The purpose of the planning grant is to update the OP 6 Country Programme Strategy (CPS) based on the OP7 guidelines and requirements, and to assist SGP in the identification of strategic priorities for the development of OP 7 Country Programme Strategy. This will be conducted through multi-stakeholder consultations and analysis of baseline in view of proposing strategic approaches for grant-making, as well as, for clustering small grant projects so as to achieve greater impact that will eventually lead to synergies and opportunities for scaling up.

The key priority areas that will be considered are as follows:

? biodiversity;
? high land/forest degradation;
? international waters;
? limited energy access;
? high poverty/low human development index;
? presence and availability of organizations and vulnerable groups

The transition from OP 6 CPS to OP 7 CPS will involve the identification of strategic initiatives such as:

? community-based conservation of threatened ecosystems and species
? sustainable agriculture and fisheries, and food security
? low-carbon energy access co-benefits
? local to global coalitions for chemicals and waste management
? catalyzing sustainable urban solutions
? community-based climate change adaptation

The planning grant funds as shown in Table 1, provides an estimate of the cost breakdown, as well as, the timeframe, for the development of OP 7 CPS.

The expected outcomes of the OP 7 CPS will be follows:
? Alignment of OP 7 priority landscape/seascapes with national priorities
? Assessment of gaps and opportunities
? Identification of complementarity and synergy of the selected OP7 Strategic Initiatives
? Prioritization of 1 to 3 target landscapes and seascapes for approximately 70% of OP7 grant-making resources based on the key priority areas
? Enhancing communication and engagement with key stakeholders and CSOs
? Identification of key risks during the implementation of the CPS
? Strengthening of the Monitoring & Evaluation capacities of SGP grantees