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Dossier on biodiversity projects in a fragile context
Biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources
The accusations of human rights violations in nature conservation areas supported by KfW Development Bank since the summer of 2017, especially in the Congo Basin, have been taken very seriously by KfW. KfW repudiates all forms of violence and expresses its sympathy to victims of violence and their families.
Following an incident near the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in eastern DR Congo in August 2017, the Rainforest Foundation UK shared the first reports on incidents in the vicinity of the Salonga National Park with KfW in May 2018. Since then, there have been indications of possible human rights violations in other protected areas. Violent clashes have also occurred recently between rangers, poachers, illegal mine operators and local communities.
KfW immediately called on the state project-executing agencies responsible on the ground and other partners involved, such as the WWF in the case of the Salonga National Park, to clarify all allegations immediately and fully. KfW is engaged in ongoing dialogue with representatives of these institutions and is involved in further developments.
Biodiversity describes the diversity of species, ecosystems and habitats. They must interact effectively if systems useful for humans are to emerge. We depend on these systems for basic needs such as food, clean air and drinking water; they protect us from disasters like floods and landslides and are essential for climate change mitigation as CO2 sinks. But biodiversity is under threat because habitats are being destroyed or natural resources overused, e.g. by poaching, overfishing or mining. As a result, species are irrecoverably lost and ecosystems are thrown off balance. Scientists are already talking about the sixth mass extinction of species in geological history. Climate change will further accelerate this process. The latest report of the World Biodiversity Council (IPBES) dated 6 May 2019 has made absolutely clear how pressing this issue is. The international community has set goals under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to address the loss of biodiversity. Effective measures are needed to implement them: in 2020, the CBD will reach further decisions at its Conference of Parties in China by 2030 to conserve biodiversity on the planet.
Through the financing activities of KfW, Germany has become one of the world's biggest donors for biodiversity conservation. KfW is currently supporting projects in 51 partner countries. Between 2014 and 2018 KfW committed a total of EUR 2.1 billion to projects to conserve biodiversity. With 46%, almost half of the funds will benefit Latin America and the Caribbean, 24% Africa, 14% Asia and 9% Europe/Caucasus. 7% of the funds are allocated to supra-regional measures. In these efforts, KfW is cooperating closely with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and non-governmental organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Frankfurt Zoo-logical Society (ZGF). These have many years of experience in project work dealing with how nature conservation and local livelihoods can be intelligently combined.
KfW pursues the goal of preserving natural habitats as extensively as possible. In most cases, the measures benefit protected areas that have existed for decades; new protected areas are less often designated in nature conservation projects. Management is improved in these protected areas, taking into account the interests of local user groups, or permanent financing mechanisms are established. The aim is to preserve the protected areas in the long term. KfW also promotes the sustainable management of natural resources, e.g. in forest management projects. These projects include incentives for forest conservation, e.g. through remuneration systems such as those provided for in the international REDD programme (REDD - Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).
KfW-financed projects for the conservation of biodiversity are designed as integrated programmes that always focus both on preserving valuable ecosystems and in particular on supporting human livelihoods, especially for indigenous and other particularly vulnerable population groups. In an effort to meet this high standard, KfW has committed to complying with international environmental and social standards, which are a prerequisite for financial commitment in all projects. The binding standards for the assessment of human rights are defined in KfW Development Bank's sustainability guidelines (PDF, 551 KB, non-accessible). These stipulate that the standards of the World Bank Group, the Human Rights Guidelines of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement must be observed in Financial Cooperation projects implemented by KfW on behalf of the German Federal Government.
KfW reviews the human rights context both in the run-up to and during the implementation of all projects as part of its environmental and social management system. The resulting due diligence obligations incorporate the provisions of the BMZ Human Rights Guidelines and international standards and aim to identify and mitigate human rights risks arising from the concrete protection measures of the respective protected area. Appropriate measures include, for example, advising the partner organisations on relevant norms and standards in protected area management and the inclusion of corresponding requirements in relevant documents of the nature conservation authorities. Their implementation is supported by on-site workshops and training measures. These include, in particular, training of park employees on human rights standards, the application of the principle of proportionality when defending against threats, and interaction with neighbouring communities.
However, the implementation of the applicable environmental and social standards poses a major challenge for projects in protected areas especially in fragile contexts with a volatile security situation (e.g. in the Congo Basin). It often requires a process in which setbacks are possible or – depending on the initial situation – even likely. KfW is responding to this situation with additional measures tailored to the context of the protected area, which are currently being reviewed and further developed. These include incorporating human rights requirements into the training of rangers in accordance with relevant international standards, the additional use of consultants for ad hoc situation analyses on the ground and strengthening of local complaint mechanisms.
