Presentation by Mr. John Pernetta, Consultant & Former UNEP/GEF South China Sea Project Director, at the 6th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in October 2011. The presentation covers a regional review of UNDP-UNEP Partnership on SAP Implementation in the South China Sea.

1. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
Timeline
November 2007 signature of Communiqué - SCS & SGP
September 2008 signature of Agreement - UNDP & UNEP
September 2008 transfer of funds to UNOPS
Projects implemented between May 2009 and May 2011
Agreement to:
Fund an equal number of SGP projects (12 each)
Follow priorities of the SAP
Provide training to SGP national co-ordinators in TDA and
SAP priorities

2. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
A total of 31 projects in six countries were executed under
the partnership
SCS Funds = $ 554,702
SGP Funds = $ 541,574
Co-financing = $ 808,495
Total = $1,904,771
Mean Project Size $35,364 grant funds
$26,080 co-financing
Total $61,444

3. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
Rationale for the Partnership
• Difficult for full-sized IW projects to deal with all levels
from Central Government down to communities;
• SGP has an existing delivery mechanism at the national
level to engage communities;
• SCS had an inter-governmentally approved SAP with
clearly defined targets;
• SGP has no framework for IW community level projects;
• SCS had various regional fora to engage national
co-ordinators with local governments, scientists and
regional experts

4. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea
• Top priority loss and degradation of coastal habitats,
primarily mangrove, seagrass and coral reefs but also
coastal lagoons, and coastal freshwater swamp forest.
• Second priority issue management failures with
respect
to the linkage between fish stocks and critical habitats
• Pollution neither a priority issue, nor a transboundary
one since 10x present nutrient loads would not impact
the basin measurably.
• However among pollution sources domestic wastes
top priority; and,
• Nutrients the priority contaminant

5. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
SAP Targets
• Seagrass:
• 21 areas totaling 26,576 ha to be sustainably managed
by 2025; adopt 7 new MPAs focused on seagrass
• Mangroves:
• 57,361 ha to be transferred to National Parks and MPA
• 21,000 ha deforested mangrove land to be replanted;
• 11,200 ha degraded forest to be subject to enrichment
planting
• Coral Reefs:
• 53,130 ha in identified sites to be managed by 2015

6. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
SAP Priorities
Total
Mangrove 12
Coral Reef 6
Seagrass 5
Coastal Lagoons 3
No Habitat Focus 7
Total Number 33

7. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
SAP Targets for habitat management
Area hectares % of Target
Seagrass
managed area
2,079 8%
Coral Reef
Managed area
2,388 4.5%
Mangrove
managed area
12,618 0.7%

8. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
The Impacts of SGP Projects - Community awareness
• Meetings, discussions presentation of basic information
• Creation of quasi management bodies with:
• regular meetings
• responsibilities such as mangrove replanting,
fisheries patrolling
• Exchange between neighbouring communities

9. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
The Impacts of SGP Projects - Socioeconomic benefits
• Countering illegal fishing through; physical barriers,
and patrolling increases artisanal fish catch;
• Sustainable management of swimming crab and land
crab; Nypa palm;
• Value added to local products including aquarium fish;
fish paste;
• Development of new sources of income from
ecotourism & “home stay

10. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
The Impacts of SGP Projects - Environmental benefits
More difficult to measure except:
• some monitoring of habitats;
• Increased % cover;
• Increased biodiversity
• implied environmental improvement by increased;
fish catch;
• in cases of mangrove and coral reef replanting

11. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
The Impacts of SGP Projects - Wider impacts/replication
• Exchange between neighbouring communities:
• 4 projects Cambodia, 3 in Indonesia,
1 in Thailand and 3 in Viet Nam
• Designation of project individuals as resource persons
by provincial and national governments
• Recognition of projects as learning or demonstration
centres e.g. China project designated as “provincial
science popularisation base”; 1 in Thailand selected as
a model for mangrove management; 1 in Viet Nam
model for community fisheries management

12. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
CONCLUSIONS
The partnership has been effective and beneficial to partners,
specifically to:
• the national SGP programmes involved, through the provision
of an inter-governmentally approved framework for nationally
executed international waters projects;
• the implementation of the SAP for the South China Sea in
terms of significant contributions towards the achievement of
the SAP priorities and targets

13. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
CONCLUSIONS
The effectiveness of the partnership reflects the fact that:
• the SCS project was able to make use of a GEF approved
mechanism for engaging local communities in activities in
support of the SAP;
• choice of the SGP projects and oversight of their execution
was left to the national committees and the SGP operational
procedures;
• language and communication difficulties were avoided since
SGP operates in the national languages of the countries
concerned; and,
• the SGP mechanism for fund committal and disbursement is
rapid and efficient..

14. SCS-SGP Partnership Implementation
Review
On the basis of this analysis it may be concluded
that:
• partnerships between the SGP programme and
full-sized GEF international waters projects can
be highly effective in mobilizing community
involvement in the achievement of SAP targets;
• the SGP SCS partnership could be used as a
model for future partnerships in other regions.