Consultancy: In-depth Training on Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool



Advertised on behalf of :

Location : Kokopo, East New Britain and Kimbe, West New Britain provinces in Papua New Guinea
Application Deadline :08-May-19 (Midnight New York, USA)
Type of Contract :Individual Contract
Post Level :International Consultant
Languages Required :
 English  
Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)		20-Apr-2018
Duration of Initial Contract :April- June 2018 (40 days spread over 2 months upon signing of contract)
Expected Duration of Assignment :April- June 2018 (40 days spread over 2 months upon signing of contract)

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.


Background

The Government of Papua New Guinea through the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) in partnership with UNDP is implementing a GEF-funded project “Community-based Forest and Coastal Conservation and Resource Management in the Papua New Guinea”. This is the first initiative of the PNG government to develop effective natural resource management and financing systems for community conservation areas with a target of adding 1 million hectares under a protection scheme mainly in Owen Stanley Range and New Britain Island.

With the endorsement of PNG’s first ever Protected Area Policy[1] in December 2014, CEPA is strongly committed to improve the management of protected areas throughout the country through adaptive management or Pillar Three of the Policy which aims to: ‘evaluate management effectiveness every three years to demonstrate the successes and challenges for each protected area in PNG: Management effectiveness of Protected Areas will be regularly evaluated on a national basis, and improvements will be put into place based on assessment results. Where Protected Area effectiveness or wildlife populations and health are shown to be declining or at risk, causes will be investigated and corrective measures rapidly implemented’ [2].

In 2016-2017, CEPA through the GEF/UNDP project completed the evaluation of all gazetted protected areas in the country using a re-tooled Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT)[3], which took into consideration the special features of PNG’s protected area system. Customary landowners from all gazetted protected areas and other stakeholders were consulted in this evaluation and their needs, contraints and priority actions to improve the management effectiveness for each protected area were documented. Key project outputs of this engagement contracted to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) were: an overall report on the management effectiveness of the protected area network; a statement of protected area values; identification of key threats to protected areas; a METT score identifying overall management effectiveness; a  summary document for every protected area including values, threats, management effectiveness, challenges and recommendations; success stories; and the re-establishment of contact between CEPA and the management committees and other stakeholders. The publication can be downloaded at   https://www.sprep.org/attachments/Publications/BEM/pngpa.doc.pdf.

Following further consultation with CEPA, UNDP PNG intends to engage an international expert to support in upskilling CEPA staff to roll out the management effectiveness tool by undertaking the actual assessment with local partners of proposed and new protected areas in East and West New Britain provinces.

[1] Independent State of Papua New Guinea (2014). Papua New Guinea Policy on Protected Areas. C. E. P. Authority. Waigani, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea.

[2] Ibid

[3] Leverington F.; Peterson A. & Peterson G. (2017) Papua New Guinea Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Protected Areas. SPREP/ CEPA/UNDP, Samoa.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the National Project Director and the direct supervision of the Technical Specialist with the Project’s Provincial Interphase Specialist, the International Expert will work with officials from CEPA to deliver the following:

Output/Deliverable

Brief Description

  1. Further develop the necessary skills to enable select CEPA officers to adequately facilitate a METT assessment as well as to apply the METT questionnaire and record the data

Good facilitation is important in gathering reliable and accurate information. It is important to know what constitutes a good facilitation process and how to achieve this in a variety of contexts, e.g. small meeting or within a village. Key concepts will include: what is facilitation, why is it undertaken, better ways how can it be done, and language issues and how to overcome them. Key tips for successful facilitation and how to overcome issues will be done through a mock exercise, with special attention to associated risk to achieve consensus or majority votes when opinions are divided and ensuring sensitivities on social inclusion.

