Document Type: Project Design and Implementation

USAID/Liberia contracted Tetra Tech as the Prime Contractor to implement the five-year, $15.5 million Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA) Task Order (TO) under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR) Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC). LGSA supports the establishment of more effective land governance systems, ready to implement comprehensive reforms to improve equitable access to land and security of tenure, so as to facilitate inclusive sustained growth and development, ensure peace and security, and provide sustainable management of the environment.

LGSA objectives support USAID/Liberia’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and the LGSA Theory of Change. Tetra Tech provides technical and organizational assistance to the Government of Liberia (GOL), civil society, and communities to achieve the four project objectives:

• Objective 1 (O1): Policy, legal and regulatory framework for land governance strengthened
• Objective 2 (O2): Functionality of GOL land governance institutions improved
• Objective 3 (O3): Protection of customary land rights strengthened
• Objective 4 (O4): Stakeholder engagement in land governance strengthened

The purpose of this Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (MEP) is to describe how Tetra Tech will monitor and evaluate the LGSA and ultimately measure activity results. This MEP proposes indicators against each of the activity objectives, and describes the processes that LGSA will use to perform monitoring and evaluation (M&E) throughout the life of the activity. Furthermore, the LGSA MEP serves as a guide for learning, accountability and reporting procedures, and outlines responsible persons, timelines and data sources of the project during the five-year activity life span. Each indicator has a Performance Indicator Reference Sheet (PIRS), wherein details of the indicator are outlined. There is also a Performance Indicator Table, see section 5, which includes the indicators and targets for the activity.

The Liberia Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA) task order (TO) is a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR) Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC). The aim of the task order is to support the establishment of more effective land governance systems to implement comprehensive reforms to: improve equitable access to land and security of tenure for all, facilitate inclusive sustained growth and development, ensure peace and security, and provide sustainable management of the environment.

This Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) is submitted for the Liberia Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA). This EMMP provides a framework within which LGSA addresses environmental mitigation and monitoring throughout the process of project implementation.

The EMMP builds upon the LGSA Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Environmental Threshold Decision (ETD), and defines in practical terms how LGSA will implement the conditions of the IEE in order to mitigate and monitor environmental impacts.

In addition to the specific conditions documented in section 3.0 of the IEE, Potential Environmental Impacts and Recommended Determinations, it is noted that the Negative Determinations recommended “… are contingent on full implementation of the following general monitoring and implementation requirements”:

1. Integration and implementation of EMMP: LGSA will integrate the EMMP into the project work plan and budgets, implement the EMMP, and report on its implementation and findings as an element of regular project performance reporting. LGSA will ensure that sub-contractors and subgrantees integrate implementation of IEE conditions, where applicable, into their own project work plans and budgets, and report on their implementation and findings as an element of sub-contract or grant performance reporting.
2. New or modified activities: As part of its work plan and all annual work plans LGSA will review all on-going and planned activities to determine if they are within the scope of the IEE and this EMMP. If new activities are added or substantial modifications are made to existing activities, an amendment to this EMMP addressing these activities will be prepared for USAID review and approval. No such new activities will be undertaken prior to formal approval of this amendment.
3. Limitations of the IEE: The IEE does not cover activities involving assistance for the procurement
   (including payment in kind, donations, guarantees of credit) or use (including handling, transport, fuel for transport, storage, mixing, loading, application, cleanup of spray equipment, and disposal) of pesticides or activities involving procurement, transport, use, storage, or disposal of toxic materials. If activities are to cover work with or support to agro-processors, Environmental Due Diligence Reports will be required of their facilities. This IEE does not cover assistance for the procurement or use of genetically modified organisms. Any pesticide activity proposed under this program would necessitate an amended IEE, including all elements of analysis identified in 22 CFR 216.3(b), USAID’s Pesticide Procedures.

This report is a summary of the proceedings of the second Zambia Customary Land Management Research Symposium, held at Mulungushi Conference Center on May 31 and June 1, 2017. The meeting aimed to share research activities and outputs that were being undertaken in Zambia in support of improving customary land tenure, administration, and management.

The meeting was attended by participants drawn from various academic institutions, local authorities, representatives of traditional leaders, civil society organizations (CSOs), and development actors in Zambia. Specifically, the symposium served as a check-in for the Tenure Governance and Climate Change (TGCC)program’s work in Zambia supporting government, civil society, traditional authorities, and communities to communicate on land administration and governance.

Since July 2014, TGCC has supported systematic documentation of customary land in Eastern Province through the use of mobile technologies in coordination with traditional authorities and local CSOs. The program has also supported national land policy development through support to national consultations, as well as CSO consultations aimed at improving land tenure governance and administration.

This second Zambia Customary Land Management Research Symposium was held in support of increasing understanding of customary land issues in a holistic fashion through empirical research. The platform served to promote communication among researchers, implementers, and government representatives working to use data to inform policy on land tenure governance and administration in Zambia. The symposium was informed by presentations on technical research and implementation. This year also included the valuable contributions of two traditional leaders who have been engaged in the TGCC process in recent years. Their views allowed for a robust discussion that considered the role of national and local government with traditional leaders in the management of Zambia’s rural and peri-urban landscape.

In 2016, Hershey’s and AgroEcom Ghana Ltd (AGL) – a subsidiary of Ecom Agroindustrial Corp (ECOM) and licensed buying company who supplies cocoa to Hershey’s – began work with the Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) Program to gain a better understanding of how to address the complex challenge of deforestation around smallholder cocoa farming in Ghana. This work resulted in an assessment and recommendations for future work, captured in the report Land and Natural Resource Governance and Tenure for Enabling Sustainable Cocoa Cultivation in Ghana.

The report describes an interlinked set of interventions that encourage replanting old cocoa farms while reducing land use pressures on the forest fringe. Due to limited remaining time and funding in the TGCC project the full set of interventions could not be carried out in the current pilot. Following extensive discussions between USAID, TGCC and AGL, the team decided to implement a reduced set of activities that are achievable in a short time frame and will pilot ways to improve tenure security, productivity and reduce deforestation in the cocoa sector of Ghana.

The overall goal of the pilot is to collaborate with AGL and Hershey’s to better understand and test the components of a model for public-private collaboration to help smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana increase tenure security, replant old cocoa farms, and reduce deforestation and degradation.

This goal will be achieved through five activities:

1. Finalize site selection and complete an initial community assessment;
2. Conduct legal education and establish a dispute resolution mechanism;
3. Clarify and document rights to land and trees for a community of cocoa farmers;
4. Support AGL’s cocoa replanting pilot through development of a financial model and training-oftrainer technical assistance; and,
5. Capture learning, results and outreach.

The pilot will be implemented by Ghanaian consultants hired by Winrock International, a subcontractor under the TGCC Program. AGL will collaborate on field work on tenure by providing office space, vehicles, and logistical and staff support and be responsible for re-planting cocoa. Hershey’s has funded existing farm level demarcation and will fund additional farm level demarcation, as needed.

The Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) task order is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ). The aim of the task order is to identify and test models that strengthen resource governance and property rights as they relate to programming that reduces deforestation and forest degradation and increases the resiliency of vulnerable populations.

The impacts of global environmental change and society’s responses are significantly affecting resource tenure governance, the rights of communities and people, and their livelihoods. In turn, resource tenure and property rights issues may strengthen or undermine successful implementation of initiatives to respond and adapt to global changes. Interventions that strengthen resource tenure and property rights governance can help reduce vulnerability and increase resilience. They also promote resource-use practices that achieve mitigation, and development objectives. The task order consists of four tasks and contains a grants under contract mechanism to support these task areas. These tasks aim to:

