Annual Performance Report, FY 2016: Biodiversity Results and Integrated Development Gains Enhanced (BRIDGE) Project

The project aims to support USAID and partners in better integrating biodiversity for improved conservation and development outcomes. The project is designed to assist FAB in identifying and improving strategies that increase integration across USAID and to understand the strategies and approaches that constrain integration. The BRIDGE project is organized into three sub-purposes (SPs) that together will achieve the project's objective. These include: SP 1, Identifying approaches that support the integration of biodiversity conservation and other key development sectors in USAID programming; SP 2, Improving the evidence base for biodiversity conservation and development integration; and SP 3, Identifying and engaging constituencies for biodiversity conservation integration. In Year 1, much of the effort of the BRIDGE team was spent in project start-up activities, which included on-boarding staff, setting up administrative and operational systems, and working with FAB to establish relationships internally and across sector integration working groups (IWGs). Significant effort was also directed toward producing a Year 1 work plan and drafting the project's monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plan. The project's performance monitoring and evaluation framework is designed to provide a comprehensive annual performance report on all monitoring data and performance metrics collected over the prior fiscal year. The framework includes a situation model, a theory of change, and a results chain that outlines the strategic approaches, results, and indicators for the project. The project's adaptive management framework is also designed to inform adaptive management of project implementation. The BRIDGE project has three subcontracting partners: Smithsonian Institution (SI), Conservation International (CI), and Relief International (RI). The project's implementation is managed by DAI Global, LLC (DAI). The project's budget is funded by USAID, and the project's duration is from 2015 to 2020. The project's main purpose is to support USAID and partners in better integrating biodiversity for improved conservation and development outcomes. The project's geographic focus is on priority places, and the project's timeframes are from 2015 to 2020. The project's recommendations include identifying approaches that support the integration of biodiversity conservation and other key development sectors in USAID programming, improving the evidence base for biodiversity conservation and development integration, and identifying and engaging constituencies for biodiversity conservation integration.