Background

"Enhancing Biodiversity Conservation and Sustenance of Ecosystems services in Environmentally Sensitive Areas" is a GEF funded project, implemented by the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment (MMDE) and supported by UNDP. The Project would contribute to safeguarding globally significant biodiversity on production lands of high interest for conservation. This project will greatly strengthen the country's ability to safeguard biodiversity inside and outside protected areas in special Environmentally Sensitive Areas, through a new land use governance framework.

The primary objective of this project is "To operationalize Environment Sensitive Areas (ESA) as a mechanism for mainstreaming biodiversity management into development in areas of high conservation significance". In order to achieve this Objective, the project plans on achieving the two major outcomes; National Enabling Framework Strengthened to Designate and Manage Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) and Biodiversity-friendly ESA management for long term integrity and resilience ensured at two sites in the Kala Oya Region.

Within the Kala Oya Region, two sites have been identified as proposed ESAs. The first site – Kala Wewa falls towards upper reaches of the river basin and encompasses a large water body (reservoir or tank) called Kala Wewa. The second site – Wilpattu is located in lower part of the basin and encompasses marine area including the Bar Reef and the estuary of the Kala Oya River. The proposed ESAs include all of the Bar Reef Sanctuary (30600 ha); and significant parts of Wilpattu National Park (total area 131667 ha, and 18900 ha falling within the proposed ESA2) and Kahalla Pallekele (total area 21690 ha, and around 13900 ha falling within the proposed ESA1).

The project will support the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) staff at Wilpattu NP, Kahalla-Pallekele, and the Bar Reef Sanctuaries to effectively mitigate threats emanating from outside the PA. At present, Kahalla Pallekele and the Bar Reef are still under the category of sanctuaries which allows low protection and inadequate legal mandate for their protection. One of the key focus of the project support will be to assist the DWC to upgrade the Kahalla-Pallekele Wildlife Reserve and the Bar Reef Sanctuary to National Park status. The change in the status of these two protected areas will mean that unlike now, there will be a dedicated Warden assigned to each of these sites to manage these more effectively (currently there are no site specific managers for Sanctuaries in Sri Lanka). The upgrading of the legal status of these protected areas will also mean that land use conversion and other biodiversity harming activities within these will have stronger punishments, and hence would have a better chance of their protection. Moreover, the main coral reef ecosystem, the Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary, is among one of the most productive reef ecosystems of Sri Lanka and supports a rich fauna and flora. Therefore, this ecosystem is of high conservation value.

These protected areas continued to be under threat from encroachment, and biodiversity within them continued to be threatened from land use and production practices outside the protected areas, and connectivity between protected areas continue to be lost or severely compromised from land use changes adjacent or outside PAs.

Management plan is a powerful tool for PA staff to manage PA resources more effectively. It is a widely used and long established method of organizing information and providing a structured approach to guiding management tasks.  However, protected areas in the two sites Kahalla Pallekale and the Bar Reef do not have management plans and Wilpattu is having a resource inventory which is a prerequisite for management plan development. The long term success of PAs must be seen in the light of the search for more sustainable patterns of development in general. Currently, inadequate linkages can be seen between PA and surrounding landscape/ seascapes to address conservation concerns at a wider landscape/ seascape level. International best practices recognize using management by objectives.

Management Plans for Kahalla Palllekale, and Wilpattu to be prepared within the context of development plans, issues and people surrounding the PAs. This activity will be led by DWC.

The main focus of a Management Plan should be the explanation of the vision, the management objectives needed to realize this vision and the strategies/actions required to implement them.  The management plans should be integrated with or at least link to local development processes and the activities of other agencies and organizations working in the area. It helps developing and implementing proactive management plans which: provides a holistic view of processes and issues inside and outside of the PA boundary; links planning for conservation in the PA with planning for development in the region; and creates greater support for the interests and protection of the PA.

