Monitoring, evaluation and reporting for 2010 and beyond grants

Successful applicants under the following Environmental Trust Programs are required to submit a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and complete Schedule C - Project Measures:

• Environmental Education
• Restoration and Rehabilitation
• Protecting our Places

In order to develop a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan you will need to follow the links below to access further information and to download the following documents:

Schedule C - Project Measures*
Monitoring and Evaluation Plan template

Much of the information you need to prepare your Monitoring and Evaluation Plan should already have been included in your Grant Application, so it will help to have a copy on hand to ensure consistency. The Grant Application, Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and reporting systems have been developed to keep reporting requirements simple and to maintain consistency between each document.

Throughout the life of the grant, you will be required to periodically submit progress reports and a final report, as outlined in Schedule B of the Grant Agreement. You can learn more about reporting and download the reporting template here.

*If you would prefer to work from a printed version of the project measures definitions as apposed to reading them in the excel spread sheet you can download a copy (101045ETProjMeas.pdf, 132kb) from here.

Why monitor, evaluate and report on your project?

Monitoring and evaluation is the major tool that will help you achieve the outcomes of your project and it allows you to take an adaptive management approach if things are not progressing as expected. It will not only help you to deliver a well planned project but it will allow you to clearly demonstrate how successful your project is. You will put a large amount of effort and time into planning and delivering your project so it is important for you to know what worked, what did not work and the resons for this.

Whilst it is important for you to determine whether your project is progressing successfully the Environmental Trust also needs to measure the effectiveness of all its programs. The Environmental Trust is required to gather information on every project it funds (Environmental Trust Act, 1998). This information is obtained through the monitoring and evaluation of activities by funded organisations, who then report the results through the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and Schedule C - Project Measures.

Information from individual Trust projects is aggregated to provide a state-wide picture of the Trust's grantees' achievements and to ensure the program is contributing to the goals of the NSW Government State Plan. The information also helps the NSW Government to better understand the needs of community groups or organisations wishing to utilise Trust funding.

What grantees need to do

Each grant recipient under the Environmental Education, Restoration and Rehabilitation and Protecting Our Places (POP) grant programs must submit a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and completed Schedule C - Project Measures within 30 working days of receiving the Grant Agreement.

Frequently asked questions

Visit frequently asked questions for answers to common questions asked about monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

Additional resources

The following resources may be useful monitoring, evaluation and reporting:

• Does your project make a difference? (projecteval04110.pdf, 282.4kb)
• A Community Guide for Monitoring and Evaluating Natural Resource Management projects (me-factsheet.pdf, 324.4kb)
• Linking Project Design, Annual Planning and M&E
• Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW)
• Weed management guide (Australian Association of Bush Regenerators)
• Guidelines for monitoring weed control (Department if Primary Industry NSW) (Guidelines-for-monitoring-weed-control-and-recovery-of-native-vegetation.pdf, 882.1kb)
• The 3 Rs of restoration (Australian Association of Bush Regenerators) (PlantingBrochure.pdf, 685.8kb)
• Weeds of national significance (National Weeds Strategy Executive Committee)
• Invasive species (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities)

For further assistance about monitoring and evaluation of your Grant, please contact Trust Administration by email on info@environmentaltrust.nsw.gov.au or phone (02) 8837 6093.