China: Guangxi Beihai Lianzhou Bay Marine Ecological Restoration and Protection Project

proposed

The Lianzhou Bay is the largest estuarine delta in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi) and vital to the economy, environment and society of the Beihai Municipality and Guangxi. The ecosystem of the Lianzhou Bay has been under increasing environmental pressure while the local economic development is outpacing the protection of the costal environment. The Bay is polluted and eutrophicated by pollutants from both terrestrial and marine sources; mangrove habitat is degrading, and biodiversity is declining; infrastructure and society are vulnerable to costal hazards. Meanwhile, climate change impacts aggravate the vulnerability of infrastructure and society to intensified natural hazards including costal floods and storm surges. These have become the limiting factors to the Beihai Municipality and Guangxi for further economic development, particularly to the government's ambition towards an upgraded ocean economic development. Component 1 - Near-shore marine pollution management and environmental improvement (Cost USD272 million). This component will support interventions to manage the pollution of the Lianzhou Bay in an integrated manner - from source to sea. Two major activities to be financed in this component are: (i) clean-up of the polluted sediments of the Bay area through dredging and disposal; (ii) management of the source of pollution from the land side through upgrading the urban stormwater and sewerage systems, interception and treatment of polluted discharges. Component 2 - Mangrove rehabilitation and afforestation (Cost USD50 million). This component will consist of two types of activities: (i) rehabilitation and protection of the degraded mangrove habitats; and (ii) restoration and plantation of new mangroves to rebuild the mangrove forest. These interventions will recover the degraded marine wetlands and ecosystems, improve biodiversity and ecological services, protect the coastal areas from natural hazards, and establish a “blue carbon” storage for climate resilience. Component 3 - Integrated coastline management (Cost USD153 million). This component will finance (i) restoration and stabilization of coastline interfacing the Lianzhou Bay and the urban districts of Beihai; (ii) construction and upgrading of sea dikes. The first sub-component is to restore the degraded coastline through beach nourishment, restoration of coastal wetlands, landscaping, and improvement of wastewater management network along the coast to reduce pollution to the Bay system through interception of stormwater and wastewater discharges. The dikes will use both the traditional engineering method and nature-based solutions, including restoration and conservation of floodplains, salt marshes and mangroves. Component 4 - Smart monitoring and early warning systems (Cost USD8 million). This component will develop an online monitoring system for mangrove development and protection, and an early warning system to prevent costal disasters and support emergency response. Digital technologies, including sensor-based, web-based and Global Positioning System (GPS)-based information collection and transfer, Geographical Information System (GIS)-based modeling, will be applied for real-time monitoring and forecasting to support decision making in emergency and disaster management. Component 5 - Capacity building, knowledge dissemination and project management support (Cost USD8 million). This component focuses on capacity building and knowledge sharing in the following areas: (i) the Project related studies on a) mangrove blue carbon sequestration and biodiversity, b) benefits of NBS for climate resilience and the Project sustainability; (ii) methodology and capacity development, based on the study results, to monitor and evaluate the project achievements and impact; (iii) knowledge dissemination through awareness raising, designed trainings, organized events nationally and internationally; and (iv) project management support to build up the capacity of the project management office and project implementation unit for project implementation.