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International Specialist in Sustainable Forest Management & Landscape Restoration

Windhoek

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: Windhoek
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Development Cooperation and Sustainable Development Goals
    • Environment
    • Agriculture and Forestry
    • Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction
    • Resilience and Climate Change
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

The International Specialist in Sustainable Forest Management & Landscape Restoration will provide technical guidance to the PPG process on the SFM and landscape and ecosystem-based climate change mitigation aspects of the project, with special emphasis on Forest Landscape Restoration via SFM and SLM, including on management of bush encroachment/invasive vegetation species at landscape levels. The expert will lead the baseline assessments under component 2, particularly the review of international best practices on methods that have been effective in incentivising uptake of SLM/SFM under conditions similar to Namibia. In undertaking the work on SFM and FLR components of the project, the expert will closely liaise with related ongoing projects to ensure lessons are integrated into the design of project interventions. A notable initiative is the pilot project on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) implemented by Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and German Development Cooperation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working with other consultants, the expert will undertake the following activities:

Conduct spatial assessment of forest areas, land use, degraded areas, and emission factors;

Assess and compile spatial information on current land uses, forested land, and degraded areas in the five (5) project sites. Assessment will include: (i) spatial assessment on current forest coverage, (ii) drawing on work through REDD+ on Forest Reference Emission Levels, estimation of reference deforestation rate based on the business as usual scenario and potential reduction of deforestation; (iv) establishment of emission reduction potential from various forest safeguarding measures including High Conservation Value (HCV)/ High Carbon Stock (HCS) forest protection, reforestation, invasive bush clearing and agroforestry. The assessment will conduct the following work as appropriate;

Analyses of the baseline programs on forest management and conservation and sustainable management of land and other natural resources;

Assess the dependency of the communities on the forests and estimate rates of degradation, and the resultant losses to local communities and economies;

Evaluate current policies and community and national level procedures aimed at conservation of forests;

Identify / confirm the threats and causes of threats to the tree species and ecosystems and rangeland ecosystems and recommend proposals to address them;

Assist in the development of the site based measurement points.

Assist in the selection and description of measurements and extrapolation methodologies for GHGs relevant to the project;

Assist in calculation of the baseline and project emission scenarios, in particular: (i) the non-depletion of the carbon pool contained in the forests and rangelands as a result of the prevention of degradation of 3,000 ha of forest under Component 2; (ii) the sequestration dividend from restoration of 10,000 ha of forested land [Detailed tCO2e estimates in line with IPCC Tier 2 level will be presented including separate estimations for protection of existing forest cover and reforestation and comparison with appropriate baseline scenarios;

Suggest participatory management measures to conserve the tree species and promote agro-forestry and climate-smart practices across 15,000 ha in the project sites; 

Assess the range condition (assessment of present state of health of the range in relation to its potential);

Assess the range trend (direction of change of range condition);

Together with the National Natural Resource Management Expert, suggest ways for development and implementation of integrated land use plans that promote the mainstreaming of SLM, SFM and biodiversity into land planning, use and agricultural practices in the project areas;

Define project risks and risk mitigation strategies, and contribute as appropriate, to the completion of the final SESP, as well as identify and define the risk management measures to be put in place during the PPG and those that need to be undertake before and during project implementation;

Supervise the development of specifications and selection of sites for reforestation and rehabilitation (including bush clearing) of areas;

Facilitate selection, description and endorsement of rehabilitation and restoration systems which will be used as a basis for developing projects to introduce the principles of forest and landscape restoration in two newly-demarcated Regional Forest Reserves of 10,000ha;

Conduct and estimation of the technology, equipment and labour requirements for implementation of the landscape restoration activities/interventions proposed;

Calculate carbon benefits resulting from the establishment and improved management of the existing forest ecosystem/landscape and rangelands;

Conduct review of the carbon emissions baseline data cited in the PIF. Define the baseline and project scenario, with special look at non-permanence, leakage, any social and economic safeguards issues;

Conduct analysis of available tools for carbon monitoring, verification and reporting, and suggest most appropriate ones to be used for carbon monitoring, verification and reporting within the project;

Utilising the UNDP Capacity Assessment Scorecard and other existing tools, conduct an assessment of the capacities of the key stakeholder in forest management, including government institutions, as well as NGO/CBOs and identify their capacity and training needs and make recommendations for capacity building/training on specific/relevant SFM and FLR aspects;

Prepare indicative TORs for expertise to be recruited during implementation of the project;

GEF CCM and SFM Tracking Tool and Project Indicator Development:  The expert will take the lead in compiling the CCM and SFM Tracking Tools and will also be in charge of developing the following project indicators: (i) a finer calculation of emission reduction potential and carbon sequestration targets for the project; (ii) extent of degraded land and potential for improving land management; (iii) current rate of deforestation and probable reduced deforestation rate.

Key Deliverables:

Based on the technical assessments and analysis, propose strategies, indicators and targets for incorporation into the Project Results Framework;

Based on the technical assessments, a report detailing the potential risks that may arise out project interventions, in particular the de-bushing/removal of tree species, as well as reforestation and rehabilitation of rangelands under component 2 of the project and recommend measures to avoid, minimise and mitigate against the identified risks (e.g. Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan); 

Complete the SFM and CCM Tracking Tools for submission to the GEF SEC;

Prepare detailed tCO2e estimates in line with IPCC Tier 2 level/FAO EX-ACT Tool based on the preliminary estimates in the PIF;

Prepare a detailed narrative report of the forest and rangeland degradation status and potential restoration of the landscape and interventions in the project areas and the potential SFM, sequestration and mitigation benefits to be gained;

A report outlining the capacity (and capacity gaps/limitation) of forest management and land management institutions for implementing SFM and FLR practices. The UNDP Capacity Scorecard should serve as the primary tool for measuring capacity. Recommendations for capacity building on SFM and FLR for government and community institutions must form part of this assessment. 

Competencies

The consultant should possess level 5 of

  • Core leadership;
  • People management

Technical competencies:

  • Planning and acting transparently;
  • Actively working to remove barriers;
  • Modeling high professional standards and
  • Motivating excellence in others as well as to catalyze new ideas, methods and applications in order to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  •  MSc Degree in a Forestry and related subject.

Experience:

  • The assignment is to be carried out by an international individual contractor. The consultant shall have prior experience in similar projects.
  • Excellent knowledge and minimum 8 years of demonstrable experience in forestry management.
  • Proven track record of undertaking similar consultancies (to show ability to work with minimal supervision, in teams and to meet tight deadlines).
  • Prior experience in designing REDD+ and SFM projects for funding by development organisations.

Langueage:

  • Fluency in English with excellent technical writing skills.

Criteria for selection:     

Offers will be evaluated on the basis of specific technical merit criteria and may be done in the following manner:

A Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.

Recommended Presentation of Offer and Application process

Interested individuals must submit the following as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications, Especialy National  candidates are  welcome to apply. 

  • A letter indicating why the candidate considers himself/herself suitable for the required consultancy; this can be done online;
  • Submission of an updated detailed Personal CV or Signed and Updated P11 form which can be downloaded from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc
  • Methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment and Lump sum financial quotation, with a breakdown of daily consultancy fee, daily subsistence allowance (living allowances is applicable for international consultants only) and ticket fees as applicable – clearly indicate the breakdown of daily fee and number of days of work; please use the financial proposal form downloaded from Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability indicating all-inclusive daily rate.
  • At least two references from recent previous jobs or three references contact details
  • ANNEX 1- INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS is provided here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf

Note: Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into one single file.

UNDP 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.
This vacancy is now closed.
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