal and treatment capacity of existing waste management
facilities where they are present at all. These problems not only threaten the quality of life for
Maldivians, but also pose a risk to the tourist industry. The coral reefs, a major attraction for tourists,
face numerous additional pressures including physical damage caused by construction and hyper-nutrition
from sewage discharges, fish processing and other effluents.
Global climate change constitutes another major risk to the Maldives because of the low elevation of the
islands. Climate change models predict sea-level rises from 10 centimeters to one meter by the year
2100, as the polar ice caps melt. The coral reefs stand as the first line of defense for the islands against
storm surges which are projected to increase in velocity and depth with climate change. Vulnerability to
climate change hazards has been magnified by pressures and damage to coral reefs that have impaired
1
By comparison, the United Kingdom occupies an area equal to 242,495 square kilometers.
1
their protective functions. Planning on ways to confront the problems of climate change is at a nascent
stage. Adapting to these risks will call for a multiplicity of approaches that could include the construction
of physical barriers (such as sea walls), planning for the design and location of climate resilient
infrastructure and more aggressive environmental stewardship.
The coral reefs and marine resources of the Maldives are key environmental assets that perform two vital
services: (i) they are the mainstay of the economy and sustain a flourishing tourism sector and (ii) they
help protect the islands against storms and ocean currents. Prudent economic management therefore calls
for robust environmental protection. It is in this context that this proposed project seeks to enhance the
medium term sustainability and resilience of growth and development in the Maldives through targeted
interventions that strengthen environmental outcomes and assist in addressing the impending climate
risks. The project also responds to a concern of the Government of Maldives which identifies
environmental sustainability as a key priority in the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP).
The focus of the project is on strengthening environmental management capacity and mitigating the
highly visible threats to tourism that come from inadequate solid waste management (SWM) systems.
Institutional capacity to manage growing environmental pressures does not match the needs of an
economy so heavily dependent on its natural environmental assets. There are presently few staff with
tertiary level educational qualifications and exposure to evidence-based environmental management is
limited. Hence the urgent need to strengthen local environmental management capacity to deal with the
pressing environmental issues that Maldives faces.
Among the pressures on reef ecosystems, solid waste remains the most immediate and highly visible
threat with examples of floating debris along tourist dive sites and beaches that could have a direct impact
on tourism and, thereby, the economy, particularly given the emphasis placed by high-end tourists on a
pristine environment.2 The amount of waste generated (estimated at about 400 tons a day) exceeds the
processing capacity of the regional landfills in the country.
The Bank has accumulated considerable experience in environmental projects and particularly in the
management of solid wastes and sewage. While other donors have dealt with parts of the challenges
outlined above, the Bank has the experience and depth of expertise to help strengthen the Maldives
capacity to manage the environment more effectively and to plan for the future.
2. Proposed objective(s)
The primary objective of the project is to build capacity for environmental protection and enhance the
mainstreaming of environmental management with development activities in the Maldives by (i)
strengthening environmental management skills of government staff and other stakeholders, (ii) building
a sound knowledge base to better address the environmental risks facing the country and (iii) mitigating
the immediate and visible threats to nature-based tourism arising from the growing quantity of solid waste
that has accompanied economic prosperity and tourism. Together these will contribute to improving the
long-term sustainability and resilience of the tourism-dependent growth profile of the economy.
Specifically, the project would achieve the following objectives:
a) Build and strengthen the capacity of relevant institutions to formulate and carry out effective
environmental protection and regulatory programs suited to the needs of the Maldives;
2
The SEA will identify the effectiveness of the various donor interventions in wastewater through the benthic
habitat assessment and highlight the need for improvements if necessary.
2
b) Design and implement a sustainable, community-based solid waste recycling and resource
recovery program in selected islands which will entail the establishment of one or more
Regional Waste Disposal Facilities (RWDFs) and Island Waste Management Centers
(IWMCs) (the number and location of which will be likely determined during preparation) to
reduce the risk of contamination from solid wastes over a 20-year horizon3;
c) Based on a strategic analysis of the status and protective role of the coral reefs, build the
capacity of the Maldives to diagnose and improve conditions of the coral reefs surrounding
the key atolls of the archipelago and initiate pilot activities to protect these from multiple
hazards;
d) Conduct a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Maldives with special focus on
tourism (its impacts and vulnerabilities), climate change and adaptation strategies.
