Abstract: The emerging focus on ecologically sustainable development (ESD) has caused a paradigm shift in the theory underpinning natural resource management. Increasingly, this shift is reflected in policy. The adoption of the new paradigm for natural resource and environmental policy and research demands a new approach to evaluation. This paper develops a systems framework for the evaluation of natural resource management programmes based on a consideration of the changing nature of approaches to natural resource management programs and observation of and experience in the practical assessment of on-the-ground projects. The framework provides the basis for an integrated evaluation of the different perspectives (i.e. social, economic, environmental, institutional and technological) on the natural resource management and planning process. It recognizes the multiple levels and nested nature of natural resource management policy and research, namely: problem characterisation, policy formulation and intent, program logic, and on-ground implementation. Having developed and presented this framework on the basis of practical experience, we demonstrate its utility through application to six contrasting case studies and discuss the implications.