Annual Operations and Budget Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation for Protected Areas in Cambodia

Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project (BPAMP) Department of Nature Conservation and Protection Ministry of Environment #48, Samdech Preah Sihanouk Tonle Bassac, Chamkarmon Phnom Penh Cambodia

Annual Operations and Budget Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation for Protected Areas in Cambodia
A reference manual for protected area staff

Virachey National Park

AOP DETAILED ACTIVITY SHEET

Management Programme: Resource Conservation and Management SubProgramme: Activity Responsible
Fixed Operating Costs Summary Schedule
PA Budget Item
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Financial Year Activity number Date Priority Type

Position
Jul Aug

CDF
Sep Oct

r ESSB N
Nov Dec

Description Why

Office/PA Budget line Basic Opertional Budget Salaries Transport office and Outposts Expenses

Month Budget (U$ or Riel)

Financial year Actual spent up ot this Month this Month % of budget spent

Salaries and Allowances Park Director Wardens Rangers Administrative staff Others Transport Fuel for Vehicles

Output 4.1

Fuel for pumps, boats, generators Indicator Number Per diem VNP0075 Food rations Public transport VNP0076 Others VNP0077 Office and Outposts Expenses Utilities telephone VNP0078 Utilities electricity Other Utilities Promotion, advertising Printing, photocopy, etc

Prioritised research carried out Reports on at least 3 suneys available at VNP Headquarters by 12/2/2005 Activities Collect reports of all surveys camy out in VNP Finalise research policy Carry out mammal survey using camera traps Solicit botanical survey Resp. Park Secret NPCB WPP TTL of NPCB Milestones/indicator Reports of surveys conducted in VNP by partners institution collected 03/05 Research policy approved by Jun. 05 Surveys conducted in coooperation with WWF form February to May 2005 Corresponedence with at least 3 research institution/NGOs on file by 60/2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 D B B A D B A

September 2006

Ministry of Environment Department of Nature Biodiversity and Protected Conservation and Protection Areas Management Project

World Bank

Global Environment Facility

FOREWORD
Planning of activities and budgets is a key competence for every manager. Another key competence is monitoring and evaluation because there is little value in planning if progress after implementation is not monitored and evaluated. Planning monitoring and evaluation is of particular importance for protected area managers who are entrusted with the responsibility to manage the rich biological diversity of Cambodia and maintain the ecosystem services provided by protected areas for all Cambodians, the present and future generations. Effective management of protected areas is also a goal set in the Programme of Work on Protected Areas of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Goal 1.4 of decision VII/28 is to substantially improve site-based protected area planning and management. The key activity to achieve this goal is to ensure that protected areas are effectively managed or supervised through staff that are well-trained and skilled, properly and appropriately equipped, and supported, to carry out their fundamental role in the management and conservation of protected areas. The World Bank and Global Environment Facility funded, and Ministry of Environment implemented Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project introduced systematic operations planning and regular monitoring and evaluation in Virachey National Park in late 2002. This approach has been tested and refined during a four year implementation period in collaboration with the Ministry of Environments Department of Nature Conservation and Protection. The results have been summarised in a comprehensive manual by the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project. I am very pleased to be able to provide staff of the Ministry of Environment with this comprehensive annual operations and budget planning manual, as well as manual on regular monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the plans. This manual will help protected area managers and managers at the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection to more effectively perform their role of effective management and conservation of about 18% of Cambodias land.

Mr. Chay Samith Director, Department of Nature Conservation and Protection Ministry of Environment

APPROVAL

This manual has been reviewed by the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection of the Ministry of Environment and approved for implementation

September 2006 Senior Minister Minister of Environment

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii Table of contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii List of figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 PART ONE: ANNUAL OPERATIONS and BUDGET PLANNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 2. Introduction to annual operations and budget planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 3. Planning within the Management Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 4. The planning process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Step 1: Identification of activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Step 2: Grouping of activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Step 3: Ranking of activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Step 4: Timing and coordination of activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Step 5: Description of activities and cost estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Step 6: Compilation of Annual Operations Plan and Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 5. Additional information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 5.1 Chart of accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 5.2 Activity based costing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 PART TWO: MONITORING AND EVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 6. Introduction to monitoring and evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 6.1 Activity and result monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 6.2 Budget monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 1 Activity list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 2 Detailed activity sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 3 Environmental and social scoping brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 4 Fixed operating costs summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 5 Budget items summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 6 Budget summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 7 Example of an Annual Operations Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 8 Example of activities of a sub-programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 9 The nominal group process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 10 Examples of evaluation tables for the 1st , 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hierarchy of protected area related plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Annual management cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Adaptive management cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 The project planning matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Steps for the development of Annual Operations Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Flowchart to illustrate how the evaluation codes A, B & C are assigned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Implementation status of BPAMP project activities 01-04/2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Overview of the implementation status of the activities by components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The process which lead to the production of this manual started in November 2002 with a project cycle management training. I would like to express special thanks to Dr. Lim Sidevil and Mrs. Karin Augustat for their input in the project cycle management training and the first annual operations planning workshop in December 2003. During the last three and a half years a lot of staff from the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project (BPAMP), the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection and the Ministry of Environment participated in planning and evaluation workshops and meetings which were used to further develop, test and implement annual operations and budget planning as well as regular monitoring and evaluation. Many of them contributed with questions, suggestions and ideas to the refinement and further development of the approach to planning and evaluation described in this manual I would like to thank them all. Special thanks go to Mr. Meas Sophal, the BPAMP project director, who unconditionally supported the development of a comprehensive approach to planning and evaluation, and to Mr. Richard Lloyd for his constructive criticism and contributions to the writing of this manual. The development, testing and implementation of the approach to planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting and the production of this manual was made possible through the financial support from the World Bank, Global Environment Facility and the Government of Cambodia. I would like to thank them all and in particular the Ministry of Environment which fully supported the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project. Klaus Schmitt

iv

ACRONYMS
ABC AOP BPAMP BNP CPAC DNCP EIA ESSB MIST PA RBDC VNP Activity Based Costing Annual Operations Plan Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project Bokor National Park Community Protected Area Committee Department of Nature Conservation and Protection Environmental Impact Assessment Environmental and Social Scoping Brief Management Information System Protected Area Ranger-based data collection Virachey National Park

Acronyms used in tables and figures which are explained in the text are not included in the above list. This list does not contain acronyms used and explained in the appendices.

1.

Introduction
In normal everyday life, nobody would think of going on a long motor bike trip to a remote area without taking plenty of food, water and fuel, or in other words, without planning appropriately for the trip. Also nobody would think of buying a new car without a speedometer, fuel gauge, temperature indicator and warning lights. These are monitoring devices which enable you to evaluate how the car is working and whether there are imminent problems such as running out of fuel or an overheating engine. Planning, monitoring and evaluation are often done in everyday life without paying much attention to the concepts. For managers planning, monitoring and evaluation are key competencies which they must pay a lot of attention to if they want to manage effectively. This is highlighted by the fact that many books and documents have been written about these topics. A lot of the books are very academic or deal with the topics in a general way and many of the documents describe specific situations which are not readily applicable to nature conservation. This document has been produced to provide a concise reference manual on protected area annual operations and budget planning and on regular monitoring and evaluation. It is based on the experience of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project since December 2002. The steps described in this manual have been tested, reviewed and refined over a four year period to suit the needs of effective protected area management. The manual consists of two parts: part one covers annual operations and budget planning, and part two covers monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the annual operations plan.

PART ONE:

ANNUAL OPERATIONS and BUDGET PLANNING

2.

Introduction to annual operations and budget planning

An Annual Operations Plan is a statement of intent describing in detail all activities planned for one year and it is used to guide daily operations throughout that year. A budget plan providing cost estimates for the planned activities also needs to be developed while preparing the Annual Operations Plan. Developing the operations plan and budget plan at the same time serves two purposes: (1) it saves time by eliminating the need for staff to prepare annual budget requests separately from the Annual Operations Plan, and (2) it brings finance and operations planning together by integrating annual activity planning and budgeting. To improve the readability of this manual, the term Annual Operations Plan (AOP) will be used to describe both the Annual Operations Plan and Budget Plan. The Annual Operations Plan details the activities to be implemented with the relevant time schedule, the major interim results (milestones), who is responsible for what, and the allocation of human, material and financial resources. Activities in the AOP are grouped under outputs (results) with their respective indicators. Annual Operations Plans must be: - linked to the management plan of the protected area or strategic plan of the organisation - linked to the annual budget of the protected area or the organisation - linked to employee annual performance evaluations - simple to prepare - easy to understand - realistic and - implementable More detailed quarterly and monthly work plans should be drawn-up based on the AOP. The development of Annual Operations Plans consists of six main steps: - identification of activities - grouping of activities - ranking of activities - timing and coordination of activities - description of activities and cost estimates - compilation of Annual Operations Plan and Budget These steps are described in detail in part one of this manual and illustrated in figure 5. This manual is written for use in protected areas and the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection (DNCP). DNCP should develop its Annual Operations Plans within the framework of the Ministry of Environment strategic plan while protected areas work within the framework set by the 5year management plan. To improve the readability of this manual the text refers to protected area and management plan only, implying that the same applies to DNCP and the Ministry of Environment strategic plan.

