According to the Bank’s website, the objective of the project is to improve the climate resilience of targeted landscapes in southern Moldova and strengthen institutional capacity for climate-informed planning.

The project is structured around the following mutually reinforcing components/outcomes that combine landscape restoration implementation with institutional strengthening and climate-informed planning tools.

Component 1: Climate-informed Restoration Planning and Institutional Capacity Development
Component 2: Climate-Resilient Ecological Infrastructure Restoration in Production Landscapes
Component 3: Advancing Data-Driven Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Planning in the Lower Prut landscape
Component 4: Project Management, communication and reporting.

Together, the four components form an integrated EbA investment package addressing institutional planning constraints, ecological infrastructure deficits and technical decision-support gaps currently limiting implementation of climate-resilient landscape restoration interventions across southern Moldova.

Component 1 establishes restoration prioritization frameworks and implementation readiness required to guide climate-informed restoration investments.
Component 2 delivers landscape-scale ecological infrastructure restoration interventions reducing climate exposure of agricultural and forest ecosystems.
Component 3 strengthens technical decision-support capacity supporting identification of long-term adaptation pathways in climate-sensitive floodplain systems.
Component 4 ensures effective coordination, fiduciary management, environmental and social compliance, monitoring and evaluation, communication, and results reporting necessary for timely and accountable implementation.

Combined implementation of these components strengthens resilience of production landscapes across southern Moldova while supporting implementation of national forest expansion priorities and improving the capacity of institutions and communities to respond to increasing climate variability through EbA approaches.

The Environmental Risk of the project is assessed as Substantial due to the scale, geographic dispersion, and cumulative nature of the proposed ecosystem based adaptation interventions, combined with the ecological sensitivity of the target landscapes and uncertainty at Concept stage regarding site selection . The project under Component 2 will finance large scale afforestation, reforestation, assisted natural regeneration, rehabilitation of degraded forest ecosystems, establishment of shelterbelts, restoration of riparian buffers, and expansion of nursery infrastructure across southern Moldova. While individually these interventions are intended to deliver positive environmental outcomes, their simultaneous implementation across interconnected forest, agricultural, pasture, and riparian systems introduces the potential for cumulative impacts on soil stability, hydrology, biodiversity, and habitat connectivity that cannot be fully defined at Concept stage. In particular, restoration activities in hydrologically dynamic areas such as the Lower Prut basin and other riparian systems may affect sediment transport, water quality, and floodplain ecology if not carefully designed, sequenced, and monitored. In addition, environmental risk is elevated by uncertainty related to site specific ecological conditions and sensitivities, as final project sites will be confirmed only after appraisal. At this stage, it is not possible to rule out the presence of ecologically sensitive habitats, high value biodiversity areas, or zones requiring specialized management, including areas near Ramsar designated wetlands should they be included at later stages.

The Social Risk is assessed as Substantial due to land-based interventions affecting vulnerable, land-dependent rural populations, combined with uncertainty around land use arrangements and potential access restrictions at the Concept stage. Activities will be implemented on state, municipal, and communal lands, including areas used by smallholder farmers for production and grazing. While land acquisition and use of informal or customary tenure are not anticipated, interventions such as afforestation, shelterbelts, and riparian buffers may result in temporary or localized restrictions on access to land and natural resources, particularly affecting pasture users. Risk is further elevated by high vulnerability in southern Moldova, where livelihoods depend heavily on land productivity and adaptive capacity is limited. Smallholder farmers are the primary group likely to be affected, and even short-term changes in land use or access may disproportionately impact poorer households if not carefully managed. While significant community resistance is not expected, political sensitivities and perceptions of inequitable site selection or benefit distribution could lead to stakeholder contestation in the absence of adequate engagement.

IBRD Commitment: US$ 10.00 million
Green Climate Fund (grant): US$ 39.28 million
Total Project Cost: US$ 49.28 million

World Bank
Fisseha Tessema Abissa
Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist

Borrower/Client/Recipient
Republic of Moldova

Implementing Agencies
Ministry of Environment

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