3. Preliminary description
The proposed project would have three components: (1) a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the key
risks with the objective of providing baseline information for strengthened environmental management;
(2) capacity building for environmental management; and (3) a regional solid waste management
program.
Component 1: Strategic Environmental Assessment of Key Environmental Risks and Strengthening
Environmental Management Systems: (US$ 3.5 million)
The project would support a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as an approach to environmental
impact risk assessment that looks beyond specific projects and examines the environmental consequences
of programs and policies. It would consider the cumulative effect of multiple projects such as hotels,
landfills or other facilities that may have limited impact individually, but significant impacts in the
aggregate. It would also examine the effectiveness of current management systems and identify strengths
and gaps and it would involve bringing together stakeholders in the development process to forge a
common vision of the future. SEA seeks to take a medium- and long-term approach to decision making.
The SEA would also help to select the most appropriate regulatory model within the given context.
The assessment would focus on the following aspects:
a) An analysis of the current and future impacts of climate change and an assessment of alternatives for
adapting to these changes. A broad level climate risk assessment commissioned by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) has recently been undertaken at a wide geographic scale4.
However, management of climate risks calls for more fine-grained assessments based on site-specific
downscaling. Accordingly, the SEA would support more detailed island or atoll-level risk
assessments with a focus on the inhabited islands.
b) A coral reef protection program is important for sustaining growth because of the strategic
importance of reefs as both an economic and an environmental asset. In addition the reefs provide a
highly cost-effective natural defense against some of the damaging consequences of climate change.
The assessment would aim to provide essential baseline information that is needed for improved
marine management. This would include benthic habitat mapping of priority coral reefs, assessments
of reef health and the causes (if any) of degradation such as physical damage, ocean temperature rise,
hyper nutrition, or others. This should be completed within two years, and as data become available,
the information would be integrated in the prevailing Coastal and Reef Management System.
3
4
The number and nature of interventions will be identified later on in preparation.
UNDP 2006. Developing a Disaster Risk Profile for Maldives.
3
c) An environmental education program/communication campaign aimed at catalyzing support for
environmental good-practices and raising awareness. This would include decision makers, tourists
and local inhabitants and would aim to explain the benefits of sound environmental practices and to
discourage inappropriate activities.
Component 2: Capacity Building for Environmental Management: (US$ 3.5 million)
The Ministry of Energy, Environment and Water (MEEW) has a broad mandate, but its capacity to
manage growing environmental pressures is limited. Support for capacity development would need to
take into account the fact that it would be difficult to build a large, permanent cadre of environmental
specialists in a small country. The emphasis would be on developing (i) a core of competent specialists
and generalists in MEEW and other ministries (e.g. fisheries and tourism) to guide the environmental
assessment and decision-making process; (ii) a cadre of service providers to carry out monitoring and
field surveillance activities making full use of modern technology to carry out their job, and (iii) a
network of private citizens and stakeholders (e.g. fishermen, hotel and dive operators, boat operators and
others) with the training needed to serve as the “eyes” and “ears” of the Ministry.
Training would consist of a combination of: (i) in-country formal training, (ii) informal in-service training
with specialist trainers brought to help develop human resources and (iii) specialization with graduate or
post-graduate courses abroad as necessary financed through a stream of funding for overseas training and
education, and (iv) twinning programs focused on environmental management, coastal/marine resources
management and solid waste management.
Component 3: Regional Solid Waste Management Program: (US$ 5 million)
The Solid Waste Management component would aim at developing and implementing a regional program
in line with the National Solid Waste Management Policy which is to be introduced by the Government
shortly. The proposed program will be a regional pilot in selected atolls, which will build upon the
experience and lessons of ongoing SWM activities that have been financed by numerous donors (ADB,
Red Cross and UNDP). The primary focus will be on atolls in regions that are currently underserved by
waste management facilities. Alternatives to the current systems of collection, transport and disposal
would be examined from the perspective of their feasibility and sustainability.
