| Project Detail |
The technical assistance (TA) will support the preparation of strategies and policies for coastal resilience in highly urbanized areas of Guangdong province in line with the priorities of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The TA will leverage the knowledge, finance, and partnerships of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to (i) identify institutional and policy constraints on coastal resilience, (ii) develop an effective coastal resilience planning, (iii) utilize green financing to support coastal resilience, and (iv) improve management capacity as well as knowledge and support for coastal resilience.
Project Name Research on Ecological Protection and Restoration Strategies and Policies of Coastal Zones in Guangdong’s Highly Urbanized Areas
Project Number 57113-001
Country / Economy China, Peoples Republic of
Project Status Approved
Project Type / Modality of Assistance Technical Assistance
The technical assistance (TA) will support the preparation of strategies and policies for coastal resilience in highly urbanized areas of Guangdong province in line with the priorities of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The TA will leverage the knowledge, finance, and partnerships of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to (i) identify institutional and policy constraints on coastal resilience, (ii) develop an effective coastal resilience planning, (iii) utilize green financing to support coastal resilience, and (iv) improve management capacity as well as knowledge and support for coastal resilience.
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy
Guangdong is a coastal province in the PRC with a coastline of 4,084.48 kilometers, one-quarter of the total coastline length of the country. Guangdongs economy is currently the largest of all provinces in the PRC, contributing 10.6% of the gross domestic product in 2022. Guangdongs population and economic density is far higher than the national average, and it is a key area for the high-quality development of the countrys economy. As a province with extensive marine resources, Guangdong plays a pivotal role in the countrys economic and social development. Driven by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and population growth and concentration, varying levels of environmental degradation have occurred. There has been large-scale development of coastal resources, which has led to damage to the coastal ecosystems constraining their sustainability.
Guangdong has been beset by serious problems, such as inefficient and over exploitive use of resources, and a decline in the carrying capacity of its ecological resources. Reclamation and agricultural cultivation since the 1980s have substantially reduced natural shorelines, coastal wetlands and estuaries, and biodiversity and resulted in damage to ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds. The transformation from natural shoreline to artificial shoreline is caused by intensive economic and social activities in highly urbanized areas. Because of the extreme development in these areas, pollutants are discharged through industrial and domestic wastewater, resulting in eutrophication of the offshore waters causing frequent "red tides". The excessive use of fertilizer on farmland has exacerbated this situation. Ecological restoration is thus important to ensure the sustainability for the polluted and damaged coastal ecosystems of Guangdong.
Coastline resilience and restoration is essential to marine ecological protection and restoration. It is also essential to have priority wetlands under restored and protected in coastal areas to achieve the goals under of the Regional Flyway Initiative. Although coastline restoration in Guangdong has been carried out for many years using various project types, simulation methods, and engineering measures, there are still analytical gaps in the countermeasures, institutional arrangements, and management systems. There is a lack of unified oversight for overall integrated planning, coordination, and linkages among various special plans for both land and marine areas, resulting in contradictions and conflicts in remediation, restoration, development, and resource utilization. Relevant government departments are trying to establish coordination and cooperation mechanisms to assess and value coastline natural resource assets as well as are developing systematic and scientific valuation methods and ecological compensation mechanisms for coastline resources. Guangdongs project management systems and mechanisms are not sound and lack effective supervision and inspection regulations, risk management measures, performance evaluation methods, reward and penalty incentives, and .stakeholder engagement. Urgent reforms are needed to create a systematic, standardized, and effective governance structure and policies.
Impact
Coastal ecosystem services in highly urbanized areas of Guangdong province improved |
