Final evaluation : social science and economics program (formerly wildlands and human needs program)

Since the grant was awarded, WWF's institutional strategy for conserving biological diversity has undergone a sea change -- moving from grant-making focused on threatened species to implementing and financing complex field projects, 42% of which are now designed to integrate conservation and development objectives. The Wildlands and Human Needs program has shifted its organizational position in accordance with this change. While once it managed the "cutting edge" of WWF's integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs), it is now primarily a TA unit, operating as part of the Social Science and Economics (SSE) program. As it has developed over the past 9 years, the Wildlands program has supported more than 30 different projects in 21 countries. It has had three different directors, and has organized its staff first geographically, then thematically. This continuing change in substance and management has been a primary factor in limiting the program's ability to achieve its objectives, although many pieces of the menu have been achieved in different places. Now that WWF has succeeded in integrating development into its strategic portfolio has been achieved, it needs to develop program strategies focused on lessons learned. To a large extent, the appropriate processes are in place. In response to the mid-term evaluation, WWF has: set up multidisciplinary working groups to support and oversee operational project management functions; hired an SSE manager who is primarily a manager, not juggling these responsibilities with TA to a portfolio of projects; located SSE in the Research and Development Division, where it has a unique opportunity to link conservation and social science; and begun to address monitoring and evaluation systematically. Nonetheless, these steps do not entirely resolve concerns about the coherence of SSE's program. The conditions that have caused projects to wax and wane in resource availability, priority, and relevance will continue to prevail. SSE needs to balance its project-level approach to monitoring and evaluation by developing a research and monitoring agenda sufficient to evaluate impacts and test hypotheses at the program level. Hiring a qualified social scientist and resource economist, and strengthening linkages with other science programs are recommended. The first of these steps is already underway. In sum, the program has made significant progress over the last 2 years in defining a management structure for implementation of ICDPs. The recently established structure and procedures are capable of serving the technical needs of regionally managed projects while reserving time to analyze development issues, distill lessons, and assist regions in applying them. WWF and USAID can use the 18-month interim funding not only to continue core activities, but also to test new structures and clarify what outputs are achievable in future funding periods. WWF felt that the Wildlands/SSE program had been more successful than given credit for in the mid-term evaluation, and to some extent in this evaluation. It particularly disagreed with the criticism that the program lacked continuity, countering that there has been only one turnover in program directors in 5 years, and that different projects identified as core have all been linked by common themes. (Author abstract, modified)