I. The first progress report was received by hand on 16 October 2006, with following details:

Activities carried out:

1. Establishing a nursery for native species
2. Replanting native species in 10 acres of the learning centre and in marginal lands
3. Demarcating fire-break

Results and indicators:

1. Emergence of 4,000 new trees of various native species for community consumption
2. Emergence of community regulations on forest use
3. Government agencies and other organizations giving support through participating in planting native species in project area.
4. Target communities showing increased capacity through demonstrating understanding essence of the project

Project Communication:
1. The project produced VCD showing communities members taking action in building nursery , demarcating fire-break zone by planting bamboo trees , and collective plantation of the cultural forest area
2. Project committee communicated project activities in every monthly meeting of villages and tambols

II. During 18-20 October 2006 , leaders of the project participated in the mid-course evaluation. The observation is as follows:

Baan(village) Busai, one of the target village of an OP2, year-4 project, was a venue of the workshop where 45 attendants from 13 projects of OP3 year 2, NSC members, NC and PA gathered together to meet. Literally, these 13 projects were dubbed among SGP Thailand as GEF SGP Class 7/1 with project number starting from THA-05-01 to THA-05-13.

Workshop AT-A-Glance

As the venue was situated in target area of a back project THA-02-18 and adjacent to that of THA-04-22 which had been launching activities to reverse land degradation in watershed area of Lower Mekhong ecosystems, participants had learnt and shared experience with leaders of the two projects during field visits and briefing session. That was the first day.

First session of the following morning saw the NC occupying the floor confirming strategy of GEF SGP: Environment Protection , Community Empowerment, and Poverty Reduction. Then the floor was handed over to participants to conduct the session on sharing and discussion. Each project was given 30 minutes to relate background, activities undertaken and immediate results, problems/issues as well as questions and answers. The session was able to effectively cover 10 projects. That was the second day.

The morning of third day was given to the three remaining projects to cover their stories, to the NSC for observation and suggestion , to the NC to remind the grantees of what to do next according to the MOAs and finally to the grantees to collectively plan activities to strengthen this fledgling SGP environmental network and friendship. At the end, the chairperson , vice-chairperson and coordinator of Thailand GEF SGP class 7/1 emerged to take up coordinating role for all 13 projects. That was the final day of the workshop.

Each grantee was capable of articulating details of undertaken activities and their immediate results to the audiences. Project results were rated as promising. Some even gained recognition and financial supports by other stakeholders. Community members of two projects were able to increase their technical capacity in biogas technology. At an average, three projects were ahead of their proposed timeline , three a little bit behind, and seven just on time.

Nine projects presented through Power Points and audio-visual equipment, even though they are of Community ?Based Organization and not a national, tighter organization. There were four projects who accomplished their jobs by sets of photos and detailed documents.

III. The second progress report was received on 4 November 2006, relating the followings:

Some evinced impact:
The report just concluded undertaken activities which were in the previous report and that the native trees and cultural garden were well overseen prompting more members to be added in the forest protecting volunteer group. The installation of solar water pumping was almost completed.

Project Communication: 1. Project activities were aired through the Mass Communication Authority of Thailand and Channel TV of Chanthaburi Province
2. The CEO of the Khao Kitchakud sub-District presided over the opening ceremony of the project

IV. On 17 March 2007, four members of NSC, NC,PA and three staff members from UNDP-RCB paid a monitoring visit to the project. The findings and observations are as follows:

Baan (village) Khlongphlu, Tambol Khlongphlu of Khao Khitchakoot sub-district is a home to over 100 families of a cultural, indigenous group ? Shorng ?. The village is situated in a once rich tropical forest but now degraded forest and orchard.

The meeting room of the Public Health Station of Tambol Khlongphlu was turned into a meeting room where the visiting team and about 30 project leaders discussed and shared experience about progress of activities with witnessed and promising results. In order to add to existing capacity of the leaders, the NC spent one hour to share the essence of GEF, GEF SGP and activities of other projects in Thailand. The sharing was observed and rated as successful.

Later, Thung Na Sum, a demonstration plot of the project was visited. It was a degraded forest land of 10 acres with fire break around. A solar water pumping unit of 480 W was seen standing with a water pond. The piping system was laid to convey pumped water to irrigate the reforestation. Walking across the field, project leaders briefed the visiting team outstanding indigenous plant species of Shorng culture, which remain and thrive in the plot. Adjacent to Thung Na Sum is the project nursery. There were a few hundred of seedlings remaining and would be transferred for reforestation soon. Next to the nursery, a small building intended to be the data and information centre of the project was nearly finished. A recording board telling timeline, carried out project activities and related expense hanging on a wall of the building enabled a visitor to get the overall idea when the money was spent and what for.

The Shorng is one of the indigenous people who try to keep their identities. One notable accomplished activity was the invention of the Shorng characters to use in writing. One project leader is invited to be a visiting instructor in the indigenous language course at Mahidol University, Bangkok

During this brief interaction, it was felt that the project had met, at a certain degree, their expectation. The project planned to have the evaluation upon completion during this coming rainy season.