Community participation will be an integral element of solid waste management at the island level to
ensure sustainability of the system. Community-based recycling and resource recovery will be promoted
at Island Waste Management Centers (IWMCs) in order to reduce the volume and pollution potential of
the residual waste requiring transport to regional disposal facilities. Regional Waste Disposal Facilities
(RWDFs) will be located in uninhabited islands and will be designed and constructed to reduce the risk of
contamination from solid wastes over a 20-year horizon. Special attention would be paid to medical
wastes and toxic wastes which would require special handling and management. An appropriate costrecovery system and the right mix of public and private management would be a key objective of this
component.
4. Safeguard policies that might apply
The proposed project activities will result in improved environmental management and environmental
quality in the Maldives. However, a Safeguards Category of A is being tentatively assigned to the project
at this stage since the component on the Regional Solid Waste Management Program would involve
community- based waste recycling and resource recovery facilities in the islands at IWMCs. These could
involve composting of the organic fraction of the waste and the establishment of RWDFs for residual
municipal solid waste, medical and toxic wastes disposal. The construction and operation of these
4
facilities could generate further environmental impacts that are not fully known at this stage because the
specific nature of the activities to be undertaken at the IWMCs as well as the location of these and the
disposal facilities are unknown yet.
Community consultations and their involvement in selection of recycling and resource recovery activities
to be undertaken at the IWMCs have been shown to lead to more effective management of these facilities.
Therefore, the specific activities to be undertaken at IWMCs will be decided by each community during
project implementation. The type and design of regional disposal facilities (i.e., the level of engineering
needed for containment of pollution) and specific locations can be determined only after the activities to
be undertaken at the IWMCs have been selected by the respective island communities. An Environmental
and Social Assessment and Management Framework will be prepared by project appraisal. The
Framework will: (i) contain action plans to assure compliance and (ii) articulate the criterion and due
diligence processes for the selection of target areas. Once completed, an Environmental Assessment will
be conducted in accordance with OP/BP 4.01 to identify and mitigate potential adverse environmental
impacts.
The strategic assessment of the Coral Reefs may identify protection or rehabilitation works eligible for
project support such as the rerouting of sewage outfalls. This may trigger OP/BP 4.04, Natural Habitats,
depending on the specific activities to be carried out. Since specific interventions to protect the coral
reefs will be known only after the strategic assessment, the Framework will provide a template to
undertake an environmental assessment and preparation of Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) for
these interventions as well.
The primary social issues to be dealt with in the context of this project are the following:
(a) Public participation in tackling solid waste management issues, especially on less populated islands
where participation by the local population in the separation, collection, management and disposition of
wastes is critical. Previous experiences in the Maldives have shown that participation is crucial to the
success of SWM on outlying islands with small populations. This will depend not only on effective
communication but also on getting the incentives right.
(b) Participation in the SEA activity especially as regards climate change. Although it appears that
Maldives is primarily a victim of global climate change, it is essential that the people of the islands have a
clear idea of the risks and of the options open to them as climate change goes on and sea levels rise. The
sooner the population becomes aware of the risks and of the options open to them, the easier it will be for
them to accept the possibly painful changes that will occur. Among the issues that will need to put on the
table are the need to strengthen management of the natural coastal defenses, insurance schemes,
relocation schemes, structural defenses against inundation, and others. Accurate monitoring with
dissemination of data in understandable form will also be important goals.
Overall, no potential negative social impacts are foreseen. The Framework will investigate and
incorporate the issues mentioned above as well as other potential issues such as whether any involuntary
resettlement may take place as a result of establishing the IWMCs and RWDFs and appropriate measures
will be devised and articulated in the Framework to deal with these issues.
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Safeguard Policies Triggered
Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01)
Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04)
Forests (OP/BP 4.36)
Pest Management (OP 4.09)
Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11)
Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10)
Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12)
Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37)
Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50)
Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60)
Yes
X
X
No
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
5. Tentative financing (in USD millions)
($m.)
Source:
BORROWER/RECIPIENT
International Development Association (IDA)
Total
6. Contact point
Contact: Richard Damania
Title: Sr. Environmental Economist
Tel: (202) 473-3844
Email: [email protected]
6
TBD
unknown
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