Background

Sudan’s rich biodiversity is subject to a number of threats including natural and human factors namely, civil war, lack of a national land use plan, expansion of agriculture into forests, rangeland and wildlife areas, uncontrolled fires in natural rangelands and forests, overgrazing, imprudent use of natural resources, poaching, and the adverse impacts of the petroleum industry, artisanal mining and the sugar industry on natural habitats. Different social and political factors have led to changes in human activities, including those related directly or indirectly to biodiversity such as the land tenure system and consequent land fragmentation that forces farmers to shift to high yielding varieties with low cost of inputs and high revenue. Modern agriculture is especially threatening plant agro-biodiversity through mono-cropping and use of improved cultivars.

Population migration from rural areas to cities and big towns, due to lack of security and environmental causes such as drought and desertification, has negatively affected agro-biodiversity that has historically been used and conserved by the people. Pressures on habitat are increasing with more areas being opened to development and investors. Investment budgets for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are not sufficiently prioritized or allocated. The outlook has always been that natural resources are infinite. The value put on soils, water and natural vegetation cover, for example, was zero in the calculation of costs and benefits of new projects.

Biodiversity in and around Protected Areas (PA) is facing numerous threats caused by unclear wildlife policy, and limited awareness and poor enforcement. PAs are affected by increasing trespassing by nomads and their livestock, poaching, and illegal extractive activities. PAs are underfinanced and have limited resources for management. Biodiversity of inland waters is also facing several threats such as limited scientific attention addressed to aquatic macrophytes and their conservation, and over-exploitation of fish communities through excessive uncontrolled fishing and illegal fishing methods.

Inland waters are also subject to alien species such as Eichornia crassipes which outnumbered and almost excluded the native Nile cabbage Pistia stratoites in the upper stretches of the White Nile. The construction of dams has induced changes in water regimes that could lead to proliferation of certain species at the expense of others causing dwindling or extinction.  Marine ecosystems face numerous threats such as the adverse impacts of coastal development, tourism pressures, and fishers seeking higher-level predators such as groupers and sharks and disrespecting territorial boundaries (PERSGA, 2006).  Marine protected areas have limited technical and management capacity. There is over-fishing for sea cucumbers, and the molluscs Trochus spp., Strombus spp., Lamis spp. and Murex spp. Declines in the dugong population is due to the use of fixed nets in seagrass areas and on migration routes. There are violations of fishing limits in some areas and some groups and unsustainable targeting of important breeding aggregations of some fish, in addition to impacts associated with tourism such as anchor damage. Other threats include coral bleaching (due to temperature rise), diseases, sediments, boring sponges, and corallivorous snails Drupella spp.

Duties and Responsibilities

The UNDP Country Office in Sudan seeks the service of a national Consultant (IC) with rich experience in land degradation and Sustainable Land Management to substantively contribute to the formulation of the project:   “Protected Areas and Promotion of Integrated Ecosystem Management” as well as building technical capacity of relevant stakeholders in the field of concern.

UNDP will lead the development of PPG/IP, in close coordination with the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Physical Development, represented by the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (HCNER).  The National Consultant will work under direct guidance of UNDP and in addition to supporting the Sustainable land management during the project formulation process, He/She will be fully responsible of coordinating the PPG activities and provide logistical and technical support to the PPG Formulation Team. 

The National Consultant is expected to provide support and collect data and information on all issues relating to terrestrial protected areas. In addition, he/she will lead the overall coordination of the PPG implementation.

 Deliverables:  

Acting as the PPG National Coordinator, participate in and support the PPG process, research, field mission, project design development and the preparation of the PRODOC/GEF CEO Endorsement Request package, providing to the international specialists the national context, networking, as well as specific technical and strategic expertise on biodiversity and terrestrial protected areas, related threats and opportunities in Sudan.

Deliverables.:

The following lists key responsibilities and deliverables of this contract; the PPG Implementation Plan provides further and more detailed guidance regarding the responsibilities of the prospective PPG team and must be consulted accordingly.

• Coordinate in-country activities, contracts and stakeholders, under the direct supervision of UNDP Sudan and the international PPG Team Leader, keeping track of national-level PPG activity implementation;
• Provide support and advice to the PPG Team Leader and other international specialists on all aspects mentioned accordingly in the PPG IP table of activities and responsibilities;
• Organize and manage the technical group meetings, acting as secretary and keeping records and following up on recommendations;
• Provide logistical support to the International consultants and other relevant government staff;
• Reviewing deliverables from other PPG team members as appropriate for the purpose of alignment, integration and mutual quality assurance;
• Lead or co-lead and advise on the following deliverables:
• further elaborate the analysis of relevant stakeholder, especially with regard to their contribution and roles in the project;
• engage and sensitise key government representatives and other stakeholders about the project to secure a strong national ownership and ensure their full participation and agreement in the development of the project strategy and design;
• identify other relevant existing and planned initiatives, possibly negotiating partnerships to align activities and build synergies, and reflecting this in the project strategy; in this context reach out also to PERSGA, Cousteau Society, Saudia, UNESCO-MAB and the Canada-financed UNIDO-implemented fisheries project;
• research to establish/confirm the baseline investment of the government and its partners in relation to the issues to be addressed by the project, in order to help determine the incrementality of the GEF intervention;
• assessment of potential implementing partners for ecological monitoring;
• desktop research and/or field data collection required to confirm or define suitable objective-level and outcome-level indicators and their baseline values and end-of-project target, for the results framework;
• identification of project sites;
• Provide relevant quality text sections for the PRODOC/ GEF CEO Endorsement Request package on these aspects;
• Participation in the Validation Workshop.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrated experience in project design;
• Demonstrated experience in technical issues related to adaptation to climate change;
• Ability to analyze large amounts of complex and diversified data related to climate change adaptation in least developed countries;
• Demonstrated strong coordination and facilitation skills.

Required Skills and Experience