RECORD OF COUNTRY CONTRIBUTION:

Centre for Development of Ao Khungkrabane, in kind (lodging for visiting team)= Baht: 2,000

V. Note: on a participatory evaluation upon completion with other contemporary projects:

GEF Small Grants Programme: Evaluation upon Completion Workshop At-a-Glance

Country: Thailand
Project Number: THA-05-01 to THA-05-13
Date of Workshop: November 7- 9, 2007
Location: Boy Scout Camp, Khao Khitchakut District, Chanthaburi

1. BACKGROUND OF THE WORKSHOP

Specified in the Country Programme Strategy and long encouraged by Thailand GEF SGP, the workshop aimed to strengthen the participatory evaluation process, build capacity of target communities, and contribute to the formation of a strong network of GEF SGP grantees. The 3-day workshop provided an opportunity for these 13 projects?all nearing completion after 24 months?to present overall results, problems/issues and their solutions, to share lessons learned and to forge partnerships for sustainability.

2. WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

The Chanthaburi Boy Scout Camp in Khao Khitchakut District, the venue for the workshop, hosted 45 participants from 11 projects of OP3 Year One, a GEF SGP team (composed of a NSC member, the National Coordinator, and Programme Assistants), and a few other major stakeholders. The 11 projects were dubbed ?GEF SGP Class 7/1,? and assigned a project number between THA-05-01 and THA-05-13. In addition, four members from THA-06-02?a project of OP3 Year Two or ?GEF SGP Class 8/1??were present to share experiences. The participants showed great geographical diversity; they had traveled from Nan, Tak, Loei, Mahasarakharm, Kanchanaburi, Ayudhaya, Phayao, Nakhornsithammarat, Songkhla and Pattani Provinces.

3. Workshop At-a-Glance

Beginning in the afternoon of November 7th, several project members began preparing dissemination materials. Photos depicting project activities were posted in the meeting hall; brochures, completion reports, instruction manuals and project products were also available.

To allow all parties to arrive and set up, the exhibition did not commence until the morning of the second day. November 8th began with the official opening ceremony, in which the chief of district officers of Khao Khitchakut District presided and gave an encouraging keynote speech. Following the chief, the GEF SGP National Coordinator delivered his welcoming remarks by reviewing the history of GEF SGP and how he felt about this get-together. After the official opening, the chief spent almost half-an-hour visiting and conversing with project members at their respective dissemination stations in the hall. Also in attendance were other district officers, including staff from local schools and the Provincial Corrective Department, which was a major stakeholder of the host grantee (THA-05-13). The chief, when requested to give his reaction regarding what he had seen and heard, offered relevant and enthusiastic feedback.

The sharing of project summaries and results then began. Throughout the day, ten projects were presented, eight of which used PowerPoint and audio-visual equipment, (an impressive feat considering the limited resources and IT skills of most community-based organizations). Three projects relied upon sets of photos and detailed documents. The remaining session of the day was spent on a site visit to the host grantee?s project.

On the third day, the National Coordinator and his team took the floor to explain the future plan of GEF Phase 4, during which the grantees would work to upscale their current activities, and build and solidify their network. Advice on using interactive online mapping to strengthen the network was also given.

It will be interesting to follow how this group would proceed with their future plans. It is notable that during the workshop, the term global warming was often heard, even from two projects whose activities did not directly address this issue.


VI. The completion report was received on November 13, 2007 , with following details:

Date of Participatory Evaluation:1 November 2007
Number of Beneficiaries/ Participating personnel
Women: 204
Men: 611
Children: 370
Number of persons trained/ attending seminars, joining study tours:
Women: 40
Men: 63
Children: 40
Expense Total: Baht: 550,000
Amount received from SGP: Baht: 460,543.03
Amount received from other : Baht: 42,000
Amount contributed by grantee/community: Baht: 178,000

Undertaken activities:

1. Establishing a nursery for native species
2. Conducting resources inventories with subsequent documentation
3. Replanting native species in 10 acres of the learning centre and in marginal lands
4. Demarcating fire-break zone
5.Installation of solar water pumping systems(300 W) and putting into use for the learning centre and nursery process

Descriptive results:

1. The nursery supplying 6,500 seedlings of native species to be grown in the community conservation/learning plot of about 10 acres
2. Over 90 % of the grown seedlings being thriving in the plot
3. Compilation of 90 native species as biological resources inventories
4. The fire-break zone of 10 x 852 meters successfully prevent wild-fire and additionally serving as a barricade against intruders
5. The solar water pumping system operating successfully at about 3,000 litres/hour completely avoiding the use of fossil fuel and grid power( for diesel oil, it was estimated that the consumption would be two litres per hour , thus about 5,600 grammes/hours of CO2 being avoided)

Impact: The project had provided opportunity for several community members to have work and duty on forest conservation. The expansion of orchards in the project location, which had been serious for the past four decades appeared to be kept in check .

Future plan: The project would keep on promoting community role on conservation of forest ecosystems.