Mid-Term Review – Laos SAFE Ecosystems Sustainable Forest and Land Management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems of Southern Lao PDR a project of: Government of Laos Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility (GEF) April 7, 2020 Prepared by: Eugenia Katsigris, Managing Director, Parnon Group Latsany Phakdisoth, National Consultant Laos SAFE Ecosystems Project Mid-Term Review Basic Project/ MTR Information and Acknowledgements Basic Project Information Official Project Title: Sustainable Forest and Land Management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems of Southern Lao PDR Country: Lao People’s Democratic Republic Region: Asia Pacific UNDP PIMS# 5448 GEF Project ID# 6940 IP and Other Project Partners: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and its Department of Forests (DOF); Savannakhet Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO); District Agriculture and Forestry Offices (DAFOs) of Xonaboully, Songkhone, Thapangthong, Phine, and Phalangxay GEF Operational Focal Area: Multi-focal area --- (1) SFM (Sustainable Forest Management); (1) BD (Biodiversity), and (3) LD (Land Degradation) GEF Strategic Programs: Focal Area Strategic Objective Strategic Program under Focal Area Objective BD-1 Improve sustainability of protected area Program 1: Improving financial sustainability and systems effective management of the national ecological infrastructure Program 2: Nature’s last stand: expanding the reach of the global protected area estate LD-3 Reduce pressures on natural resources by Program 4: Scaling-up sustainable land management managing competing land uses in broader through the landscape approach landscapes SFM-1 Maintained Forest Resources: Reduce Program 1: Integrated land use planning the pressures on high conservation value Program 2: Identification and maintenance of high forests by addressing the drivers of conservation value forests deforestation SFM-3. Restored Forest Ecosystems: Reverse Program 7: Building technical and institutional the loss of ecosystem services within degraded capacities to identify degraded forest landscapes and forest landscapes monitor forest restoration. Program 8: Integrating SFM in landscape restoration. MTR Team Members Eugenia Katsigris, Managing Director of Parnon Group: International Consultant Latsany Phakdisoth, National Consultant MTR Timeline Mission: October 28 – November 8, 2019 Vientiane and Savannakhet Province, including Savannakhet Provincial Seat, Ong Mang Center and Ong Mang Protected Area/ Xonnabouly District, Songkhone District, and Thapangthong District Main Work: October 15, 2019 – January 13, 2020 (from start of document review to full draft report) Reviews of Draft Report and Finalization (first round of comments): Dec. 30, 2019 – March 6, 2020 Reviews of Draft Report and Finalization (second round of comments): March 6 – April 7, 2020 i Laos SAFE Ecosystems Project Mid-Term Review Acknowledgements The mid-term review (MTR) team is highly appreciative of the contributions of the many stakeholders who supported the MTR through generous contributions of their time, effort, and insights during, before, and after the mission. In particular, the Laos SAFE Ecosystems project team and project leadership at the national, provincial, and local levels provided great help with coordinating and facilitating the mission and shared their insights via in-depth consultations with us. This includes, at the national-level, the staff of the Vientiane-based PMU and involved officials from the Department of Forestry. At the provincial level, this includes staff of the Savannakhet-based PMU and involved officials from the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO). At the local level, it includes staff of the Ong Mang Center and involved officials from the District Agriculture and Forestry Offices (DAFOs) of the five project districts. We are also greatly appreciative of the villagers in the five villages in the Ong Mang Protected Area that were visited during the mission: They took time to meet with us, explain their experience with and views on the project, and show us relevant sites within their villages. UNDP leadership and team members were also extremely helpful to the MTR team, including those from UNDP Laos CO, who met with us multiple times to discuss the aims and preliminary findings of the MTR, and the UNDP-GEF RTA, who provided greatly valued input. We would also like to thank both national and provincial level officials from government entities other than the aforementioned that took the time to meet with us and share with us their roles in the project and their input on project results. Finally, we would also like to thank the consultants, consulting organizations, and other experts who took the time to explain their work for the project to us and/or share their expertise. In sum, we thank all the individuals who shared their insights with us and helped facilitate our mission and document review work and fulfill our requests for additional information. If this report is in the end able to support valuable course correction as hoped, improving project results and their sustainability for the nation and world, it will be the aggregate contributions of these individuals that will have made this possible. Specific organizations and individuals are noted with more detail in the realized mission and consultation schedule provided in Annex 1. We wish to thank all of those listed as well as some who participated in meetings or site visits whose names are not included. ii Laos SAFE Ecosystems Project Mid-Term Review Contents Basic Project/ MTR Information and Acknowledgements .................................................. i Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Definitions ........................................................................ iv Project Information Table .................................................................................................. vii Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... viii 1. Introduction to MTR ........................................................................................................ 1 2. Project Description and Background Context ................................................................. 5 2.1 Background Context ............................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Project Basic Design ............................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Project History and Implementation Arrangements .............................................................................. 12 3. Assessment of Project Relevance and Design ............................................................... 14 3.1 Relevance .............................................................................................................................................. 14 3.2 Design Quality, including Results Framework/Logframe .................................................................... 17 4. Project Results Overall and Main Concerns .................................................................. 21 5. Component 1 Results: Policy, Compliance, and Enforcement Capacity ...................... 40 6. Component 2 Results: Sustainable Forest Management and Protected Area Expansion ........................................................................................................................................... 44 7. Component 3 Results: Incentives and Financing for Biodiversity Conservation and Forest Protection ................................................................................................................ 49 8. Sustainability of Results ................................................................................................ 54 9. Implementation and Adaptive Management ................................................................. 55 9.1 Management Arrangements/ Institutional ............................................................................................. 55 9.2 Work Planning ...................................................................................................................................... 59 9.3 Finance: Expenditure Analysis and Co-financing................................................................................. 60 9.4 Other Implementation: M&E, Stakeholder Engagement, Communications, and Gender ............................................................................................................................... 88 10. Conclusions, Lessons, and Recommendations ............................................................ 90 10-1. Conclusions and Lessons ................................................................................................................... 90 10-2. Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 97 Annex 1. Mid-Term Review Interviews and Site Visits – Realized Schedule ............... 106 Annex 2. Master Interview Guide ................................................................................... 109 Annex 3. Documents Reviewed ...................................................................................... 112 Annex 4. Proposed Revised Project Results Framework ...............................................