Biodiversity conservation benefits the entire world population in different ways. The local community however derive the largest gains because livelihoods are preserved. It is obvious that nature conservation can only be successful by working with local residents and not against them.
During the project preparation phase, meetings are held with civil society representatives of the local community to win their support. Already at this point it is clear that conflicting interests often need to be balanced, which is taken into account in the respective project design. Conflicts between different stakeholders are to be expected over the course of the project. In these cases, KfW aims to make a contribution to conflict resolution during project implementation.
When nature conservation areas are designated, restrictions are imposed on how they can be used – for example, hunting of wild animals, logging, and clearing of land for agriculture are restricted or prohibited. Reconciling interests with the traditional rights of the local population is therefore an integral part of the preparation and implementation of measures within the scope of our protected area projects, but unrestricted use of resources would be contrary to the nature conservation goals. To create and maintain awareness and acceptance of the measures, mechanisms for involving the population in decision-making processes are strengthened in protected area management, e.g. in the form of regular meetings of park management and representatives of the local authorities. It is also important to promote alternative sources of income that are compatible with biodiversity conservation as compensation for the restrictions on use. These can be generated, for example, by salary payments through jobs and training in the area of park management (e.g. as park guards, trackers, construction workers, etc.), or through impulses for general economic development in the neighbouring areas (e.g. repairing schools or rehabilitating roads, trails or bridges).
In its declaration on respect for human rights in its business operations, KfW Group committed to respecting and protecting international human rights in its sphere of influence already in 2008. Human rights are therefore the non-negotiable basis of every KfW commitment. This applies not only in a moral sense, but also in contractual terms. Any violation of human rights standards committed or tolerated by KfW's project partners is a violation of contractual agreements. KfW urges the institutions involved – the project-executing agency, the authorities of the partner government, other participating organisations and consultants – to clarify the circumstances immediately and provide all information on each incident that it becomes aware of. If necessary, KfW sends its own staff to assess the situation on the ground. At the same time, it is aware that in many regions there is no rule of law and that judicial systems are weak. Moreover, KfW cannot and will not influence individual decisions by judicial authorities. As long as the allegations are not satisfactorily resolved and credible countermeasures undertaken, contractual sanction mechanisms ranging from suspended payments to recovery of funds already disbursed will apply.
The withdrawal of KfW and other donor organisations would help neither the conservation of biodiversity nor the protection of human rights. KfW sees a role for development cooperation also in contributing to the enforcement of human rights in a difficult environment characterised by violence and weak institutions. For all people in conflict areas – including the rangers – living and working under the prevailing conditions poses existential dangers. In order to achieve that the stakeholders align their activities with human rights standards, active external support is a key influencing factor. KfW and other international development finance institutions are working rigorously – with contracts and sanctions, but also with incentives and advice – to ensure that sensitivity to human rights and a zero tolerance policy for violations are established as a routine practice of its partner organisations. As the incidents in the Congo basin show, this work is not always easy and often needs to be backed up by a variety of measures. However, the risk of setbacks would be even greater if external donors were to cease their commitment and the associated critical observation and financial incentives no longer took place.
Discontinuing development cooperation would have fatal consequences with regard to biodiversity. Without financial support from external donors, the chances of success for nature conservation in developing countries would rapidly decline because poor economic conditions and high population growth in many places put pressure on natural resources. This is even more true in conflict areas, where many people are primarily concerned with ensuring their daily survival. Functioning ecosystems like those in the Congo Basin (the world's second largest uninterrupted tropical forest area) are as irreplaceable as they are indispensable – for the planet as a whole, and especially for local people whose current and future livelihoods are at stake.
Detailed investigations have been and are being conducted on every incident known to KfW. To this end, KfW relies on information to be provided by its partner organisations and on findings obtained with the help of consultants and its own staff on the ground. KfW has suspended payments in all projects for which the allegations have not yet been sufficiently clarified. However, there is no general payment freeze for projects involving WWF.
The large number of incidents has shown that there is a need for improvement in the mechanisms created in national park projects in the Congo Basin to prevent and to deal with human rights viola-tions. For continued work in the region, the processes agreed with the organisations involved will be reviewed and adapted if necessary. In the specific case of the allegations in the vicinity of the Salonga National Park in the DR Congo, KfW commissioned external social experts to analyse how the incidents have been dealt with so far and to identify action areas for necessary adjustments. This study will be independently followed and reviewed by the German Institute for Human Rights and shall be completed by February 2020 at the latest. KfW will then inform the public of the findings and conclusions.
Other analyses and studies have been initiated or partially completed by WWF and other stakeholders. KfW maintains close dialogue with all institutions on the findings.