1. Pilot tenure interventions that strengthen land rights as an enabling condition for the promotion and adoption of sustainable land use practices through work in the Chipata and Petauke Districts of Zambia’s Eastern Province. The work has also evolved to support policy engagement and research around customary land administration in Zambia.
2. Clarify the legal and regulatory rights to benefits derived from environmental services under REDD+ and other Payment for Environmental Services incentives through resource tenure and REDD+ assessments, as well as targeted legal assistance to the development of a national land use policy and associated laws in Burma. This work has evolved to consider tenure conditions associated with the sustainable management of mangrove systems and their environmental services (see also Task 4).
3. Undertake research on tenure, property rights and climate change mitigation and adaptation, initially focused on the following two questions:
   a. How does the devolution of ownership and governance of forests improve forest condition and help communities benefit from programs aimed at reducing deforestation?
   b. How does devolution of marine resource tenure rights contribute to meeting biodiversity conservation, sustainable fisheries management, and coastal adaptation objectives?
   This work has evolved to consider the tenure dimensions around reducing deforestation in commodity supply chains associated with the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 (TFA 2020) initiative, with field activities in Paraguay and Ghana.
4. Strengthen women’s property rights under REDD+ through support to customary land mapping and planning pilot processes. The work has evolved based on financial support from USAID/Burma and now focuses on the piloting of recognition of community rights over land and resources in diverse agricultural/forest landscapes in Burma, while maintaining attention to the recognition of women’s property rights. Further piloting has begun related to coastal mangrove management Vietnam.

TGCC is addressing these tasks by using a combination of intensive field implementation, local partnerships, field work and case studies, literature reviews, participation in international communities of practice, and workshops and conferences. TGCC is a five-year project which commenced in March 2013, and its global focus is coordinated with and through USAID missions and other international organizations. The project is supervised by USAID’s Land and Urban Office.

This report is a summary of the proceedings of the Zambia Customary Land Management Research Symposium that was held at Mulungushi Conference Center on April 6 and 7, 2016. The meeting aimed to share research activities and outputs that were being undertaken in Zambia in support of improving customary land tenure, administration, and management.

The meeting was attended by participants drawn from various academic institutions, local authorities, representatives of traditional leaders, civil society organizations (CSOs), and development actors in Zambia. Specifically, the symposium served as a check-in for the Tenure Governance and Climate Change (TGCC) program’s work in Zambia supporting government, civil society, traditional authorities, and communities to communicate on land administration and governance.

Since July 2014, TGCC has supported systematic documentation of customary land in Eastern Province through the use of mobile technologies in coordination with traditional authorities and local CSOs. The program has also supported national land policy development through support to national consultations, as well as CSO consultations aimed at improving land tenure governance and administration.

The Zambia Customary Land Management Research Symposium was held in support of increasing understanding of customary land issues in a holistic fashion through empirical research. The platform served to promote communication among researchers, implementers and government representatives working to use data to inform policy on land tenure governance and administration in Zambia. In particular, it provided an opportunity to hear presentations on Zambia that had been shared at the World Bank’s Annual Land and Poverty Conference in March 2016.

The symposium was informed by presentations on technical research by researchers from various institutions on land tenure, governance, and administration. Technical presentations were complemented with plenary discussions to provide participants the opportunity to seek clarification and contribute to enriched understanding.

In Vietnam, mangroves have experienced consistent deforestation pressures from the 1960s onwards, particularly from the use of wartime defoliants in the south and subsequently throughout its coastline and from conversion to aquaculture production under economic reforms (doi moi) beginning in 1986. Although mangrove replanting and conservation has been carried out by a range of mass organizations and non-governmental organizations (such as the Vietnamese Red Cross and Women’s Union) from the mid-1970s onwards, the multiple types of negative impacts of mangrove loss have come into clear focus in recent years within the context of climate change.

The development of new policies and laws focused on coastal forests and their environment has created a new policy arena to identify innovative and effective participatory approaches for coastal spatial planning, as well as creating effective institutional arrangements for the governance and management of mangrove forests. Given that mangroves along the Red River Delta coastline are an important focus both because that coastline faces intense storm events that create significant flooding risk and damage to existing sea dikes, as well as their climate mitigation/adaptation potential, the provincial governments are newly directing significant attention to mangrove planting and management setting ambitious targets.

