Papua New Guinea (PNG) has one of the most significant areas of largely-intact tropical forest in the world, although these forests appear to be facing acute and imminent threats. Forests are also a vital resource for the local population particularly in the remote rural areas of PNG, providing food, fibre, building materials, and support a variety of wildlife and ecosystem services. The Papua New Guinea Forest Authority (PNGFA) estimates that approximately 60% of the total area of the country is covered by natural forests, of which 52% are considered production forests (for timber and other products), and 48% are for conservation (not for timber extraction due to inaccessibility or ecological constraints).

A mechanism for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) being developed through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides an opportunity to support Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) efforts to reduce levels of deforestation and help to maintain and protect its natural forest.

PNG has been a leading proponent of REDD+ at the international level, and was one of the original UN-REDD Programme’s "pilot" countries. UN-REDD activities to date have focused on supporting effective stakeholder engagement, including through the development of guidelines for Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and on developing the country's national forest monitoring system. With PNG’s UN-REDD National Programme coming to an end in 2015, a World Bank funded Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) project was initiated in early 2015 to support PNG through its advanced REDD+ readiness stages and begin the piloting of field activities.

While REDD+ readiness activities are progressing in the country, there remains a shortage of reliable information on the economic values and financing flows in PNG’s forestry sector. This assignment will help build the knowledge base available to policy makers and REDD+ implementers on this area. The consultant will work closely with the FCPF programme management unit (PMU), UNDP Country Office, UNDP Regional Technical Advisor, REDD+ focal points in the Office of Climate Change and Development (OCCD) and PNGFA, and other relevant ministries.

The consultant will support REDD+ readiness efforts in PNG by undertaking analyses that will build the knowledge base available to decision makers in the forestry and land use sector, to inform planning, management and implementation options for REDD+. This work will contribute to the preparation of REDD+ Strategy Options for PNG, under Outcome 2 of the FCPF Project (Development of PNG’s National REDD+ Strategy) and subsequently inform the review and finalisation of the current draft of national REDD+ Policy.

The international expert is expected to take conceptual leadership of the tasks under this assignment, in close coordination and consultation with the team of national and international FCPF staff and the UNDP regional technical advisor. This will include work plan preparation and methodological leadership.

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

Analytical work to understand the economic value of the land use sectors and related public financing flows.

• Construction of a conceptual framework of public and donor financial flows and spending across the PNG land use sectors with specific focus on forestry, water, agriculture and pasture, and the scale of opportunities in those different sectors in economic, environmental and social terms. This should draw on similar frameworks in other countries, and in its construction it should consider carefully the methodologies that may need to be applied in the analytical part of the work, the available data and how the results of the study will be used;
• Development of a methodology for carrying out the work as agreed by key stakeholders. This is likely to cover the following areas, but the approach should be confirmed by the consultant in their inception report;
• Classification of different land-use sectors;
• Map out financial flows in different sectors with a particular focus on forestry, different financing instruments (public/donor/private; grant/loans, etc.), and broadly what these are funding;
• Develop indicators of economic, environmental and social opportunities for specific beneficiaries and economic values in the land use sector. Use of these to determine the relative values of different sectors and to compare with levels of finance;
• Develop more detailed financial mapping and valuation of the forestry sector, quantified as far as possible, and assessed in qualitative terms where data are not available. This should address the following questions: What is being funded? How effective are existing funding flows? Do funding flows match the level of value of the sector? What and where is the potential to increase the effectiveness of existing flows, and/or exploit new opportunities?
• The methodology should take into account the objectives of the work, existing data sources and quality, and include a basic approach for projecting potential values in the future. The methodology should also consider the possible role of REDD+ finance in the PNG context;
• Conducting analytical work, with support from FCPF PMU staff;
• Lead technical activities, including coordination of inputs from the FCPF PMU;
• Produce report summarizing the approach used and present the main findings. This should include a discussion of the key assumptions and uncertainties;
• Provide policy options and recommendations for increasing forest sector financing through the public sector to sustainable forest management in PNG, taking into account the existing development landscape and international best practices or models that may be applicable to PNG. The assessment of options should draw on the methodology developed to enable feasibility to be determined.

Assessment of entry points and strategic options to support forest sector financing and policy implementation:

• Desk review of relevant literature contextualising REDD+ in the current social, economic, political and cultural context of PNG;
• Desk review of relevant policies by the Government of PNG in the forestry, environment, climate change and related sector;
• Conduct a short (3 hour / half day) workshop or a small series of meetings with representatives of relevant development partners to gather insights into major actors for REDD+ and in the forest sector in PNG and their respective importance and relationships;
• Conduct personal interviews and other suitable consultations (including focus groups, participant observation, etc.) with government officials, civil society and private sector representatives and other actors involved in REDD+ and the forest sector policy formulations and implementation;
• Analyse gathered data (systematic evaluation of the interviews and other field work);
• Prepare a report, specifying entry points and strategic options to support forest sector financing and policy implementation.

