EVALUATION PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF USAID/HONDURAS PROPARQUE PROGRAM JUNE 2016 This document has been developed by The Cadmus Group, Inc. under the GEMS II contract (award number AID-OAA-M-13- 00018) for USAID review. 0COVER PHOTO: Tower and platforms for bird watching in PANACAM, financed by ProParque PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE USAID/HONDURAS PROPARQUE PROGRAM JUNE 2016 Authors: Dean Pallen, Sofia Villalba, Jose Herrero, Carlos Ponce, Thomas Debrouwer PREPARED UNDER: The Global Environmental Management Support Project II (GEMS II) Award Number AID-OAA-M-13-00018 The Cadmus Group, Inc., prime contractor (www.cadmusgroup.com) Sun Mountain International, LLC, subcontractor (www.smtn.org) DISCLAIMER The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................. VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................. X EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... XI PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION .............................................................................................................................................. xi KEY EVALUATION FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................................... xii RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................................................... xvii 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 EVALUATION DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 DESK PHASE (PHASE 1) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1.2 FIELD PHASE (PHASE 2) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2 1.1.3 SYNTHESIS PHASE (PHASE 3) ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 1.2 EVALUATION RATIONALE ........................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 EVALUATION PURPOSE ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.2 AUDIENCE AND INTENDED USES ................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2.3 EVALUATION GUIDANCE QUESTIONS............................................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 EVALUATION LIMITATIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 7 2. PROPARQUE BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 8 2.1 COUNTRY CONTEXT ................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 BASIC ACTIVITY DATA ................................................................................................................................................ 11 2.3 ACTIVITY BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT ....................................................................................................... 11 2.3.1 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................................................................................11 2.3.2 PROBLEM OR OPPORTUNITY ADDRESSED ................................................................................................................................. 13 2.4 BASE PERIOD APPROACH AND IMPLEMENTATION ........................................................................................ 13 2.4.1 LEVEL OF INTERVENTION AND GEOGRAPHIC TARGET AREA ............................................................................................ 14 2.5 OPTION PERIOD APPROACH AND IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................ 16 2.5.1 LEVEL OF INTERVENTION AND GEOGRAPHIC TARGET AREA ............................................................................................ 16 2.5.2 TIMEFRAME AND IMPLEMENTATION PHASES ......................................................................................................................... 17 2.5.3 TECHNICAL APPROACH .......................................................................................................................................................................17 3. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................ 20 3.1 EVALUATION QUESTION 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 EVALUATION QUESTION 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 22 3.2.1 CONTRIBUTION TO SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH .................................................................................................. 23 3.2.2 TOURISM ...................................................................................................................................................................................................26 3.2.3 SUPPORT TO NATIONAL PARTNERS IN SUPPORT OF PROTECTED AREAS ................................................................... 29 3.2.4 SUPPORT TO PROTECTED AREA CO-MANAGERS .................................................................................................................... 30 3.2.5 SUPPORT AT THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL ............................................................................................................................................ 31 3.3 EVALUATION QUESTION 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 32 3.3.1 PROTECTED AREA CO-MANAGERS ................................................................................................................................................ 32 3.3.2 VALUE CHAIN MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 33 3.3.3 REDD+ .......................................................................................................................................................................................................34 3.3.4 CLEAN ENERGY ......................................................................................................................................................................................34 3.3.5 TOURISM...................................................................................................................................................................................................34 3.3.6 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ......................................................................................................................................................................35 Evaluation: Performance Evaluation of Honduras/ USAID ProParque Program viii 3.3.7 THE NEW CDCS ....................................................................................................................................................................................36 3.3.8 CLIMATE CHANGE ................................................................................................................................................................................36 3.4 EVALUATION QUESTION 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 37 3.5 EVALUATION QUESTION 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 39 4. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................ 42 4.1 OVERALL EVALUATION FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................ 42 4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 44 ANNEXES .....................................................................................................................................................