UNDP Jobs - 55014- International Expert to Support Development of the

International Expert to Support Development of the Law on Nature Protection for Montenegro

Location :

Home-based and Podgorica, MONTENEGRO

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

13-Apr-2015

Application Deadline :

02-Apr-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

April 13, 2015 - June 29, 2015

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

20 consultancy days

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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP supports Montenegro to manage the environment in a sustainable manner. Through our country team we help our partners build their capacity to integrate environmental considerations into development plans and strategies, establish effective partnerships, secure resources, implement programmes to support sustainable, low-carbon, climate-resilient development pathways, and build local capacity to better manage the environment and deliver services.

The Government of Montenegro has set its European integration as one of the most important objectives for the country. The negotiations process for the entire environment chapter is expected to be long and complex given all the specific requirements of the environmental field problematic. Birds and Habitats Directives form the cornerstone of Europe's nature conservation policy. Due to the need to ensure functional legislation framework that has to be improved and due to the need to achieve full transposition of Birds and Habitats Directives Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism initiated process of drafting of new Law on Nature Protection having on mind complex issues such as appropriate assessment, compensatory measures, public interest, procedures of establishment of Natura 2000 network, protection of species and habitats according to the Birds and Habitats Directives it is estimated that support of external expertise who has experience in this issues will be necessary.

The Law on Nature Protection is main legislative act at national level for transposition of Birds and Habitats Directives, as well as for overall rules regarding nature protection. In the Progress Report developed by European Commission for 2014. It is stated that „In December 2013, parliament amended the law on nature protection, mainly as regards the evaluation of plans, programmes, projects, actions and activities that may have a significant impact on the maintenance and integrity of the ecological network and ecologically significant sites, together with compensatory measures. It still misses out essential articles of the Habitat and Birds Directive.”

In order to assist the Government in the process of European integration, UNDP will hire an international consultant to provide suggestions and develop proposals of Articles for both Birds and Habitats Directives that will be incorporated in the Law on nature Protection, in close cooperation and consultation of official national working group established by the Ministry. In parallel, using relevant international experience, the selected consultant will support designing and incorporating into national legislation relevant guidance on establishment and management of protected areas with special attention to categories of protected areas and management options.

The activity is funded by the Czech-UNDP Trust Fund within its Expert on Demand scheme. The objective of the scheme is to transfer lessons learnt, know-how and good practices from Czech transition to democracy and market economy, as well as to EU accession by rapid deployment of experts.

As a part of continuous support provided by European Union to the process of Montenegro EU integration and accession process through European Delegation office in Montenegro several experts have been engaged coming from Czech Republic. During this process, and direct communication with these experts it was identified that Czech experience in implementation of EU directives is relevant for the Montenegro due to high level of understanding of the context, countries transition period and implementation challenges.

Duties and Responsibilities

Main purpose of the advertised Terms of Reference is to obtain services and advice of experienced expert in preparation of Draft Law on Nature Protection for Montenegro. This will be done in close cooperation with Coordinator of the process of development of Draft of the Law on Nature Protection from Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MSDT) and with the official national working group established by MSDT (in which are experts from ministries, institutes, research institutions, NGOs) and other stakeholders relevant for the subject-matter of the project. Within this context, selected consultant will be responsible to ensure transposition into national law of EU Birds and Habitats Directives and protected areas government models applicable and relevant for Montenegro protected areas categories.

In addition, the Consultant is expected to transfer the experience in negotiation for membership of EU process (all relevant questions) in the area of nature conservation.

Expected outputs and deliverables

Under the supervision of UNDP Project Manager and in cooperation with Coordinator of the process for development of Draft Law on Nature Protection from the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, the Consultant will be responsible for delivering the following:

Deliverable 1 (not more than three weeks upon contract signing):

Written overview (maximum 5-10 pager) of a level of transposition of the two Directives (Birds and Habitats Directives), together with identifying major gaps and providing expert guidance on further transposition, taking into account the proper implementation of the transposed provisions and demands of the negotiation process.

More precisely, the Consultant is responsible for delivering a Written Report on Current Alignment Status that should contain, but is not limited to the following items:

An overview of the level of transposition of the Birds and Habitats Directives into Montenegrin legislation (compatibility check including implementation issues);
Existing gaps, recommendations and proposals how to fulfil them (determine best legislative options especially referring to definitions of appropriate assessment, compatibility of process of appropriate impact assessment with EIA and SEA, Compensatory measures, Public interest, Procedures of determination of proposals of SAC and SPA, defining of management of ecological network, measures of protections and/or management plans, reporting, monitoring, protection of species and habitats).

Deliverable 2 (No later than last week of May 2015):

Provide guidance and support to Coordinator of the process for development of Draft of the Law on Nature Protection from Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MSDT) and, with the official national working group established by MSDT, develop the Draft Law on Nature Protection for Montenegro.

Deliverable 3 (No later than last week of May 2015):

Using relevant international experience, the selected consultant will support designing and incorporating into national legislation relevant guidance on establishment and management of protected areas, in accordance with the relevant international agreements and standards.

Deliverable 4 (No later than 15 June 2015):

The Final Draft Law on Nature Protection for Montenegro for both Birds and Habitats Directives, relevant international agreements and protected areas government models applicable and relevant for Montenegro protected areas categories discussed and agreed with stakeholders.

Time duration and travel

The Consultant will be engaged on part-time basis during the period from April 13, 2015 – June 29, 2015 (20 working days, out of which 7 days should be spent in the country of assignment, divided in two visits). The first visit of 4 days will be organized in the second half of April, while the second 3-day visit will take place in June 2015, and it will focus on final presentation of recommendations.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Bachelor degree or an advanced university degree (MSc or PhD) in Environmental Science/Management/Policy, Biodiversity Conservation would be considered as advantage.

Experience:

Minimum 15 years of experience, out of which 5 years of professional experience in the area of nature conservation especially connected with issues related to transposition and implementation of Bird and Habitat Directive and protected areas management;
Proven experience in the development of legislation in the field of nature conservation in an EU member state, a candidate or a potential candidate country, would be an advantage;
Proven experience and participation in minimum one EU or other donors’ funded projects related to nature conservation, including a legal gap analysis, would be an advantage.

Languages:

Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English;
Knowledge of Montenegrin language will be considered as an asset.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by April 2, 2015 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain a duly completed Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded from http://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/operations/jobs.html.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work and travel envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".