Background

The project – “Expansion and Improved Management Effectiveness of Adjara Region’s Protected Areas Sytem”-(hereafter UNDP/GEF/GoG project)  is designed to enhance the management effectiveness, biogeographically coverage and connectivity of Protected Areas of the Adjara Autonomous Republic of Georgia in order to better conserve the globally unique Colchis Forests (temperate rainforest).

The project will support the Government of Georgia (GoG), particularly the Agency of Protected Areas of Georgia under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection to bring about the functional operation of the recently gazetted Machakhela National Park which will form the last link in a chain of 4 protected area units established to conserve the Colchic forests of the region (i.e. Kintrishi, Mtirala and Machakhela in Georgia and Jamili in Turkey).

It will further support the Georgian Agency for Protected Areas (APA) and the target PA Administrations to improve financial planning, better integrate local communities into protected areas management and build capacity for applying, adaptable and participatory approaches most likely to achieve long term conservation and sustainable local rural livelihoods.

Fuel wood use in surrounding communities of Machakhela NP

Fuel wood collection and tree cutting are probably the most widespread use of forests in the Machakhela valley and have in some areas had significant impacts. The public meetings, held by the project team valley highlighted the importance of the fuel wood issue to both protected areas management and local communities.

Finding equitable and sustainable means to address this issue is going to be key to meeting both conservation aims of the Protected Areas and interests of the communities. It also provides an opportunity to work out meaningful co-management and cooperative arrangements between PAs and communities, local authorities, etc. which could be could be valuable starting for developing wider collaboration on other issues.

Official data of Khelvachauri forestry unit regarding fuel wood use for 2013 and 2014 are available for review. No other official data or study results are available at this stage.  Initial, rough estimation of available fuel wood resources in Machakhela NP is very pessimistic – it seems that these resources may not satisfy the existing needs of households. Besides, there are no specific studies conducted on alternative ways of fuel wood supply to local communities in support zone of Machakhela NP, and also, about possible ways to reduce fuel wood demand.  Therefore, the study is envisaged, which would address these gaps in knowledge/information.

It should be noted that based on this study and proposed/identified sustainable technologies for fuel wood demand reduction in Machakhela NP and Buffer zone, the project will support implementation of pilot projects to test the viability of identified technologies.

Duties and Responsibilities

Overall Objectives of the consultancy service is to assess the needs of fuel wood in communities within support zone of Machakhela NP and recommend the socially, economically and technically viable approaches to a) reduce fuel wood demand; and b) ensure alternative ways of supply.

The study must provide evidence –based information that is credible, reliable and useful.

In addition to the fuelwood related information, the consultant is also expected to collect and analyse wider resource use data from communities, in order to identify links between certain communities and certain forests that are sources of fuel and of other uses, communities make of the same forests.

Scope of Work

In order to achieve overall objective within the given scope of the work, the consultant  is sought to produce three main outputs:

Assessment of fuel wood needs/demand in communities of Machakhela NP support zone. It is recommended to conduct study and present findings for each village/community individually.

Study should include the following details:

• Number of households/persons in each village;
• The required/demanded amount of fuel wood per household and per village by analysing official data supplemented with interviews/communication in target communities;
• Describe how this demand was satisfied during last years – detailed description of the process, including financial information regarding each activity: purchase of the license, price of logging, cost of transportation, etc.;
• Estimation of an average cost per 1 m3 of fuel wood for each village (if this is different among villages due to location and difference in transportation costs);
• Identification of alternative fuels available and used by households (kerosene, gas canisters, electric, etc.)  and costs, cultural preferences, practical benefits / disadvantages;
• Identification of usage of fuel wood and other fuels both in terms of seasonality (average consumption each month) and purpose (heating, water heating, cooking);
• Comparison table of different fuel costs and references (costs per year and costs as % of family annual budget);
• Data on the available viable areas for community sources of fuel wood, their status;
• Identify which communities are dependant / traditionally connected to which areas, both in terms of fuelwood and other resource use;
• Assessment of sustainable harvest and actual harvests in recent decades, and identify probable annual illegal logging levels during last few years;
• Assessment of level of harvest that is over and above actual local needs (i.e. commercial harvest) and fuel wood trade level during last years – how many m3 fuel wood was traded out from the Machakhela valley, what is the dynamics of this process, who benefits from such commercial harvests, what can be done to minimize the export of fuel wood from Machakhela to other areas of Khelvachauri district and/or Achara region.

Possible alternative ways of fuel wood supply:

• Assess the possibility to supply fuel wood to Machakhela NP support zone communities from other Adjara forestry districts (for example, Qeda municipality);
• Estimate the price of 1 m3 of fuel wood for the recipient if supply is organized from other municipality.

Possible ways to reduce fuel wood use:

• Identify the various options for reducing fuelwood demand in the different communities, particularly those communities facing deficit (alternative fuels,  more efficient stoves, solar water heaters, etc) and the various pros and cons (costs, practicality, cultural preferences, availability, possibility for local business, etc.);
• Shortlist the most viable options that project could support pilot projects in priority communities, and develop short proposal for pilot projects based on this shortlist.

Deliverables and Payment Schedule:

• Detailed methodology and work-plan (15% of the total amount) – end of week one;
• Draft assessment of fuel wood needs/demand (50% of the total amount) – end of month two;
• Finalized assessment report, plus the recommendations on alternative ways of supply and reduction of use (35% of the total amount) – end of month three.

Evaluation

Individual consultants will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Technical evaluation stage encompasses desk review and interview of applicants. Experts not meeting any of the Minimum technical qualification requirements will be automatically excluded from the list of candidates for further technical evaluation. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 points (70%) and for financial criteria 30 (30%). Offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores of the desk review (i.e. 50 x 70% = 35 points) as a result of a desk review of offers will be invited for the interview. Those offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores of the technical criteria (i.e. 70 x 70% = 49 points) will be considered as short-listed offers and requested to provide financial proposal.

Financial Proposal

Only qualified offerors will be requested to submit financial proposals - Lump Sum amount that should include remuneration (daily fee*number of total working days), travel costs (Living Allowance* number of total working days to be spent in the field). Living allowance rate should not exceed UN DSA rates for in-country travel.

Competencies

Core Competences:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional Competencies:

• Strong analytical and writing skills;
• Ability to communicate effectively in order to communicate complex, technical information to both technical and general audiences;
• Ability to interact with local government officials;
• Technical knowledge in the targeted focal areas;
• Forestry and natural resources management;
• Alternative, renewable energy/energy efficient practices.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in forestry, natural resource management, socio-economics, energy or related fields (minimum qualification requirement: 10 points, higher degree – additional 6 points).

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years of demonstrated experience in working on fuel wood and rural energy issues (minimum qualification requirement: 3 years – 10 points, more than 3 years – additional 7 points);
• Work experience in fuelwood studies, specifically on applying methods/technologies to reducing wood consumption (efficient use/alternatives) in rural communities is desired (10 points);
• Prior knowledge and work experience in Machakhela areas and/or in Adjara region is desired (7 points).

Languages

• Fluency in Georgian and English (Both written and spoken).