Stakeholder consultation workshop:

• Consultation on the findings from the analytical work;
• Provide support to the design of the consultation workshop;
• Validation of findings through the stakeholder workshop.

The international expert will deliver the following outputs:

• A detailed work plan (inception report) shortly after inception describing specific methodologies, work flow, structure of deliverables (e.g., an outline of final report), output delivery timeline, consultation plans, inputs required from national experts and stakeholders, and any other items as appropriate;
• Analytical reports, including: a) policy recommendations and options for increased forest sector financing, and b) entry points and strategic options to support forest sector financing and policy implementation;
• Inputs to stakeholder workshop(s);
• A final report that contains the results of all analysis and recommendations. The final report should also include minutes and participants lists from all stakeholder consultation meetings carried throughout the process.

The international expert will be responsible for coordinating the preparation of the detailed work plan. The international expert is also responsible for collating and packaging individual sections produced by the national experts/government staff, UNDP staff and other stakeholders to produce the final report, and for addressing comments, suggestions, and recommendations from stakeholders and national experts

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; and
• Ability to maintain effective rapport with different kinds of people.

Functional Competencies:

Management and Leadership:

• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Proven ability to work flexibly and independently as part of an interdisciplinary and/or multi-cultural team working across disciplines and stakeholders at all levels, and delivery quality results against tight deadlines; and
• Strong managerial/leadership and decision-making skills.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Shares knowledge and experience.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to master new material quickly;
• Ability to manage priorities in order to meet tight deadlines;
• Good communications, interpersonal and report writing skills; and
• Creativity and innovation abilities.

Education:

• Post-graduate degree (Master's or PhD) in natural resources economics, development economics, finance, or closely related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years progressive experience in forest and/or natural resources economics or natural resources management;
• Experience carrying out public finance assessments, economic analyses of the land use sectors, including social and environmental valuations;
• Good knowledge of REDD+, in particular in areas concerning economics and financing;
• Experience working for and with international development partners, especially UN Agencies;
• Previous work experience in PNG or the Pacific region is an asset;
• Strong inter-personal skills, in particular, demonstrated team leadership qualities and excellent oral communication skills.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based upon the offer which gives the best value for money based on the Lump Sum proposal submitted, selected by the UNDP PNG Country Office in consultation with the UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre Technical Advisor.

The Technical and the Financial Proposal submitted to by the International Expert will be evaluated on the basis of the weight of the technical criteria [70] and of the financial proposal [30]. The evaluation will be performed in two stages:

Stage One (Technical Evaluation of Proposals).  All Individual Consultants proposals comprising the information/documentation provided will be evaluated to ascertain the suitability of the individual consultants to carry out the assignment. Candidates who obtain the minimum of 49 points of the full mark (70 points) will be considered technically compliant and their financial evaluations will be evaluated thereafter.

Stage Two (Financial Evaluation). The financial proposals of all the individual consultants who pass stage one will be evaluated. The maximum 30 points will be allotted to the lowest financial bid, and all other bids shall receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest fee e.g. [30 Points] x [USD lowest] / [USD other] = points for other proposer’s fees

The award of contract shall be based on the individual consultant who receives the highest cumulative score.

Technical criteria

The following criteria will be used to evaluate the individual consultants’ technical proposals:

Education – 10 points:

• Post-graduate degree (Master's or PhD) in natural resources economics, development economics, finance, or closely related field.

Experience – 50 points:

• A minimum of 8 years progressive experience in forest and/or natural resources economics or natural resources management;
• Experience carrying out public finance assessments, economic analyses of the land use sectors, including social and environmental valuations;
• Good knowledge of REDD+, in particular in areas concerning economics and financing;
• Experience working for and with international development partners, especially UN Agencies;
• Previous work experience in PNG or the Pacific region is an asset;
• Strong inter-personal skills, in particular, demonstrated team leadership qualities and excellent oral communication skills.

Language Requirements – 10 points:

• Strong skills in written communications in English.

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply by 7 September 2015 by sending their application packages to registry.pg@undp.org with the subject line “FCPF - REDD+ Safeguards Specialist”.

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (if applicable). Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees, please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
• Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days – in home office and on mission, travel – international and local, per diems and any other possible costs).

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, office costs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://intranet.undp.org

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to a large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Incomplete applications not meeting the above requirements will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.