Final report : mid-term project evaluation -- USAID/Jamaica - development of environmental management organizations (DEMO)

Mid-term evaluation covers the period 9/92-3/96 and includes the PARC II component, which was added in 10/93 to help development a sustainable national park system. The DEMO Project (excluding PARC II) should achieve its principal objectives and purpose, especially that of enabling the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) to assume a leadership role in policy, regulatory development and enforcement, and participatory planning involving a wide range of affected stakeholders. DEMO has helped NRCA to assume responsibility for formulating policies and regulations to guide the stewardship of Jamaica's environment. Specifically, the project has helped the conservation authority to develop guidelines for conducting environmental impact assessments, complete a "State of the Environment Report," develop an accounting system, and install a computer information system. NRCA is developing provisions for regulatory enforcement. They will be enacted once they are adopted as law -- a process that is well underway. DEMO has also helped NRCA to develop a "National System of Protected Areas Plan," which proposes a policy for creating and managing protected areas which is expected to be approved by the Cabinet in mid-1996. The protected area establishment procedure proposed in NRCA's policy has been successfully tested in Negril (through DEMO activities), enjoys widespread support by local government and NGOs, and is soon to be applied by NRCA in the Black River watershed and the Kingston Bay area. In addition, DEMO TA and training have strengthened the management capabilities of a range of environmental NGOs. This has been done principally through support to the National Environmental Societies Trust (NEST), an NGO umbrella organization which helps NGOs to develop project design and management skills so they can access grants from the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica. As a result of NEST's assistance, about a dozen NGOs have received Foundation grants and are currently implementing community-based environmental improvement projects. In contrast, the PARC II component has accomplished little. Neither of the planned parks have been created, no revenue generation programs are in operation at the two existing parks, and the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT) capital campaign to increase the Jamaican National Parks Trust Fund, with primarily USAID funding, was never undertaken. The Jamaican National Parks Institute (JNPI), which was to have helped finance and oversee the management of national parks, was never created, and the Conservation Data Center has played no role in supporting protected area management. PARC II's design was unrealistic. In particular, projections of the JCDT's ability to raise funds to support a park financing system were overly optimistic, and the Government of Jamaica never clearly and decisively acted to create the JNPI. Instead of offering direct support for the creation of the JNPI, NRCA (for a variety of understandable reasons) actively pursued a more decentralized approach to the creation and management of a park and protected area system (with assistance from DEMO's SITE component). PARC II will need to make implementation and management adjustments if it is to reach its objectives. In particular, efforts should be made to: strengthen NRCA's ability to establish, implement, and enforce parks and protected area policy; strengthen the park management capabilities of NGOs to which NRCA will delegate authority for park management; and develop a strategy to tap resources needed to finance protected area management in Jamaica. (Author abstract, modified)