Home > Programmes > International Waters Project

Project Background

• Project History

• Project Objectives

• Monitoring and Evaluation

• Lessons Learned

• Terminal Evaluation

Project History

The International Waters Project (IWP) is the first GEF project specifically designed to address the International Waters focal area in the Pacific. It is also the first time in the world that a Strategic Action Programme has been designed for the international waters of a group of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

In October 1995 the 8th SPREP meeting endorsed a proposal to prepare the Strategic Action Programme for International Waters. The South Pacific Forum (SPF), at its Session in September 1996, requested SPREP to coordinate the development of the proposal. Formulation of the IWP proposal, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through project development funds (PDF Block-B), proceeded throughout 1997.

The IWP for the Pacific Islands was directed to combine the following activity areas:

• Integrated conservation and sustainable management of coastal resources, including freshwater resources;
• Integrated conservation and sustainable managemen of oceanic resources;
• Prevention of pollution through the integrated management of land or marine based wastes, and;
• Monitoring and analysis of shore and near-shore environmentals to determine vulnerability to environmental degradation.

A Regional Task Force (RTF) was established to oversee the preparation of the IWP Proposal and the first meeting took place in Apia from 5-6 June 1997. Participants included five Pacific Island members nominated with specific expertise in: freshwater resources, sea level rise and climate change, and inland and commercial fisheries.

This was followed by a National Task Force Coordinators meeting with representatives from all 14 selected countries. The National Coordinators, through the National Environment Committees, provided guidance for the integration of country priorities in to the IWP Proposal and the eventual Strategic Action Programme. This resulted in the identification of three priority trans-boundary concerns related to international waters .

• Degradation of their quality
• Degradation of their associated critical habitats, and
• Unsustainable use of thier living and non-living resources.

The IWP Programme was formally endorsed by the Heads of the Pacific Island Governments at the 28th South Pacific Forum held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands on 17 – 19 September 97.

The Strategic Action Programme was subsequently designed to support actions to address the root causes of degradation of the international waters of the Pacific Islands region. The actions were to be carried under the auspices of two complementary, linked consultative programmes: Integrated Coastal and Watershed Management (ICWM) and Oceanic Fisheries Management (OFM).

The latter focuses on the management and conservation of tuna stocks in the western central Pacific while the former is directed at coastal watershed management. This overview relates to the coastal component of the programme.

The development of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the integrated coastal and watershed component is a GEF/ UNDP/ SPREP initiative and it was undertaken by all participating countries over the period 1997-99.

On 12 August 1999 the Project Brief for the Strategic Action Programme was signed and the final Project Documents signed between GEF, UNDP and SPREP in February 2000. The initial proposal was for a five-year programme, which was due to be completed in February 2005.

Delays in the design and implementation of the SAP resulted in approval to extend the timeframe for the Pacific Islands IWP to seven years with a new scheduled completion date of December 2006.

Project Objectives

The main objective of the coastal programme is to address root causes of the degradation of international waters in coastal regions by implementing projects to improve coastal and watershed management.  The project support action at community level to identify priority environmental concerns relating to marine and freshwater quality, habitat and community modification and degradation and unsustainable use of living marine resources.

The Project Document acknowledged that all sustainable development issues related to International Waters in the Pacific Region couldn’t be addressed at once. Therefore four high priority areas were identified for immediate intervention:

• improved community based waste management;
• better water quality and protection of freshwater resources;
• sustainable coastal fisheries, and;
• effective marine protected areas.

It was proposed that low-cost community-based demonstration pilot projects would then be established in each of the participating countries in any one of the four focal areas of the programme.

To address these priority environmental concerns the ICWM component has focused on the underlying economic and social factors affecting resource use. Drawing on natural resource economics and social science (particularly community participation), the coastal component has worked with communities in the pilot project areas to identify why certain human activities can harm their environment and natural resources.

Together with relevant scientific information, the ICWM Component is developing an integrated approach to solving environmental problems.

Recognising that environmental threats cannot be addressed entirely through community level action alone, the Project is working with district and national level administrations in activities relating to policy, legislation and institutional arrangements. At all levels the Project is working with local stakeholders in an effort to address the root cause of the environmental concerns. Community participation at all stages in the project cycle is a critical element of the pilot activities. This community focus has required a strong communications element. Communications feature significantly in publicizing the objectives, processes, outcomes and lessons of each pilot project.

The Project is designed to promote partnerships with other development assistance agencies that are active in the region. The objective is to plan and coordinate regional and national development assistance for International Waters to address imminent threats and their root causes more effectively. The Project also endeavours to provide a catalyst for leveraging the on-going participation of other donors throughout the life of project-related activities at the national level and regional levels.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The National Coordinators in each country undertake Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) on a regular and on-going basis. The focus of this work is to:

(i) monitor and evaluate results and impacts of project activities;
(ii) provide a basis for improved decision-making on necessary amendments and improvements;
(iii) promote accountability for resource use; and
(iv) document, provide feedback on, and disseminate lessons learned.

A mix of tools is used to ensure effective project M&E throughout the life of the project. This includes periodic monitoring to measure changes and linkages between process indicators (plans, rules etc), stress indicators (actual behaviour change) and status indicators (actual environment/resource quality).

The Monitoring and Evaluation Programme is supported by regular reporting by National Coordinators, through multipartite review meetings, a Mid-Term Project Review, audit reports, independent technical evaluations and the peer reviews of project reports.

Lessons Learned

Each pilot project seeks to strengthen capacity and provide lessons for best practice and appropriate methodologies for sustainable resource management and conservation. It is anticipated that these lessons will ultimately be documented and reflected in national, regional and international environmental policy and practice.

This documentation will:

• facilitate a better understanding of the impact of the pilot projects;
• clearly identify significant and beneficial changes within the communities and for different stakeholders - over time;
• support participating countries in identifying how they can build on this work – locally, nationally and regionally - after the IWP ends in December 2006;
• assist with social marketing approaches which further influence behavioural change with a wider audience;
• provide international and regional agencies with invaluable lessons for future community based environmental resource management projects;
• better communicate IWP lessons with the international audience through IW-LEARN, International World Water Forum and other initiatives.

The development of country specific lessons learned documentation will further strengthen participating countries in future bids for additional GEF and donor funds for the replication and continuation of this valuable work in the future.

Terminal Evaluation

Early in 2006 it is proposed to undertake an independent in-depth review of the implementation progress. This terminal evaluation (TE) is responsive to GEF requirements on transparency and better access of information during implementation and on completion of the Project.

The objectives are to:

1. assess overall performance and review progress towards the project’s objectives and outcomes;
2. assess the efficiency and effectiveness of how the project has moved towards its objectives and outcomes;
3. critically analyze the implementation arrangements and identify strengths and weaknesses in project design and implementation;
4. assess the sustainability of results achieved;
5. provide recommendations on design modifications that could have increased the likelihood of success;
6. provide recommendations on specific actions that might be taken into consideration in designing future projects of a related nature and, identify, document and disseminate widely the successes, challenges and lessons learned;
7. advise on activities in place for a transition phase, replication strategy and ongoing sustainability of IWP initiatives after December 2006;
8. assess the need for possible future GEF assistance and provide guidance for future GEF interventions in the Pacific (including mechanisms, scale and themes).