§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking in response to the evaluation carried out at the request of the Overseas Development Administration of four tree-planting projects funded by British aid in Lesotho, Kenya, Ivory Coast and southern India.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThese projects, started during the 1970s and early 1980s, were completed between 1987 and 1991. The evaluations were undertaken after their conclusion in order better to assess their overall impact. The lessons drawn from them have been carefully noted, both by Overseas Development Administration staff responsible for similar projects including any follow-on work in the four countries, and by the Commonwealth Development Corporation which co-financed the Cote d'Ivoire project. We are preparing formal written guidance, based on the findings and lessons of these and other forestry evaluations, for use in identifying, appraising, implementing and monitoring forestry projects.