Final Evaluation 2006 Cooperation Project: Philippine-German Community Forestry Project - Quirino (CFPQ), Philippines

Transcription

1 Final Evaluation 2006 Cooperation Project: Philippine-German Community Forestry Project - Quirino (CFPQ), Philippines Brief Report

2 Prepared by: Bertold Liché, FC E; Nicolà Reade & Bernd-Markus Liss on behalf of CEval, Saarbrücken This report was prepared by independent expert consultants and reflects their opinions and assessments only. Published by: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) Evaluation Unit FC Evaluation Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5 Palmengartenstraße Eschborn Frankfurt am Main Internet: Internet: Eschborn and Frankfurt, February 2007

3 Contents Page 1. Tabular overview 2 2. Description of the project/programme Project/programme title, project objective, indicators, contribution to overarching objectives/intended results Problem situation (sector), framework conditions in the country (political / economic / social / environmental) Concept and advisory approach of the project/programme (target groups, partners, levels, regions, modes of delivery) 5 3. Results of the evaluation Overall rating Performance measurement in line with the 5 international evaluation criteria (with brief explanations) Performance measurement of MDG / poverty / gender Conclusions and recommendations 9 1

4 1. Tabular overview Project/programme title Cooperation Project: Philippine-German Community Forestry Project - Quirino (CFPQ), Philippines Project/programme number TC: Project no.: (previous: ) FC: BMZ no Overall term 9 years (July 1994 to June 2003) Overall costs (German contribution, partner input, total) FC costs: TC costs: Costs borne by partners: 1 Total costs 2.56 million 4.70 million 2.21 million 9.47 million Objective of the project/programme Project objective and overall objective of FC: A contribution has been made to integrated forest management at village community level. Overall objective of last TC phase: Sustainable development has been assured in Quirino and similar provinces. Project objective of last TC phase: Government agencies and local organisations apply the institutionalised, operationalised approaches and methods for sustainable village management of natural resources. Lead executing agency Implementing organisations Other organisations and donors involved Target groups Institute performing evaluation Republic of the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Provincial Government of Quirino (PGQ) - Smallholder families living on official forestland and its forested areas, their local interest groups and organisations as well as hunters and gatherers belonging to indigenous minorities KfW FC Evaluation and CEval, Saarbrücken on behalf of the GTZ Evaluation Unit Evaluation period July 2006 Overall rating 4 Individual rating on a scale of 1 (very good, well above expectations) to 6 (project-programme is ineffectual, the situation has tended to deteriorate) Relevance: 2 Effectiveness: 3 Impact: 3 Efficiency: 4 Sustainability: 4 1 The partner costs are indicated for (without personnel expenditure) 2

5 2. Description of the project/programme 2.1 Project/programme title, project objective, indicators, contribution to overarching objectives/intended results The TC-FC cooperation project, Philippine-German Community Forestry Project - Quirino (CFPQ), was carried out in three phases lasting a total of 9 years (July 1994 to June 2003). The overarching objective of the final TC phase was: Sustainable development has been assured in Quirino and similar provinces. The project and overall objective of the FC component throughout the project term was: A contribution has been made to integrated community-based forest management. The original wording of the project objective for the TC component was amended twice in the course of the overall promotion term. The TC project objective defined during the last phase (Government agencies and local organisations apply the institutionalised and operationalised approaches and methods for the sustainable village management of natural resources) does not take into account the individual benefit, although the individual farm development component largely focused on this aspect. Nor does the objective as defined reflect the intention of integrating approaches in line with the agroforest management strategy. In hindsight, therefore, the expert consultants consider a more adequate cooperation project objective to be: Villagers, local organisations and government agencies apply institutionalised, integrated approaches for the sustainable management of natural resources. The team of consultants consider the following (proxy) indicators as adequate for measuring the attainment of this project objective: a) The villagers and their local organisations gain sustainable benefit from communitybased forest management and from agricultural production (monetary and nonmonetary). b) The government agencies make use of the infrastructure promoted (buildings, facilities, planning tools and equipment) to support the sustainable use of natural resources. c) The community-based forest management scheme (CBFM) is implemented by operational local organisations. d) The established foundation also acts as a service provider for CBFM in Quirino Province and beyond. 3

