Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Services — WACA ResIP II Project, Ghana

• INTRODUCTION

The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI) has financial support from the World Bank to develop and implement the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project II (WACA ResIP II). The Program Development Objective (PDO) of the WACA ResIP II Project is to strengthen the resilience of targeted communities and areas in coastal West Africa. The project will protect and restore the ecological, social, and economic assets of coastal areas addressing erosion, pollution and flooding. The project aims to restore coastal ecosystems, especially mangroves, to reduce the risk of erosion and flooding, including restoration of abandoned rice paddies and the water systems. It builds on an ongoing project called the WACA Resilience Investment Project. The Project has four components which are as follows:

Component 1: Strengthening Regional Integration.

The objective of the regional integration component is to strengthen the effective coordination of interventions for coastal resilience in West Africa at the regional and national levels. This is achieved through the consolidation of the regional institutional set-up and harmonization of policy to seek economies of scale and the development of new strategic partnerships needed for the scale-up of response to the coastal resilience development challenge.

Component 2: Strengthening the Policy or Institutional Frameworks.

The project will support the strengthening of institutional and policy frameworks around coastal development, protection, and natural resource management (exclusive of fisheries). Focus areas will include strengthening of existing national coordination mechanisms and development of mechanisms for sub-national coordination, including civil society coordination.

Policy actions under this component will support improved land use and marine spatial planning for resilient coastal development. This includes measures for institutional support that will improve collection and analysis of data critical for risk-informed decision making. This includes, but is not limited to, data related to beach profile and crest elevation, spatial data, and improved local demographic and economic data, especially as related to sources of livelihood and gender disaggregation.

Component 3: Strengthening National Physical and Social Investments. The project will support a wide typology of site-specific grey, green, and hybrid physical investments, and social sub-projects at the community level to achieve measurable increases in protection from coastal erosion and flooding, pollution control, and promote climate-resilient coastal development. Physical investments supported by the project are based on coastal management strategies and climate-resilient development plans, including Multi Sector Investment Plans (MSIPs), undertaken and ongoing in each country that identifies priority investments and actions for strengthening coastal resilience and mitigating the impacts of climate change through sustainable, integrated coastal zone management.

The project will be financing (a) green infrastructure such as dune fixation to protect beaches from erosion using vegetation and shrubs to trap sand, wetland and mangrove restoration and beach replenishment; (b) grey infrastructure such as the construction of breakwaters, seawalls, revetments, groynes, and dikes; (c) land claim and reclamation; (d) rehabilitation of flood banks; (e) rehabilitation and management of natural flood areas, including dredging to maintain natural flow in lagoons; (f) infrastructure, e.g. culverts, for improved drainage; and (g) sustainable land management practices in transboundary sub-watersheds and areas of high ecosystem value that drain into the coastal areas, and (h) measures to improve the management of natural habitats, including reduction of invasive species encroachment.

Specifically, physical interventions under this component 3 will support adaptation measures for protection, retreat, or accommodation, or a combination thereof at three locations: Korle Lagoon, Densu Delta, and Keta Lagoon. Nature-based physical protection measures will include protection and restoration of mangroves and other submerged native aquatic vegetation to reduce flooding hazards, and beach nourishment and dune rehabilitation to address coastal erosion. Grey solutions may include the construction of groins, dykes, seawalls, revetments, or other infrastructure. The focus of this ToR is to conduct an Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the proposed physical works between the Volta River Estuary and Atorkor in the Lower Volta Basin on the east coast of Ghana.

Component 4: Project Management. A Project Implementation Unit (PIU) has been established with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI) to be responsible for the overall implementation of the project. The PIU is to be guided by a multi-stakeholder Project Steering Committee (PSC) Figure 1.

Figure 1 Organogram showing Institutional Implementation

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• Physical Investments at the Lower Volta Basin

Under the West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program (WACA) (ResIP 2) (P175525), WACA's interventions in this region aim to improve the basin’s resilience through a combination of engineered (grey) and nature-based (green) infrastructure, aligned with the program’s regional objectives of safeguarding coastal and near-coastal systems.

The Lower Volta Basin project is benefiting from targeted physical investments such as grey, green, hybrid solutions, and social subprojects at the community level to address both environmental degradation and climate vulnerability. This project intervention will be based on site-specific studies/solutions/recommendations.

The physical investment in the LVB will focus on the rehabilitation of degraded coastline, restoration of mangroves along the coast, and reduction of erosion and sedimentation. These will include the use of riprap structures for slope stabilization and the revegetation of buffer zones to restore ecological integrity and enhance flood protection. The project also supports and promotes sustainable land use practices to minimize runoff and downstream flooding.

In addition, physical investment in the LVB will integrate community-based green infrastructure-such as vegetative barriers and reforestation to complement traditional infrastructure upgrades like embankments improvements. These hybrid interventions are designed to restore hydrological function, enhance water quality in the lagoons, and protect livelihoods, particularly in flood-prone and erosion-sensitive zones along the lower reaches of the Volta River.

By combining physical infrastructure with ecosystem restoration, WACA’s investments in the Lower Volta Basin will not only reduce vulnerability to climate risks but also contribute to long-term socio-ecological resilience, ensuring that both the environment and local communities can thrive in the face of increasing environmental pressures.

• ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL RISKS AND REQUIREMENTS

The Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) for the WACA ResIP II project is “high” and the project design and implementation is guided by the WB’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). Eight (8) of the Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs) of the WB’s ESF/ESS are relevant to the project, namely: ESS1 - Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts, ESS2 - Labour and Working Conditions, ESS3 - Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management, ESS4 - Community Health and Safety, ESS5 - Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement, ESS6 - Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources, ESS8 - Cultural Heritage, and ESS10 - Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure. The project is also required to comply with relevant legal requirements in Ghana including the EPA requirements as per the Environmental Assessment Regulations, 1999 (LI 1652).

In conformance with the World Bank’s ESF and Ghana Government EPA regulations, an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for the WACA ResIP 2 Project has been prepared and disclosed. The ESMF has established clear processes and procedures for environmental and social risk assessment, such as screening of subproject activities as the first step to determine the level of assessment required for subproject. The ESMF is connected to other environmental and social instruments that has been prepared and disclosed, such as the: Resettlement Policy Framework, Stakeholder Consultations and Engagement Plan, Labour Management Procedure and Gender Assessment.

• RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The proposed project activity is expected to have significant impacts on the bio-physical and socio-economic environment of the site; therefore, in compliance with the Environmental Assessment Regulations 1999 (LI 1652) and the World Bank’s ESF (ESS1) it is mandatory to carry out an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the proposed intervention works between the Volta River Estuary and Atorkor in the Lower Volta Basin.

The main objective of this assignment is to undertake an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the proposed activities between the Volta River Estuary and Atorkor in the Lower Volta Basin. The ESIA is designed to assess major project impacts, consider alternative project designs, and to present measures for mitigating and monitoring anticipated project impacts. The ESIA will assess direct, indirect, cumulative, and, where relevant, transboundary impacts, in line with ESSs. In addition, it will assess potential climate co-benefits, including adaptation and mitigation measures, as part of the project design. It will also provide the basis for guiding subsequent actions, w