In summary, the Project will provide support to strengthen protected areas management by facilitating the development of Management Plans for the PAs upgraded to National Park status   and to support DWC to develop Wilpattu NP management plan in the context of peripheral issues with associated ecosystems in the buffer zone and so that priority actions are selected strategically and a sustainable approach is developed to be undertaken during the Project period. The management plans are to be prepared by the DWC using internal expertise with inputs from external expertise.

The preparation of the plan is participatory involving the people affected by the management of the protected area. Two audiences are involved: an external one (local people, experts/researchers, visitors and other stakeholders, and others responsible for administering the area beyond the PA boundary) and an internal one (staff charged with the plan implementation). 

The DWC will lead this upgrading and development of management plans as an inter-sectoral effort and that it has the ownership of wider range of sectors and the local governments. There also has to be strong community consultations and also involvement of NGOs and the private sector. For this assignment DWC seeks a national expert, who is knowledgeable and having experience in the sector to facilitate the above work with the DWC.

Scope and Objectives:

Facilitating the DWC in the process of upgrading Kahalla Pallekale (KP) Sanctuary to National Park status   and in development of Management Plans for KP and Wilpattu NP to include issues of human wildlife conflict and better linkages between wider landscape management and protected areas.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Collect, collate and study the processes and issues inside and outside of the PA boundary;
• Assist DWC to Identify a planning team and train and educate staff on the planning process and to provide them with the skills required to participate in this task;
• Scoping the task, defining the process to be used and setting a schedule/timeframe in consultation with DWC;
• Assist DWC to identify issues inside and outside of the PA boundary and planning for conservation which compatible with the regional development plan. (link to local development processes and the activities of other agencies and organizations working in the area);
• Identify the two audiences involved: an external one (local people, experts/researchers, visitors and other stakeholders, and others responsible for administering the area beyond the PA boundary) and an internal one (staff charged with the plan implementation); in consultation with DWC ;
• Assist DWC to conduct stakeholder analysis for the identification of key stakeholders - to identify and assess the importance of key people, groups of people or institutions that may significantly influence the success of the planning process;
• Assist DWC to Identify the key stakeholders and developing effective strategies for stakeholder participation;
• Facilitate stakeholder consultations to surmount negative perceptions of the PA by local communities;
• Facilitate discussions among the key stakeholders to develop perspectives about PA use ;
• Identify the constraints, opportunities and threats for upgrading the PA into NP status and incorporated in to the management plan in consultation the DWC ;
• Identify any critical gaps and weaknesses in the current strategic approach that may need to be filled/strengthened in order to implement the actions effectively in consultation with DWC ;
• Analyze the strategies and evaluate all methodologies presently used by the DWC to mitigate land use conversion and other biodiversity harming activities within the PA, prepare improvements and additions;
• Facilitate stakeholder consultations to elicit information and assess how comprehensively and effectively the existing strategies cover the scope and scale of conflicts outside the PA boundary;
• Facilitate conflict resolution exercises, if required to assess the feasibility of upgrading PA into a higher status with stronger punitive;
• Facilitate developing management visions and objectives;
• Facilitate developing options for achieving vision and objectives, including zoning;
• Verify findings with relevant sectoral institutions & partners, Present findings and recommendations, Gather feedback from those stakeholders;
• Facilitate public consultation on the draft management plan;
• Prepare final findings and recommendations;
• Facilitate discussions on identifying priority actions to be implemented after the approval of the Management Plan;
• Collect, document and circulate all information and minuets of the workshops and meetings among planning team; 
• Facilitate development and documentation of Management Plans for Kahalla Pallekale & Wilpattu NP.

Expected Outputs

The following results are expected from the consultancy:

• A work plan for this assignment, including methodology indicating effective strategies for participatory development and analytical outline of each deliverable and a delivery schedule;
• The conflict resolution exercises are held with stakeholders during upgrading Kahalla Pallekale sanctuary to NP status;
• Methods for stakeholder consultation and methods for incorporating participation and a schedule/timeframe, to be used during management plan preparations of Kahalla Pallekale and the Wilpattu protected areas;
• Stakeholder analysis to assess all the individuals or groups that are likely affected by the planned activities and interests of those stakeholders;
• Status report providing resource information, data evaluation, identifying constraints, opportunities and threats;
• Documentation of Management plans for Kahalla Pallekale; and Wilpattu National Park.

