開発と環境保全の両立を目指す日本のODA実施をめぐる課題

―スリランカ、大規模灌漑開発に伴う野生ゾウの保護管理活動を事例として―

抄録

When implementing a Japan's official development assistance (ODA) project, it is essential to take a balanced approach between development and conservation. Should problems occur, they need be specified and their causes be clarified to select most appropriate actions.

The Walawe Left Bank Irrigation Project, a yen loan project in Sri Lanka, features human-elephant conflict as an important issue as the project area overlaps with elephant habitats. The project implementing body was the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka (development sector), which implemented activities in coordination with the Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka (conservation sector) and a local university (research sector) in conducting a series of elephant management activities. A Japanese consulting firm provided assistance, and the project activities included (1) basic ecological survey of wild elephants, (2) implementation of management activities, and (3) monitoring of ecological status of the elephants, as part of the irrigation project. A cross-sector approach was employed, which indicated the importance of the coordinating process in achieving a balance between development and conservation.

The conservation of ecosystems, complex and dynamic as it is, involves volumes of uncertainties and unpredictable factors. It should be noted in the project management that unanticipated events are always possible to occur, and that the results of management actions need to be monitored and fed back to the decision-making process. This is the critical path of adaptive management, and Japan's ODA should be in the position to support the establishment of such system in the recipient countries. As the process may require compromises with the values of the recipient government on ecosystems as well as their policy shift and organizational change, the ODA implementing agency must display logical consistency and strong leadership.

In October 2008, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) became a solely responsible body for the implementation of ODA projects, including technical assistance, grant aid and loan projects. It is expected that JICA operates ODA to support developing countries effectively and functionally by combining those schemes. While the recipient government shall be responsible for implementing environmental mitigation measures for development projects, the ODA framework should flexibly support the government when required.