Background:

The Sustainable Use of Peatland and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN Component 2 project (SUPA Component 2) was implemented by a coalition of People for Peat (PFP), which consist of the World Resources Institute Indonesia (WRI Indonesia), Yayasan Inisiatif Dagang Hijau (YIDH), and Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Center (TRCRC). The project is funded by the European Union (EU). It aims to assist ASEAN’s peatland management strategy through collective action and increased cooperation to enhance sustainable peatland management, mitigate climate change impacts, manage peat fire risk, and reduce transboundary regional haze.

The SUPA Component 2 project has entered its final stage and will be completed in April 2023. Therefore, this study will evaluate the project by assessing its programmatic implementation progress from January 2020 to February 2023. In addition, the evaluation will also identify the impact of adaptation measures in dealing with external situations, i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic, in securing projects objectively, provide insight into whether the implementation is on track, and provide feedback on WRI Indonesia programming and partnerships, including its approach, project management, and provide recommendations to support better programming.

Key Findings:

The evaluation result shows that the SUPA Component 2 has made significant progress towards achieving its goals across all three pillars despite encountering challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, limited access and infrastructure, and insufficient resources. Pillar 1 has successfully disseminated knowledge on sustainable peatland management through data utilisation, research, and best practices implementation, but there are still numerous notes of improvement during research activities. At the same time, Pillar 2 has provided capacity building on business development, pitch training, and direct pitching, but with mixed evaluations from participants. Pillar 3 has achieved its desired outcomes in improving the capacity and awareness of NSAs, including peat rangers and local communities. Some notable improvements in the SUPA Component 2 programme include NSA requirements, the overall business training process, better communication with researchers and business cohorts, and gender considerations.