PRISM evaluation toolkit

PRISM is an evaluation toolkit to help conservation practitioners improve the way they evaluate the outcomes and impacts of conservation projects.

PRISM has been developed by a collaboration of international conservation organisations with additional input from practitioners, academics and donors from across the conservation sector. The PRISM project (Practical Impact Assessment Methods for Small and Medium-sized Conservation Projects) was initially funded by the CCI Collaborative Fund, and involves BirdLife International, British Trust for Ornithology, Conservation Evidence, Fauna and Flora International, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Tropical Biology Association, UNEP-WCMC, University of Cambridge and WWF International.

While most projects collect data to measure delivery of actions and outputs (what the project has done); they do not always effectively evaluate the outcomes and impacts of these actions (the short, medium and long-term changes brought about by the project).

This toolkit provides practical approaches and methods to help practitioners look at the changes (positive and negative) resulting from the project, in a way that promotes learning and sharing of evidence, while still remaining within the capacity and resource limits of the project team.

This toolkit has been designed primarily for use by practitioners carrying out small/medium-sized conservation projects and those who work to support such projects. It provides a basic overview of the theory behind evaluation relevant to small/medium-sized conservation projects before guiding users through a simple, step by step process for evaluating project outcomes and impacts.

The toolkit is available as a free download from the BirdLife International website