PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Lebanon has been devastated by almost two decades of conflict, resulting in massive physical destruction and environmental degradation which pose threats to public health and economic development. The most important environmental issues in Lebanon fall into two major categories: (1) urban degradation in coastal areas; (2) land and water degradation due primarily to random dumping of all types of waste; and to deforestation and soil erosion. Weak institutional capacity, including lack of management expertise, inadequate legal frameworks, and insufficient institutional coordination perpetuate these problems. The project intends to support an important component of the Country Environmental Strategy - the building of environmental institutions. The purpose of the project is to create capacity for environmental management in selected line ministries currently involved in administering significant reconstruction investments. One of the primary objectives is to identify investment, policy, regulatory and institutional options for environmental management in Lebanon. Line ministries will then be provided with basic environmental management skills to ensure the success of future development of environmental management at all levels. Project activities include: · the development of draft sectoral guidelines on environmental impact assessment, environmental management and monitoring; · on the job training of staff and officials in the relevant ministries; · finalisation of sectoral guidelines.