Terminal Evaluation of the UNEP Project Macaya Grand Sud Phase II (MGS II) – Regenerating Ecosystems, Building Green and Blue Economies to Achieve Sustainable Livelihoods (PIMS 321.3)

This report is a Terminal Evaluation (TE) of the UNEP project “Macaya Grand Sud” Phase II (MGS2), implemented between January 2019 and September 2021. This project has been a cooperation between Norway and UNEP and has been based on the activities of the Cote Sud Initiative (CSI) - a coalition of Partners, donors, and NGOs in South Haiti that was established by UNEP in 2013. The project’s activities were designed to assist the Haitian government at national and decentralized levels as well as local communities, to adopt practical ecosystem-based management approaches to promote decreased environmental degradation, sustainability, and improved livelihoods and well-being of the local populations in Macaya and Port Salut-Abacou. The overall objective of the project is to “enhance local capacities to address ecosystem degradation, and to introduce sustainable local livelihoods at scale in the Macaya and Port Salut-Abacou protected areas and in their buffer zones.” This approach is based on the recognition that environmental sustainability in southern Haiti can only be achieved by promoting viable sustainable livelihood opportunities for an otherwise impoverished population that is highly dependent on the use of vulnerable natural resources. To achieve this objective, the project was structured under two main components that were designed to achieve mutually reinforcing results: 1. Protected Areas Management and 2. Sustainable Livelihoods. The evaluation sought to assess project performance (in terms of relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency), and determine outcomes and impacts (actual and potential) stemming from the project, including their sustainability. The Evaluation has two primary purposes: (i) to provide evidence of results to meet accountability requirements, and (ii) to promote operational improvement, learning, and knowledge sharing through results and lessons learned among UNEP and the main project partners.