3.

Planning within the Management Cycle

The management cycle involves the interaction of planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and re-planning. Annual Operations Plans must be written within the framework set by the protected area (PA) management plan - if such a plan is available which in turn should be written within the frame work set by the strategic plan (Ministry of Environment 2003) and the national protected area system plan. The relationship1 between the different levels of planning is shown in figure 1. The protected area management plan prescribes, for a 5 year period, the objectives and the activities which must be implemented to achieve the objectives. The plan gives a rationale why these activities should be carried out and provides an implementation schedule (see BPAMP 2003a for an example). Based on the fairly general activities prescribed in the management plan, Annual Operations Plans with a greater level of detail are developed.

eta

Strategic Plan 5 years

il

Sets framwork

sin

gd

rea

for Protected Areas Management Plan 5 years Sets framwork

inc

for Annual Operations Plan 1 year

Fig. 1: Hierarchy of protected area related plans

Annual Operations Plans contain a more detailed description of the activities, who is responsible, a schedule, a budget and milestones and indicators to evaluate the implementation of the plan. Planning is a linear process while the management system within which it operates is a cyclical system involving the interaction of three key processes: Planning - Implementation - Evaluation. There is little value in planning if progress after implementation is not monitored and evaluated. The evaluation examines implementation of the plan and must be based on clearly defined performance measures (indicators) which describe quality, quantity, place and time, and not just on intuition, impressions or casual observations. Details of the annual management cycle are shown in figure 2.
Annual planning cycle

Annual Operations Plan

Activities

Implementation

Monitoring & Evaluation

unplanned activities Monthly, bi-monthly or Quarterly evaluation and planning cycle (

continue

no
deviation from plan

adjust (planning & implemmentation)

yes

Fig. 2: Annual management cycle Figure 1 shows a simplified relationship. Additional support documents, both operational and strategic, may be available between the levels of the management and annual operations plans.
1

The annual planning cycle shown in figure 2 includes regular monitoring and evaluation loops which provide feed back to managers for adjustment of the plan if necessary. This continuous process of actions based on planning, monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment (see figure 3) is called adaptive management. It is management which anticipates change, includes feedback and adjustment loops, as well as rapid learning for managers. Figure 3 also shows that implementation, monitoring and evaluation, adjustment and planning must be based on information, which in turn must be continually based on up-to-date and accurate data. For more details of this aspect of the management cycle refer to BPAMP (2006). Figure 3: Adaptive Management Cycle

The first step of the management cycle is to arrive at a plan based on clearly defined goals and using the best knowledge available. This plan is then implemented with constant monitoring and evaluation. Figure 4 shows the position of activities within the vertical and horizontal logic of the project planning matrix or logical framework: It shows that IF activities2 /inputs are completed AND the assumptions are met THEN the output/result is achieved, and IF the results/outputs2 are achieved AND the assumptions are met THEN the objective is achieved, and so on. For further details of this concept see project cycle management training materials prepared by BPAMP (BPAMP 2003b).
OBJECTIVELY VERIVIABLE INDICATORS

NARRATIVE SUMMARY

MEANS OF VERIFACTION
Sources of data and information, methods to collect, analyse and report. Sources of data and information, as well as methods to collect, analyse and report.

IMPORTANT ASSUMPTIONS

THEN IF THEN IF THEN IF

OVERALL GOAL The broader impact to Measures of the which the park contributes extent to which a (at national level). contribution to the goal has been made. OBJECTIVES The outcome expected at the end of the plan period. All management programmes contribute to this. RESULTS/OUTPUTS The direct measurable results (goods and services) which are largely under the park management's control. ACTIVITIES/INPUTS The tasks carried out to implement the plan and deliver the identified outputs. Conditions at the end of the planning phase indicating that the objectives have been achieved.

Assumptions concerning the objectives/goal linkage.

Measures of the Sources of data and quantity and quality of information, as well as outputs and the methods to collect, timing of their analyse and report. delivery. Resources needed for implementation

Assumptions concerning the output/objective linkage.

Assumptions concerning the activity/output linkage.

Fig. 4: The project planning matrix

Several activities must be completed to achieve one output, several outputs must be achieved to achieve one objective.

10

4.

The planning process

The development of an Annual Operations Plan consists of six main steps: 1. identification of activities 2. grouping of activities 3. ranking of activities 4. timing and coordination of activities 5. description of activities and cost estimates 6. compilation of Annual Operations Plan and Budget

Figure 5 gives an overview of these steps.

Carried out by units of the PA or working groups at the AOP workshop

1. Identification of activities Current AOP including Detailed Activity Sheets Evaluation Reports
Management Plan

Remarks

Support Documents

Sources for list of activities

Activity list for each management programme

Brainstorming without prioritisation (Appendix 9)

2. Grouping of activities under sub -programmes

Nominal Group Process (Appendix 9)

3. Ranking of activities for each sub -programme

Nominal Group Process (Appendix 9) Outputs

Steps carried out during the AOP co-ordination workshop

4. Timing and Coordination of all activities

Activity List (Appendix 1)

5. Description of each activity and cost estimate 6. Summary The Plans

AOP Detailed Activity Sheets (Appendix 2)

Budget items summary

Fixed operating costs summary

Fixed Operating Costs Summary (Appendix 4) and Budget Items Summary (Appendix 5) Budget Summary (Appendix 6) AOP Summary (Appendix 7)

AOP summary

Budget summary

Fig. 5: Steps for the development of Annual Operations Plans

11

Protected area managers should aim for management by objectives, a proactive and results-oriented approach, emphasising accomplishments and outcomes. This requires realistic action plans (i.e. AOP), monitoring and corrective actions if necessary. The steps required to come up with a realistic action plan to achieve the parks objectives are described in this chapter. Protected area managers are also encouraged to use adaptive management (see chapter 3) which may result in unplanned activities (see fig. 2). Such unplanned activities need to be planned as well. This is not a contradiction, the term unplanned only indicates that the activity is added during the implementation period of the Annual Operations Plan, rather than the result of a systematic annual planning process. Unplanned activities must be described in the same way as outlined in step 5 of this chapter. They will be identifiable as unplanned by the date on the Detailed Activity Sheet. Developing an Annual Operations Plan and budget should be done during a workshop involving all senior staff of the protected area and with participation of key people and groups who have a stake in the management of the protected area. An alternative approach is to carry out steps 1 3 of the planning process by the organisational units of a protected area such as park protection, community development, tourism, and administration prior to the workshop. After that a workshop must be held to coordinate the plans for all units and to develop a coherent AOP and budget. Each protected area must decide which of the two approaches they want to follow.

Step 1: Identification of activities

Activities must always be derived from the objectives of the protected area, the management plan, other PA related strategic documents, the national protected area system plan or legislative mandate. They must contribute towards achieving the mission of Cambodia's Protected Area System, and the purpose of the specific protected area. When identifying activities follow causal reasoning: if certain activities are undertaken this will achieve a certain output/result, achievement of several outputs in turn will contribute to achieving a certain objective (figure 4). Activities must always meet protected area objectives and reduce threats to the PA. All activities must be grouped under management programmes. A management plan and the associated AOP must contain at least the following management programmes: resource conservation and management, protected area operations and maintenance, community development, and research and monitoring. Additional management programmes can be added depending on the specific situation of a protected area. For more information about management programmes and sub-programmes see pages 18-20 of the protected area planning manual (BPAMP 2005). The activities for each management programme can be compiled from 4 sources:

Annual Operations Plan,

Evaluation Reports,

Management Plan,

Support Documents

Annual Operations Plan of the current3 year (recurrent, on-going and activities not done) Recurrent activities occur from year to year in order to sustain operational capacity. Examples are carry out park protection patrols, hold monthly CPAC meetings (CPAC: Community Protected Area Committee). On-going activities are those which started during the current year, and which will be completed during the next year. An example is construct trail for tourists during the dry season 2004/2005. Activities not done during the period of the current AOP must be listed for next years plan if the implementation of these activities will make an important contribution to achieving the PA's objectives.