6 The main measures carried out by the project were: 1) Analysis of existing legal and administrative provisions for social forest management, land-use planning and local organisations and preparation of recommendations for an enabling environment 2) Analysis of existing land use plans at provincial, district and local level and support in drafting local development plans 3) Preparation and implementation of sustainable forest management measures, (incl. forest inventory, rehabilitation measures) in collaboration with the local population 4) Support, (incl. training) for the local population in applying sustainable management methods 5) Selection and introduction of alternative sources of income as well as support in marketing 6) Planning and implementation of infrastructure measures in the project areas (roads, community buildings, afforestation, basic water supply and irrigation systems) 7) Planning and implementation of joint activities 8) Development of suitable financial systems for village organisations 9) Promotion of implementing organisation infrastructure (construction of a training centre, equipment, planning tools, such as GIS systems and training in their use) Through the above objectives, the project aimed at achieving results at the economic, socioeconomic or socio-cultural and ecological level. The envisaged economic results were to be increased annual income for the target group, improved living standards and employment in rural areas and in economic development in the province. The intended socio-cultural and socio-economic results were to be the improved social status and legal empowerment of the target group as well the enhancement of the social and economic status of women. The ecological results aimed at the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, with the intention of keeping soil depletion and erosion damage as low as possible and reducing forest destruction in the project area. 2.2 Problem situation (sector), framework conditions in the country (political / economic / social / environmental) When designing the project, Philippine-German Community Forestry Project - Quirino (CFPQ), in 1994, the core problem was identified as the lack of a forest use scheme, land use planning and an adequate legal and administrative framework for implementing forest and agricultural policy goals. Today, only about 7.2 million hectares of the 15.9 million hectares of official forestland in the Philippines 2 are still forested. Although the logging ban as of May 1993 has largely put an 2 All land with an incline of over 18% (53% of the territory) is defined as forestland by law in the Philippines. 4

7 end to unbridled, commercial felling in natural forests, Filipino forest resources are still being degraded by illegal logging and slash-and-burn clearance. From 1990 to 2000, annual net forest loss 3 in the Philippines amounted to 262,000 hectares or 2.8% and between 2000 and 2005, to about 157,000 hectares or 2.1%, placing the island state among the ten countries with the highest forest losses worldwide. The Filipino forest policy is still based today on Presidential Decree 705 of 1975, known as the Revised Forestry Code. A draft forestry law and a land use law have been held up in parliamentary proceedings for years. The Master Plan for Forestry Development (MPFD) drawn up in 1990 has never been implemented. Revised in 2003, it now provides the framework for preparing regional sectoral strategies. In 2004, the government adopted Executive Order 318/2004 on Promoting Sustainable Forest Management in the Philippines, which also contains guidelines on harmonising and implementing sectoral reforms. In the current Mid-term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for the environment/forest sector is only cited with a view to providing land for agrobusiness and energy plantations and the planned creation of jobs in this connection. After 1996, Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) was established as a national programme by DENR and reconfirmed as a sectoral strategy by Executive Order 318/2004. The confidence of the population in the CBFM programme has, however, been considerably shaken by very changeable policy directives. As a result of repeated logging bans and complicated bureaucratic procedures for granting use permits, the village communities have largely circumvented the scheme for the controlled use of forestland. 2.3 Concept and advisory approach of the project/programme (target groups, partners, levels, regions, modes of delivery) The project s target groups at local level were the smallholder families living on official forestland and its actual forested areas, their local interest groups and organisations as well as hunters and gatherers belonging to the indigenous minorities, the Agta, Bugkalot, Dumagat, Ibalaoi, Ifugao, Kankana-ey and Yogad. Fifteen village communities or about 1/3 of the land area of the province were involved in activities in the final project phase. The DENR and the Government of Quirino Province acted as implementing organisations. In the DENR, the project was located at the Foreign Assisted and Special Programmes Office (FASPO), which steered implementation for the DENR with specially deputised staff down to the provincial level and also assigned the national project manager. A key feature of project implementation was the specific networking of packages of measures in land use planning, community-based forest management and agricultural use. A pronounced participatory approach was adopted with very close involvement of the local popula- 3 Changes in forestland including afforestation. 5

