The Gansu Regulatory Bureau of the Ministry of Finance recently carried out a key performance evaluation of forestry and grassland ecological protection and restoration funds (national park expenditure direction). The evaluation covered multiple stages including fund application, allocation, utilization, and protection effectiveness, aiming to comprehensively measure fund performance output and objectively reflect ecological protection results.
The evaluation adopted a "from surface to point, progressively deepening" approach. During the preparation phase, the evaluation team intensively studied relevant policy documents, unified evaluation criteria and standards, and proactively liaised with provincial finance and forestry authorities to review the total fund size and its breakdown. They focused on the distribution of management and protection subsidies, as well as projects such as forest fire prevention capacity enhancement and smart natural resource monitoring.
In the on-site evaluation, the bureau employed a combination of desk review, on-site inspection, and penetrating supervision. Staff traced fund flows and conducted full-coverage verification of key projects supported by the special funds, checking government procurement procedures, timeliness of fund disbursement, and project implementation compliance. Given the large proportion of management and protection subsidies, they verified village collective subsidy disbursements transaction by transaction, tracking the final fund destination to ensure timely and full payment. They also visited grassroots management and protection stations to review work systems, protection plans, and patrol route plans, assessing patrol frequency, coverage, and issue handling processes to verify protection effectiveness. Random visits were made to village collectives and residents within the national park to learn about subsidy receipt, policy awareness, satisfaction, and to collect feedback.
During the concluding phase, the bureau strictly prepared evaluation working papers, conducted item-by-item analysis and scoring according to the evaluation indicator system, and produced an initial evaluation report. Identified problems were promptly fed back to the evaluated entities, and a rectification ledger was established with clear deadlines. The evaluation results will be reported to the Ministry of Finance to strengthen the binding force of performance evaluation outcomes and encourage local authorities to manage and use funds effectively.