AOP planning for 2005 for example will be done at the end of 2004. Therefore, the current year or current AOP refers the Annual Operations Plan for the year during which the planning is done, not the year for which the planning is done.

12

Evaluation Reports Outstanding corrective actions remaining from regular evaluations of the implementation of the current AOP must be considered as activities for the new Annual Operations Plan if they are unlikely to be completed before the current AOP ends. Evaluation reports are a source for activities based on corrective actions. Adaptive management provides the flexibility to include adjusted or new activities in the AOP, or to cancel activities which were not done during the current year and which will not contribute to achieving the objectives of the park as a result of changes in the framework conditions. Adjustment of activities during the implementation period of the AOP is an important element of adaptive management, and may result in the addition of unplanned activities during the implementation period of the Annual Operations Plan. The addition of unplanned activities to an AOP must be justified and not be used as an excuse for inefficient or incompetent management. Management Plan Activities described in the 5 year management plan are fairly general in nature, e.g. reorganise ranger deployments, carry out conservation education in schools and villages, maintain all trails regularly, develop benefit sharing policy and guideline with local community leadership. For the purpose of a more detailed annual operations plan each of the management plan activities must be formulated as a related set of more specific activities. Support Documents The management plan - which must be approved at Ministry level - provides the framework of the proposed management, while support documents - which only require approval at PA level include the details which support the implementation of the management plan. The use of operational and other short-term support documents achieves simplicity and flexibility and enables adaptive management. Operational short-term support documents include: park protection plan, patrolling plan, visitor and business plans, and Annual Operations Plans. Other support documents include detailed zonation plans, operating guidelines, ecotourism and outreach strategies, transboundary cooperation agreements and Memoranda of Agreement. The activities identified for the next years Annual Operations Plan must be formulated as action statements, beginning with an action word, i.e. a verb. Typical action words are: carry out, construct, develop, conduct, improve, restore, prepare, etc. The action statements should be short and clear sentences. They should follow the KISS principle: keep it short and simple Please note: details about activities will be included under the description of the activity (see page 17), not in the action statement. Activities must be (1) directly related to achieving a specific result, (2) outline specific tasks that need to be carried out, (3) accomplishable given the protected area's resources and constraints, and (4) acceptable to and fitting within site-specific cultural, social, and biological norms. The compilation of the activity lists should be done during a workshop and each management programme should be dealt with by a working group. Alternatively, the activity lists can be compiled by the individual organisational units of a protected area prior to an AOP coordination workshop.

Step 2: Grouping of activities

All activities of a management programme4 must be grouped under sub-programmes. Activities derived from the current Annual Operations Plan and an up-to-date Management Plan are already grouped under sub-programmes. Only new activities need to be added to the existing sub-programmes or grouped under new sub-programme(s).
4

Each management programme of a management plan has a specific objective detailing the desired achievements or outcomes of management. Objectives are described in measurable terms and indicate a specific period of time during which these results will be achieved. For details see BPAMP 2005.

13

If there is no management plan, the nominal group process should be used to come up with lists of activities and to group them under sub-programmes. The steps of the nominal group process are described in appendix 9. For new sub-programmes an output (see figure 4) and indicator(s) need to be formulated. For more information about indicators see step 5 of this chapter. The model management plan developed for Virachey National Park does not list indicators because they may need review and modification during the 5-year time frame of the management plan. Indicators need to be developed during the annual operations planning process. They may need to be reviewed during subsequent years if frame conditions change. The same applies to outputs while objectives at the management programme level should not be changed during the time frame of the management plan.

Step 3: Ranking of activities

All AOP activities in each of the sub-programmes must be ranked in order of importance. Each activity is evaluated for its relevance according to the criteria listed below: supports the purpose of the protected area

helps to achieve a high priority objective identified in the management plan or protected area mandate fulfils a legal obligation of the protected area solves a safety or health problem solves an urgent issue of, or threat to, the protected area has the ability to generate revenue

Priorities assigned to activities in the management plan may need to be reviewed during the annual operations planning process if framework conditions have changed. A method suitable for the ranking of activities, the nominal group process, is described in detail in appendix 9.

Step 4: Timing and coordination of activities

After the ranking, all activities for each management programme (i.e. a combination of several subprogrammes) must be put in one table which is then sorted according to the time schedule, starting with activities which begin in January, then February and so on. This table will help to adjust the timing of activities under a management programme and to ensure that activities are carried out in a logical order and spread over the course of the year. Seasonal rainfall patterns may influence the timing of specific activities. The timelines should form some kind of a diagonal as shown in appendix 8. The working groups (or individual organisational units of the protected area) will present the ranked activities in a plenary meeting of the AOP coordination workshop and here final agreement on which activities will be included in the AOP must be reached. A table which shows the timing of activities throughout the year should be used in the plenary to ensure that the timing of activities under different management programmes is coordinated, that there is no duplication of efforts, and that synergies can be utilised. Furthermore, staffing, budget considerations and changed framework conditions (which may come up during the plenary meeting) can be used to remove activities from the list even if they are prescribed in the management plan. Removal of such activities must be justified and the justification(s) must be listed in an appendix to the AOP. After the plenary discussion each working group or organisational unit puts the adjusted activities in order of the time-line which reflects the priority of each activity under the appropriate sub-programmes. After that numbers starting from 1 will be assigned to each activity. After identifying, grouping, ranking, timing, coordinating with other management programmes, numbering, and if appropriate removal of activities, a list of ranked and numbered activities under all subprogrammes will be available for each of the management programmes. The form to be used for this is given in appendix 1: Activity List. It shows the activities and their implementation schedule.

14

Step 5: Description of activities and cost estimates

The working groups (or individual organisational units of the protected area) must fill in a detailed AOP activity sheet (appendix 2) for each activity. This sheet is used to summarise all essential information about an activity on a single page. The completed detailed AOP activity sheets must remain at the protected area for reference purposes and as input for monitoring and evaluation. The AOP Detailed Activity Sheet is available from the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection as a Word template with text fields and drop-down lists, and as a Word document for print out and filling in by hand. The Detailed Activity Sheet is divided into four sections: Heading, Activity, Description, and Budget. It also contains brief explanatory notes. The four sections are explained in detail below:
Look-up list with titles for PA management programmes. Programmes for DNCP will need to be developed and added.

Heading

Virachey National Park

AOP DETAILED ACTIVITY SHEET

Management Programme: Resource Conservation and Management SubProgramme:

Financial Year Activity number Date

These instructions provided are for the Word template. Select a management programme from the drop-down list (which corresponds with the PA management plans management programmes), and click on the grey areas to fill in the name of the sub-programme, the financial year and the date when the sheet has been completed. Copy the activity number from the activity list created in step 4. Important: all activity numbers on the detailed activity sheets must be replaced by a unique alphabetical/number code once the AOP summary form has been completed (see step 6 and appendix 7). Activity

Activity Responsible Schedule

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Priority Type Position

Jul Aug

CDF
Sep Oct

r ESSB Y
Nov Dec

Activity: Write a short and concise title of the activity in the activity box. Activity titles must begin with an action word, i.e. a verb. Priority: Ranking must be done for all activities of a sub-programme. Use numbers starting from 1 as highest priority. Type classifies the type of activity; select from the drop-down list r for recurrent and d for development activities. Recurrent activities are those activities that occur year after year in order to sustain operational capacity. Development activities are one-time investments aimed at increasing operational capacity. Such one-time investments may not be restricted to one year, i.e. to the financial year of the planning period.

