Smart Green Infrastructure in Tiger Conservation Landscapes: Practitioners Workshop Background, Objectives, Outcomes, Agenda Andrey Kushlin, Program Coordinator,

Smart Green Infrastructure in Tiger Conservation Landscapes:

Practitioners Workshop

Background, Objectives, Outcomes, AgendaAndrey Kushlin, Program Coordinator, Global Tiger Initiative

Taj Tashi Hotel · Thimphu, Bhutan · May 30-31, 2011

Smart Green Infrastructure in TCLs – Practitioners Workshop

Taj Tashi Hotel Taj Tashi Hotel · Thimphu, Bhutan Thimphu, Bhutan · May 30-31, 2011 May 30-31, 2011 2

The Crisis“Without the breath of a tiger, there will be no

wind, only clouds, and certainly no rain”. The I Ching

• Wild tigers plummeted from 100,000 in 1900 to 3,200 in 2008• Range-wide collapse: occupy only 7% of former range in Asia (13 countries)• Poaching & illegal trade, habitat destruction (habitat declined by 40% in last decade)• Business-as-usual will result in tiger extinction within 10 years• Tigers as a face of biodiversity and an iconic indicator of integrity of broader ecosystem services• Reflection of a wider crisis with biodiversity conservation: underfunded sector, depletion of human capacity at frontlines, climate change agenda “sucked out all oxygen”



St. Petersburg Tiger Summit (November 2010)• Unique culmination of the highest-level political will around the fate of a single species• Convened five Prime Ministers, 13 TRC ministers, heads of international organizations • Hosted by Prime Minister of Russia and co-chaired by World Bank President

• Adopted the Heads’ of Government Declaration on Tiger Conservation• Endorsed the 12-year Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) estimated cost $350M for the first 5 years



Key Element of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP)

Smart Green Infrastructure (SGI) – a key concept for habitat management

in Tiger Conservation Landscapes, also important for other elements

of GTRP implementation.


Why the Urgency?

• To sustain growth in Asia and the Pacific, infrastructure investments in the next 10 years will reach an estimated USD 4.7 trillion

• Traditional project-based mitigation approaches have proven insufficient to halt habitat fragmentation and tiger population declines

• Infrastructure is but one of the causes of tiger decline but a major factor in habitat loss and habitat fragmentation




Infrastructure Impacts on Tigers and Other Wildlife

Infrastructure can have serious direct and cumulative impacts, if poorly planned, including:

• Affecting tiger & prey movement

• Population fragmentation

• Human access to wildlife




Smart Green Infrastructure (SGI) Concept• For tigers, SGI is defined as infrastructure that:

– avoids tiger habitats, – minimizes and mitigates adverse impacts through tiger-

friendly design, and– compensates for any remaining damage to have a net

positive impact

• Based on a practical experience collected worldwide.• Examples exist also in some Tiger Range Countries, e.g.

Malaysia, India, Lao PDR, Vietnam



Mitigation Hierarchy – Multi-Level Approach



Mitigation at the project level, although necessary, is not sufficient..

• Projects are the result of policies, plans, programs..• These decisions affect where, when, and how

infrastructure projects are conceived, planned, built and operated

• Individual project approach fails to assess cumulative impacts (fragmentation of habitats, induced/long term changes of landscapes)

• Policies need to be in place to ensure adequate mitigation, compensation, offsets

• Knowledge of tiger/tiger areas is needed to guide infrastructure development



Levels of Decision-Making


Sectoral and multi-sectoral actionLevel ofgovern-

ment

Land-useplans(SEA) Policies (SEA) Plans (SEA) Programs (SEA) Projects (EIA)