This intervention, supported by the Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) Program, is to be implemented under the umbrella of the Vietnam Forests and Deltas (VFD) Program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by Winrock International. The aim of this intervention called “Our Coasts – Our Future” is to support the development of coastal spatial planning at the commune and district levels so as to facilitate better mangrove conservation and protection given their key role in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In order to identify an appropriate mangrove co-management approach for the three communes of Tien Lang district under the Vietnam Forests and Deltas (VFD)/Tenure and Global Climate Change Program (TGCC) pilot, the first step involved learning directly from the experiences of two other communes where mangrove co-management approaches have been introduced. Da Loc commune in Thanh Hoa province and Dong Rui commune in Quang Ninh province have significantly different experiences with reducing mangrove loss and increasing mangrove cover. The study tour involved key members of the three communes visiting these two sites to meet with local government officials, community members and other stakeholders. This report sets out the key findings and lessons from the study tour.

Participants: 43 people from VVFD/TGCC; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of Tien Lang district; non-governmental organizations of Tien Lang; and, staff of the three project communes of Dong Hung, Tien Hung, and Vinh Quang and its coastal villages.

Date and Time: February 20 to 24, 2017

Study Area: Da Loc commune, Hau Loc district, Thanh Hoa province; and Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province.

Purpose of Study Tour: To understand the mangrove forest co-management system and the specific steps to develop and maintain the mangrove forest co-management mechanism and how it can inform mangrove co-management approach in Tien Lang district.

Expected Outcomes:

• 1.1 Understand the co-management mechanism shared by Da Loc and Dong Rui communes;
• 1.2 Understand the specific steps for legal basis and development of co-management mechanism;
• 1.3 Understand the content of the rules for co-management such as access, use, management and exclusion; and,
• 1.4 Understand how to choose and maintain commune and village level co-management groups.

The study tours were well-organized and led by the TGCC team and leaders of Da Loc and Dong Rui communities. Both sides had time to share and understand the steps involved in establishing and maintaining mangrove co-management systems at the commune levels. Strengths and weaknesses were discussed and recommendations were made to develop more legal policies in order to support implementation of Decree 119/2016/ND-CP. Lessons learned from Da Loc and Dong Rui indicate that it would be better if the existing structure of “village rules”1 could be used to establish mangrove co-management rules including, specific rules on payment of mangrove environmental services.

As a result of this study tour, participating members from Tien Lang district and three project communes now have a good understanding of what is required to prepare and establish a mangrove co-management system that will work for the Tien Lang context in 2017.

Da Loc Commune Study Tour
One team of 25 representatives (28% female) spent one day visiting Da Loc commune of Hau Loc district in Thanh Hoa province on February 21, 2017. The team included three TGCC staff; one staff member each from VFD office of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Farmer’s Union at the district level, the district Red Cross Society Unit, and the commune-level Youth Union; two district-level DARD staff; four staff from Women’s Union at the district and commune levels; five staff of Commune People’s Committees (CPCs); and, six heads of coastal villages of communes of Dong Hung, Tien Hung and Vinh Quang. The team was welcomed by representatives of DARD of Thanh Hoa province and representatives of Da Loc commune and its three coastal village heads. The Da Loc team shared their current approach to management of mangroves in their communes and districts and general information about the prevailing social-economic situation. The TGCC team explained the background and objectives of the pilot project in Tien Lang.