15

ESSB: The Environmental and Social Scoping Brief note reminds managers to consider any disturbance to the biophysical, cultural or social environment the activity may cause. If the activity is expected to result in any disturbance to natural vegetation, animals, soil, archaeological or other historical features, social or aesthetic values, Y (yes) must be select from the drop-down list after ESSB. If this is the case, a simple 1-page form, must be completed (see appendix 3). Most construction activities will cause some degree of environmental impact, and will automatically require the ESSB. The ESSB is the simplest form of environmental impact assessment (EIA). It is always the first official indicator that an activity might require a more detailed review. Responsible: Enter the name of the officer who initiates and oversees the activity in the box following 'Responsible'. Reference should be made to only one person, who will assume responsibility for the activity, even if others are going to be involved. Position: Select from the drop-down list the standard abbreviation for the position of the responsible person. A list of the abbreviations provided in the drop-down list is given below: CDF Community Development Facilitator PAA Protected Area Accountant CDR Community Development Ranger PD Park Director CE Community Educator PPR Park Protection Ranger DBM Database Manager WCD Warden Community Development ETR Ecotourism Ranger Guide WPP Warden Park Protection IEO Information and Education Officer WT Warden Tourism ISM Information System Manager Schedule: The planned schedule should be indicated on the schedule bar. A one letter text field is provided for each week. Enter a capital X for each week during which the activity should be carried out. The TabStop key provides the easiest way to navigate through the weekly schedule text fields. Description
why how where input Indicator/s and milestone/s indicator/s milestone/s Means of verification

The activity is further described in this block, together with information required for monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the activity. Description: The detailed description of the activity must address the why, how, where and input5 : WHY - justification why the activity should be implemented. To think about what would happen if the activity did not take place can help answering this question. HOW - explanation of how the activity is going to be implemented, the methods and processes to be used. Important: here, the responsible person must list others involved in the implementation of the activity. WHERE - description where the activity will be carried out.

When filling in the sheet by hand write 4 paragraphs in the description box, starting with Why: , How: , Where: and Input: If the space in the box is not sufficient, continue writing on the back side of the AOP sheet.

16

INPUT - list important equipment and human resources inputs required to implement the activity. Important: here, only important inputs should be listed. Indicators and Milestones are important for monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the activities and whether or not outputs have been achieved. A lot of emphasis must be put on the formulation of clear and measurable indicators (=performance measure) which describe quality, quantity, place and time. It is important to distinguish between activity monitoring and output/result monitoring when formulating milestones and indicators. Activity monitoring looks at which activities have been planned and which have been carried out. This is a target-performance comparison which largely relies on milestones. Each activity must have at least one milestone (=target) to enable activity monitoring. Indicators should be used for monitoring at activity level if this is possible without too much measuring effort. Activity monitoring is a target-performance comparison which largely relies on milestones. Result monitoring uses indicators at the output and objective levels and asks what have we achieved. Each output must have at least one indicator to allow result monitoring. Result/output monitoring uses indicators (performance measure) which provide measurements to verify to what extent the objectives have been achieved. Milestones are targets or key accomplishments which refer to distinct stages of an activity. They describe achievements related to the stages of the implementation of a specific activity (see example below). Milestones, must be used to enable evaluation of the implementation of the activities.
Activities 1. Develop curriculum 1.1 Carry out training needs assessment 1.2 Prepare draft curriculum 1.3 Prepare training material for curriculum Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Milestones:

training needs assessment submitted to by end of February New curriculum agreed by mid May Training materials prepared by end of August

Indicators are parameters measured to track progress towards achieving the outputs and objectives. They provide measurements to verify to what extent the objectives at each level have been achieved, targeted in terms of quantity, quality and time. Indicators give criteria for measuring success and are used in evaluating performance. For example: ACTIVITY: Train 12 rangers in Gorilla Group Monitoring Data Collection before 12/2001. A good indicator is not just a reformulation of the activity such as "12 rangers trained in Gorilla Group Monitoring Data Collection before 12/2001". A good indicator describes quantity, quality and time (and place if appropriate). INDICATOR: The 12 rangers trained in Gorilla Group Monitoring Data Collection before 12/2001 record observations on data sheets on a daily basis without errors. This indicator does not only look at whether or not the training has been done, it looks also at the effect of the training, i.e. the output. Are the rangers using the skills they learned in a consistent way and at a high quality? To answer this question the indicator must be measurable.

17

The box on the detailed activity sheet can contain either milestone(s), or indicator(s), or milestone(s) and indicator(s)6. It must as an absolute minimum contain one milestone. Means of verification is the specific sources of data/information necessary to verify the indicators. In the example above this would be monthly reports on Gorilla Group Monitoring and six monthly evaluation reports by supervisors. The last section of the detailed activity sheet is for the recording of estimated costs for the activity. The block consists of three columns. The left column is for the budget codes, the middle for the budget items and the right hand column for the estimated costs. Budget

Budget

Code*

Item

U$

Total
Codes: The budget codes used in protected areas should be from the chart of accounts (see chapter 5.1 for more information). Alternatively, for protected areas managed by projects, the projects chart of accounts should be used. Please note, a chart of accounts for the protected areas of Cambodia needs to be developed. Operational costs should only be listed in the budget table if they can be clearly assigned to a particular activity (see also chapter 5.2 on activity based costing). The budget block must not include estimates for fixed costs. Fixed costs are shared organisational costs. Activities which are entirely paid for by fixed costs do not have any entry in the budget section of the detailed AOP sheet. An example is park protection patrolling. All costs associated with patrolling are covered by fixed costs: ranger salaries, per-diems, food allowances, medicine, batteries, fuel for transport by boat, motorbike and car, photocopying of data sheets etc. All operational costs will be listed in the Fixed Operating Costs Summary Form (see step 6 budget summary). Item is a brief description of the budget items (or group of items) for which costs are being estimated. U$ is for the estimated cost for each budget item in US Dollars. This should be replaced with Riel whenever appropriate. The text fields in the Word template will expand according to the length of the text typed in them. The rows in the budget block cannot be changed during data entry when using the template. If more than 6 rows are required follow the instructions below:
- Open the Forms toolbar in Word - Click the Protect Form button - Mark an entire row of the budget table and press <ctrl c> - Insert new rows as required by pressing <ctrl v> - Click the Protect Form button - Close the Forms toolbar

When filling in the sheet by hand write 1 or 2 paragraphs in the milestone/s indicator/s box, starting with Milestones: , and Indicators: If the space in the box is not sufficient, continue writing on the back side of the AOP sheet.

18

Step 6: Compilation of Annual Operations Plan and Budget

Annual Operations Plan The final step is to list the ranked activities in the AOP table (appendix 7). This is the actual Annual Operations Plan. All activities must be listed under management programmes and within each management programme under sub-programmes. Each sub-programme must have an output and at least one indicator. Under each sub-programme activities are listed in tables, consisting of columns for the activity number, the title of the activity, the officer responsible, the milestone(s) and indicator(s), the timing, input and the budget. Please note that the title of the activity is a brief header for the activity while details are included in the detailed activity sheet. The numbers which were assigned to the activities during step 4 (activity list appendix 1) need to be changed in the AOP summary according to the following rules: each number consists of 4 digits, beginning with 0001, and a 3 to 6 letter prefix for the offices of DNCP or the protected area (see chapter 5.1 for a complete list). For example, VNP0003, identifies activity #3 in Virachey National Park, which is a specific activity and different from BNP0003, activity #3 at Bokor National Park. The complete alphabetical/numerical identifiers are important for monitoring and evaluation and for the chart of accounts. Do not assign duplicate numbers. Continue with the numbering in the AOP for the following year; do not start from number 0001 again. After completion and approval of the AOP summary, the relevant activity number from the AOP summary must be transferred to each of the detailed activity sheets. The ranked activities should be listed on this form, in time-line and priority order, under the headings of management programmes and sub-programmes. If a high priority activity cannot be implemented until later in the year due to the season for example, that activity should be ranked on the AOP table in time order rather than priority order. The budget given for each activity does not necessarily constitute a complete budget for a particular activity, it rather lists those costs which can be easily allocated to a specific activity (remember: activities completely financed by fixed costs will not show a budget in the AOP table). The budgets for some of the activities may be complete for more information see chapter 5.2 on Activity Based Costing. Budget Summary All costs estimated during the Annual Operations Planning are summarised using three forms, the Fixed Operating Costs Summary, the Budget Items Summary and the Budget Summary. Fixed Operating Costs Summary: Fixed costs are shared organisational costs. These include all costs that are difficult to allocate to any one activity or service. They include costs for permanent personnel (salaries), equipment and infrastructure maintenance, utilities, fuel, stationary, insurance, and other items that are required for the operation of the PA. Fixed operating costs are identified and recorded separately in an itemised attachment to the Annual Operations Plan, the Fixed Operating Costs Summary (appendix 4). It includes all operational costs from the detailed activity sheets and other fixed costs not listed in the detailed activity sheets. Costs for maintenance, utilities, stationary and fuel for example can easily be extrapolated from the expenses for these items during the previous year. They need to be adjusted for inflation, and if necessary, for an increase in the numbers of staff, equipment and infrastructure facilities. Budget Item Summary: The Budget Item Summary (appendix 5) is used to summarise the information from the budget tables of all detailed activity sheets. Fixed operational cost are not to be included in this form. Procurement of goods, which is not related to specific activities, must also be included in this table. An example would be additional filing cabinets for the accountant.

When filling in the sheet by hand and the number of rows is not sufficient, continue writing on the back side of the AOP sheet.

19

Budget Summary: The Fixed Operating Costs and Budget Item Summary forms provide all the data required to prepare the annual budget of the park. This should follow the same format as used in the VNP Management and Financial Plan (BPAMP 2003a, 2003c). A Budget Summary form is given in appendix 6. The Annual Operations Plan Summary and the Budget Summary are the final outcomes of the AOP co-ordination workshop.

20

5.

Additional information
This chapter provides additional information on charts of accounts and activity based costing.

5.1

Chart of accounts
The set-up of an accounting and financial management system for protected areas requires the development of detailed chart of accounts by the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection. In the absence of such a chart, this section can not refer to DNCPs chart of accounts and will use the chart of accounts of the BPAMP project as an example. The account code used by BPAMP has 8 digits composed of the codes shown in the table below:
1 digit Account Type 1 2 3 4 5 Cash and Bank Advance Retained earning Incomes Expenses 2 digits 1 digit 1 digit 1 digit 2 digits Specific account

Component Cost category

Source of Funds Province I G R O IDA GEF Government Others P Phnom Penh R Ratanakiri

NI NS PI PP CD PM
NI NS PI PP CD PM IDA GEF

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Civil works Goods Services/TA Training and workshops Survey and boundary demarcation Grant for community activities Operating expenses and allowances

Components:

Source of funds:

National Policy and Institutional Capacity Building National Policy and Institutional Capacity Building Environmental Database Support System sub-component Park Protection and Infrastructure Park Management and Planning Community Development Project Management International Development Association Global Environment Facility

Some examples of account codes and their description are given below: RATTANAKIRI, Project Management Civil Works Account Code 5PM-1IR-10 Description Building renovation Account type Expenses Account type Expenses Expenses Expenses Expenses Account type Expenses Expenses Expenses Expenses

Goods Account Code Description 5PM-2IR-10 Office furniture and equipment 5PR-2GR-10 Office furniture and equipment 5PM-2IR-20 Computer equipment 5PM-2GR-20 Computer equipment Operational expenses and allowances Account Code Description 5PM-7IR-10 Incremental staff allowances 5PM-7GR-20 Travel 5PM-7RR-60 Maintenance, fuel and vehicles 5PM-7RR-90 Office consumables

21

The DNCP chart of accounts could follow the same principle but would require modifications. A suggestion for a 19 digit chart of accounts is made in the table below:
1 digit Account Type 1 2 3 4 5 4 digits 6 digit Group Office/PA 1 digit Cost category 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Civil works Goods Operating expenses Workshops Training Boundary demarcation Community Grant . 1 digit Source of Funds M F R .. MoE MEF Revenue Donors* 2 digits Province 4 digits Activity number

Cash and Bank DNCP AO Advance CPAO PA Retained earning .... Incomes APL Expenses BNP BPL BPWS BSNP ... the full list of codes is shown below

PP Phnom Penh 4 digits RK Ratanakiri *

* for each donor * add 2-letter a separate code codes for all would need to be provinces added

the four digits are from the AOP summary form

List of codes for DNCP offices and protected areas which should be used in the chart of accounts:
AO CPAO DNCPD DNCPDD MPO NWO PAO PSO WCO APL BNP BPL BPWS BSNP BTCRS DPMUA KINP KKRS KNP Administration Office Community Protected Area Office Office of the DNCP Director Office of the DNCP Deputy Director Multiple Use Area and Protected Landscape Office National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary Office Protected Area Office Planning and Statistic Office Wetland, Watershed and Coastal Zone Office Angkor Protected Landscape Bokor National Park Banteay Chmar Protected Landscape Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary Botum Sakor National Park Boeng Tonle Chmar Ramsar Site Dang Peng Multiple Use Area Kirirom National Park Koh Kapi Ramsar Site Kep National Park KPWS LWS PAWS PKNP PKWS PNWS PPWS PSWS PVPL RDWS RNP SMUA STRS SWS TSMUA TSMUAB TSMUAP TSMUAS VNP Kulen-Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary Phnom Kulen National Park Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary Phnom Nam Lyr Wildlife Sanctuary Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary Preh Vihear Protected Landscape Roniem Daun Sam Wildlife Sanctuary Ream National Park Samlot Multiple Use Area Stung Treng Ramsar Site Snoul Wildlife Sanctuary Tonle Sap Multiple Use Area Boeng Tonle Chhmar Core Zone Prek Toal Core Zone Stung Sen Core Zone Virachey National Park

5.2

Activity Based Costing

Activity Based Costing (ABC) is an accounting technique that allows an organisation to determine the actual cost associated with each product and service produced. ABC attempts to ensure that all money spent by an organisation, including direct and overhead costs, is allocated to the products or services in the most equitable way in order to realistically identify the cost to the organisation of delivering those products or services. Activity Based Costing is a management tool which can help managers with their decision-making processes. ABC will need to take place in addition to budgetary reporting. The purpose of Activity Based Costing is to get the true costs of the services that the protected area provide to its various constituencies. This information has two primary uses: To ensure that the real costs of providing services are better understood. This helps with allocating resources better in the future. To enable comparison of costs and income for each service performed by the protected area.

22

The detailed activity sheet used for the planning of the Annual Operations Plan has been designed so that it can be used for Activity Based Costing if required. Assigning the appropriate percentage of fixed costs such as salaries, utilities, stationary etc. to a particular activity is not always straight forward. ABC therefore requires considerable effort, both in terms of time and management resources, and should only be used in protected areas with annual budgets of more than US$ 250,000. Managers should initially concentrate on large items of expenditure, e.g. greater than 5% of the total annual budget of the protected area (Inamdar and de Merode 1999). Inamdar and de Merode (1999) provide an example of Activity Based Costing. They look at cost centres and their activities when allocating direct and indirect costs: Cost centre: benefit sharing programme [this is equivalent to a sub-programme used in this manual] Activities: consultation meetings, auditing and monitoring Direct costs include materials used, proportions of staff salaries, building and vehicle costs, etc. Indirect costs include a percentage of costs that cannot be attributed to specific activities and are therefore allocated on a proportional basis estimated by senior staff. An example are administrative costs and overheads. One of the key benefits of Activity Based Costing is that it identifies the true costs of delivering a service. In protected area management this is relatively easy when fixing the price for guiding tourists, for providing boat trips for tourists etc. It becomes more complex when looking at the costs of other services provided by the protected area such as protection of biodiversity, conservation of natural resources and provision of watercatchment function.

23

PART TWO:

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

24

6.

Introduction to monitoring and evaluation

Once an annual operations plan is in place it is essential to carry out systematic monitoring and evaluation, or in other words: the measuring of performance and achievement. Evaluation examines implementation of the plan. Evaluation must be based on clearly defined performance measures and not on just intuition, impressions or casual observations. As already explained in chapter 4, step 5, it is important to distinguish between activity monitoring and output/result monitoring when carrying out systematic evaluation. Activity monitoring is a target-performance comparison which looks at which activities have been planned and which have been carried out. Result monitoring uses indicators at the output/results and objective levels and asks what have we achieved. Indicators are used to measure progress towards achieving the outputs/results. They provide measurements to verify to what extent the planned outputs/results have been achieved.

6.1

Activity and result monitoring

Activity monitoring Activity monitoring is based on a comparison of actual achievements with targets set in the operations plan. To ensure that the evaluation is objective and transparent a series of simple and unambiguous questions with only yes and no as possible answers must be asked (see figure 6). This avoids subjective assessments based on impressions such as 'it is almost done', we are doing it etc. The evaluation questions and the resulting evaluation codes A, B, C are assigned based on the answer(s) to the questions illustrated in the flow-chart shown in figure 6. Code A means the activity is on schedule, will be completed on time and there are no problems. The code B means the activity NO deviation Evaluation of is not on schedule but there are no serious probfrom plan lems. For example, a procurement activity was implementation of activity scheduled to be completed by the end of June but will not be completed until the end of July due to a delay caused by the supplier. There is thereYES fore no need for corrective action by the responsible person. The code C means the activity is not NO need for on schedule and there is a serious problem. For corrective actions example, a building activity was scheduled to be completed before the start of rainy season in May but the contractor did not start the construction YES work although the contract was signed in time. The responsible person must undertake corrective actions to ensure that the activity will be completed during the next dry season. Fig. 6: Flowchart to illustrate how the evaluation codes A, B & C are assigned

B C

In addition to codes A, B and C, code D is used for activities which have been completed, P for activities which have been postponed to later in the year or to the next year and X for activities which have been cancelled. If codes other than A are assigned an analysis of deviation has to be carried out. For C in addition the corrective action has to be elaborated.

25

The evaluation can be carried out during a meeting with all protected area staff who are responsible for the implementation of the AOP activities. During such a meeting the chairperson would go through all activities one by one and ask the responsible person the questions shown in figure 6. If an activity is reported as completed (code D) the responsible person must prove this by presenting appropriate documents, reports, minutes etc. If there is no deviation from the plan (code A) the responsible person must prove this in the same way. If code B has been assigned the responsible person must provide clear information why there is no need for corrective action and when the activity will be completed. The latter must be recorded in the evaluation table (see appendix 10 for an example). If code C has been assigned the responsible person must clearly describe what corrective action(s) will be put in place to ensure that the activity can be implemented. This needs to be recorded in the evaluation table together with a schedule. If codes P or X have been assigned the responsible person must justify why the activity needs to be postpone or cancelled. The justification needs to be recorded in the evaluation table. Examples of three parts of evaluation tables for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2005, based on evaluation reports from the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project are shown in appendix 10. The evaluation can also be carried out as a 3-step procedure which will reduce the time required for the evaluation meeting: 1) Evaluation of the implementation status of all activities as described above by the organisational units of a protected area (or offices of DNCP) and submission of a written evaluation matrix (see example below) to the chairperson of the evaluation meeting at least one week before the meeting. 2) Compilation of all evaluation matrixes into an evaluation table as shown in appendix 10. This should be done by the chairperson of the evaluation meeting prior to the meeting. 3) Short evaluation meeting to discuss those activities (and outputs) where the written self evaluation by the units need clarification. Result monitoring At the end of the year monitoring and evaluation should also use indicators at the output/result level to verify to what extent the planned results have been achieved. This is done based on the assumption that if all the activities under one output have been completed by the end of the year, then the output will have been achieved. The output indicators must therefore be formulated in such a way that they can be used to measure the achievements on an annual basis. The actual evaluation should be carried out during the annual evaluation meeting together with the activity monitoring. The detailed activity sheet provides space for the means of verification. These must be used to measure and verify whether or not the outputs have been achieved. During the annual evaluation meeting, the most senior person responsible for the activities under one output must provide the measurements in terms of quantity, quality and time to verify to what extent the objectives at each level have been achieved. The made-up example below shows the text (in italics) which was written based on information provided by the Warden Park Protection to verify the indicator. The means of verification are indices of illegal activities per kilometre patrolled during the year 2005. The indices were calculated using the management information system (MIST) and data provided by ranger patrols. Output 1.1 The ability to protect fauna and flora and their habitats within VNP strengthened Indicator A downwards trend in illegal activities based on RBDC data between 01 and 12/2005

A comparison of monthly indices (observation/kilometre patrolled) of illegal activities in 2 selected management sectors of the park (Siem Pang=SP and Veunsai=V) for (1) direct evidence of hunting and (2) signs of poaching using snares, shows a marked and consistent decline for both indices from January to December 2005. Direct evidence of hunting decreased from 0.03 to 0.008 (SP) and 0.01 to 0.004 (V), while the number of snares collected per kilometre patrolled decreased from 0.06 to 0.01 (SP) and 0.02 to 0.003 (V). These figures can be used as reliable indicators for monitoring because the patrol frequency was consistent and high throughout 2005 (average more than 150 km per management sector and month) and the spatial distribution of areas patrolled was fairly even and without obvious bias (print outs of maps from MIST showing the areas patrolled are attached).

26

Activity No. VNP0001 ... VNP0004

4th Q. Evaluation Remarks D ... The park protection plan needs a final review which is scheduled for 02/2006 B

Please note that for the activity monitoring at the end of the year only codes D, B, P and X will be used: - D is used for activities which have been completed. This includes recurrent activities which have been carried out according to plan in the current year and will continue during the next year. - B is used for activities where implementation started in the current year but will not be completed until some time next year. - P is used for activities which have been postponed. The implementation will start in the next year. - X is used for activities which have been cancelled. Reporting When using the one-letter codes described above for activity monitoring a summary report can be produced in a comprehensive way using pie and bar charts. The actual evaluation table should also be part of the reporting. To illustrate this, an example of a summary report modified from the BPAMP evaluation report for the period January to April 2006 is given below: 205 project activities planned for the period January to April 2006 were assessed. The overall result is summarised in figure 7. Half of the activities have been completed (D) or have no deviation from the plan (A). 30% have not been implemented according to the plan, but do not require any corrective action (B). The total percentage of activities which are on target or do not require any corrective action is 80%. 20% of the planned activities require corrective actions, had to be postponed to later in 2006 or cancelled. This is an improvement compared with the first two months of 2006 (24%). .... A significant proportion of the activities which require corrective actions is largely a result of delays with ....

Fig. 7:

Implementation status of BPAMP project activities 01-04/2006

An overview of the implementation status of activities listed in the annual operations plan for the first four months of 2006 for each of the three BPAMP project components is given in figure 8.

27

Fig 8: Overview of the implementation status of the activities by components. PM: project management, NPCB: national policy and capacity building and MVNP: management of Virachey National Park The outputs, their indicators and the descriptive text which clearly describes to what extent the outputs have been achieved should also be included in the summary report. An example is given above for output 1.1 The ability to protect fauna and flora and their habitats within VNP strengthened.

6.2

Budget monitoring
Implementation and budget control are important management tools. Budget control should be done on a monthly basis using the budget summary (appendix 6) and actual monthly expenses. The results can be summarised in a table shown below:

Office/PA Budget line

Month Budget (U$ or Riel)

Financial year Actual spent this Month up to this Month % of budget spent

I. Basic Operational Budget Salaries Transport Office and Outposts Expenses Repairs and Maintenance .... Total

Every quarter and every year the results of the monthly budget control should be summarised the quarterly/annual budget control report form shown below:
Office/PA Budget line Quarter Budget (U$ or Riel) Financial year Actual spent this Quarter up to this Quarter % of budget spent

I. Basic Operational Budget Salaries Transport Office and Outposts Expenses Repairs and Maintenance .... Total

28

7.

References
BPAMP 2003a. Virachey National Park Management Plan 2003 2007. Ministry of Environment, Department of Nature Conservation and Protection, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 68 pp. BPAMP 2003b. Workshop Report on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. A Training Manual in Khmer. Ministry of Environment, Department of Nature Conservation and Protection, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 82 pp. BPAMP 2003c. Financial Plan for Virachey National Park 2003 2007. Ministry of Environment, Department of Nature Conservation and Protection, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 38 pp. BPAMP 2005. Participatory Development of Management Plans for Protected Areas in Cambodia. Ministry of Environment, Department of Nature Conservation and Protection, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 55 pp. BPAMP 2006. Ranger-based Data Collection: A Training and Reference Manual for Protected Area Staff in Cambodia. Ministry of Environment, Department of Nature Conservation and Protection, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 47 pp. Inamdar, A. and de Merode, E. 1999: Towards Financial Sustainability of Protected Areas: Learning from the Business Approaches. WWF Sustainable Development Series. 56 pp. Ministry of Environment 2003. Ministry of Environment Strategic Plan 2004-2008. Ministry of Environment, Department of Planning and Legal Affairs, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 60 pp.

29

Appendices

30

Appendix 1
Activity List

Office/PA
Management programme Sub -programme
Number 001 002 003 004 005 Activity 1 2

Financial year

10

11

12

Sub -programme
Number 006 007 008 009 010 Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6

10

11

12

Management programme
Sub -programme
Number 011 012 013 014 Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6

10

11

12

31

Appendix 2
Virachey National Park

AOP DETAILED ACTIVITY SHEET

Management Programme: Resource conservation and Management SubProgramme: Activity Responsible Schedule Description why how where input Indicator/s and milestone/s Indicator/s milestone/s Means of verification
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Financial Year Activity number Date Priority Type Position

Jul Aug

CDF
Sep Oct

r ESSB N
Nov Dec

Budget

Code *

U$

Total

Explanations
Priority: Type: ESSB: *Budget Code: Numbers starting from 1 as highest priority (for all activities of a sub-programme) r for recurrent activities (carried out every year), and d for development activities (one-time\investments to increase operational capacity) Environmental and Social Scoping Brief required, if yes, fill in ESSB form BD: Boundary Demarcation, CDG: Community Development Grant, CW: Civil Works, G: Goods, Op: Operational Costs, S/TA: Services/Technical Assistance, T/W: Training/Workshop Operational costs should only be listed if they can be clearly assigned to a particular activity * The budget codes listed here are used by BPAMP and must be replaced with codes from the DNCP chart of accounts.

