(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)Duration of Initial Contract :Expected Duration of Assignment :The Indonesian island of Sumatra is one of the most biodiversity rich islands in the world, as measured either by species richness or endemism. It is also home to several iconic and highly threatened species such as the Asian elephant, tiger, Sumatran orangutan and Sumatran rhino, and in many cases represents the last remaining strongholds for these species. In order to conserve Sumatra’s globally significant biodiversity, the government of Indonesia, since 1982, has established a network of 40 terrestrial Protected Areas (PAs) on the island. Despite the government’s efforts, the remaining natural habitats and rich biodiversity continue to be severely depleted.
These threats are ubiquitous across Indonesia and, for Sumatra, exemplified by those facing the tiger and its prey:
Forest habitat conversion and degradation: Over the past two decades, Sumatra has been losing just over 2% of its entire forest estate each year. Thus, forest cover on the island has shrunk from 25.3m hectares (in 1985) to 12.8m hectares (in 2009);This loss, largely driven by increased land demands for oil palm and pulp for paper, is disproportionate and has primarily occurred in the more accessible lower elevation forests, which are the most biodiversity-rich and best quality tiger habitats. In addition, forest fires, largely recorded from Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra, are used to clear land for agricultural plantations, typically on peat swamp that can burn for days and release huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere posing risks to both wildlife and human health. Illegal exploitation of wildlife and retaliatory killings of tigers:Tigers are directly poached for their body parts to supply illegal domestic and international markets;
Given the illicit natural of tiger trafficking, all estimates are conservative, but at least 50 tigers have been poached on average each year from 1998-2002 (approximately 80% for trade and 14% in retaliation for a human-tiger conflict incident. For an island-wide population that is estimated at 500-700 adult individuals this is significant. The government of Indonesia has clearly identified biodiversity conservation as a priority and is making significant efforts to create the conditions for sustainable PA management as a key strategy to conserve biodiversity. The Ministry of Forestry requested the Global Environment Facility (GEF) support to carry out a full-sized project entitled, “Transforming effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in priority Sumatran landscapes”. The project aims to address the institutional issues facing biodiversity management in Indonesia by focusing on Sumatra, and in particular on five national parks (Kerinci Seblat, Bukit Barisan Selatan, Leuser and Berbak-Sembilang) and their surrounding landscapes (covering 5.49 million ha) and the Kampar-Kerumutan landscape (0.98 million ha) that contains Sumatra’s last significant tract of peat swamp forest. The project will be implemented by the Department for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation of the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, Sumatran Tiger Conservation Forum (known as HarimauKita), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Zoological Society of London (ZSL).The Project Preparation Grant (PPG) has been obtained to conduct the necessary assessments and stakeholder consultations for developing a full project plan. A key objective of the PPG will be to establish the baseline context, to clarify the GEF increment and to plan activities with all stakeholders, and to develop project strategy, approach and results, and a strategic results framework. In order to assess the baseline situation and develop a project plan for the Sumatra-wide project, the service of an international Biodiversity and Strategic Planning Specialist is required.
Under the guidance of the UNDP Regional Technical Adviser and working closely with the Biodiversity and Strategic Planning Specialist, the Specialist will develop the Project Document for the full size project entitled “Transforming Effectiveness of Biodiversity Conservation in Priority Sumatran Landscapes” in collaboration with Ministry of Forestry and the project partners. The consultant will also assist with supporting the review process for the Project Document and responding to comments (e.g. from the GEF STAP).
The Specialist will act as the lead consultant to ensure generation of necessary information for project formulation under the guidance of the UNDP Regional Technical Adviser. In general, the Specialist will: Liaise closely with the Ministry of Forestry and subsidiary provincial and national park agencies as well as relevant agencies working outside of PAs, the project partners (HarimauKita, FFI, WCS and ZSL), civil society organisations, private sector and communities working in the target areas, ensuring their participation and inputs into the PPG process; Coordinate generation of necessary data and information for project development, providing technical expertise for information analysis, planning and development of the Project Document and CEO Endorsement Document; Organise meetings and consultation sessions, and provide necessary data, information and analyses for all PPG activities; Compile the GEF BD-1 Tracking Tool consisting of the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) and the Financial Sustainability Scorecard Ensure the soundness and appropriateness of the project plan based on the reality and issues on the ground; Ensure appropriate stakeholder consultation, including private sector and communities, in the target landscapes to ensure meaningful participation in subsequent project implementation. In particular, the Specialist will work with the project partners to complete the following tasks. Sumatra and PA landscape profile compilation for the target sites through desk-top studies as well as field-based research and stakeholder consultations, to cover critical information gaps, including an analysis of: (i) threats to biodiversity in the priority landscapes, their root causes, and law enforcement strategies to mitigate them;(ii) policy, regulatory, socio-economic, institutional, technical and knowledge barriers to the establishment of the ecological linkages and effective management of the landscapes;
(iii) the developmental context (key business sectors, socio-economic development, political environment) and its current and future impacts on biodiversity conservation in the landscapes;
(iv) the government and partners’ baseline activities projected budgets, existing inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms including agreements between relevant agencies, as well as complementary activities by various partner organisations;
(v) the spatial distribution and different land use status of forests and other natural habitats;
(vi) the spatial extent and development of satellite images and maps of the proposed priority landscapes;
