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Second Steering Committee: 6 month report

During the report period the Project Administration (PA) worked to meet the Project Work Plan goals and the decisions of the Steering Committee held in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski in September 2002 and in accordance with UNDP requirements and Russian legislation.

Section I
Competitions, vacancies, tenders, contracts

14 short-term experts have been hired for the implementation of certain project activities.Biodiversity and legal short-term experts have contributed to preparation of TORs for the contracts, arrangement of tenders and consultations with implementing agents. Meetings with PA representatives have been held to address interaction and cooperation issues. PA management and PA revenue generation workshops have been prepared. The contracted Russian and international organizations have been regularly contacted for consultations in various cases and for monitoring purposes. PA directorates, NGOs and scientific research organizations have been frequently attracted to contribute to each output of the project.

An expert in PA needs assessment for four project PAs (Kronotsky Reserve, South Kamchatka Refuge, Nalychevo and Bystrinsky Nature Parks) has assessed the PAs' existing equipment and PA needs. He has submitted a report on categorized PA needs in accordance to which a local procurement contract has been concluded. Proposals have been offered to proportionally allocate budgets for federal and regional PAs.

An expert in SMESF setup issues has analyzed the current economical situation in the Kamchatka Oblast.

An expert to prepare and compile educational materials has gathered relevant information from all the regional libraries. Publication of a source book on Kamchatka wilderness protection is an output of his work.

An expert to analyze Internet resources on biodiversity has studied informational resources available in the net. The analysis and recommendations presented in his report would be helpful to all stakeholders and would form the project's strategy in the sphere of raising biodiversity conservation awareness through mass media. This work would also be helpful when updating project materials on the project's website.

A consultant in international PA issues has gathered information about essential systems and mechanisms used worldwide for biodiversity conservation.

Other experts and consultants - in indigenous peoples, in biodiversity awareness program development, in community-based PA management, in collecting fundraising information for biodiversity conservation - have contributed great assistance to the work of team leaders and developers of the other project components.

A biodiversity conservation awareness expert has developed a mass media program component on environmental education. Based on studies of Russian and international experiences, main tasks of the component have been formulated - the formation of informational field of the Project, determination of informational resources, consideration of peculiarities of Kamchatka PAs.

Following the decision of the First Steering Committee Meeting and consultations with Pischelev V.A., the former National Director and Popov V.L., the Programme Assistant, the one-year work plan and plan for the 1st phase (2 years) have been readjusted to optimize planning activities and to meet the MNR RF format requirements.

Terms of reference have been devised and the following vacancies and tenders have been announced:

• Legal expert in harmonization of PA legal status with federal legislation;
• Director of Kamchatka SME Support Fund;
• Kamchatka SME Support Fund officer;
• Trainer on tourism activities. Workshop "Safety during tours";
• Trainer on small and medium business activities. Workshop "SME taxation";
• Water pollution assessment and identification of threats to biodiversity;
• Recreation capacity study;
• Behavior codes for PA visitors;
• Community sensitivity to tourism and identification of training needs;
• Alternative livelihoods working group leader;
• Developer of stakeholders participation strategy;
• Trainer for PA staff. Workshop on safety outdoors, natural cataclysms and technogenic accidents, behavior in extreme conditions;
• Trainer for workshop on normative and legal base of nature protection and resource use;
• Trainer for workshop on PC uses, web-design and internet.

• Expert in museums and visit centers for PAs;

Section II
Work Plan Implementation

The efforts of project staff members and short-term experts are aimed at the outputs defined in the Project Work Plan. There are six outputs as follows:

Output 1. Strengthened PA Management Capacity

Vacancies and tenders have been announced to fill the project positions and to fulfill project activities. The following contracts have been signed (See Annex 1):

• - An international expert in PA management (training and consulting services on making management plans);
• An international expert to develop management plans for the project protected areas;
• - A Russian expert to develop management plans for the project protected areas.

