Aimed at strengthening the capability of local communities and institutions in implementing participatory and integrated watershed management, the Inter-regional Project for Participatory Upland Conservation and Development (PUCD) is operational in the Bhusunde Khola watershed of Gorkha district since 1993. After a promising two-year first phase, oriented by the conventional mandate of the Department of Soil Conservation (DSC, the national counterpart), the project started in August 1995 a second phase, focusing on the start-up and subsequent support to a more comprehensive, community-driven natural resource management and human development process.
A pivotal role in this re-orientation of the scope and strategy of the project was played by the initial participatory appraisal exercises, carried out between November 1995 and January 1996, in a number of selected hamlets of the Bhusunde Khola area. Initial PRAs allowed for the formulation of twenty-six Community Action Plans (CAPs), covering a wide range of specific conservation and development activities, which were meant to be implemented by local user groups with project financial support and technical assistance
During the last ten months, provision of assistance to CAPs implementation became the core element of PUCD action. Achievement of preliminary physical results and related progress in user groups capacity building entailed the need for establishing a participatory evaluation practice, facilitating both the identification of lessons learned from implementation and their application to further planning. To this end, by September 1996, decision was made to include the development of a suitable format for community-based evaluation and re-planning into the terms of reference of the project International Consultant in M&E and Participatory Methods.
In order to meet this need, during his mission to Gorkha and Bhusunde Khola watershed, the consultant, supported by a colleague from the national NGO "New Era", and in collaboration with the project regular consultant in Capacity Building and field staff, facilitated the design and implementation of a pilot CAP evaluation and re-planning workshop. This report describes in some detail the context, design, preparation, implementation and subsequent staff-level evaluation of this experience, paying special attention to methodological aspects and lessons learned about the organisation and facilitation of similar events in the next future.
