USAID's Global Conservation Program: Evaluation Report

Wide ranging evaluation of the Global Conservation Program (GCP) aimed at improving Implementation, collaboration and planning between the GCP partners. The GCP approach is to works through NGO partners to improve the management of globally significant habitats. In particular the approach is characterised as ‘threats based’ - tackling direct threats to biodiversity, through management, on the ground.The report identifies a number of strengths and weaknesses of the program and looks at the lessons which can be learned from the ‘threats based’ approach taken. These include:The threats-based approach helps keep field staff, communities, and other stakeholders (government, other NGOs, etc.) focused on the resource management aspects of the workassessment of causal linkages is useful to identify where and how interventions can be effective and where monitoring can be done. It is also useful to explain the reasons why management intervention is neededa threats-based approach in marine/coastal areas needs to be undertaken holistically, looking at both marine and terrestrial systems, and may require addressing terrestrial based threatsdetermining the size of large-scale activities is a significant issue. For example, the scale of interaction and impact in the Bering Sea is highly related to threats arising from markets and policies in the European Union (EU)Among the strategic recommendations for the project are the following: USAID should clarify its “global biodiversity” mission and the link between its biodiversity mission to other aspects of developmentUSAID/GCP should identify the GCP’s role/niche among the biodiversity programs supported by USAID missions and other donorsUSAID/GCP, together with Partners, should determine how to exercise more proactive leadership within the conservation community, actively identifying linkages and synergies among the activities the GCP supports, other USAID-funded projects, and other donor activities. The GCP should take a lead in articulating and sharing the ways that increased communication, coordination, cooperation, and collaboration among key players in the conservation community can improve conservation results on the groundUSAID/GCP and Partners should work together to develop a clear identity and better articulate the focus of their site based and policy activities with respect to a core set of specific themes or geographic areasUSAID/GCP and Partners should explore ways to improve knowledge sharing and collaboration GCP should be more proactive in exercising the leverage it has as USAID’s major global conservation program to encourage a greater learning and results orientation within the Agency and GCP partner organizations