Midterm evaluation Ecuador pilot program : AID coastal resources management project, no. 936-5518

Evaluation covers the period 1986-1991. The project has succeeded in establishing integrated costal resource management as a topic of concern within the Office of the President of Ecuador, but regional and local government agencies, and even local representatives of national agencies have proven incapable of responding to this concern, leading the project to focus most attention on selected small special management zones (ZEM"s), which make up only 7% of the Coast. Consequently, coastal resource issues that can be resolved only at the regional or national levels have not received the attention they merit. Project issues have been selected in a public consultation process according to the interests of local participants, and as a result, emphasis has been on the preparation of Coastal Profiles, which identify many (mostly local) issues without much ranking as to importance, and on organization and planning in the ZEM"s. Complex issues of national concern which were planned to be addressed under the project, in particular Ecuador"s shrimp mariculture industry and the associated clearing of mangrove forests, have been neglected. Although the project did organize a Shrimp Mariculture Conference in 1986, it has ignored the issue since then. Nor has it succeeded in significantly affecting the rate of mangrove forest clearing. Although the project is to be commended for developing a constituency of poor, local resource users, it is essential that this constituency be broadened to include major decisionmakers if the project and its local participants (particularly in the ZEM"s) are to have a long-term influence on national policy. Experience in the ZEM"s must be applied to the identification of research needs and the development of national plans for sustainable coastwide management. Funding is another concern. A.I.D./W funding terminates at the end of 1994 and has already been reduced. USAID/E provided less than half the funds it had promised, significantly reducing the activities the project could undertake. Integrated management of coastal resources is not a USAID/E Strategic Objective, so additional funds are unlikely. An Inter-American Development Bank loan (IADB) is expected during 1993, but it is possible this loan may continue the present focus on ZEM"s. The key need now is to combine the strengths of the ZEM coastal management process with a plan to deal with issues requiring national or regional action -- shrimp mariculture, mangrove clearing, road and dam construction, oil transportation and pollution. In addition, the project must plan for transition to IADB funding. Given the economic significance of Ecuador"s coast, however, USAID/E could consider continuing aid by making coastal management a strategic objective.