Evaluation of operational program grant to Fundacion Natura in Ecuador

Special evaluation covers the period 5/80-9/82 and is based on document review and interviews with A.I.D. and Fundacion personnel and with outside observers. The Fundacion has been very successful in accomplishing major objectives. Diagnostico, a 2-volume, 1,200-page country profile involving the cooperation of 14 specialists was a milestone. It includes an analytical framework for examining environmental problems, summarizes constraints to solving problems, and recommends solutions for environmental management. Due to Diagnostico's limited distribution to only 240 policymakers, a second publication, Ecologia y Desarollo, an illustrated synthesis of Diagnostico, was drafted for wider dissemination. Progress was made toward the major objective of the environmental education project (EDUNAT). Although the effect on audiences' attitudes and behaviors remains unclear, a variety of educational materials were produced. Ambientales en el Ecuador was published on specific environmental problems. A study of communications within environmental institutions in Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca was conducted through 240 staff interviews. Education was also promoted through a series of informative wall posters, newspaper releases, a monthly Natura newsletter, articles for the internal publications of 40 institutions, a series of radio programs, and five films and five slide shows for use on T.V., in movie theaters, and during conferences. Two one-week seminars were held, respectively, for journalists and Jaycee leaders. Two hands-on demonstration forestry projects, although deviating from Natura's education objectives, were technically successful; one has been refunded by another donor. Recommendations are made to: (1) remedy technical flaws in educational materials; (2) develop long-term plans for conducting educational activities; and (3) develop explicit plans for building the Fundacion into a permanent institution.