8 tion in sustainable forest management. Moreover, measures were conducted in institutionbuilding (e.g. government agencies and DENR offices at provincial and local level) and human resource development (training, training for local government unit staff and local organisations) and advisory inputs provided at local, regional and national level. A foundation was set up at the end of the project to provide an institutional repository for the know-how gained and to develop it further. Cooperation and coordination with projects of other donors (e.g. USAID and JICA) made up an important element of the CFPQ. 3. Results of the evaluation 3.1 Overall rating Viewed as a whole, the project presents an inconsistent picture. The rather adverse subratings are due to the unfavourable project setting and in particular the sectoral framework, which hindered and/or delayed implementation (detrimental to efficiency and in part to effectiveness) and ultimately casts doubt on sustainability. The lack of sustainability is attributable to a combination of several factors: Major investments for promoting the community-based forest management approach were transferred to a foundation that is not eligible for guaranteed, regular budget appropriations from government agencies and cannot therefore secure the continuation of the measures. This situation had not improved up until the date of evaluation. The sector policy of the Philippine Government and its implementation are erratic (logging bans, cancellation of forest management agreements). The material benefit from community-based forest management for the village target group has fallen short of the potential and was not legally feasible or not without an unacceptably high input. The inadequate upkeep of the roads also jeopardises the until now beneficial results for the local population. The arithmetical average rating indicates that the project performance is only just sufficient. Under the current evaluation format, however, the developmental efficacy of a programme is classified as unsatisfactory altogether if the sustainability is judged to be insufficient, as is the case here. Overall then, the developmental efficacy of the project must receive a rating of 4 - slightly insufficient. 3.2 Performance measurement in line with the 5 international evaluation criteria (with brief explanations) We assess the project applying the five individual DAC criteria as follows: Relevance: The project conformed to the developmental rationale (promoting the sustainable use of natural resources, self-help and community development) and was suitable for making a contribution to overarching development goals. The project design did justice to the general conditions at the time of planning and took account of the interests of the local population. The focus was placed on the local level while the advice to the partners for improving the 6

9 framework was taken up too late. The combined deployment of the two instruments, advice (TC) and investments (FC), was appropriate for solving the developmental problem and the project was held in high regard by the partner and gained credibility amongst the target groups. However, it was planned chiefly as a parallel structure and for the most part implemented without sufficient integration in the local authorities. Altogether, though, the conceptual design met expectations under the given overall conditions, so that it merits a subrating of 2 for relevance. Effectiveness: Technical and institutional capacities have been built up for sustainable land use, the legal forest use rights of the target groups have been strengthened and awareness for forest conservation has been raised. At the time of evaluation, direct positive results are especially noticeable at target-group level, even though these fall short of expectations. Substantial results in forest management, particularly income and employment promotion, were not forthcoming owing to the adverse political climate and/or abortive or unfinished investments (roads). The late integration of the local authorities detracted from ongoing support for the target groups and the early termination impaired the results at institutional level. There were hardly any discernible results at policy level. Effectiveness is therefore allotted a subrating of 3 altogether. Impact: The project measures addressed the economic, socio-cultural and ecological levels. The economic results are meagre due to the inimical conditions overall (logging ban). At socio-cultural level, there has been tangible progress in the social integration of the target group, their self-advocacy and in local conflict reduction. Ecological results have been achieved through the enhanced environmental awareness in the target group, which has had a beneficial effect on the rate of forest loss in the target area. However, the widespread effects of the project have been rather restricted: Its approaches and schemes in CBFM have been disseminated in new projects, but there have been no institutional changes, new guidelines or legislation. Altogether, the effectiveness of the project has been considerably impaired by changeable government policy in sustainable forest management (logging ban). As a consequence, the economic results (increased income) and the related impacts at sociocultural level (improved access to education, higher standard of living, improved health) have failed to materialise. The significance of the project contributions, to poverty alleviation, for example, has therefore remained rather small at national and local level. Altogether, the project s highly aggregated results receive the subrating 3. 7