17 to 20 March, Stephen Fuller, an international consultant, supported by Biodiversity Conservation Center (BCC), Russian specialists, conducted the training in PA management and PA management plan compilation. The workshop attracted the active participation of attendees from the PAs, Project office, representatives of the regional administration and project-implementing organizations. The workshop has acquainted the participants with the international experience of PA management worldwide; with the up-to-date PA planning and management plan compilation systems. The opportunities and ways of adaptation of the project PAs to the international practices have been also addressed. An agreement has been reached with the international consultant about the possibility to provide remote consultations to the Biodiversity Conservation Center all the way through the preparation of the management plans underway. At present BCC planning team tackles the system of stakeholders interaction, gathers and analyses information about the PAs.

PA Directorate offices have been provided with necessary office appliances (PCs, copiers, printers, etc.) The procurement contract has been signed to acquire field equipment, namely, vehicles, snow mobiles, portable radio sets, fire extinguishing equipment, etc. Offices for the Directorates of the Bystrinsky and Nalychevo Nature Parks have been selected. The offices will be acquired when all legal owner-related issues are settled.

Output 2. Improved Biodiversity Information

Three contracts have been concluded with a Russian organization (Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geography institute of FED RAS) and the work is in progress:

• Expert in standardized biodiversity database format;
• Expert to develop common meta-databases for all four PAs;
• Expert to identify biodiversity data gaps and compile the existing information.

Output 3. Sustainable PA financial mechanisms

1. Establishment of Kamchatka Protected Areas Conservation Fund (KPACF).

An optimal phased plan for the design and establishment of trust fund has been developed to date. An international consultant (Barry Spergel) has been contracted to for the first phase of KPACF design. The international consultant will prepare a report on investment capacity and readiness of international donors. Based on the report, the feasibility of trust fund creation will be studied and in case of positive evaluation TOR for the second phase will be eventually worked out.

A short-term expert in international practices of trust funds has worked for 20 days. The expert has compiled information on international trust fund practices, including conservation trust funds experience. The information have been used for KPACF development plan and resulted in the establishment of partnership relations with an expert in conservation trust funds.

A short-term expert in collecting fundraising information for biodiversity conservation started to work on 24.03.03. The expert is currently collecting information from English resources on conservation fund-raising (methodology, procedures, rules).

2. Establishment of Kamchatka Small/Medium Enterprises Support Fund (SMESF):

The tender for the micro-credit component of SMESF has been successfully completed. A contract has been signed with non-governmental Counterpart Business Fund of Khabarovsk. A business mission of the contracted developers has been organized for the purpose of a socio-economic analysis of the Bystrinsky district. The mission involved meetings with the Kamchatka Oblast Administration, the Association of Entrepreneurs, Kamchatka Small Enterprises State Support Fund, etc. The developers have prepared an analytical report. The analytical report includes a socio-economical analysis, description of micro-finance market in Kamchatka and proposals on fund structuring. The socio-economical analysis has been professionally done to disclose actual conditions for small and medium businesses in Kamchatka. SMESF structure and staffing requirements have been justified in detail. Also, a big plus of the report is that it contains preparatory credit products for future SME Support Fund. Currently, SMESF credit policy is worked out.

The vacancy of an international consultant on SMESF has been filled. A contract has been signed with John Yuill, Whyte Reynolds International Inc., Canada. The consultant has submitted an analytical first-phase report. The report contains information on leading international micro-credit institutions the approaches and results of which could be of importance for Kamchatka.

The tender for Small Grants Programme has been closed and a contract with the Far East Eurasia Foundation has been concluded. Currently, a plan of their orientation visit to Kamchatka is prepared. Following the visit to Kamchatka, an analytical report will be provided to define needs and priorities for Small Grants Programme.

The project envisages the obligatory training for SMESF officers. Micro-finance market is missing in Kamchatka and that is why there are practically no qualified specialists in this field. In this respect, an estimate and plan of SMESF staff traineeship for the purpose of training in micro crediting procedures /Small Grants Programme has been prepared.

A short-term expert in SMESF setup issues (1 month contract) has summarized information on micro-finance institutions, SME funds included, in Russia. The acquired information allowed assessing the development level of micro-finance market in Russia, micro-credit products available, legal and organizational aspects of micro-finance activities to be used for SMESF Kamchatka.

Preliminary interviews supported by a micro-credit expert from Counterpart Business Fund have been held with three candidates for SMESF director. The final decision will be taken after the second tour interviews.

