Why Creating a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan is Important

As a Bioregional Learning Center in southern Portugal, we want to share some of our recent Soil Lab activities related to Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) at Quinta Vale de Lama as an example of what we do on site and what we can offer to others in the bioregion.

In this context, we held an internal workshop in spring 2024 with the coordinator of M&E for Ecosystem Restoration Communities (ERC) and then we created a Monitoring and Evaluation plan with our data baseline to measure the impact of our regenerative practices. We will be measuring this evolution for the next few years.

Monitoring is the collection of data within a fixed time period, at specific intervals and points in time relative to the project’s start.

Evaluation is the analysis of the data collected over time, comparing data received from each of the monitoring cycles.

Quinta Vale da Lama is located in the (hot and dry) Mediterranean climate, and diverse regenerative approaches and techniques have been used for many years in order to improve our ecosystem, focusing on the soil’s ability to capture and maintain water in the ground.

In order to learn more about our soil and the impact of the regenerative techniques and then share more precisely about what we have been doing within our bioregion as well as other ERCs, we started to develop an Monitoring and Evaluation plan this spring (2024) in collaboration with the ERC. As with any Monitoring and Evaluation plan, ours involves how we systematically collect, assess, and report on data.

Why is having a Monitoring & Evaluation plan important?

• Measuring our impact: In today’s complex and dynamic development landscape, the importance of a Monitoring and Evaluation plan is more crucial than ever. As we work towards restoring ecosystems around the world, it’s essential that we learn how to track progress. Being able to measure the efficacy of the restoration plans and actions is key to the success of any project.
• To assess and validate different methods and techniques: Measuring different indicators (e.g. soil and biodiversity), against a matched reference site/control when possible, allows us to see the results of the different implementations and choose the effective techniques so that we can replicate them. It also helps us identify unsuccessful techniques to avoid reusing them in the future.
• To learn, improve, and share with the community: The M&E of different indicators to create data over time is very valuable in order to improve and share about the best practices in the region. The data emanating from these activities has the potential to contribute to local and global research on ecosystem restoration.
• To provide valuable information for accountability and transparency: Donors, funders, and other stakeholders expect organizations to be accountable for the resources they receive and demonstrate the impact of their investments.

The United Nations has designated 2021-2030 as the “UN Decade for Restoration”. The goal is to shine a light on the challenge of degraded land and actively work towards improving soil health, water and carbon retention, and increasing biodiversity. Against this background, it becomes more crucial than ever to monitor our efforts for ecosystem restoration and report our findings. A framework establishes a consistent and cost‐effective approach to systematic monitoring and evaluation of the performance of restoration actions, and there are many frameworks with different indicators that exist in order to achieve that.

Mud Valley Institute aligns with the Soil, Soul, and Society M&E frameworks developed by the Ecosystem Restoration Communities organization. Each of these three separate but interconnected frameworks is based on scientific research that balances practicality on the ground (i.e. ease of use). The Soil Lab at Mud Valley Institute uses the ERC Soil M&E Framework to guide our efforts in this area.

We conducted baseline data collection at three separate sites around the farm in April 2024, so that we could understand the current soil quality and health in different geographic locations.

During our four day M&E workshop and baselining session, we learned, tested, and decided which indicators, also called metrics, we will be using to best address our questions and take into account the time and costs associated. We selected the first sites to start with, created our baseline, and committed to do the Monitoring and Evaluation plan every spring for the next three years.

There are two important definitions to start with for the Monitoring and Evaluation plan:

• • Baseline information is the information collected before or at the start of a given project/site that provides a basis for planning and/or evaluating subsequent progress and related impacts.
  • Matched reference sites are sites or areas that are physically and biologically similar to the area being restored.

Furthermore, the selection of the appropriate indicators is critical to rigorous assessment of projects and action management. Indicators need to provide data necessary to resolve the identified hypotheses, questions, and objectives.

In the Soil Lab, we dig into many soil and biodiversity indicators such as soil texture, structure and aggregates, topsoil depth, soil organic matter composition and decomposition, pH, compaction and soil biology. We will be sharing more details about the specific baseline indicators we are monitoring soon.

A Monitoring and Evaluation plan needs to accomplish the following:

• • Be actionable,
  • Be cost effective,
  • Target specific restoration project goals and performance criteria, and
  • Develop defensible, scientifically-based information and data.

As a part of the baseline set up, we buried tea bags to measure decomposition rates, an indicator of soil moisture and health. These bags will be removed and analyzed at various points over the next three years. We also conducted visual assessments of our soil during baseline measurements.

The last level of learning is sharing. This is why we are building the Soil Lab: to be able to measure and learn here at Quinta Vale da Lama and then offer the community, including other local farms, our M&E knowledge and services.

We believe that with a basic knowledge and application of M&E and a commitment to its principles, anyone will be well-equipped to embark on the path of evidence-driven impact and can make a tangible difference in the world as they work on regeneration-focused initiatives.

Stay tuned for future M&E content from the Soil Lab to learn even more!

Having a Monitoring and Evaluation plan is essential to improve restoration efforts on the ground; to build and learn from a global restoration database; to increase transparency and share the impact of ecosystem restoration; and, last but not least, boost restoration with much-needed funding!

🌱 The Soil Lab at Mud Valley Institute is an onsite, field-based soil laboratory supporting research and education focused on improving soil health and agricultural production gains. Learn more about it.

👉 Learn more about our partner, Ecosystem Restoration Communities, by visiting their website.