Natural Resources and Environmental Governance Project

closed

This program document in a series of three, development policy operation (DPO-1) to the Republic of Ghana for special drawing rights to support the Government of Ghana (GoG) as it implements reforms under its Natural Resources and Environmental Governance (NREG) program. The NREG program has been developed and is fully owned by Ghana's relevant governmental agencies. This first DPO focuses on a set of policies and reforms in the inter-related sectors of forestry and wildlife, mining, and environmental protection intended to: (a) ensure predictable and sustainable financing of the forest and wildlife sectors and effective forest law enforcement; (b) improve mining sector revenue collection, management, and transparency; (c) address social issues in forest and mining communities; and (d) mainstream environment into growth through strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment, and development of a climate change strategy. The DPO will also support GoG's efforts to address the emerging oil sector and to adopt a more holistic, integrated approach to the management of its extractive industries. The programmatic DPO series is expected to provide three types of benefits. First, direct benefits expected at completion of the series include: (a) improved management of government revenues and finances in the forestry and mining sectors; (b) reduced illegal logging; (c) reduced social conflict in forestry and mining communities; and (d) integration of environmental considerations into policy formulation and implementation across government, including risks associated with climate change. In addition, there are two intermediate benefits. The first is providing the framework for International Development Association (IDA) to deepen and expand its engagement in Ghana's natural resources governance reforms, which to date have been supported to a more limited extent under the Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSC).