Gazetted Forests Management Project 2 (WB-P508182)

Countries
  • Benin
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
May 5, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Benin - Ministry of Economy and Finance / Ministry of Environment and Transport
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 74.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 74.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Mar 3, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Dec 19, 2024

Contribute Information
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Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the objective of this project is to improve the integrated management of targeted GFs, to increase access of the main consumption cities to fuelwood produced sustainably, and to strengthen selected value chains for forest-dependent communities.

The project is articulated around the following four components: (i) Support to Forest Governance; (ii) Integrated Management of Gazetted Forests; (iii) Development of Selected Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Value Chains; and (iv) project management.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

At the design stage, the project is considered to present a moderate environmental and social risk. The environmental risk is rated moderate because the project aims to enhance the integrated management of 15 Gazetted Forests through actions with significant environmental and climate benefits, including reforestation, tree planting, biodiversity monitoring, and agroecological promotion. It also involves small infrastructure activities, such as the rehabilitation of forest administration buildings, development of boreholes, and rehabilitation of forest tracks. These activities will lead to localized, temporary environmental impacts but are not expected to pose critical, irreversible, or unprecedented risks to the gazetted forests.

The main environmental risks and impacts include the destruction of wildlife habitat, vegetation loss, landscape alteration, soil erosion, waste production, potential water, soil, and air pollution, modification of soil structure, and the possible destruction of soil microorganisms from chemicals pesticides. Reforestation and plantations in the dry season may lead to high water consumption, potentially straining local water resources. The social risk is also moderate but includes specific considerations.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

IDA Shorter Maturity Loan (SML): US$ 74.00 million


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

World Bank

Jean-Dominique Luc Marie Bescond
Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist

Manuela Ravina da Silva
Senior Environmental Specialist

Borrower/Client/Recipient

Ministry of Economy and Finance

Implementing Agencies

Ministry of Environment and Transport
Elias Hamidou Seko
Project Coordinator
ehamidouseko@gouv.bj

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works