• National and Regional Programming Context

• GEF Programming Context

• GPA Programming Context

• Implementing Agency Programming Context

National and Regional Programming context

Support for a regional approach in the management of the SJRB was forthcoming as early as the XIII Summit of Central American Presidents, held in Panama in December of 1992. The Central American Action Plan for the Development of Border Zones, in which the San Juan River Basin was named as a priority area led to the 1994 request, by the governments of Costa Rica and Nicaragua to UNEP and the OAS, to undertake a diagnostic study on the state of the SJRB environment. That study was carried out during 1995-1996 by MINAE and MARENA, and published in 1997 as the "Diagnostic Study of the San Juan River Basin and Guidelines for an Action Plan". The proposed SAP formulation program reflects the prioritized view of the countries. Policy and programmatic limitation imposed by the GEF as well as community- and country-level priorities, govern the emphases placed on the various activities included in the SAP formulation program.

The execution of the SJRB project also contributed to the implementation of the priorities set under the Central American Alliance for Sustainable Development, agreed by the Central American Presidents in October 1994.

These priorities include a variety of economic goals, such as development of border areas, conservation of natural resources, and protection of biodiversity; and specifically reference strengthening the Meso-American biological corridor, achieving sustainable use of water resources, and protecting the integrity of drainage basins. The Joint Declaration of the XXX Meeting of Central American Vice-Presidents, agreed in Managua on May 7, 1999, further noted the "desire to continue supporting the sustainable development of all border areas in the region." The currently proposed project to develop a Strategic Action Program (SAP) for the SJRB will further contribute to this regional initiative, as well as to the development of an Action Plan for Integrated Water Resources Management on the Central American Isthmus, being prepared by the Central American Commission of Environment and Development (CCAD) and the Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SICA) -- in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch.

This latter plan aims to build national and regional capacities in the field of integrated water resources management on a foundation of watershed planning, a stronger legal framework, and better institutional and organizational capabilities. The present project would allow Nicaragua and Costa Rica to proceed with a vanguard action in the region and to gain experience and technical capabilities that could later be shared with the other countries of the isthmus in the framework of the Plan.

To this end, both countries have given great importance to assuring that local governments become aware of the need to work together on environmental problems and to use natural resources in a sustainable fashion. In Nicaragua, municipal associations have been created to promote the protection of the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua. In Costa Rica, municipalities in the basin have come together to form an association. Recently a federation of border municipalities from both countries was set up to pursue various goals, including environmental management. It should be said, however, that these organizations are still young and weak, and have not yet clearly delineated their work by basins and subbasins.

Finally, while the SJRB project calls for the identification of strategies for the resolution of environmental problems shared by the two countries, all jurisdictional aspects related to the management of the coastal zone and nearshore marine area are beyond the scope of this project and will be addressed in other ways by the basin governments.

GEF Programming Context

Both countries are eligible for GEF assistance under paragraph 9b of the Instrument for the Restructured GEF. This Project conforms with the GEF Operational Strategy and Operational Programs, in particular the Water-body based Operational Program #8 . It will illustrate how freshwater basin and coastal management can be integrated to resolve transboundary issues and will also serve as a demonstration project for the implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) in Latin America.

GPA Programming Context

The goal of the GPA (adopted by 109 governments at the Washington Conference in November 1995) is to prevent degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities by assisting States in preventing and reducing major threats to the health, productivity and biodiversity of the marine environment resulting from human activities on land and in coastal areas. Thus, the GPA is designed to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance to assist States in taking action, individually or jointly within their respective policies, priorities and resources, that will lead to the prevention, reduction, control and/or elimination of degradation of the marine environment, as well as to its recovery from the impacts of land-based activities.

Implementing Agency Programming Context

The proposed actions are consistent with the UNEP Environmentally Sound Management of Inland Waters (EMINWA) integrated watershed management planning process and related, regional seas programme. The proposed actions are also consistent with UNEP’s role under the GPA/LBA.

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