Programme d'appui aux Collectivites Villageoises (PACV)/ Projet de Gestion Integree des Ecosystemes (PGIE) : evaluation environnementale et sociale du PGIE

The Guinea Community Based Land Management Project pilots the integration of improved land management practices into the overall development planning process of communities and local governments in selected pilot sub-watersheds. This report anticipates likely negative environmental impacts connected to the project and makes recommendation to alleviate them. The subprojects financed under the project will generate environmental and social impacts at the local, regional, and national levels. This analysis focuses in particular on the project component concerned with capacity building of communities and decentralized agents to promote new land management techniques where subprojects may involve reforestation and private and community silviculture development, measures to fight erosion, agroforestry practices, compost manufacturing, water management techniques, and pastoral management, among others. Negative impacts arising from these subprojects could include the selection of harmful species when replanting trees, decreased water quality and reduced water availability caused by revenue-generating activities, and topsoil loss and water impacts from increased animal husbandry. Persons affected by loss of fertile land should be compensated; put in place a framework to control water distribution, avoid areas used for subsistence activities, and determine the mechanism for resolving conflicts over land and water use; to avoid nuisance from odors, locate the work site far from residential areas, pretreat waste before disposal and recycle organic waste as compost and use as natural fertilizer; to avoid groundwater and underground water pollution, control agrochemicals used as pesticides and manage organic waste; inform and educate the community about disease spread, distribute retroviral drugs, and adopt preventive measures; and use biological, chemical and mechanical means to protect against the proliferation of invasive aquatic species, while protecting the natural habitats of native species.