Da Loc commune was badly affected by Typhoon Damry in 2005. It caused a sea dyke section to break due to mangrove loss in 2005. Over 20 years, mangroves were planted in front of sea dyke sections by several mangrove plantation projects, including CARE International’s support from 2007 to 2014, leading to better protection of Da Loc’s sea dykes. The Da Loc co-management system and how it was established from 2009 to 2014 was shared with study tour members who raised many questions to better understand the process. The strengths in Da Loc commune were that several well-trained teams were established for mangrove plantation, mangrove seedling nursery development, and mangrove protection teams. While these were not well-maintained after the project ended in 2014, community members still know how to plant and protect mangroves. One of the weak points of the co-management approach in Da Loc commune was the decision to create a fixed-term decision for co-management governance arrangement made by the District People’s Committee (DPC) that only ran until 2014 but was not extended thereafter. In addition, although village regulations were discussed and agreed by community members and the CPC, Da Loc representatives agreed that village co-management regulations would be better off using the official format of village rules so that they would be verified by the legal division of the district government and approved by DPC to get stronger enforcement. Lastly, the annual protection fees paid by the central state budget of Vietnam to a coastal guard station in Da Loc commune has not yet been shared with CPC and village mangrove co-management groups. As a result, there are no ongoing funds to support the mangrove management work.

On the way to Thanh Hoa city, the visitors also observed an event showing conflicts over benefits from coastal land use for lime production and clean development planning. It was clear that agreements on land use planning should be discussed, agreed to, and respected by all parties who have rights and benefits.

There were clear justifications seen here for the use of geospatial mapping and participatory planning in Vietnam. The content of the Decree 119/2016/ND-CP focuses on the importance of different contract modalities to support mangrove conservation as well as master planning for coastal forests. The “Our Coast – Our Future” pilot project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is developing a participatory mapping approach as part of its five-step participatory coastal spatial planning and mangrove governance pilot work. The participatory mapping guidelines were shared with members of Da Loc commune.

Dong Rui Commune Study Tour
One team of 22 members (23% female) spent the day visiting Dong Rui commune of Tien Yen district in Quang Ninh province on February 23, 2017. The team included three TGCC staff; two Red Cross staff at the commune level; one staff member from Fatherland Front: two staff from Youth Union; one staff person from Women’s Union; five staff of CPCs of communes of Dong Hung, Tien Hung, and Vinh Quang; and, eight coastal village heads. Visitors were welcomed by leaders of Dong Rui commune and one village head. The hosts made a clear presentation about how mangroves had been cut down and then have been restored with support of various external donors. The co-management system was established in 2005 with support of the European Commission (EC)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Global Environmental Facility (GEF) project.

Co-management teams in four villages have been functioning on a voluntary basis provided by team members; only monitoring travel costs have been covered by the co-management revolving funds which are well maintained and have increased 20%, from 83 million Vietnamese Dong (VND) at the start of the co-management system to more than 100 million VND today. Strengths of the co-management system include: an open term length for the DPC decision on co-management; good co-management teams in villages; commune leaders who are brave and skillful in getting back abandoned shrimp ponds from companies; the commitment of individuals in restoring mangroves in shrimp ponds; and, revolving funds to generate income for co-management system costs. One weakness in Dong Rui commune is that the CPC and village co-management teams have not received any annual protection fee from the state budget to date since the DPC and Forest Ranger units do not understand their key and important management roles in the co-management system. The community shares its role to manage and protect mangroves with CPC and DPC, but does not take over their primary roles of mangrove management. Information about the decree 119/2016/ND-CP as well as details of the TGCC pilot project on participatory coastal spatial planning and mangrove co-management funded by USAID were shared with representatives of Dong Rui commune.

Sharing and Learning From Study Tour
Forty-three members of the two study tours met together on February 24, 2017 in the Tien Lang DPC office to debrief and share what they had learnt and what the strengths and weaknesses of co-management models in Da Loc and Dong Rui communes were. They were divided into four groups to share their learning. The tour participants discussed and agreed on the next steps in order to identify how to establish the mangrove co-management system in three communes of Tien Lang from now to December 2017. Three of the four group work presenters were women: two were deputy chairwomen of CPCs, and one was a staff member of Commune Women’s Union. Female members are very actively participating in the TGCC project in Tien Lang district.

