Antecedentes

Climate change already increased serious threats to the coastal development of Bangladesh. The combined effects of sea-level rise and subsidence, changes in upstream river discharge, increased frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones, and erosion of coastal embankments pose a different to the natural resource base and associated livelihood opportunities of coastal communities. The ‘Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change through Coastal Afforestation in Bangladesh (CBACC-CF)’ project is being implemented in four coastal district (Barguna, Bhola, Noakhali and Chittagong) by the government of Bangladesh towards enhance the resilience of both coastal communities and protective ecosystems through community led interventions that focus on coastal afforestation and livelihood diversification.

The project commenced field operations since 2010 under the financial support of GEF, UNDP, EKN and SDC. The Ministry of Environment and Forest is the leading implementing partner of the project including the Forest Department (FD), Department of Agricultural Extension, Department of Fisheries, Department of Livestock, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI), Ministry of Land and Bangladesh Water Development Board as different executing agencies for afforestation and livelihood related training and demonstration activities.

Coastal afforestation is one of the key activities in the project which currently requires monitoring and evaluation of impacts at ecosystem level. Considering the sustainability of afforestation in the project sites, the result-evidence will be important to determine the impact in land stabilization process, increase forest coverage and capacity to sustain in changing climatic risks of coastal areas. More visualization of afforestation progress and impact can be done through field observation and application technical tools like GIS. In accordance with UNDP/GEF procedures, UNDP-Bangladesh is hiring a M&E Expert to develop a reporting system of afforestation programme that is evidence based, outcome oriented and easily measurable of the impacts.

Project Description:

The project uses a four-pronged approach to reduce the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems in coastal zones. First, community-based adaptation measures at the local level will assist the diversification of livelihoods, strengthen natural barriers against climate change-induced inundation and erosion, and improve community warning systems to protect livelihood assets and facilitate the flow of climate-related information. Second, institutional capacity will be strengthened to incorporate climate risk reduction into coastal zone development and management at the national and sub-national levels. At the sub-national level, capacity building efforts will focus on the four Coastal Forest Districts (CFD) of Patuakhali (Barguna), Bhola, Noakhali and Chittagong. Third, the policy framework regarding coastal zone management will be assessed, and recommendations for climate-resilient policies will be developed, particularly regarding land use in coastal areas. Finally, knowledge gained through the project will be shared through the UNDP Adaptation Learning Mechanism with other areas and countries facing similar climate change threats in coastal communities. This strategy forms an additional component on top of existing and pipelined project activities under various ministries and departments.

The coastal afforestation programme of the project has already taken mangrove and non-mangrove plantation in four project sites to enhance the protective capacity of coastal ecosystem. With the support of FD, mangrove plantation has been completed in 8500 ha. Mound and dyke plantation with non-mangrove now covers 332 ha and 112 ha respectively. Strip plantation has been completed in 680 km. Besides, 150 ha of model demonstration with mangrove species have been completed by BFRI. The project trained 12,200 people on coastal afforestation programme including nursery establishment and maintenance. The overall achievement of the afforestation programme is expected to contribute to strengthen protective ecosystems while reducing severity of impacts from natural disasters in adjacent areas.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Objectives:

The objective of the assignment is to develop evidence based monitoring and evaluation report visualizing impact of coastal afforestation in the project.

Scope of Work and Expected Outputs/Deliverables:

The key responsibility of the expert is monitoring and evaluation of all types of afforestation to prepare results based monitoring mechanism and prepare high quality knowledge product based on coastal afforestation implemented by the project.

Within the framework of this ToR, the expert is expected to perform the following tasks and duties:

• Develop, implement and maintain the Results-based M&E system for this assignment as needed;
• Establish routine monitoring and evaluation procedures and systems to enable visualizing of all afforestation activities of the project;
• Collect, enter and analyze all data related to the implementation of coastal afforestation and progress towards planned activities;
• Prepare GIS based map, delineate site map of all plantation plots focusing current and previous plantations in each site.

The proponent will be responsible for producing the following deliverables to address the objective of the assignment:

• Develop monitoring and evaluation plan for coastal afforestation with plantation specific measures and guidelines;
• Collection of data, application GIS tools and preparation of maps indicating forest areas with respect to site specific conditions;
• Develop GIS map on afforestation sites and analyse the progress against targeted planning;
• Prepare result based monitoring and evaluation reports on afforestation activities of the project;

Supervision and Performance Evaluation:

The Monitoring and Evaluation Expert-Coastal Afforestation will work under the direct supervision of the Project Manager (PM)/National Project Director (NPD). S/he will work in close collaboration with Climate Change, Environment and Disaster (CCED) Cluster of UNDP and wide range of stakeholders related with coastal afforestation.

Timeframe and Deadline:  The duration of the assignment is four (4) months commencing from 13 March 2014 to 13 July 2014. 

Payment Schedule: The following timeline will be followed for payment:

• First Month: Preparation and submission of monitoring and evaluation plan completed-(1st Payment 20% of the total amount);
• Second Month: First draft of monitoring report on coastal afforestation after field visit in all project sites completed (2nd Payment 25% of the total amount);
• Third Month: First draft of GIS mapping of afforestation including analysis of site specific progress completed-(3rd Payment 25% of the total amount);
• Fourth Month: Final report of monitoring and evaluation of coastal afforestation visualizing all plantation plots (including mapping for each site) completed and submitted-(4th/final payment-30% of the total amount).

Competencias

Technical work:

• Strong expertise in coastal afforestation / forest impact assessment;
• Experience in application and developing GIS mapping in forest areas;
• Fmiliarity with the coastal areas;
• Plans, prioritizes, and delivers tasks on time and produces quality results to meet established goals;
• Creative and innovative in producing the desired outputs;
• Consultative and empowering working style and willingness to learn from others;
• Willingness to undertake regular field visits and interact with different stakeholders.\

Partnerships:

• Maturity and confidence in dealing and consultation with target stakeholders involved with FD;
• Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of quality analysis for the assignment;
• Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration with colleagues – especially for this case.

Results:

• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Good team player who has ability to maintain good relationships.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Academic Qualifications:

• Masters’ degree or equivalent in Forestry. Degree on Geo-information Science would be an added advantage.

Years of Experience:

• Five (05) years of professional experience including working experience in planning, monitoring and evaluations of afforestation activities;
• A solid understanding on coastal Bangladesh particularly on coastal afforestation and adaptation to climate change and environmental management with a focus on participatory processes, joint management and gender issues;
• Proven knowledge and experience on database management including data analysis and interpretation skills;
• Broader experience on using GIS/GPS, particularly in preparing GIS based map, delineating site map of the plantation plots;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages advantageous to monitoring;
• Knowledge of current issues and innovation in results-oriented monitoring, including trends, principles and methodology;
• Familiarity with UNDP operations and relevant UNDP’s policies are an advantage.

Evaluation of the Candidates: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis: The candidates will be evaluated through Cumulative Analysis method. When using the weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for Financial Evaluation.

Technical Evaluation Criteria (Total 70 marks)

• Overall experience in planning, monitoring and evaluations of afforestation activities (25 marks)
• Relevant experience in coastal Bangladesh particularly on coastal afforestation, application of GIS software and mapping (30 marks)
• Appropriate understanding of methodology, database management including data analysis and interpretation skills (10 marks)
• Publication/knowledge product in field of specialization (5 marks)

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks)

All technical yqualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received points according to the following formula:
                        p = y (μ/z)
where:
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
μ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS along with the CV:

Interested individual experts must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

• Explaining why the expert is the most suitable for the work;
• Provide a brief methodology on how he/she will approach and conduct the work.