Final Evaluation of the - UNEP

88. A GIS/database is available for the Nara site but without guidelines or technical advice
from Oslo or the RCU, it was too general to be of use for range management at the
community level of the terroir. The database was developed because the National IVP team
saw it as an outcome in the PD. It has not been developed as a strategically important tool that
will contribute towards achievement of the Project Objective.
Summary of Progress
89. Despite the goodwill created at Nara, achieving the Project Objective is unlikely and the
community has yet to implement their plans. The project should continue and it is hoped that
UNDP will continue to fund the Nara site as a stand-alone project to prevent loss of trust and
confidence. The project can continue for some months with budget neutral funding and then
seek an interim bridging period before continuing as a range management project. Ideas for
funding agencies have been summarised by the National consultant (Annex B)
90. Summary of Progress: Despite creating goodwill, fostering the community empowerment
and a process of decentralization, progress towards achievement of the Project Objective in
Mali remains slow and is rated Moderately Unsatisfactory.
Kenya
91. Twenty-three years ago the UNESCO/ German funded Integrated Project in Arid Lands
(IPAL) headquartered in Marsabit in Kenya (but also working in Turkana) was closed after
seven years and an input of huge resources. Its three long-term objectives were:
1. To seek solutions for urgent environmental and sociological problems associated with
ecological degradation and desert encroachment through research to understand managementoriented
interactions between man and his arid environments and through training and
orientation in resource management techniques associated with the Project studies.
2. To investigate all aspects of human ecology and social organization which pertain to
traditional land use of the arid rangelands and which may contribute to beneficial changes in
their management.
3. To investigate alternative forms of economy and land use consistent with the sustained
health of the human environment.
92. IPAL’s components included vegetation ecology (with range and woodland being split);
livestock studies (animal ecology and production); and education, training & extension. IPAL
created a ‘well-prepared and comprehensive management plan covering every aspect of
development in this area’. It also recommended a permanent research institution called the
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