Building evaluation capacity in small/medium-sized conservation projects

Abstract

Small/medium-sized projects make up a key component of the work of many conservation organisations. Given the challenges facing global biodiversity it is essential that we are able to evaluate and learn from the outcomes and impacts of such projects . Furthermore, many of those working in conservation receive their first experience of practical conservation work through managing and implementing projects of this scale, therefore instilling good evaluation practises at this level can also act as a valuable capacity-building experience which further enhances the potential impact of such projects.

PRISM is a toolkit developed by a collaboration of organisations in the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, with additional input from academics, practitioners and donors from across the conservation sector. The toolkit aims to support small/medium-sized conservation projects to evaluate the outcomes and impacts of their work, specifically to help projects:

• Understand the theory behind evaluation relevant to small/medium-sized conservation projects • Plan project evaluation in a way that maximises useful information while remaining feasible to carry out • Use practical, easy to use methods to collect and analyse evaluation data that can be adapted for specific conservation scenarios • Interpret, communicate and apply evaluation results to improve current practise

The toolkit addresses the need to build evaluation capacity in such projects, reconciling the challenges they face with the need to go beyond only measuring what has been done and to look at what difference the project has made, what lessons have been learnt and what should be done next.

Ferraro PJ, Pattanayak SK (2006) Money for Nothing? A Call for Empirical Evaluation of Biodiversity Conservation Investments. PLoS Biol 4(44)

Dickson, I. M., Butchart, S. H. M., Dauncey, V., Hughes, J., Jefferson, R., Merriman, J. C., Munroe, R., Pearce-Higgins, J. P., Stephenson, P. J., Sutherland, W. J., Thomas, D. H. L., & Trevelyan, R., (2017) PRISM – Toolkit for evaluating the outcomes and impacts of small/medium-sized conservation projects. Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Version 1. Available from www.conservationevaluation.org