Author D'Arcy Davis Case

Year of publication 1990

Participatory Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation (PAME) is an idea whose time has come. It offers new and promising ideas for sustainable and appropriate community forestry development. PAME "flips" the traditional "top-down" development approach to a "bottom-up" approach which encourages, supports and strengthens communities' existing abilities to identify their own needs, set their own objectives, and monitor and evaluate them. It is based on insiders point of view. When insiders make decisions, they must have good information available. PAME encourages and supports an information system that responds to what insiders need to know. The PAME approach focuses on the relationship between the beneficiaries and field staff and the beneficiaries and the community. It builds on two-way communication, clear messages, and a joint commitment to what "works" for the community. PAME is a combination of three interlinked parts: the IDEA, the METHODS and the TOOLS. While it may not always be possible to adopt the whole PAME approach in every project, it is possible to experiment with some activities to see if PAME works. Try it, adapt it, play with the ideas presented here, and observe the effects. Sustainable development can be built on the foundation that PAME sets out, especially when approached with the sense of adventure and creativity that is called for by new ways of thinking! Decision makers at the national and international level can also benefit from PAME. It can provide them with an analysis which reflects the reality of the community.