Evaluating NRM: policies and programs

This fact sheet provides a brief overview of a research project which aimed to identify suitable methodologies for analysing the effectiveness of natural resource management (NRM) policies and programs at Commonwealth, State and regional levels, to demonstrate how the methodologies can be used to identify effective policies and programs, to draw out key principles for effective NRM policies and programs that ensure the integration of biophysical, social and institutional factors, and to elucidate key principles for effective policy relationships to achieve sustainable NRM. Interviews with NRM practitioners at all levels of government and a literature review of evaluation methods indicated that there is no rigorous framework for evaluating the effectiveness of NRM activities. The project developed a hierarchical, outcomes-focused framework which would enable a rigorous evaluation of NRM effectiveness. The final report on the project provides practitioners with detailed advice and a generic structure to support the use of the framework.