 

Several themes will underpin the training program and these would provide a sound theoretical and practical understanding of the main principles and processes, including:

1. Understanding protected areas and related planning and management principles, both global and local: Definition of protected areas and types (IUCN); why protected areas are important; global status of protected areas and future trends

2. Understanding biodiversity, bioregionalism and ecosystem services

  • What is biodiversity, why is it important
  • Bioregional planning principles and examples
  • CARR principles
  • Ecosystem services – what are they

3. Reviewing the history of PNG’s protected areas and the assessment of their management effectiveness

  • Timeline of protected area establishment
  • Historical protected area assessments (e.g. RAPPAM, METT)
  • Future requirements for PAME

4. Understanding all METT assessment questions and being able to present the questions to the workshop participants

  • Discuss each METT question to ensure trainees understand the nature and purpose of each question and are able to ask probing questions to ensure sufficient detail is recorded in the workshops
  • Review definitions of important terms
  • Amend METT forms, as needed, based on trainee feedback

5. Understanding the data recording process

  • Principles of data recording (based on excel spreadsheets) and application to the METT questionnaire;
  • How information should be presented in the METT form
  • Elements of good and poor recording (with examples from previous assessments)
  1. Undertake an assessment of ten (10) proposed and new protected areas in New Britain and receive support and feedback from the trainers including in the analysis of the data and develop relevant information sheets

Hand-on learning of CEPA officers will be support through the conduct of ‘real life’ PA assessment and receive comprehensive feedback from the Expert as well as and PA representatives. Under the direct supervision of the Expert, CEPA officers would develop: METT data sheet and summary sheet for each PAs.

 

It should be noted that the METT application will also respond to the standard GEF TT requirement hence the PNG METT questionnaires will be used for the 10 sites, namely:

  • East New Britain province: Lakiri, Muruk, Manginun, Toimtop, Arabam/Raigel/Maranagi, Mu;
  • West New Britain province: Ainbul, Lake Lamo Auru (Lake Hargy), Tarobi and Baro.
  1. Review and update all the METT assessment forms (e.g. detailed facilitator questionnaire, explanation of terminology, participant short questionnaire) and data recording form.

The METT was applied in 2016-17. The METT team undertaking the assessment have identified several areas for improvement and simplification of the assessment forms. The Expert will review all the documentation, in consultation with CEPA officers and trainees, and ensure its suitability for future application. This would include:

  • updating the METT questionnaire;
  • expanding the existing detailed explanation of the questions;
  • developing a set of probing questions that the facilitator can ask to ensure participant responses have sufficient detail and are asked consistently by all facilitators;
  • clarification and definition of key terms, e.g. biodiversity, keystone species, endemic, endangered, threatened, ecosystem, coral bleaching etc. to ensure greater consistency;
  • updating the METT data recording sheet based on the changes to the METT questionnaire;
  • updating the METT questionnaire for participants;
  • developing a checklist of the preliminary information needed to conduct the assessment process including a participant information sheet.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN values and ethical standards;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; and
  • Treats all people fairly without fear or favour.

Functional Competencies

  • Excellent speaking and writing skills in English are necessary;
  • High level planning, organizational and time management skills, including flexibility, attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure to meet challenging deadlines;
  • Analytical and problem-solving skills of a high order, including the ability to formulate recommendations and advise senior management on tackling difficult scenarios;
  • Leadership qualities, including the ability to make sound judgment, meet challenges constructively and creatively;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, including ability to establish strong cooperative relationships with senior government officials, civil society and donors;
  • Ability to quickly adapt to change, and to remain calm under pressure; and
  • Proven cross-cultural communication and the ability to function effectively in an international, multicultural environment.

 

 


Required Skills and Experience

Education and experience

  • Master’s degree in Natural Resources Management, Environmental Science or related field;
  • At least 5 years of experience in project evaluation and assessment especially in the field of environmental management with actual experience in using METT;
  • At least 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in working on protected areas, resource management and biodiversity conservation;
  • Previous experience of delivering training particularly in the area of METT;
  • Working experience with government agencies and civil society including grassroots’ organizations in the Asia-Pacific region;
  • Preferably with sufficient knowledge of UNDP and GEF and some level of familiarity with its operations;
  • Good knowledge in word processing, preferably Word, Excel, Power-point;
  • Experience in handling stakeholder consultations.

 Documents to be included when submitting Consultancy Proposals

The following documents may be requested:

  1. Duly executed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
  2. Signed P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
  3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services; 
  4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must stipulate that arrangement at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.   The financial proposal must be submitted separately from other documents.

The P11 form and Template for confirming availability and interest are available under the procurement section of UNDP PNG website (www.pg.undp.org ).

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Failure to comply with submission instruction on the TOR will lead to disqualification or proposals will not be considered any further.

 

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