How Does it Work, What Did We Learn? A Cluster Review of Pew’s Canadian Wilderness Protection Strategy November 11, 2009 Scott Scrivner Senior Officer, Planning and Evaluation sscrivner@pewtrusts.org

Campaign Background: What is Canada’s Boreal Forest? Northern band of forests and taiga– at 1.4billion acres, nearly 60% of Canada’s land area One of the largest intact forest and wetland ecosystems remaining on earth Over 95% of the boreal is publicly owned August 31, 2018

Campaign Background: Program and Evaluation History 1992: Pew Launches its domestic strategy to conserve old-growth forests and ecosystems. 1997: An evaluation identifies important contributions from the program, including highly successful, but limited-scope efforts in British Columbia. 1999: Strategy paper for North American public lands protection includes a 10-year campaign to protect Canada’s boreal forest. Goal: protect 100 million acres of Canadian wilderness by 2010 2006: Canadian wilderness campaign reaches a mature state, mid-course evaluation launched. 2007: Evaluation completed. August 31, 2018

Designing the Evaluation: Understanding a Complex Campaign Large investment, many moving pieces Campaign strategy included three distinct elements: Canadian regional campaigns: Ground-level efforts to win protection at the territorial and provincial level. Canadian national campaign: Collaborative approach to engage government, industry, First Nations and others to build broad support for protection from within Canada. International advocacy effort: promote awareness among consumers and key constituencies Spanned multiple cultures, linguistic divides, government levels, and sectoral interests August 31, 2018

Designing the Evaluation: Recruiting the Evaluation Team Match skill sets to campaign context and evaluation needs Expertise with evaluation theory and method Experience with advocacy campaigns and their role in facilitating policy outcomes Knowledge of Canadian wilderness protection policy Prior management of complex evaluation projects Demonstrated ability to clearly present research results and meet deadlines No conflicts of interest Benefits to teaming Extensive search: 50+ contacts, 6 months The team was worth it: Gary Bryner, Professor of Public Policy, Brigham Young University David Gardiner, President, DGA David LaRoche, independent consultant August 31, 2018

Designing the Evaluation: Choosing Methods and Level of Effort Qualitative assessment: access, candor and interpretation Supporting analysis Assessment of public land protection records Legal analysis of First Nations’ land claims Media analysis Blend of representativeness and richness 90+ interviews of partners, decision makers, informed observers and opposition. In-depth case studies in the Northwest Territories, Quebec, Yukon Adequate resources, measured in time and dollars 130 person-days from senior evaluators 9 calendar months of fieldwork and reporting >$200,000 Substantial program and P&E staff time August 31, 2018

RECALL: Campaigns and the People Who Run Them Campaign(er)s are interested in: The effectiveness of different tactics how the campaign is perceived by partners, constituencies, and target audiences their performance, particularly in new forums or when deploying novel tactics which aspects of their efforts are seen as most valuable by target audiences how best to respond to changing circumstances and opportunities using evaluations of progress to date to inform course corrections perspectives from insiders on how much they left on the table August 31, 2018

Advocates Want To Know:  What worked, what didn’t and why? Selected Insights: Multipart campaign structure Strong gains from having both ground-level protection campaigns and a national overarching coordinating effort. Canada’s First Nations and wilderness protection efforts Previously untapped and effective ally Overlapping interests, complementary areas of expertise Tradition- and science-based case for protection won broad support August 31, 2018

Advocates Want To Know:  How is the campaign perceived by partners, key constituencies?  What is seen as most valuable by target audiences and why? Selected Insights: Evaluation structure helpful for providing access to candid perspectives Analysis informed by right mix of key partners, observers, decision makers and other campaign audiences External evaluators, managed by independent non-program unit Yielded understanding of campaign audiences, opened communications Valuable role of GIS mapping, science and First Nations Challenging to coordinate the multiple campaign elements August 31, 2018

Advocates Want To Know:  How has the strategy performed, particularly in new arenas? Selected insights: Assessing progress toward goals: protection for 60 million acres of boreal wilderness Other campaign accomplishments set the foundation for additional gains Challenges remained The Canadian context: Canadian stakeholders, policy and protection frameworks Canada’s conservation and advocacy culture August 31, 2018

Advocates Want to Know:  Could modifications make the campaign more effective?  How to best respond to changing circumstances and opportunities. Selected Lessons and Opportunities: Stronger use of science; link climate change and boreal protection Develop campaign-wide communications strategy Create overarching campaign organization and coordination “The evaluation helped us to get better at what we do.” Campaign’s senior officer and project director August 31, 2018

Additional Details: the Evaluation, the Campaign Evaluation Findings and Process “Lessons Learned: Protecting the Boreal Forest”, Trust Magazine, Spring 2008 “Evaluation and Program Analysis”, Pew Prospectus 2008, pg 36-37 Pew’s Canadian Wilderness Protection Campaign International Boreal Conservation Campaign www.interboreal.org     Canadian Boreal Initiative www.borealcanada.ca Boreal Songbird Initiative www.borealbirds.org August 31, 2018