WorldBankFinancedGansuCulturalandNaturalHeritage.doc

World Bank Financed Gansu Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection and Development Project Indigenous Peoples Plan For Mati Temple Scenic Area In Sunan County World Bank Financed Gansu Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection and Development Project Management Office July 12, 2007 Introduction This Indigenous Peoples Plan (IPP) has been prepared for the proposed China: Gansu Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection and Development Project (USD 79.4 million, 2008-2013; hereafter referred to as ‘the project’), in accordance with World Bank OP 4.10 ‘Indigenous Peoples’. The project will finance a series of priority investments at key cultural and natural tourism sites in Gansu Province, in addition to institutional strengthening and training for tourism management in Gansu. The purpose of the IPP is to ensure that the project design includes culturally appropriate opportunities for ethnic minorities to benefit from the project through tourism development, and avoids any adverse impacts on ethnic minorities. World Bank Policy on Indigenous Peoples OP 4.10 requires that an IPP is prepared during project preparation and implemented during project implementation, in order to ensure that the development process fully respects the dignity, human rights, economies, and cultures of indigenous peoples, and that potentially adverse effects on indigenous peoples’ communities are avoided, minimized, mitigated, or compensated for. The impacts on ethnic minority communities and culture can be enduring and negative, including loss of identity, culture, and customary livelihoods, as well as being marginalized in modern tourism development. Therefore, it is necessary to assure the indigenous people the right of information and the right of participation, which is essential throughout project implementation. In addition, it is also necessary to prepare an IPP, setting out the measures to ensure indigenous people derive long-term benefits from project development. Project Areas The