Philippines

This study provides an overview of the issues and challenges related to the private financing of hydropower projects in developing countries. From the very limited pool... Show More + of projects that have already reached or are nearing financial closure, ten have been chosen for the study from five countries with the most active in promoting private hydro development. Collectively the case study projects provide a reasonable cross-section of private hydro schemes that have been or are being developed. The financing of greenfield private infrastructure on a limited-recourse basis in developing countries faces certain common issues irrespective of the type of project. However, hydropower faces additional difficulties caused by the site-specific nature of projects, high construction risk and long construction periods, their capital-intensive nature with a high proportion of local costs, unpredictable output subject to river flows and broader water management constraints, complex concession process to achieve transparency in the award and pricing of output, and environmental sensitivities. The study suggests the need for longer-term financing to better suit hydropower characteristics, a regulatory framework and realistic public-private risk-sharing arrangements responsive to the requirements of hydropower projects, and the careful preparation of projects by the public sector to enable their formulation on an adequate technical and contractual basis for development as a private concession. Show Less -

Following the publication in 1993 of the World Bank's policy paper on "Water Resources Management," the World Bank Institute/Learning and Leadership Center initiated... Show More + a training program on water policy reform, based on the principles outlined in the policy paper. A series of national, regional, and international seminars was organized to disseminate best practices in water resources management and to stimulate high-level policy dialogue on policy options in the water sector. Within the irrigation subsector, the WBI training program focused on policies that encourage participation of the irrigation users in managing the irrigation systems on which their livelihoods depend. While the basic principles of PIM (participatory irrigation management), outlined in chapter 1,seem intuitively sound and even obvious, there are surprisingly few cases in which PIM policies are adopted and fully implemented on a national level. This report comprises studies of situations where PIM seem to have worked. Case studies focus on Mexico, Turkey, Colombia, and the Philippines. These studies resulted from a collaboration between the WBI and the International Water Management Institute. They address the political antecedents of PIM polices, the process of implementing the policies, and the second-generation challenges of sustaining PIM. Show Less -

The question of whether decentralization fosters rural development and whether it does so in ways that are environmentally and socially sustainable, was the topic of... Show More + a World Bank research project, "Decentralization, Fiscal Systems, and Rural Development." This report resulted from that prior investigation. It contains 10 country studies, each including two or three best-practice case studies. Analyses from 32 projects shed light on the process by which central public authorities redistribute rights and duties to local or private ones; the implications of this process are given for the conservation of natural ecosystems and biodiversity. The authors conclude that it is hard to generalize about what will or will not work in rural development or conservation for any given location because, for one, the costs of biodiversity conservation are often borne locally, whereas its benefits may accrue to regional, national, and global levels of society. Moreover, ecosystems vary greatly in their ability to yield local revenue or to support alternative land use, sustainable or otherwise. To maximize the benefit and minimize the risk of decentralization, the authors emphasize local participation, capacity building, incentive structures, conditional subsidies, appropriate enforcement, stakeholder forums and ecoregional executives, and a clear and supportive framework for conservation built by policies, laws, and institutions that create incentives at the local level to harmonize development and conservation and so reduce the need for enforcement. Show Less -

The purpose of this study is to address the most significant issues of natural resource management in the Philippines. The natural resources of concern in this study... Show More + include principally vegetation, notably forests and their watershed functions; soils, together with their nutrient stocks; water supplies, used for irrigated agriculture, hydropower, and industrial and household needs; and fisheries, both marine and inland. The issues addressed concern the extent and rate of degradation of these resource stocks, the impact thereof on the natural economy, and the scope for ameliorative measures through policy responses and management changes. The initial sections of the report deal with the status of the natural resource base and the process leading to its degradation, including the fundamental causes. Subsequent sections evaluate the public and private institutions involved in resource management; and apply a largely economic perspective in reviewing the social costs of degradation, critiquing alternative interventions, and examining the impacts of the economic environment. The final section outlines a comprehensive strategy for improving natural resource management combining institutional and policy reforms with programs of extension and public investment. Show Less -