Mid-term evaluation of the coastal resources management project

The project is implemented by the University of Rhode Island (URI), and includes pilot activities in Sri Lanka, Ecuador, and Thailand. At mid-term, the project is progressing well, and has shown that an integrated approach to CRM is indeed needed, and that U.S. experience in coastal planning is relevant to LDC's. Working through a Cooperative Agreement with a results-oriented university has been an effective approach. Substantial accomplishments in institution building have occurred in all three pilot countries. While there is a considerable difference among the countries, progress in all cases has been more rapid than in similar U.S. programs. In Ecuador, the project is farthest advanced, with a national CRM program (initiated by Presidential decree in 1/89), planning and development activities in local areas underway, and strong public support. The project approach has been mandated as the model for national natural resource planning. Progress is least in Thailand, partly because it has been operating less than 2 years and partly because the institutional structure and operational plans are being worked out slowly in Thailand's environmental planning agency. A notable exception to the slow progress has been the formulation and implementation of a coral protection strategy in Phi Phi National Park and the Phuket vicinity. Sri Lanka, with the project's direct assistance, has completed and adopted the first national CRM plan in a USAID country, and possesses a well-organized institutional structure. Implementation of field activities is slow due to governmental operational gaps, inability of the Coast Conservation Department to expand its capable but small staff, widespread ethnic conflict, and a deteriorating economy. URI has emphasized sustainability by involving host country counterparts in project management, emphasizing public education to create demand for resources management, and strengthening CRM capacity through training, university strengthening, and extensive use of host country experts. In Sri Lanka and Ecuador, sustainability has already been achieved. A.I.D. is to be commended for choosing URI to implement the project. URI appears to have made a substantial commitment to the project, but should be encouraged to meet its match requirements through funding core staff with state funds. A.I.D. funding has been below authorized levels. Current funding levels are insufficient to move the pilot projects into a substantive and more costly implementation phase. Nor will they allow URI to carry out all planned outreach, communication, and training activities. USAID Missions strongly support the project. USAID/Sri Lanka calls it "one of the most successful centrally funded projects." Follow-on efforts are being being designed in Thailand and Sri Lanka, while in Ecuador, CRM is an important component of the Mission's Natural Resources Strategy. Of particular value is A.I.D.'s initiative to invest in a project that involves long-term TA in a few countries. A project such as this allows the testing of policy options to resolve an identified series of natural resource management issues. (Author abstract, modified)