As output of the two learning study tours and subsequent discussions, the participants suggested five key steps for a mangrove co-management system for Tien Lang district:

• establishment of a legal framework which would be a DPC decision on mangrove co-management;
• development and approval of regulations on co-management at the village level;
• establishment of commune and village co-management teams;
• communication and dissemination of co-management regulations;
• monitoring and evaluation.

In the report below, information on the general coastal context of the commune is followed by an examination of the mangrove co-management approach. The report concludes with a discussion about how the findings relate to the mangrove co-management needs in Tien Lang.

The Land and Rural Development Program (LRDP) is at its core an institutional strengthening project. The project’s mandate is not to resolve land issues itself, but to strengthen the many GOC regional and national entities involved in the sector, through targeted technical assistance and training. The project will accompany the GOC entities to help them achieve their mandate; it will not do the work that the GOC must do itself.

In year 3, we will pursue an ambitious technical assistance schedule that will facilitate achievement of the following key results:

• 7,000 rural households will obtain documented property rights through the restitution, titling, and allocation of public lands through LRDP assistance. This is a LRDP and GOC shared goal1. The 2013 baseline for this indicator was 0.
• 45 percent of beneficiaries of restitution and formalization efforts will be women. This is an LRDP goal. The 2013 baseline was 38%.
• 3,000 restitution beneficiaries will be ethnic minorities. This is an LRDP goal. The 2013 baseline was 0.
• The time to access inputs to restitution and formalization processes will be reduced by 20 percent. This is an LRDP goal. The program is currently in the process of establishing the baseline.
• 250 secondary occupants will receive legal representation in restitution proceedings. This is an LRDP goal. The 2013 baseline was 0.
• 7,000 land parcels will be inventoried to supplement the Land Fund, increasing the amount of land available for restitution and titling. This is a LRDP and GOC shared goal. The 2013 baseline for this indicator was 0.
• The GOC will increase the amount of funds mobilized from the national level to LRDP target municipalities by 80 percent. This is an LRDP goal. The 2013 baseline for LRDP target regions was US $6,206,000. 2 Thus, LRDP will mobilize US $11,170,800 of GOC funding into LRDP focal regions, representing an 80 percent increase over the baseline.

The Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) program commenced on December 11^th 2015. As part of the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) Districts of Iringa and Mbeya, the project will be implemented over four years and provide assistance to local level authorities in the delivery of land tenure services under the Village Land Act No.5, 1999 and the Land Use Planning Act No.6, 2007.

The LTA will provide support to the implementation of land tenure regularization and first issuance and registration of CCROs and Village Land Use Plans (VLUP) in 41 selected villages. In the provision of support to land tenure regularization, the LTA will make use of, and further develop, the Mobile Application for Secure Tenure (MAST).  In addition to these key activities support will also be provided to capacity building at both District and Village levels. Years 1 and 2 and 3 will focus on the main task of building capacity in Iringa District. Capacity building activities will then be extended to Mbeya District Council through the District Land Office commencing in Year 3 and through Year 4. The LTA work will be undertaken under four activities re-stated here as follows:

• Activity 1: Assist villages and District administrations leaders and institutions in completing the land use planning process and delivering CCROs in selected villages within two districts of Iringa and Mbeya.
• Activity 2: Educate and build capacity of village land governance institutions and individual villagers to complete the land use planning and CCRO process, effectively manage land resources, respect women’s, youth and pastoralist’s land rights and build agriculture-related business
• Activity 3: Educate and build capacity of district-level land governance institutions in Mbeya Region to complete the land use planning and CCRO process
• Activity 4: Build capacity to use the MAST application throughout the SAGCOT and

Activities 1 and 2 are the larger of the four activities listed and are the primary focus of Year 2 Planning. A detailed Inception Report and Work Plan was submitted in March 2016. A detailed activity and sub-activity work plan was submitted in March, and included in the Inception Report.