Introducing the Tisza Biodiversity Project
CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF THE GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT BIODIVERSITY OF THE TISZA RIVER FLOODPLAIN THROUGH INTEGRATED FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT
Short summary
The project will mainstream biodiversity conservation within floodplain management across the Tisza River Floodplain. The project will significantly improve floodplain and landscape management at Tisza valley (app. 1,600 km2) through activities within pilot sites, while moderately influencing an estimated area of 9,400 km2 (about 20% of the Great Hungarian Plain) applying participatory territorial planning and bottom up approaches for supportive policy environment and institutional capacity at the national level.
The Project Immediate Objective is to establish biodiversity friendly, holistic floodplain management as the dominant development paradigm in the Upper Tisza floodplain. Four Intermediate Outcomes will contribute to this.
First, the Project will establish a sustainable regional mechanism (the Platform) to support local Initiatives and provide them with a direct communication channel to national decision-makers.
Second, with support from the Project, the Platform will develop tools for supporting IHFM.
Third, each Initiative will develop an Action Plan, and the Project will contribute to its implementation.
Fourth, the integrated holistic floodplain management (IHFM) pro-biodiversity approach will be mainstreamed into the Hungarian national (i.e. VTT and NAEP-related) policy.
Implementation Agencies
A national Project Steering Committee (PSC) will oversee all project activities, approving annual work plans and major outputs, helping coordinate activities, and helping the project to interact effectively with the National Agri-environmental Program (NAEP) and the Vásárhelyi Plan Further development (VTT). PSC will consist of members from ministries and other responsible stakeholders.
Considering that the PSC is sitting twice a year, to assure the support and advise to the PM Team between PCS sittings a Project Board (PB) is established composed of selected members of the PSC. With other words, the PB will be composed of the National Project Director, Project Manager, Monitoring Officer, Hortobágy National Park Directorate (HNPD) Financial Director, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) focal point and the representative of UNDP. In case when PB is not able or wanting to make decisions alone it will initiate proposals to be forwarded to the PSC. It will also be consulted by the PM in relationship to various operative and professional matters during implementation.
The Project will be executed according to UNDP rules and regulations under the NEX execution by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW) as Executing Agency (EA). The EA will appoint a senior official as National Project Director (NPD) who will be assisted by a National Monitoring Officer (MO), carrying out duties described in his/her ToR. Considering that the implementation team of the Implementing Agency (IA – see below) is located at the project site, the MO has a duty to carry out liaising, coordination with ministries, assist in monitoring and reporting.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will play a close supporting role through appointed project focal point, who has full responsibility to coordinate the work related to VTT in the Ministry.
The project will be implemented by the Hortobágy National Park Directorate (HNPD) as Implementing Agency, having its headquarter in the project area. A Program Management Unit (PMU) established and located at the HNPD will carry out the project implementation.
In the first year, the PMU will also play a key technical role, ensuring that technical support is available to the Initiatives of the Project. As soon as possible (probably in the second year), this role will be taken over by the Tisza Floodplain Technical Support Office (TFTO) to be established by the project and staffed and run by the people originally hired to staff and run the PMU.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the development arm of the United Nations, was designated by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as one of its three Implementing Agencies. The GEF, established in 1991, helps developing countries fund projects and programmes that protect the global environment. GEF grants support projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.
You can download complet description of the Program, in English:
