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T1 Terminal Evaluation of the UNEP/GEF Project “Strengthening national and regional capacities to reduce the impact of Invasive Alien Species on globally significant biodiversity in the Pacific” GEF ID 9410” (2019-2025)
A1 Evaluation Office, 
A2 Khanal, Ram
YR 2026
FD 2026-09
LK https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/49980
UL https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/49980
NO This report is a Terminal Evaluation of the UNEP/GEF project: Strengthening national and regional capacities to reduce the impact of Invasive Alien Species on globally significant biodiversity in the Pacific, implemented between 2019 and 2025.The project's overall goal was to reduce the threats from Invasive Alien Species (IAS) to terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity in the Pacific. The evaluation sought to assess project performance (in terms of relevance, effectiveness and efficiency) and determine the sustainability of its results. The evaluation has two primary purposes: accountability and learning. Data collection methods included: field observations, in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions and document reviews. Data analysis was based on applying triangulated data to assess performance against a reconstructed Theory of Change and its causal pathways. With an overall performance rating of Satisfactory, the 5th point on a six-point scale, the strongest performing aspects were its highly aligned strategic relevance, strong country ownership, active stakeholder participation, and the establishment of a regionally scalable, demand-driven support architecture through PRISMSS. The main achievements included the formal cabinet endorsement of all four NISSAPs, successful rodent eradications in Tuvalu, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands, operational early detection systems, the institutionalization of coordinator roles in three countries, and SPREP’s expansion of regional support to fifteen jurisdictions. In contrast, comparative weaknesses were apparent in outcome-level monitoring, national financial sustainability, and incomplete social safeguard documentation, notably the complete absence of formal Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes for customary lands. The main recommendations to UNEP are: i) strengthen rights-based and inclusive practice as a standard feature of future Pacific biodiversity investments and ii) improve UNEP's financial and knowledge-management systems for future regional projects. Implementing parties are advised to i) institutionalise PRISMSS as the Pacific’s long-term regional IAS support service, ii) institutionalise a Pacific IAS knowledge platform within PRISMSS to compile, update and share evidence, lessons and good practices across Pacific countries, iii) protect the ecological gains from eradication and restoration through sustained surveillance and inter-island biosecurity and iv) translate endorsed NISSAPs into funded government programmes and measurable national commitments.
NO https://www.unep.org/evaluation-office
DS UN Environment Document Repository
RD Nov 4, 2026