MAB PROJECT

National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Project, which combines two environmental projects (Field Support, 9311028, and Training and Grants, 9311113) designed to upgrade the capability of A.I.D."s Regional Bureaus and Missions in the area of environmental activity. This special evaluation covers the period 9/77-6/80 and was based on onsite visits, interviews, and a review of project files. Under the combined projects, 18 subprojects have been implemented. To date, the main accomplishments have been as follows: Phase One environmental profiles were completed for 22 countries, with seven more underway, and a pilot Phase Two profile on Guatemala is near completion. A technical review of the profile process was conducted. Several high-level policy conferences were held: a U.S. Strategy Conference on Tropical Deforestation and a World Conference on Sea Turtle Conservation in Washington, D.C.; a Conference on Environmental Management and Economic Growth in the Smaller Caribbean Islands in Bardados; and an International Conference on the Social and Economic Consequences of Natural Resource Policies in Durango, Mexico. Two technical workshops were also conducted, one on watershed management training conducted in Los Banos, Philippines by the University of Arizona; the other on concepts and techniques for resource inventory and monitoring conducted by the University of Tennessee. The project suffered initially from the lack of a full-time manager. This problem, however, has been solved. It is recommended that the project be extended to 3/82 so that planned activities and an additional seminar can be carried out; that the RSSA with MAB be converted into a general agreement; that training services undertaken in the project be planned and evaluated (with DS/IT evaluation methods revised, and procedures instituted by workshop or seminar managers). In addition, a summary program description should be drafted; other donor support should be explored; and regional bureau environmental officers should review their regional portfolios. Evaluation is attached to project PES (PD-AAG-226-B1).