Process oriented evaluation of the third phase of Mangroves for the Future Final Report Submitted to: The Swedish Embassy in Bangkok Submitted by: FCG Sweden Authors: Åke Nilsson Ahsan Uddin Ahmed Kusum Athukorala Liem Dao Duc Nilovna Ghosh Juairia Sidabutar Date: 14 February 2020 FCG Sweden in association with: FCG Swedish Development AB Dalagatan 7, SE-111 23 Stockholm, Sweden E-mail: [email protected] Corporate Reg No: 559034-3793 Homepage: www.fcgsweden.se VAT No: SE559034379301 Phone: +46 (0)8 406 76 20 Registered office: Sweden Fax: +46 (0)8 21 02 69 2 Table of Contents Executive summary 8 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background and purpose 1 1.2 Evaluation object and scope 2 2 Methodology 6 2.1 Overall approach 6 2.2 Selection and application of evaluation criteria 7 2.3 Instruments for data collection 7 2.4 Process of analysis and developing conclusions 9 3 Findings 9 4 Conclusions and lessons learned 64 5 Recommendations 68 Annex 1: Terms of reference 71 Annex 2: Persons interviewed and met with 83 Annex 3: Key documents studied 100 Annex 4: Evaluation matrix 102 Annex 5: Questionnaires 113 Annex 6: Results from SWOT event at 15th RSC meeting, Bali 116 Annex 7: Pilot project briefs 129 Bangladesh 129 Sri Lanka 135 Indonesia 145 Vietnam 150 Annex 8: Distribution of member categories in NCBs in all countries 153 3 4 Acronyms ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ABC ASEAN Biodiversity Centre ACB ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity APAP Asia Protected Areas Partnership BDT Bangladeshi Taka BiCCRA Building Climate Change Resilient Coastal Communities and Ecosystems in Asia BoBLME Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem BPP Business and Biodiversity Platform CBOs Community Based Organizations CC Climate Change CHF Swiss Franc COBSEA Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia IUCN CSOs Civil Society Organisations CSR Corporate Social Responsibility CTI-CFF Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security CZMPs Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMPs) DMCR Department of Marine and Coastal Resources ERC Environment Research Centre EAFM Ecosystems Approach to Fisheries Management FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FREL Forest Reference Emissions Level GCF Green Climate Funds ICLME International Conference on Large Marine Ecosystems ICM Integrated Coastal Management INGO International Non-Governmental Organisation INR Indian Rupee IT Information Technology IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN-ARO IUCN Asia Regional Office IUU Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing KHR Cambodian Riel KM Knowledge Management 5 KMC Knowledge Management and Communications LECReD Low Emission Climate Resilient Development Programme LGF Large Grant Facility LKR Sri Lanka Rupee MFF Mangroves for the Future MGF Medium Grant Facility ML&E Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation MOEF Ministry of Environment and Forest MPA Marine Protected Area NC National Coordinator NCRMC National Coastal Resources Management Committee (Union Level) NCB National Coordinating Body NGO Non-Governmental Organisation Norad Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation NRM Natural Resources Management NRM Natural Resource Management NSAP National Strategy and Action Plan OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD-DAC OECD - Development Assistance Committee PEMSEA Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia PES Payment for Ecosystem Services PCM Project Cycle Management PKR Pakistan Rupee PSE Private Sector Engagement RAP Resilience Analysis Protocol RBP Results Based Payment REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation RGF Regional Grant Facility RSC Regional Steering Committee RSC-15 15th Regional Steering Committee, Bali, September 2018 ROC Rapid Ocean Conservation SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SBR Sustainable Business Roadmap 6 SDG Sustainable Development Goal SEAFDEC Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center SEK Swedish Krona SEI Stockholm Environment Institute SGF Small Grant Facility SGF-PS Small Grant Facility for Private Sector Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SwAM The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management SWOT Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats SCZMC SAARC Coastal Zone Management Center USD United States Dollar UNDP United Nations Development Programme VND Vietnamese Dong 7 Executive summary This report presents the results of a process-oriented evaluation of the third phase of Mangroves for the Future (MFF), a programme implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the South and South-East Asia region. The programme has been funded by several donors1, and has received financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) since its start in 2006. The Swedish funding for the third phase of MFF has amounted to 75 mill SEK. The outcome objective of the third phase of the programme is to strengthen the resilience of ecosystem dependent coastal communities. The mission statement for the programme has been to promote healthy coastal ecosystems through a partnership-based, people focused and policy relevant approach that builds and applies knowledge, empowers communities and other stakeholders, enhances governance, secures livelihoods, and increases resilience to natural hazards and climate change. The expected results of the programme are shown in the table below. Output 1: Knowledge generated, disseminated and applied for sustainable management of coastal ecosystems Strengthening information base Enhancing access to and sharing of knowledge at national and regional levels Promoting effective use of knowledge including best practices Output 2: Key stakeholders empowered to engage in decision-making in support of sustainable management of coastal ecosystems Building awareness and capacity of civil society and private sector Supporting multi-stakeholder fora Promoting sustainable livelihoods Output 3: Coastal governance enhanced to promote integrated and inclusive management Strengthening capacity of national and regional governance institutions for integrated coastal management Engaging with key business sectors to promote sustainable business practices Promoting co-management and similar participatory natural resource management mechanisms The evaluation has had three primary purposes: - To provide Sida and other intended users with an opportunity to learn from the outcomes and experiences of the programme. Sida will seek to apply the findings from the evaluation in cooperation related to SDG 142 and integrated fisheries/coastal management. Partners will use the evaluation in the further development of operational relevance for future implementation. 1 In addition to Swedish funding, the programme has received funding from Denmark, Norway, Australia, Germany, UNDP and UNEP. 2 SDG14: Sustainable Development Goal No. 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. 8 - To serve as one of the inputs for Sida in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme as part of the implementation of Sweden´s Regional Development Strategy for Asia and the Pacific 2016-2021. - To provide Sida with a basis on which to be able to evaluate the relevance and efficiency of MFF’s future programming vis-a-vis the potential of other actors and service providers in the region working with similar challenges. The evaluation was carried out as a participatory exercise involving, i.a. participation in a meeting with the Programme Regional Steering Committee (RSC) where 65 individuals participated, and where the evaluation team interacted with the participants through person-to-person interviews and facilitation of a learning event as part of data collection for the evaluation. In accordance with the terms of reference, the focus of the evaluation was on Phase III of the Programme. Wherever relevant, results and lessons learned from previous phases were included in the analysis, including field study findings from some pilot projects from Phase 2. There was also a geographical focus in the sense that field visits were carried out to projects implemented under MFF in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam. In total, the Team met with 310 stakeholders, beneficiaries and other informants in person-to-person interviews and focus group meetings. The evaluation employed a mainly qualitative evaluation methodology, complemented with quantitative analyses where that was relevant and where it was possible to develop quantitative tools. The evaluation team collected the information required by means of desk study of documentation, person-to-person interviews and meetings with informants, distance interviews with informants, field observations during country visits, the SWOT learning event at the RSC meeting with around 60 key programme stakeholders participating, focus group meetings and questionnaire surveys directed to stakeholders and beneficiaries. A communication platform in the form of a closed Facebook group was also established with the regional secretariat of the programme. All specific findings and observations were stored in an excel evidence matrix structured in accordance with the evaluation questions, which was used for triangulating different types of information from different categories of stakeholders and beneficiaries to provide the findings related to the evaluation questions. Based on the findings