Budget Items:

32

Appendix 3
Environmental and Social Scoping Brief The purpose of the Environmental and Social Scoping Brief (ESSB) is to describe anticipated harm to the environment and to local communities caused by the activity. The Brief also records what needs to be done to minimise damage as well as alternative methods which were considered. To avoid repeating the description written for the activity in the Detailed Activity Sheet, emphasis must be placed on the environmental and social aspects of the activity. Anticipated changes to natural and cultural features and to people should be described. Anticipated impacts should be described briefly under the following headings: 1) Natural vegetation and indigenous animals, 2) Surface waters and soil, 3) Aesthetic values, 4) Cultural features, 5) Social impacts, and 6) Other. Social impacts must address who will be affected; what will happen to the people affected; what social changes will occur under each proposed management alternative; and how will any changes affect the social fabric and stability of the local communities. Similar questions must be asked under the other headings. The question "What alternatives were chosen before deciding on the chosen method for this activity? requires listing of the alternative methods which were considered for carrying out the activity. These might consist of the different sites for locating a structure that were discussed before a preferred site was selected. It could include different procedures or methods, such as making a structure of clay and thatching the roof with grass instead of bricks and corrugated iron. The question "Why is this method/site the preferred one?" requires an explanation of the reason(s) for making the final choice, and particularly how the benefits of the preferred choice override costs of any harm that might be done to environmental or cultural features. The question "What is being done to minimise environmental impact?" requires an explanation of how the activity will be conducted to reduce harm that might be done to environmental features. Special arrangements, such as relocating a trail or a road to higher ground to avoid impacting water movement in a nearby marsh, or situating a structure out of view of a scenic point are examples of how environmental impact might be minimised. The question "What is being done to minimise social impact?" requires an explanation on how the activity will be conducted to reduce anticipated harm to the people, their social fabric and stability of the local communities. The question "How and when will this activity be monitored? By whom?" requires information about short and long-term monitoring of the impacts of the activity. A sketch a map of the activity site should be drawn on the back of the page. The map should be a large-scale sketch that shows the relationship of local environmental features to the activity. A legend needs to be provided for the most common topographic features, and GPS coordinates should be provided for key features.

33

Appendix 3
Environmental and Social Scoping Brief Required for each activity which might cause any adverse environmental or social impact

Protected Area: Activity:

Activity number

Brief description of the activity (Where? What changes will happen?)

Anticipated impacts on Natural vegetation and indigenous animals:

Surface waters and soil:

Cultural features:

Aesthetic values:

Social impacts:

Other:

1. What alternatives were considered before deciding on the chosen method for this activity?

2. Why is this method/site the preferred one?

3. What is being done to minimise environmental impact?

4. What is being done to minimise social impact?

5. How and when will this activity be monitored? By whom?

Back page: sketch map of the activity site, together with legend and GPS coordinates on.

34

Appendix 4
Fixed Operating Costs Summary

PA
Budget Item Salaries and Allowances Park Director Wardens Rangers Administrative staff Others Transport Fuel for vehicles Fuel for pumps, boats, generators Per diem Food rations Public transport Others Office and Outposts Expenses Utilities telephone Utilities electricity Other utilities Promotion, advertising Printing, photocopy, etc Stationary Officerent Insurances Others Repairs and Maintenance Ve hicles Buildings Trails & roads Training Ranger training Others Uniforms and Other Supplies Uniforms Ammunition Batteries Others

Financial Year
Costs (riel)

TOTAL FIXED OPERATING COSTS (Riel)

The headings (in bold) follow the structure of the budget used in the VNP management plan. Items listed in the table above are not complete and may need additions based on the situation of individual protected areas. Headings and items for use at DNCP level will need to be developed together with a chart of accounts. A column for budget codes needs to be added to this table once a chart of accounts has been developed.

35

Appendix 5
Budget Items Summary

Office/ PA Budget item

Financial Year Estimated Cost

Comments:

A column for budget codes needs to be added to this table once a chart of accounts has been developed.

36

Appendix 6
Budget Summary

PA
Budget line I. Basic Operational Budget Salaries Transport Office and Outposts Expenses Repairs and Maintenance Training Uniforms and Other Supplies II. Equipment Equipment Procurement III. Special Programmes Resource Conservation and Management Protected Area Operations and Maintena nce Community Development Research and Monitoring Tourism Development

Financial Year
Estimated Cost

Total

This summary form is for use in protected areas. A similar form should be developed for use at DNCP level together with a chart of accounts.

37

Appendix 7

Example of an Annual Operations Plan (modified from the BPAMP AOP for 2004)

1. Resource Conservation and Management

Output 1.1 The ability to protect fauna and flora and their habitats within VNP strengthened Indicator A downwards trend in illegal activities based on analysis of RBDC between 01/2004 until 12/2004
1 6 8 2 3 4 5 7 9 10 11 12

Number WPP ParkD ParkD WCD

Activities

Responsible

Input

Budget

VNP0001

Carry out regular park protection and boundary surveillance patrols

VNP0002

Develop and implement park protection strategy

VNP0003

Display zoning map for villages

Printing and 500 Op framing Meeting 12 Sets of Uniforms Medical 2,000 T/W 3,600 G 720 Op

VNP0004

Develop a simple Patrolling System for CPAs

VNP0005

Implement park protection strategy in WCD target CPA

Milestones/Indicator Each patrolling team patrols at le ast once per month covering > 10 km on average per day Park protection strategy produced by 6/2004 Zoning maps displayed in 7 communes by 3/2004 Report on the Patrolling Strategy for one CPA produced by 6/2004 Members of one CPA regularly patrol and collect resource monitoring data by 8/2004

38
PAMA ParkD PD RBDC RT S and E S/TA ST T/W TTL VNP WCD WPP WWF Protected Area Management Advisor Park Director Project Director Ranger Based data Collection Ratanakiri Synthesis and Evaluation Services/Technical Assistance Stung Treng Training/Workshops Technical Team Leader Virachey National Park Warden Community Development Warden Park Protection World Wide Fund for Nature

List of abbreviations used in appendices 7, 8 and 10:

CD CPA Dep. A Dep. B G GIS IO MEF MoE MP MRC NGO NPCB Op PAM

Community Development Community Protected Area Department of Planning and Legal Affairs Department of Nature Conservation and Protection Goods Geographic Information System International Organisation Ministry of Economy and Finance Ministry of Environment Management Plan Mekong River Commission Non Governmental Organisation National Policy and Capacity Building Operational Costs Protected Area Management

Appendix 8

Example of activities of a sub-programme, grouped under a result (output) with an indicator, with a clear diagonal time line

No. 10. 10.1

10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10 10.11 10.12 Budget and Implementation PAM, Planschedule for MP ning team Presentation of draft MP to PAM, stakeholders Planning Team Review of draft MP by all Park D stakeholders Synthesise and evaluate stakeholderPAM, Plancomments ning team Translation of evaluation document Park D. in Khmer Presentation of MP draft and evaluation document to Minister Revision of Draft MP Printing of MP Park D. PD Planning Team PD Review of draft Management Plan PAM by BPAMP Translation of draft MP into Khmer Park D.