Inter-national

National/Federal

Regional/

State

Sub-regional

Local

NationalLand-use

plan

RegionalLand-use

plan

Sub-regional land-use

plan

Local land use

plan

Internationaltransport policy

(EU)National transportpolicy

National economic

policy

Long-termNational roads

plan

Regionalstrategic

plan

Int’l integration program

5-year roadbuilding program

Sub-regional Investment Program

Construction ofmotorway

section

Localinfrastructure

project


National Level• National Tiger Action Plans to include specific actions

related to infrastructure• Implementing Strategic Environmental Assessments

(SEA) regulations- Fragmentation analysis

• Strengthening Environmental Impact Assessment regulations

- Stakeholder engagement- Monitoring and compliance



National Level• Biodiversity Offset mechanisms

- Transfer of funds from infrastructure to conservation

- Payment for Ecosystem Services

• Landscape approach to conservation

• Land use planning along transport corridors

• Mapping wildlife/tiger corridors, and mandatory analysis of impacts on these areas in all EIAs

• Alternate livelihood schemes



Sectoral Level

• Avoid development in priority Tiger Conservation Landscapes particularly corridors & core habitat

• Develop sectoral plans based on Strategic Environmental Assessments

• SEAs to be biodiversity inclusive (fragmentation analysis)• Develop best practices manual for construction in or

near tiger habitats



Sectoral to Project Level – Road Planning Example

Need for: more roads or more mobility?

What kind of roads and how much new roads?

Where should new roads be built?

Project: How to design and construct new roads?



Project Level• Large intact habitat block avoidance• Restrictions on ancillary

infrastructure development • Early stakeholder engagement– Benefit sharing– Informed consent

• Tiger-friendly design & engineering – Road signs, culverts, underpasses– Minimize fragmentation by proper siting

• Conduct baseline studies & monitoring• Develop site specific mitigation measures



Project Level• Minimize ancillary infrastructure &

cluster development• Construction protocols• Tiger education programs for

community and workers• Construction and post-project

monitoring• Tiger patrols & hunting restrictions on workers and

during operation



Features of SGI Approach • Tigers need immediate action from decision-makers in

charge of environment protection and infrastructure development

• A multi-level approach to infrastructure development has the best chance of success– Policy level: to ensure mitigation, compensation, off-set

mechanisms are in place– Sector level: strategic environmental planning to ensure

cumulative impacts, fragmentation and best options are decided upon

– Project level: to ensure that the best engineering in design, construction, and operation is in place

• But, implementation of options is mid- to long-term



Three Pillars for Promoting Green infrastructure


Policy Framework

Green Infrastructure


SGI Recommended Principles1. No infrastructure development in core tiger habitats and

protection of integrity of TCLs—No-Go Areas 2. Where avoidance is not possible, minimize and mitigate

impacts via improved design and then compensate for any remaining impacts through biodiversity offsets or financial transfer mechanisms

3. Mainstream natural habitat conservation into infrastructure development at all levels: national policy, sectoral planning & project life cycle



Concluding Messages• GTI raised global awareness, however we need local

actions on the ground• Infrastructure and urbanization will continue, need

new paradigm: major commitment is required not only from conservation but also from industry

• Direct benefits for local communities, payments for tiger ecosystem services

• The key to success is integrated land use: ecosystems are valued and master plan for each of 76 TCLs



Workshop Technical Sessions


Day One:

#1. Land Use

#2. Ecotourism

Day Two:

#3. Roads

#4. Hydro


Technical Sessions – Organization• Moderator and Co-Moderator• Resource Persons – International and National• Discussants – from various sectors and TRCs• Working Groups / Subgroups around Key Questions• Note-Taker and Rapporteur• Key Recommendations (2-3) from each group• Workshop evaluation



Objectives of Working Group Discussions• Recognize where good practices exist, compare efforts and

what is needed to scale up• Identify gaps in implementation, policy and investment

requirements• Think of building blocks on which they would focus to

implement best practice, analyze where they are now and where they want to be and to determine what is needed to address the gaps

• Look more into what could be accomplished based on participants’ roles in different government offices, include discussion on how to work through the political system (e.g. how could the forestry people talk and work with the planning people)

• Final outcome should be 2-3 recommendations from each group including steps for implementation.


Smart Green Infrastructure in TCLs – Practitioners WorkshopSmart Green Infrastructure in TCLs – Practitioners Workshop

LET’S START OUR LET’S START OUR WORK !WORK !


Documents

Smart Green Infrastructure in Tiger Conservation Landscapes: Practitioners Workshop Background, Objectives, Outcomes, Agenda Andrey Kushlin, Program Coordinator,