10 Efficiency: The implementation period was very long and the advisory services successful in part only. At local level, the cost-benefit ratio for real investments as measured against the project objective is limited to unfavourable and if the logging ban is not lifted it will even end up in the negative range. The ratio of resource allocation to results at overall objective level in Quirino Province is adverse, because although the attainment of the sub-objective of forest conservation can be confirmed, this did not come about due to the sustainable use of resources but as a result of enforcing the logging ban. The investments have made no contribution to overall objective achievement in other provinces. Nor has there been an advisory input with tangible effects in other provinces as this was only made available to the target groups there as a scheme but not in the shape of documented user rights for forest management. The poor results outside Quirino are accorded less weight in the assessment as the project was not expanded to include other areas until the last phase. In all then, efficiency can be given the subrating 4. Sustainability: The sustainable contributions of the project are the improvement in timber stock in the participant project communities and better local self-organisation. The CBFM approach has not been institutionalised, however, and there has been no lasting maintenance of much of the infrastructure investments. The project is therefore unsustainable at macro level. The sustainability of the results achieved is questionable, particularly as the logging ban is likely to continue based on the field surveys. Although sustainability was taken into account in all its four facets in the project, it has only taken full effect in the social and ecological sectors. In hindsight, therefore, sustainability merits the subrating 4. 8

11 3.3 Performance measurement of MDG / poverty / gender The evaluation has been able to ascertain the following on the project contribution to MDG attainment, poverty reduction and gender equality: As the project area was located on official forestland and the areas with actual forest cover, where the percentage of the poor population is high, it has promoted the participation of the poor in economic and political processes and made an indirect contribution to poverty reduction. The evaluation could not quantify a project contribution to MDG 1 on poverty reduction since for one thing no data (baseline and current situation) was available for the participant communities to verify the results properly and for another because the general changes in target-group income cannot be attributed to it with certainty. The economic results of the project, however, have an implicit bearing on Target 1 (Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day from 1990 to 2015). A contribution to Target 2 (Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger) can be inferred from the agricultural component. As to MDG 7, Target 9 (Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources), a direct project contribution could be verified to Indicator 25 (Forested land as percentage of land area). Forest cover in Quirino Province has stabilised due to project influence. Introducing CBFM has raised awareness of the value of forestland and the population can be expected to protect it in future as well. As to Target 10 (Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water), the project has also contributed to improving drinking water supply in some villages. As concerns the gender aspect of the project, it afforded scope for the promotion of gender equality and this factor was also taken into account in planning but was not accorded any explicit priority in implementation. Training modules on gender issues were developed, women explicitly included in project activities and the DENR recommendations on Gender- Responsive Participatory Tools for Community Based Forest Management also applied. No separate account was taken of gender equality at output level, however. 3.4 Conclusions and recommendations As under community-based forest management, management responsibility is assigned to the target group and these manage the resources, this approach calls for an adequate social-policy commitment on the part of government and appropriate forest legislation. Future cooperation with the Philippines in the forest sector needs to take account of this. The efforts of the DENR to centralise approval procedures and decision-making powers and the erratic Philippine policy on CBFM were identified as major impediments to its successful implementation. Special permits for development projects provide temporary help only and 9

12 their geographical radius is limited. The national CBFM project can only be developed further and implemented for the benefit of the population through a general broad enabling environment. Based on the evaluation findings and the lessons learnt, we can make the following recommendations for designing future project/programmes: To secure the sustainability of community-based forest management, the framework conditions should be subjected to very close scrutiny from the start. Only if adequate overall conditions are already in place at the beginning can a programme/project be expected to succeed in a reasonable period of time. A secure economic framework and mutual trust between the target group and the administration are essential for success. This is why the administration should avoid abrupt changes in its programmes or interventions and refrain from any activity with a detrimental effect on overall conditions. When wording objectives and measures, attention should be paid to the scope of action, the resources available and the time needed. Capacity and institutional development in particular must cater for a suitable timeframe and long enough deadlines in planning. To assure the institutional sustainability of the approach, the programme/project should be organised so that planning and implementation are assimilated into the existing administrative apparatus (LGU, DENR). If a specialised institution (foundation) is set up for programme follow-on, tasks must be clearly defined and adequate political and financial support secured. On their own, advisory inputs are often ineffectual. To raise target group motivation and produce tangible outputs quickly, investment capital has to be planned for in good time. Sustainable land use and forest management calls for an adequate system of incentives, i.e. the products of the integrated production system should provide sufficient incentive for the target group. When a decision is taken on altering the set of incentives, all the implications should be given due consideration. For example, a logging ban may not necessarily protect forests and it can also prompt illegal felling and worsen corruption. Small lending and savings organisations require appropriate management. These measures should therefore only be carried out by properly trained specialist personnel. In cooperation projects, an overall plan must be jointly drafted or agreed on, including a set of binding objectives for FC and TC. If a project has to be terminated early, measures should be taken to ensure adequate follow-on so as to complete outputs and consolidate results. 10