Annex III. Background to the BSAPP
Step 1 Getting Organised.
PEnA was selected as the national focal point and national executing agency. A Project Manager, team of environmental and agricultural specialist and support staff within PEnA were assigned to the project. A 12 member Steering Committee comprised of representatives from various government ministries, NGOs and universities was established on 20 November 1997. The role of the Steering Committee was to:
Advise and assist the Project Manager;
Review the reports of the Technical Working group; and
Act as a forum for discussion and achieving consensus on the main components of the BSAPP.
The Project Manager has been in regular contact with the Steering Committee, they have been invited to all workshops and have convened twice during the life of the project. It is anticipated that the Steering Committee will convene again in mid-November 1998 to discuss the draft BSAPP.
Table 40: BSAPP Methodology and Reporting
|
Planning Step |
Reporting Process |
|
1. Getting organised |
Relates to all reports |
|
2. Data gathering and assessment |
Country Study |
|
3. Option identification and analysis |
Situation Analysis |
|
4. National strategy |
National Strategy |
|
5. National action plan |
Action Plan |
|
6. BSAPP implementation |
Iterative process, monitoring and evaluation reports will loop back into |
|
7. BSAPP monitoring, evaluation and reporting |
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan |
Source: Adapted from WRI et al, 1995 and GEF/ UNDP, 1998.
Wide representation on the Steering Committee was sought in order to maximise the input and viewpoints incorporated in the BSAPP. Moreover, as PEnA is intending to submit the BSAPP to the PA for approval and incorporation into national planning; it was felt that the more Ministries that have an opportunity for early input, the more quickly it will be adopted by the PA. The names, title and agency of the members of the Steering Committee are given below:
Table 41: Steering Committee Members and Agency
|
Steering Committee Member |
Title and Agency
|
|
Dr Sufian Sultan |
Head, PEnA (Steering Committee Chair) |
|
Dr. Yousef Abu-Safia |
Head of Natural Resources Committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council & Current Minister of Environment. |
|
Mr Ali Shaath |
Deputy Minister, MOPIC |
|
Mr Sami Mussallam |
Director General, President’s Office |
|
Dr Kamal Qubba’h |
Legal Advisor to President of PA |
|
Dr Jad Isaac |
Director General, ARIJ |
|
Mr Musa Abu-Gharbiah |
Director General, Palestinian Water Authority |
|
Mr Abdallah Abdallah |
Director, Palestinian Geographic Center |
|
Mr Adel Barageeth |
Director General Rangelands and Forestry, MOA |
|
Dr Adimar Es-Ghier |
Head of Department of Biology, Birzeit University |
|
Dr Jawad Wadi |
Administrative Vice Chancellor, Al-Azhar University |
|
Mr Ibrahim Jadallah |
Director General, Ministry of Tourism |
Step 2 Data Gathering and Assessment
Within the first month of the project six Palestinian consultants were contracted to produce background reports including recommendations on various aspects of biodiversity in Palestine. These six specialist along with the Project Manger are referred to as the Technical Working Group. The specialist, agency and subject matter are named below:
Table 42: Technical Working Group
|
Specialist and Agency |
Subject Matter
|
|
Mr Imad Atrash, CPNP Coordinator |
Terrestrial biodiversity - fauna |
|
Mr Adel Breighieth, Director General Rangelands and Forestry, MOA |
Terrestrial biodiversity - flora |
|
Ms Nadia El Khodary, Consultant to PEnA, Dutch Environmental Planning Project |
Marine and freshwater biodiversity |
|
Dr Kamal Qubba’h, Legal Advisor to President |
Legal issues of biodiversity |
|
Dr Shahir Hijjeh, Al Quds Open University |
Socio-economic issues of biodiversity |
|
Mr Younis Sbeith, Conslutant to PEnA, ICARDA Agro-biodiversity project |
Agro-biodiversity |
Work began in earnest on 8 December 1997 with the first working group meeting. Below is the list of meetings and workshops that highlighted the progress of the BSAPP.
Table 43: BSAPP Meetings and Workshops
|
Meeting/ Workshop/ Agenda
|
Participants |
Date |
|
1st Instructional workshop/ 1st steering committee meeting. Inception workshop – introduced participants to the BSAPP and provided TWG with TOR. |
Steering Committee, TWG |
8 Dec/ 97 |
|
1st Planning team meeting. Established time frame, reviewed Terrestrial – flora progress. |
TWG, PEnA, |
2 Jan/ 98 |
|
2nd Planning team meeting. Review timeframe, reviewed marine and freshwater, socio-economic and legal progress. |
TWG |
20 Jan/ 98 |
|
3rd Planning team meeting. Discuss preparatory steps and reports to be presented at the 1St national workshop. |
TWG |
21 Feb/ 98 |
|
2nd Steering committee meeting. Review of TWG workplan and reporting format. |
Steering Committee, IUCN, Project Manager |
24 Feb/98 |
|
2nd Instructional workshop. Discussed TWG recommendation responsibilities and format. |
TWG |
27 Feb/ 98 |
|
1st National workshop. Inform broadly the purpose of the BSAPP; identify potential conflicts between resource use and conservation; identify priority options for conservation; and to encourage discussion among stakeholders |
PEnA, Government Officials, NGOs, Universities and other stakeholders |
12 Mar/ 98 |
|
1st Provincial workshop. Inform broadly the purpose of the BSAPP; identify potential conflicts between resource use and conservation; identify priority options for conservation; and to encourage discussion among stakeholders |
PEnA, District Government Officials, NGOs, Universities and other stakeholders |
15 Apr/ 98 |
|
2nd Provincial workshop. Inform broadly the purpose of the BSAPP; identify potential conflicts between resource use and conservation; identify priority options for conservation; and to encourage discussion among stakeholders |
PEnA, District Government Officials, NGOs, Universities and other stakeholders |
30 Apr/ 98 |
|
4th Planning team meeting. Reviewed TWG reports and discussed gaps. |
TWG |
28 May/ 98 |
|
BSAPP Arab regional workshop. Provide a forum for countries exchange ideas, lessons learned and biodiversity planning experiences with GEF/ UNDP, UNEP and IUCN resource persons. |
National Project Managers from PA, Yemen, Tunisia, Lebanon, Djibouti, Sudan, Jordan, Syria, Algeria and Oman. |
11-13 June/ 98 |
|
Task force inception workshop. Establish task force workplan |
Dr. Sultan, Task force |
29 Sep/ 98 |
|
Task force-drafting workshop. Finalise draft BSAPP |
Task force |
21-24 Oct/ 98 |
|
Final workshop. Finalise BSAPP |
Task force, TWG, Steering Committee |
16 Nov/ 98 |
Step 3, 4 and 5
In late September 1998, PEnA established a BSAPP Task Force comprised of the Project Manager, the TWG, ARIJ and 3 outside consultants. The Task Force’s role was to finalise the TWG reports including recommendations and complete the draft BSAPP.
Step 6 and 7
The implementation and monitoring and evaluation will begin after the approval of the BSAPP.