The USAID/Ecuador Sustainable Forests and Coasts Project is a biodiversity conservation effort for the Ecuadoran Coast designed to benefit residents in dry forests and tropical rainforests by establishing long-term partnerships to ensure the sustainability of activities beyond the life of the project. Through these objectives, the project also expects to make a contribution in the area of adaptation to climate change and will align its strategy with that of USAID’s Global Climate Change Program.
The project´s intervention strategy will be aligned with the Government of Ecuador´s conservation and development policies. In particular, the project will work in close coordination with the Ministerio de Ambiente de Ecuador (MAE) (primarily the Subsecretariat for Marine and Coastal Management), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAGAP) (especially the Subsecretariat for Fisheries), the Ecuadoran Navy, Plan Ecuador, the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) and the Ministery of Industries and Productivity (MIPRO).
This project will be implemented under a three-year base period contract (with the possibility of two additional option years). It collaborates with six main subcontractors—Rainforest Alliance (RA), Conservación y Desarrollo (C&D), EcoBiotec, Ecolex, Altrópico and the Coastal Resources Center of the University of Rhode Island — herein after referred to as partners, which will implement project activities together with Chemonics International. It is anticipated that additional partners, particularly at the local level, will join the project during the implementation period.
This work plan describes in narrative form the expected results, target goals, and planned activities. It includes a detailed timeline for implementation covering the October 2009-September 2010 (FY10) period, as well as general plans for the second and third years of project implementation (FY11 and FY12 respectively). The work plan is summarized in a chart in Annex 1, Annex 2 includes the project maps and Annex 3 includes the Organizational Chart.
Prior to determining intervention areas and activities from July through September, 2009, the project conducted a rapid assessment of the environmental (including climate change) and socioeconomic situation in the geographic regions originally selected in the proposal. The assessment specifically analyzed value chains, existing markets and potential products, and reviewed the legal and political land tenure situation in each region. The project then defined areas of intervention and strategies in conjunction with the MAE and the USAID Environmental Team. As a result, the project identified six priority geographical areas for project implementation, with five beginning in FY10. Three priority areas are in the province of Esmeraldas, one in Manabí, and two in Guayas.
The project analyzed main threats and opportunities in each intervention area to determine relevant intervention strategies and activities. The work plan is based on the results framework, which includes three Project Intermediate Results (PIRs) and their respective Key Results Areas (KRAs). The narrative of the work plan details the specific goals and activities for each KRA.
The USAID Sustainable Forests and Coasts project integrates an adaptive management concept to its overall strategy and activities, including design, management, and monitoring to systematically test assumptions in order to adapt and learn, ultimately leading to adjustments to our implementation strategy if needed.