- Evaluation Plan:
- 2016-2020, Armenia
- Evaluation Type:
- Final Project
- Planned End Date:
- 12/2017
- Completion Date:
- 04/2017
- Status:
- Completed
- Management Response:
- Yes
- Evaluation Budget(US $):
- 10,000
Catalyzing Financial Sustainability of Armenia's Protected Area System Final Evaluation
| Document | Type | Language | Size | Status | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 UNDP-GEF-Terminal-Evaluation-Terms-of-Reference-Sept 9 2016.docx |
tor | English | 65.31 KB | Posted | 220 |
 TEReport_00076385_Catalizing Financial Sustainability_April2017.pdf |
report | English | 2496.60 KB | Posted | 129 |
| Management Response_00076385.doc |
related-document | English | 75.00 KB | Posted | 136 |
| Title | Catalyzing Financial Sustainability of Armenia's Protected Area System Final Evaluation | ||||||||||||||
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| Atlas Project Number: | 60610 | ||||||||||||||
| Evaluation Plan: | 2016-2020, Armenia | ||||||||||||||
| Evaluation Type: | Final Project | ||||||||||||||
| Status: | Completed | ||||||||||||||
| Completion Date: | 04/2017 | ||||||||||||||
| Planned End Date: | 12/2017 | ||||||||||||||
| Management Response: | Yes | ||||||||||||||
| Focus Area: |
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| Corporate Outcome and Output (UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-2017) |
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| Evaluation Budget(US $): | 10,000 | ||||||||||||||
| Source of Funding: | UNDP | ||||||||||||||
| Evaluation Expenditure(US $): | 12,600 | ||||||||||||||
| Joint Programme: | No | ||||||||||||||
| Joint Evaluation: | Yes
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| Evaluation Team members: |
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| GEF Evaluation: | Yes
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| Key Stakeholders: | |||||||||||||||
| Countries: | ARMENIA | ||||||||||||||
| Comments: | As per decision of UNDP Regional Office, the completion of this evaluation was re-phased to 2017 |
| Lessons | |
|---|---|
| Findings |
| Recommendations | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Project implementing agency should adhere to donor financial reporting and accounting processes |
| 2 | Establish a national level “board” to enhance a feeling of ownership. |
| 3 | There is a need to build clarity, consistency and trust. The protected areas should be able to rely on predictable, long-term funding from the CNF. |
| 4 | Replication. The CNF represents an excellent learning opportunity for successful establishment of a mechanism to contribute to the financial sustainability of a regional protected area system. |
| 5 | There is a need for all partners in the Protected Area system of Armenia to come up with meaningful biodiversity indicators that i) operate on a scale (both spatially and temporally), ii) are minimally affected by external factors. In addition, a system-wide monitoring process could be established to measure the effectiveness of the management of the protected areas. |
| 6 | Explore other funding mechanisms for achieving financial sustainability for protected areas, such as payment-for-ecosystem-services (PES) and co-management, delegated management or contracted management of protected areas. |
1. Recommendation:
Project implementing agency should adhere to donor financial reporting and accounting processes
Management Response: [Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02]
UNDP Armenia fully agrees with this recommendation, and throughout the Project duration, has been following up to ensure that project financial scorecards and progress reports are regularly prepared by the CNF and submitted to UNDP and thr Ministry of Nature Protection. This recommendation, together with the report, will be presented for the attention and more rigorous oversight also by the Ministry of Nature Protection.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communicate the Armenian translation of the Evaluation report to Ministry of Nature Protection.
[Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02] |
UNDP Armenia | 2017/12 | Completed | History |
2. Recommendation:
Establish a national level “board” to enhance a feeling of ownership.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02]
The recommendation is valid. As a regular practice, all UNDP-GEF projects have functional Project Board represented by the implementing and responsible agencies, main beneficiary and UNDP. Responsible for providing high-level strategic oversight and overall guidance to the project, the Board ensures that the Project remains within the specified framework and follows the targeted direction.
The CNF operates through a Board of Directors; as such Government presence in the CNF Board with ‘observer’ status is important to ensure oversight and ownership.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advise the Ministry of Nature Protection to hold ‘observer’ status membership in the CNF Board.
[Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02] |
UNDP Armenia | 2017/12 | Completed | History |
3. Recommendation:
There is a need to build clarity, consistency and trust. The protected areas should be able to rely on predictable, long-term funding from the CNF.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/11/24]
The recommendation is acceptable: UNDP Armenia will communicate the concept of ‘long-term and sustainable funding’ for the Protected Areas network of Armenia to the Ministry of Nature Protection.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communicate the Armenian translation of the Evaluation report to the Ministry of Nature Protection.
[Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02] |
UNDP Armenia | 2017/12 | Completed | History |
4. Recommendation:
Replication. The CNF represents an excellent learning opportunity for successful establishment of a mechanism to contribute to the financial sustainability of a regional protected area system.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02]
While such Funds represent good opportunity for contributing to financial improvement of protected areas system in Armenia, there should be careful analysis of operation, credibility, assistance criteria and synergy with similar ongoing interventions to promote regional protected area networks. For UNDP, this also means careful assessment before engaging with NGO-implementation modality for future interventions.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undertake careful assessment before engaging with NGO-implementation modality for future interventions.
[Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02] |
UNDP Armenia | 2017/12 | Completed | History |
5. Recommendation:
There is a need for all partners in the Protected Area system of Armenia to come up with meaningful biodiversity indicators that i) operate on a scale (both spatially and temporally), ii) are minimally affected by external factors. In addition, a system-wide monitoring process could be established to measure the effectiveness of the management of the protected areas.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02]
This is a valid recommendation. It will be communicated to the Biodiversity department of the Ministry of Nature Protection for consideration.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communicate the Evaluation recommendations to the Ministry of Nature Protection for consideration.
[Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02] |
UNDP Armenia | 2017/12 | Completed | History |
6. Recommendation:
Explore other funding mechanisms for achieving financial sustainability for protected areas, such as payment-for-ecosystem-services (PES) and co-management, delegated management or contracted management of protected areas.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02]
The management and financial sustainability of protected areas is a crucial issue. The recommendation is valid and will be communicated to the Ministry of Nature Protection and respective partners in due course. Where possible, UNDP will consider this outstanding issue in future interventions.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provide evaluation recommendations to the Ministry of Nature Protection and possibly consider protected area funding mechanisms in future interventions.
[Added: 2017/11/24] [Last Updated: 2017/12/02] |
UNDP Armenia | 2017/12 | Completed | History |