(vii) conservation and economic development plans, projects, programmes and initiatives affecting or impacting on the proposed project activities; and(viii) conduct a review and ensure establishment of baseline information including budgetary information for each of the priority landscapes, including community carbon pool/village forest schemes, REDD + pilots, conservation of wildlife habitats in production areas, management of wildlife conflicts, logging concessions/spatial planning evaluations. Institutional review of Sumatra PA system and target PAs including: (i) review of each of the five focal national parks’ management structure including reporting, decision making functions and financial flows, as well as an analysis of existing institutional frameworks against conservation and sustainable development objectives;(ii) identification of gaps and recommendation of measures for strengthening and rationalising institutional arrangements and elaborate on new institutional models for demonstration at the target PAs;
(iii) review of the Resort Based Management (RBM) initiative and implementation status, and make recommendations for the project support for accelerating the speed and effectiveness of RBM site level implementation;
(iv) review the existing staff profile, identifying gaps and making recommendations for priority capacity building needs using the UNDP capacity development scorecard;
(v) assess the status of existing park management plans and recommend concrete steps for development of park management plans for all the parks in an integrated manner; and, (vi) apply the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tools (METT) to each of the target PAs in close consultation with the executing agencies and stakeholders, determining scores for the current situation and five years before. Conduct a stakeholder assessment and development of a stakeholder involvement plan, including:
(i) identify government, private sector, civil society and community stakeholders and their responsibilities pertaining to land, forest and natural resource management in target PAs and surrounding landscapes;
(ii) assess socioeconomic situations surrounding the target PAs to be fed into the PA landscape profile;
(iii) identify opportunities for livelihood interventions in target landscapes;
(iv) ensure that select community representatives understand and agree to the project and their participation in its implementation;(v) conduct an environmental and social screening process; and;(vi) and gender assessment reviewing the role of both females and males in the project development and implementation and the potential impacts of the project on each gender group. Develop Sumatra wide and local level project indicators: Including local threat reduction indicators, biodiversity condition indicators, spatial indicators and indicators to show increase in capacity to respond to threats to biodiversity. Baseline situation and targets for each indicator will be established and measurement methodologies will be documented to ensure standard measurement of the indicators throughout the duration of the project. Contract Duration: May 2014 – January 2015Duty Station: Home-based but will be required to spend a total of up to 60 days in Indonesia and will need to travel to related project sites as necessary.The final deliverables of the consultancy will be the UNDP Project Document, GEF CEO Endorsement Request Document and associated annexes, responses to review comments, and GEF Tracking Tools. Major sub-products are: Review of applicable policy and regulatory frameworks for the demonstration landscapes, and institutional capacity for each of the focal national parks (including biodiversity status, threat status, conservation targets, legislation and human resources for the focal Sumatra PAs including capacity development scorecards for relevant agencies; Conservation needs assessment and PA Profiling (including Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT assessments and financial sustainability scorecard) for the focal PAs, and socio-economic and natural resource profiles for the wider demonstration landscapes (including GIS maps showing the landscapes and all related PAs); Environmental and social screening conducted using the UNDP environmental and social screening procedure (ESSP), from which a monitoring and mitigation framework will be developed; Stakeholder involvement plan (focusing on their engagement, goals and objective for involvement and principles of their participation) including documentary evidence of stakeholder consultation. Provision of monitoring and Progress Controls:The consultant will be supervised by the assigned Regional Technical Advisers for biodiversity and ecosystems, including technical quality assurance of the consultant’s work at the milestones. Functional Competencies: Demonstrated strategic technical and intellectual skills in the substantive area; Demonstrated leadership, facilitation and coordination skills, ability to develop and effectively manage long term strategic partnerships; Demonstrated entrepreneurial abilities and ability to work in an independent manner; Demonstrated ability to work in a team, ability for managing timely and effective delivery of both quantity and quality before the deadlines; Demonstrated ability to produce concise and clearly written technical reports to a high standard; Computer proficiency, especially related to professional office software packages (Microsoft Office). Master’s degree in zoology, ecological sciences, biodiversity conservation or closely related field. PhD degree an advantage.
Experience:
A minimum of 12 years of demonstrable experience in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem planning and management, and protected area management; Working experience with international organizations is an advantage as is knowledge of GEF, UNDP policies, procedures and practices; Experience in working in the relevant field in Indonesia (preferably Sumatra) and with its government, experiences working in international organizations in Indonesia or elsewhere in SE Asia is another strong assets. Excellent communication (both oral and written) and partnership building skills with multi-dimension partners, people skills for conflict resolution and negotiation; Proficient in English language and Indonesian language, both spoken and written. Excellent ability to write project reports particularly for international funded projects and ability to make high-quality project presentations. Documents to be included when submitting the proposal:Interested individual consultant must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate your qualifications:Technical Proposal: Brief motivation letter indicating why the applicant thinks is an outstanding candidate for the job including a methodology on how applicant will approach and complete the assignment; Financial proposal: The financial proposal must indicate lump sum professional fee and travel costs in USD; Personal CV and/or P.11 including past experience in similar projects and the name and contact details of 3 references. Financial Proposal: The contract will be based on lump sum amountThe financial proposal will specify the lump sum professional fee and travel costs in USD and payments will be made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked and upon completion of the deliverables. To submit Financial Proposal, please use Template of Submission of Financial Proposal provided in Annex I.The contractor is expected to travel to Indonesia. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. Technical Criteria weight: 70%Experience related to services - 30 points Written proposal/test AND/OR interview result -30 points Expertise & Availability 40 - points Financial Criteria weight: 30%Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 350 technical points would be considered for the Financial EvaluationUNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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