Final evaluation report : FSP/NGO [Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific/nongovernmental organization] consortium building project for sustainable forestry development -- USAID cooperative agreement PDC-0158-A-00-1103-02

The project has assisted in the development of NGO sustainable forestry programs in the three targeted countries through the evolution of FSP/Papua New Guinea, the Village Development Trust (also in Papua New Guinea), the Solomon Islands Development Trust, and FSP in Vanuatu. The project also led to the establishment of FSP International's regional office in Vanuatu and helped the FSP network evolve into a global organization, which is now incorporated as Counterpart Foundation, Inc. The project's institution building objectives were in general achieved. The project's implementation plan was revised following a June 1994 mid-term evaluation which identified a number of programmatic problems. Since that time, good progress has been made. Country partners are developing and implementing ecoforestry strategies that suit their specific situations. The planning, management, and implementation capacities of the country programs as well as of the FSP Regional Office and FSP/USA have increased to the point where the programs are leaders in ecoforestry activities within their own countries, and collectively form the largest and most professional group of ecoforestry staff among Pacific Island NGOs. Networking and sharing of technical expertise between country partners is increasing (though further development is needed). A range of ecoforestry activities have/are being implemented in each country; there activities are viewed positively by the evaluation team, other multilateral and bilateral donors, and local governments and NGOs. The capacity of country partners to develop professional proposals for ecoforestry programs has increased (as can be seen in the increased levels and diversity of funding). In addition, the country programs, FSP Regional Office, and FSP/USA have all increased the professional level of their accounting and management systems, and documentation on the use of funds is now comprehensively maintained. There are considerable technical resources (e.g., training institutions, country partner staff) in the region which should be further utilized. Already, the project has helped to generate support from other donors (in excess of what was required by USAID). The evaluation makes 23 recommendations based on four conclusions: (1) country partners need to constantly review and evaluate the performance of their organizations against realistic goals and objectives; (2) there is a need for more comprehensive and integrated statistical and costing data on a number of activities, especially ecotimber production and marketing; (3) the island partner organizations need to develop realistic strategies for accessing local markets for a consistent supply and quality of sawntimber; (4) the evaluation team endorses the idea of establishing the ecotimber industry in the South Pacific through the development of microenterprises.