Background

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.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Regional Technical Adviser for Biodiversity and Ecosystem, the Specialist will serve as the team leader in collating inputs of the Protected Area Planning and Management Specialist and partner organisations and take the lead, in collaboration with key stakeholders, implementing and executing agencies, in developing the full project plan.

The specialist will guide and facilitate the implementation of the activities under this PPG, ensuring quality and timely completion of the full project submission package. During the process, the specialist will:
  • provide guidance and ensure the direction of the work of the Protected Area Planning and Management Specialist and partner organisations;
  • review and analyse baseline information delivered by the Protected Area Planning and Management Specialist ;
  • develop the full logical framework of the project based on the project framework, with SMART indicators, baseline and targets;
  • guide the Environmental and Social Screening process, review the screening report and finalise it for submission;
  • support development of conservation goals of the PA system in Sumatra with the Protected Area Planning and Management Specialist, executing agencies and stakeholders;
  • compile the policy and institutional context and capacity for PA system planning and management in Sumatra based on the information and analysis provided by the Protected Area Planning and Management Specialist;
  • develop the threats and root causes matrix, and the description of the barriers to the conservation of biodiversity in the Sumatra landscape;
  • carry out an incremental analysis and cost effectiveness analysis of the project strategy;
  • assess the socioeconomic impact and sustainability of suggested project outcomes and outputs;
  • assess global environmental benefits sought from the project;
  • propose a project monitoring and evaluation framework with a set of measurable impact and progress indicators;
  • guide development of budget plans for the project
  • ensure linkages with other government, donor and GEF financed projects in Indonesia and in the region;
  • prepare necessary ToRs for the project staff and key consultancies and subcontracts;
  • take the lead in collating the inputs of the Protected Area Planning and Management Specialist and partner organisationss and draft the full project document and CEO request. Revise as necessary to satisfy all parties;
  • provide response to GEF review comments and make necessary revision to the documents.

The expected outputs from this assignment are:

  • Technically cleared UNDP Project Document;
  • Technically cleared CEO Endorsement Request Document;
  • GEF BD-1 Tracking Tool;
  • ESSP Report;
  • A power point presentation covering the key points of the Project.

Provision of monitoring and Control:

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.  

Documents to be included when submitting 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.

The contract will be based on lump sum amount

The 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.

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.

Contract Duration:
  • 9 months (May 2014 – January 2015). Approximately 8 weeks (40 days) inputs are envisaged. The contract and payments will be deliverable based rather than input based.
Duty Station:
  • Home based with travel to Indonesia and will need to travel to related project sites as necessary.

Competencies

  • Demonstrated strategic technical and intellectual skills in the substantive area;
  • Demonstrated leadership, facilitation and coordination skills, ability to manage technical team and long term strategic partnership;
  • 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;
  • Excellent communication and multi-dimensional partnership building skills, people skills for conflict resolution and negotiation;
  • Computer proficiency, especially related to professional office software packages (Microsoft Office).

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Master's degree on natural sciences, environmental studies or related filed.

Experience:

  • Minimum of 15 years of demonstrable experience and knowledge in the field of ecosystems and biodiversity management, in particular, experience working on protected areas management issues;
  • Extensive experience with project development, implementation and management;
  • Working experience with international organizations and knowledge of GEF and UNDP policies are advantage;
  • Experience in project formulation that addresses technical assistance and capacity development for implementing partners (IPs);
  • Experience in working in the relevant field in Indonesia and with its government, and experience working in international organizations in SE Asia would be strong assets;

Language requirement:

  • Proficient in English language, both spoken and written;
  • Understanding Bahasa Indonesia would be an advantage;
  • Ability to write project report particularly for international funded project;
  • Ability to make presentation.

 Evaluation:

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: 30 points
Expertise & Availability:40 points
Financial Criteria weigh: 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 350 technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.