Input Budget Activity Responsi ble CollaboraIndicators / Milestones Schedule (US $) tion 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Result: 5-year Management Plan for VNP developed and approved Indicator: 5 year Management Plan of VNP is approved by MoE/Minister by 12/2003 Collect background information PAM Proj. team, MoE local auth. Operation costs 200 Op NGOs, IOs, Conduct orientation workshop in PAM Workshop report ready before end of 2 resource persons, 2,000 S/TA Planning Banlung 01/2003 opera. costs 1,000 Op Team 21,210 S/TA Recruit G IS consultant PD GIS Con sultant is recruited by 01.01.03 . Produce land use map for VNP and GIS unit Land use map is produced by end of GIS unit Goods 11,000 G adjacent areas Consult. 02/2003 MRC Conduct stakeholder consultations TTL CD Stakeholder consultations are completed by Planning operation. costs 1,200 Op the end of 02/2003 team Conduct field reconnaissance PAM Field reconnaissance completed by Airplane for 4 days 7,500 S/TA Planning 08.03.2003 Operati. costs 1,000 Op Team Conduct Proposal Generation PAM Facilitator 3,000 S/TA Proj. team + Proposal drafted by end of 03/2003 head rangers Workshop Operat. costs 500 Op Preparation of Draft PAM Planning Management Plan Draft submitted by team 01.04.2003 BPAMP (first 3 weeks of April 2003) Translation ready by end of 04/2003 Dep. B MoE, Dept. A+B, NGO, Subcom. Budget and Implementation schedule ready by end of 05/2003 Workshops in RT & ST conducted and short presentations held before the end of 06/2003 4 weeks in 06 and 07/2003 S and E report produced by end of 1 week in 08/2003 rd Translation of S and E report ready by 3 week of 08/2003 Dep. B Final version of MP ready by end o 09/2003 Printed MP ready by end of 10/2003
st

no extra costs if translator in BL

workshop, travel, per diem etc.

2,000 Op

10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 10.18

see 10.10

typing and printing

1,500 S/TA

Source: BPAMP annual operations plan 2003

38

Appendix 9
The Nominal Group Process Experience with group dynamics has shown that without a given process, a group will spend the majority of time trying to decide how to accomplish the assigned task and not have enough time to concentrate on the substance of the assignment. To avoid this problem, the Nominal Group Process can be used for achieving consensus. It consists of three steps: brainstorming, grouping and ranking.

STEP 1: Brainstorming In order to compile a list of activities the Metaplan technique can be used. The key approach of the Metaplan technique is participation, visualisation and documentation. Metaplan is a method to communicate by writing cards and sticking them to the wall instead of just talking. The purpose of using Metaplan during brainstorming is to provide adequate time for thinking and reflection. Individual thinking and writing time eliminates the possibility of domineering by dominant group members during idea generation. Every member can participate. More people can communicate at the same time. The communication is visible, it is traceable, and it is goal-oriented. The process is participatory. During a 30-minute period, every participant writes all activities they think are relevant to the PA on cards. During this time, no discussion is allowed and everybody works by him/herself. The specific rules of the process are: - Use a marker pen to write on the card Write clearly. The cards will be pinned to pin boards or stuck to the wall. All participants should be able to read the contents of the card from a distance Formulate only one idea (i.e. activity) per card Write no more than three lines on each card Write as many cards as you like

Large pin boards are placed in front of the participants or large sheets of paper are taped to the front wall of the room. Use one pin board or sheet of paper for each management programme. The facilitator collects the cards from the participants and one by one reads the text of the card aloud to all participants. A short period for discussion of each activity is allowed. The facilitator should ask if there are any questions or if members would like to make statements of clarification or statements of agreement or disagreement. Authors may choose to explain their activities but do not need to be the one to clarify or discuss an activity. It provides an opportunity to express understanding of the logic behind an activity and the relative importance of the activity. The purpose is to stimulate group thinking and judgement, not to resolve differences of opinion. In this process, a major premise is that group analysis and judgement are superior to individual judgement. After each card has been read and clearly understood by everyone, the participants need to decide to which management programme the issue belongs. Only after consensus has been reached is the card pinned to the pin board or stuck to the paper. If a card contains the same idea as one already on the pin board, it is discussed and if agreed by everyone, removed. If necessary a new card is formulated by a participant to combine the two ideas. The reformulated activity is discussed and only when accepted by all participants, is it pinned to the pin board or stuck to paper. The two activities that were formulated into the new issue are discarded. Anonymity should be respected at all times, i.e. never ask, Who wrote this? A way to enhance anonymity is to mix the cards before presenting them. This procedure should be continued until all cards have been presented.

40

Appendix 9
STEP 2: Grouping All activities need to be grouped into sub-programmes. This is achieved by rearranging all cards under each management programme in such a way that all cards with related activities are clustered together based on discussions and agreement from all participants. The participants then need to formulate sub-programmes which clearly capture the essence of each of the clusters. The result is a list of activities for each sub-programme.

STEP 3: Ranking Ranking of activities is done for each sub-programme. The basic concept of ranking consists of displaying the activities to be ranked and of participants scoring the activities listed. The scores from all participants are added to provide the group-based ranking. Ranking consists of 3 steps: numbering of activities, scoring of activities, and calculation of overall ranking. Below is an example which shows the ranking of 5 activities: Numbering of activities: The 5 activities are numbered from 1 to 5. This can be done by writing the numbers on small cards and sticking or pining these next to the Example of the scoring of issue cards. activities by Participant 1: Scoring of activities: Each participant writes on a card the numbers Activity Score of the 5 activities and a score for each activity, with 5 being the 1 5 most important activity and 1 the least important. An example is 2 1 given in the table on the right. 3 4 Calculation of overall ranking: The facilitator collects the score 4 2 cards and adds up the scores from all participants in a table on a 5 3 flip chart. The issue that received the highest total is the highest priority activities. For an example see table below.

Example of how the scores are used to rank the activities: Ativity Participant Total Rank No. 1 2 3 4 5 1 5 5 4 5 4 23 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 6 5 3 4 3 5 4 5 21 2 4 2 2 2 1 2 9 4 5 3 4 3 3 3 16 3

The basic equipment required is: marker pens, cards (e.g. A4 size paper cut in half), pin boards and pins or paper and masking tape, and a flip chart. This text has been modified from appendix 2 of the Participatory Development of Management Plans for Protected Areas in Cambodia (BPAMP 2005).

41

Appendix 10

Examples of evaluation tables for the 1st , 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2005 (source BPAMP evaluation reports 2005)

Output 1.1 Indicator Quarter 4 A A C B 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 Resp. 1 3 2 WPP WPP WPP PAMA 12 meetings conducted by the end of Year 2005

The ability to protect fauna and flora and their habitats within VNP strengthened A downwards trend in illegal activities based on analysis of RBDC between 01/2005 until 12/2005

Number

Activities

Remarks

VNP0001

Carry out regular park protection and boundary surveillance patrols

Milestones/Indicator All rangers patrolled at least 15 days in dry season and 10 days in rainy season per month

VNP0002

Organise monthly meeting with the 3 station rangers

VNP0003

See VNP0036 06/2005

VNP0004

Provide food rations to PP Rangers staying in outposts Review and finalise the park protection strategy

30 kg of rice provide to each outpost every month A clear park protection strategy for VNP produced by March 05

Output 4.1 Indicator 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Prioritised research carried out Reports on at least 3 surveys available at VNP Headquarters by 12/2005 9 10 11 12

Quarter 1 D B B A D
nd

Number

2 3 4

Remarks

42
NPCB WPP TTL of NPCB Research policy approved by Jun. 05 Surveys conducted in cooperation with WWF form February to May 2005 Correspondence with at least 3 research institutions/NGOs on file by 06/2005 Resp. Milestones/Indicator 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 WCD Improved rice growing techniques recommended by March week 3 WCD WCD Resource person provided technical assistance to at least 3 target villages per CPA by July week 4 At least 1 micro project per CPA and 1 for each commune completed by Nov.

VNP0075

Activities Collect reports of all surveys carry out in VN

Resp. Park Secret.

Milestones/Indicator Reports of surveys conducted in VN by partner institution collected

VNP0076

Finalise research policy

Draft for DNCP 07/2005

VNP0077

Carry out mammal survey using camera traps

VNP0078

Solicit botanical survey

B A

2 Q: Planning for 12/2005 underway

Output 3.3 Indicator

Living conditions of communities in target areas improved Rice yields in CPAs improved by October 2005; at least 10 micro projects implemented by 8

Quarter 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4

Number

Activities

VNP0055

Access current rice growing techniques in target area villages and recommend improvements

C B B

Remarks st 1 Q: 2 candidates rd interviewed, the 3 to be interviewed in May 2005, nd 2 Q: MEF is considering salary request by candidate, rd 3 Q: assessment under way B B A To start after completion of VNP055

VNP0056

VNP0057

Assist community to implement recommended improvements to increa se rice yields Assist with implementation of community investment plans

Project Liaison Office Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project (BPAMP) Department of Nature Conservation and Protection Ministry of Environment #48, Samdech Preah Sihanouk, Tonle Bassac, Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel/Fax: (855)-23-213900 E-mail: BPAMP@online.com.kh Virachey National Park Headquarters in Banlung District, Ratanakiri Province Tel: (855)-75-974176/974013 E-mail: Virachey@camintel.com