BACKGROUND
	PROJECT OBJECTIVES
	CURRENT STATUS

Lebanon is a small country, 10,450 square kilometers in area, but endowed with a diverse range of environments, including coastal, mountainous, desert, and semi-arid systems. Over half of its land surface consists of rocky, non-cultivated lands and degraded rangelands. Forest cover is very limited. Uncontrolled cutting for trees, forest fires, and overgrazing of denuded areas are resulting in degraded forest cover, watershed degradation, high rates of soil erosion, and threatened biodiversity.

A wide range of policy and institutional changes are required to overcome inappropriate economic policies, weak institutional settings, unenforceable laws and regulations, outdated technologies, and insufficient capital resources for the environment. DAI is performing three different activities for USAID/Lebanon: the Lebanon Water Policy Program, the Lebanon Environmental Program Assessment, and the Lebanon Environmental Analysis.

Water Policy Program

The Lebanon Water Policy Program is the largest of the three components and provides opportunities for key decision-makers to assess best practices and appropriate policy options. DAI facilitates understanding on critical policies, procedures, and action plans for the water sector in order to spur reform. The water policy program emerged from major water issues raised in consultations with national government officials, regional officers, private sector representatives, end users, and other stakeholders.

USAID's Water Sector Program focuses on three critical policy and implementation areas: private sector participation (PSP), water services pricing, and local-level participation. To incorporate PSP, DAI is building expertise within a select group of government officials who will then spread PSP through a Senior Interagency PSP Policy Committee. The new committee will conduct seminars, develop technical working groups, and develop a strategic common vision.

DAI operated with the Ministry of Energy and Water Reform to form a working group in order to address the issue of water services pricing. The working group includes representatives from the ministry, water authorities, wastewater authorities, and other key institutions. In setting new pricing policies, goals include formulating new tariff structures, improving accountability among utility providers, and increasing the efficiency and quality of service.

For Local-Level Participation, DAI fosters collaborative planning in water management in the USAID village cluster program. Through training sessions and workshops, DAI facilitates agreement on implementation issues, provide technical expertise for mutual fact-finding, support internet and other computer-based interventions, and develop mechanisms to address post-project issues with other contractors.

Lebanon Program Environment Assessment

As part of developing its 1997-2002 strategy for Lebanon, USAID/Lebanon conducted an Environmental Policy Assessment that identified and recommended a range of policy options to strengthen environmental management in Lebanon (November 1997). The Assessment concentrated on various environmental priorities, the work done by assorted parties to address these issues, and any gaps in the effort. It also outlined individual options or specific medium-term and long-term policy reforms and institution strengthening.

The Lebanon Environmental Program Assessment will update the 1997 Environmental Policy Assessment, taking into account developments and activities that have occurred in Lebanon since the original document was written. The purpose of this environmental program assessment is to identify strategic opportunities for targeted policy and technical assistance that USAID/Lebanon can undertake. DAI will organize a workshop to present possible environmental activities, followed by the production of an Environmental Program Assessment Report.

Lebanon Environmental Analysis

The Lebanon Environmental Analysis will analyze tropical forests and biodiversity for the USAID/Lebanon country strategic plan. DAI will review the status of forests and biodiversity in Lebanon, examine the principal threats to their conservation, and offer a plan for future conservation and sustainable management.

In this activity, DAI will report on Lebanon's forests and biodiversity by reviewing principal threats and conservation possibilities. DAI will review other donor activities, the policy and regulatory environment, current government enforcement, and institutional capacities of government agencies and NGOs. Then, DAI will produce a report detailing programming options for improving conservation given the above factors.