Output 4. Institutional Strengthening of PAs.

The following positions have been filled:

• An international expert to develop legal and economical bases for PAs to retain revenues;
• An expert to undertake biodiversity policy analysis;
• An expert to analyze biodiversity conservation legislation;
• An expert to develop tourism promotion legislation;
• An expert to develop a legal and economic base for PAs to retain revenues;
• An expert to provide for stricter penalties in legislation for poaching and other contraventions.

Progress reports of the experts providing for stricter penalties in legislation for poaching and other contraventions and analyzing biodiversity conservation legislation have been reviewed. The reports include brief analyses of federal legislation, gaps and deficiencies and provide some recommendations on how to improve the legislation. Progress reports of the other experts are currently underway.

Output 5. Biodiversity Conservation Awareness and Advocacy.

The tender for the development of the Complex Biodiversity Conservation Awareness Programme has been closed and a winner has been determined. That is EcoCenter "Zapovedniki", Moscow. The program structure proposed by EcoCenter fully meets the terms of reference for this contract. Multi-year experience of EcoCenter experts and extensive connections with environmental education departments in PAs throughout Russia will allow using Russian and international experience. The main sections of the program contained in EcoCenter's tender submission cover all the focal points of the future Programme.

The Far East Branch of the Foreign Trade Academy has won the tender of the development of the conservation curriculum for schools and preschools. The Academy members have successfully addressed various problems of school and preschool upbringing. Works of the academy in the field of environmental education have been repeatedly encouraged at the federal level.

An agreement has been attained with State Television and Radio Company "Kamchatka" on regular broadcasts of a radio programme devoted to project activities and objectives, conservation awareness issues, problems of PAs and strengthening PAs.

One of the most important lines of the project is preparation and publication of informational educational materials. A source book on Kamchatka wilderness protection has been published. The book is called "Let Us Conserve Live Nature of Kamchatka". Leading bibliographers of the region participated in it. The volume, contents and quality of the presented materials make the book convenient and very useful both for specialists and students. The published materials cover the period 1992 to 2003.

Informational project booklets have been edited both in English and in Russian.

The Project web site has been built and is now successfully functioning to deliver information on vacancies, tenders, press releases, published articles and other on-going project events.

A regional scientific and practical conference on environmental education and biodiversity advocacy has been held to drive the attention of scientific circles, students, NGOs and mass media to the issues of biodiversity conservation awareness and advocacy. The results of the conference will underlie the complex awareness-raising programme for Kamchatka.

Output 6. Alternative livelihoods and community based conservation.

In the absence of the corresponding working group leader the activities under this project component have been shared by the other staff members.

International and Russian specialists have been contracted for NTFP assessment - IUCN and a Russian task force headed by Karpukhin N.S.

Section III
Trainings, workshops and roundtables

The Project Plan envisages a good deal of roundtables, consultations, training and refresher training activities for PA staff, project staff, members of local communities. In this connection, it has been decided to allot trainings, roundtables and consultations into a separate line. At present, activities of this kind are held on weekly basis.

A round table with private sector participants in the tourist industry has been held in the Bystrinsky district. The round-table discussions included topics related to the normative and legislative base of the tourism business activity. Tutushkina T.I., the head of tourism department in the Kamchatka Oblast Administration, has participated in the roundtable as an expert to deliver extensive information on this matter. Following the exchange of opinions during the roundtable, corrections have been introduced into training programs for entrepreneurs of the Bystrinsky district.

A workshop on efficient teams and efficient interaction with significative environment has been held for PA managers and project staff. The workshop has been conducted by the highly qualified trainer Dmitry Grigoryev, vice-president of the Charitable Fund named after Samuel Marshak. The training has set both short-term and long-term tasks. Long-term tasks include personnel management improvement, raising labour efficiency, strengthening contact between the PAs and Project Administration. The participants of the training have learnt the approaches to efficient team building in organizations; principles of maintaining the balance of interests inside teams and with third parties; principles of efficient communication and conflict resolution. Short-term tasks include building a model for efficient interaction between the project staff and PA staff; working out the optimal strategy to achieve common objectives; a better comprehension of the teamwork concept and roles of each member. All the participants of the workshop have pointed out that the working ambience had become friendlier and more effective for cooperation within the framework of the project.

Training for PA conservation awareness centres has been initiated. Staff members from the environmental education departments of the four project PAs have completed refresher courses in EcoCenter "Zapovedniki" in Moscow and now they will be able to contribute more to Kamchatka nature parks and reserve awareness. Contacts established with colleagues during the training will help share experience and avoid common mistakes.

A workshop on SME taxation has been held in the Bystrinsky district. The workshop has been conducted by Guseva I.N., head of Kamchatka Oblast and Koryak Okrug inter-district inspection of the Ministry of Taxation. The workshop tackled such SME taxation issues as full and simplified taxation, single tax on imputed income, changes in tax law, difference in taxation of various enterprises, taxation of tourism, hotel and catering businesses.

A workshop on development of tourism activities in PAs has been organized together with the Directorate of nature parks and Administration of the Kamchatka Oblast for tourist operators and other stakeholders. The attendees have learnt the basics of PA functioning in the Kamchatka Oblast, international, federal and regional nature protecting legislations, Russian and international tourism practices in PAs and provision of tourism safety. The workshop has attracted considerable interest, with 115 participants representing the majority of Kamchatka tourist firms. Much positive feedback has been received and it has been suggested that such workshops be conducted on regular basis.

A roundtable has been held with representatives of indigenous communities to identify training needs and coordinate project efforts in development of alternative livelihoods.

It is envisaged that in the nearest future workshops on NTFP-based small and medium businesses and tourism will be held.

Section IV
Current activities

Project staff weekly trainings on topics related to their day-to-day functions are held to improve the efficiency of the Project Administration. Each staff member now and then prepares a report. Also, PA managers deliver trainings to the project staff.

Six project staff members have visited Moscow to participate in UNDP and MNR trainings.

The project officer in the Bystrinsky district, on UICN delegation went to Canada to visit nature parks and traditional indigenous environments and to study established conservation practices.

A group from the project staff has undertaken a business trip to Russia's Far East to assess and study Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) support fund experiences in Khabarovsky Krai, Sakhalin and Primorye (Russia's Maritime Province). Potential participants in the tender for the design of Kamchatka SME Support Fund have been identified. Based on the results of the mission, the decision has been made to separate the design of SME Support Fund and the development of the Small Grants Programme so that two different contractors can carry out these tasks.

Several project staff members have visited Ugra national park to obtain information on PA management, management plan uses, and to get familiar with various park's lines of activity. The possibility to use some of Ugra experience in Kamchatka has been assessed.

The Project budget has been revised to optimize the use of financial means; certain budget lines have been coordinated with donors and contractors to accommodate actual needs and prices.

Weekly meetings have been held with PA representatives to summarize the implemented activities and plan the forthcoming ones. Consultations on essential PA needs, staff increases, office rent, reconstruction and TORs have been conducted.

Exercising the principle of openness and transparency of the Project, the report period has been saturated with meetings with the regional and district authorities, with organizations and local communities. At those meetings the Project officers have been giving information on project activities as well as receiving practical feedback from the regional authorities at different levels. Meetings have been held with Gribkov V.V., the First Vice-Governor -governor of Kamchatka Oblast, with R'iazantseva N.L. and Ribak V.I., the vice-governors, Loginov V.N., the head of Bystrinsky district, Piskun N.M., the head of Elizovo district, with heads of different level departments. A meeting has been held with the Deputies of the Bystrinsky District Duma and the natural resources and environment protection committee of the Regional Legislative Assembly to establish the interaction with the legislative authorities. A concept for project implementation cooperation, practical issues of PA facilities and setting up the legal base for PA functioning have been worked out at those meetings.

Meetings with representatives of indigenous peoples of Kamchatka have outlined collaborative efforts. As is initiated by Mikhaylov A.N., the vice-governor, the project activities have been included into the Indigenous Peoples Complex Development Programme supported by the Kamchatka Oblast Administration. An agreement has been reached to conclude a contract between the Administration and the Project for the co-financing of the given activities.

As a whole, the activities planned for the report period have been successfully implemented.

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