Competencies

• Good knowledge on biodiversity, environmental policy, rural development, Social Ecology or related fields;
• Capacity to work with multiple stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines;
• Demonstrated leadership, facilitation and coordination skills, ability to manage technical team and long term strategic partnership; and
• Excellent communication (both oral and written) and partnership building skills with multi-dimension partners, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of case studies and progress reports;
• People skill for conflict resolution and negotiation;
• Maturity and confidence in dealing with the staff of government institutions and private sector;
• Ability to seek and apply knowledge, information and best practices from multiple sectors;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration; 
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Good team player who has ability to maintain good relationships.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• The prospective consultant should have Masters Degree or equivalent in the areas of environmental policy, policy development, rural development, Social Ecology or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 15 years post-Masters work experience in the field of participatory development;
• Experience in development planning and review of policies, strategies and action plans on wildlife conservation;
• Good knowledge on PRA techniques, gender and skills - both in moderating and understanding group dynamics;
• Good analytical and problem solving skills and related ability for adaptive management;
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team environment, to effectively work closely with both state/non state and other stakeholders to motivate its members and other counterparts to effectively work towards achieving the expected outcomes;
• Preferred experiences on forest/wildlife conservation and strategy development;
• Experience in guiding stakeholders and skills to facilitate learning preparation and creative application of knowledge will be an advantage; and
• Good communication skills and competence in handling project's external relations at all levels.

Languages/ Other:

• Excellent written and spoken knowledge of English;
• Fluency in Sinhala and/or Tamil is an additional requirement.

Financial Proposal

All inclusive Lump Sum Fee: LKR  or

All inclusive Daily Fee : LKR

Amount in words:

Note: Payments will be based on invoices on achievement of agreed milestones i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR and certification by UNDP. The applicant must factor in all possible costs in his/her “All Inclusive Lump Sum Fee” financial proposal including his/her consultancy and professional fee, honorarium, any additional HR cost, field travel and accommodation, communication cost such as telephone/internet usage, printing cost, ad-hoc costs, stationery costs, and any other foreseeable costs in this exercise. No costs other than what has been indicated in the financial proposal will be paid or reimbursed to the consultant.

For an Individual Contractor who is of 62 years of age or older, and on an assignment requiring travel, be it for the purpose of arriving at the duty station or as an integral duty required under the TOR, a full medical examination and statement of fitness to work must be provided.  However, this is not a requirement for individuals on RLA contracts.

Payment for Services

The consultant shall receive payments in instalments from UNDP as follows:

• 10% of instalment - Upon submission of a work plan for this assignment, including methodology indicating effective strategies for participatory development and analytical outline of each deliverable and a delivery schedule;
• 15% of Instalment   - Upon submission of the report on conflict resolution exercises held with stakeholders during upgrading Kahalla Pallekale sanctuary to NP status;
• 20 % of Instalment - Upon submission of stakeholder analysis to assess all the individuals or groups that are likely affected by the planned activities and interests of those stakeholders;
• 15 % of Instalment - Upon submission of Status report providing resource information, data evaluation, identifying constraints, opportunities and threats;
• 20% of instalment - Upon submission of report on public comments and public consultation for Kahalla Pallekale;
• 20 % of Instalment - Upon submission of final Management Plans for Kahalla Pallekale and Wilpattu.

Timeframe

The envisaged time frame of the consultancy is 75 days over the course of 6 months commencing from July 2016.

How to Apply

The application should contain:

• Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies and relevant past experience in similar projects and contact details of 2 professional referees who can certify your competencies, professionalism, quality of writing, presentation and overall suitability to this TOR;
• Please duly fill the below financial proposal and attach to the last page of the CV along with all other required documentation above.

Note :

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows uploading maximum one document.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

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

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