Altai-Sayan Project
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United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility Government of the Russian Federation Biodiversity Conservation in the Russian Portion of the Altai‐Sayan Ecoregion (“Altai‐Sayan Project”) PIMS 1685 Project Final Evaluation Report Max Kasparek December 2011 Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the staff and people connected with the Altai‐Sayan Project who provided me with all the necessary information and gave freely of their time and ideas to make the Terminal Evaluation process a success. This evaluation was carried out in a highly collegial spirit throughout. I would like to thank in particular the UNDP Project Support Office, the Project Manager and other Project Staff for the professional organisation of the evaluation mission and their patience for often lengthy discussions. The full support of all team members made it possible to conduct the tight travel schedule with a full meeting programme. My thanks are also due to all project executing partners and local stakeholders for fruitful discussions and for making available to me all information needed. Max Kasparek Project Executing Partners Executing Agency: Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) of the Russian Federation Principal Participating Regional Governments and Administrations in the Russian Part of the Altai‐ Partners: Sayan Ecoregion GEF Implementing Agency: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Evaluation Responsibility This Final Evaluation is undertaken by the UNDP Project Support Office in the Russian Federation and the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre as the GEF Implementing Agency for this project. UNDP Russian Federation Leontievsky per., 9, Moscow Russian Federation UNDP, Europe and the CIS Grosslingova 35, 81109 Bratislava Bratislava Regional Centre Slovak Republic Evaluator International Evaluation Expert: Dr. Max Kasparek Mönchhofstr. 16, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany Email: Kasparek@t‐online.de 2 Inhalt Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 10 Purpose of the Evaluation .................................................................................................... 10 Key Issues Addressed ........................................................................................................... 11 Methodology of the Evaluation ........................................................................................... 11 2. The Project and its Development Context ........................................................................... 13 2.1 Project Data .................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Problems to be Addressed by the Project ...................................................................... 14 2.3 Project Objective and Expected Outcomes .................................................................... 15 2.4 Main Stakeholders .......................................................................................................... 16 3. Findings and Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Project Formulation........................................................................................................ 16 3.2 Project Implementation and Management ................................................................... 19 3.3 Project Finances ............................................................................................................. 28 3.3 Project Achievements (Results) ..................................................................................... 31 3.3.1 Attainment of the Project Objective and Outcomes .............................................. 31 3.3.2 Attainments of Outputs .......................................................................................... 36 3.4 Assessment of Project Achievements according to OECD‐DAC Standards .................... 46 3.4.1 Relevance ................................................................................................................ 46 3.4.2 Effectiveness............................................................................................................ 46 3.4.3 Efficiency ................................................................................................................. 47 3.4.4 Impact ...................................................................................................................... 48 3.4.5 Sustainability ........................................................................................................... 48 3.4.6 Coherence and Coordination .................................................................................. 48 3.4.7 Project Management ............................................................................................... 48 4. Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................................... 49 General conclusions ......................................................................................................... 50 Lessons Learned and Recommendations ......................................................................... 51 Endnotes ................................................................................................................................... 53 Annexes 3 List of Abbreviations APR Annual Project Review ASE Altai‐Sayan Ecoregion BMU Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (Germany) CBO Community‐based Organisation CO Country Office DAC Development Assistance Committee of OECD GEF Global Environment Facility GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (former: GTZ) GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (now: GIZ) ICI International Climate Change Imitative M&E Monitoring & Evaluation METT Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool MNR Ministry of Natural Resources MTE Mid‐term Evaluation NGO Non‐governmental Organisation NSC National Steering Committee OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PA Protected Area PIR Project Implementation Report PIU Project Implementing Unit PSC Project Steering Committee SGP (GEF SGP) Small Grants Programme of GEF TE Terminal Evaluation TEK Traditional Environmental Knowledge TOR Terms of Reference UNDP United Nations Development Programme WWF World Wide Fund for Nature 4 Executive Summary Description of project The goal of the Altai‐Sayan Project has been defined as „Conservation and sustainable use of globally significant biological diversity in Russia’s Altai‐Sayan Ecoregion“, and the objective as “Ecosystem‐ based approach to biodiversity conservation is operationalized in the Russian territory of the Altai‐ Sayan Mountain ecoregion“. This objective was intended to be achieved through two outcomes and seven outputs: Outcome 1: Strengthened and expanded Protected Areas System. Output 1: Conservation of rare and endangered species. Output 2: Strengthening and expanded protected areas system. Output 3: Strengthened legal and institutional framework for biodiversity conservation and transboundary management. Output 4: Increased levels of biodiversity awareness among major stakeholder groups and the rural population. Outcome 2: Strengthened enabling environment for ecosystem‐based biodiversity conservation. Output 5: Improved information on biodiversity, including TEK, and its use in decision‐ making. Output 6: Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation into regional decision making pro‐ cess. Output 7: Development of alternative livelihoods and involvement of local communities in natural resource management. In December 2009, additional funding was secured from the German Government through the Inter‐ national Climate Change Initiative (ICI), and a third outcome was added to the log frame: Outcome 3: Expansion of the protected area network, protection of the carbon pools within the expanded PAs system and setting up climate resilient PAs networks in the ASE region. Output 8: Expansion of the Protected Areas Network for the conservation of the Altai‐ Sayan Region Output 9: Fire Management interventions in place in existing and new protected areas Output 10: Assist in adapting natural ecosystems to climate changes in specific protected areas. Output 11: Enable alternative livelihood incentives and encourage sustainable use of natural resources among local communities. Activities for this third outcome have not been completed yet and may continue for at least another year. This outcome is not subject of this evaluation accordingly. Preliminary observations on project performance regarding this outcome are given in the Annex. The project is executed by the Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federa‐ tion with the direct joint participation of the Regional Governments and Administrations of the Altai‐ Sayan Ecoregion. The Russian part of the ecoregion is divided administratively into six regions, or subjects of federation. They are Krasnoyarsky and Altaisky krai, Republics of Tuva, Altai and Khakasi‐ ya, and Kemerovskaya oblast. No project sites have been identified in the Republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk Oblast, which partially overlap with the eastern part of the Altai‐Sayan Ecoregion. The GEF grant comprised approximately US$3.9