UNDP Jobs - 81479- Marine Spatial Planning Specialist to Support the

Marine Spatial Planning Specialist to Support the JMA Demonstration Project Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Process

Location :

Port Louis, MAURITIUS

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

16-Nov-2018

Application Deadline :

23-Oct-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

70-person-days spread over nine months (3 field missions if international) until July 2019

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

70-person-days spread over nine months (3 field missions if international) until July 2019

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

Project Title

Demonstrating Innovative Ocean Governance Mechanisms and Delivering Best Practices and Lessons for Extended Continental Shelf Management within the Western Indian Ocean Large Marine Ecosystems (UNDP-Joint Management Area Demonstration Project).
Project Description

The Mascarene plateau is made up of the Seychelles Plateau, the Ritchie Bank, the Saya de Malha Bank, the Nazareth Bank and the St Brandon shoals to the south up to Mauritius. Importantly, the plateau has significant importance for an appropriate management and a monitoring system in place as it has potential economic, environmental and social benefits that can be derived.
In September 2007, UNDP began implementation of the GEF-funded Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project. The objective of this Project was to undertake an environmental baseline assessment of the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems, to fill information gaps needed to improve management decision-making and to ascertain the role of external forcing functions. The Project was designed to address the Agulhas and the Somali Current LMEs under one initial assessment process as well as the assessment of the Mascarene Plateau.

In a new context, this innovative GEF-funded project, the UNDP Joint Management Area Demonstration Project has an overall objective in identifying and demonstrating new management approaches and techniques for the Mascarene Plateau. The project will be worth 2.2 M USD and will be implemented over four years (2018 to 2021).

This JMA Demonstration project will assist Seychelles and Mauritius in the development and demonstration of new management approaches for such extended continental shelf areas which can provide lessons and management techniques which can be replicated both within the western Indian Ocean as well as other similar maritime zones globally.

The UNDP JMA Demonstration Project aims at achieving its objectives through the delivery of four components.

Building Technical and Management Capacity in support of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and effective management of the Joint Management Area;
Development of a data and information system along with a Programme of data capture and gap-filling as a foundation for an adaptive management strategy;
Elaboration and implementation of a Marine Spatial Planning approach with the objective of improving and implementing effective decision-making for activities within the Joint Management Area;
Monitoring, Evaluation, Adaptive Feedback and Sustainability using UNDP and GEF tracking tool for both annual progress and terminal evaluation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Component one (1) of the JMA Demonstration Project emphasized the strengthening of technical and management capacities to support a Marine Spatial Planning process which will consequently ensure the efficient management of the Joint Management Area. In doing so there are several key objectives that need to be met.

The main objective of this consultancy is to provide a Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)strategy and to identify skills gaps, as well as tools and capacity building activities to sustain the MSP process. This strategy will serve several key objectives, namely:

It assesses and prioritises the skills required for an effective implementation of an MSP Plan;
It enables capacity building competencies;
It facilitates the exchange of competences in ocean governance;
It outlines important tools for employment of the MSP process.

Duties and Responsibilities

To achieve these objectives, the following activities are proposed:

Review all available information and existing data for the JMA, identify initial information gaps, and relevant global “lessons learned”;
Conduct a skills gap assessment to support an MSP implementation process in the JMA (Seychelles and Mauritius);
Elaborate the MSP objectives for the JMA;
Evaluate and define the scale and scope of the MSP process for the JMA;
Conduct MSP stakeholder mapping exercise to identify groups/individuals and their preferences;
Identify potential holders/sources of data pertaining to the JMA;
Identify and commence the process of preparing a list of potential data holders (e.g. individual researchers, institutes/ universities, non-governmental and governmental organisations);
Prepare a template for Data Sharing Agreements for use by the JMA, if identified as needed;
Identify appropriate spatial and non-spatial tools and software needed for the MSP process (e.g. satellite imagery, metadatabases);
Conduct a preliminary analysis of available data and represent uses;
Prepare a concise JMA MSP Road Map document consolidating the above information which will also include an MSP Training Plan;
Prepare the first draft zoning framework;
Produce a Final Report, consolidating the above information, together with recommendations on next steps, and in line with UNDP guidelines.

Expected Deliverables/Outputs

Table 1: List of deliverables of the MSP Specialist

S/N: 1;
Outputs/Deliverables: Submission of an assignment work-plan;
Fee (%): 10;
Time Schedule: Nov-18;
Means of verification: Approved work-plan.

S/N: 2;
Outputs/Deliverables: Inception report for MSP Process (Review of data, gap analysis, and MSP objectives);
Fee (%): 10;
Time Schedule: Dec-18;
Means of verification: Approval of Inception Report and delivery of Inception workshop.

S/N: 3;
Outputs/Deliverables: Workshop to communicate findings on data gaps and MSP objectives;
Fee (%): 10;
Time Schedule: Jan-19;
Means of verification: Approved Workshop.

S/N: 4;
Outputs/Deliverables: Scale and scope of the MSP process;
Fee (%): 5;
Time Schedule: Feb-19;
Means of verification: Approved MSP Scale and Scope.

S/N: 5;
Outputs/Deliverables: Mapping exercise;
Fee (%): 5
Time Schedule: Feb-19;
Means of verification: Approved Mapping activity.

S/N: 6;
Outputs/Deliverables: JMA Data sources and Data holders;
Fee (%): 5;
Time Schedule: Mar-19;
Means of verification: Approved Data sources and Data Holders.

S/N: 7;
Outputs/Deliverables: Data Sharing Agreement;
Fee (%): 5;
Time Schedule: Mar-19;
Means of verification: Approved Data Sharing Agreement.

S/N: 8;
Outputs/Deliverables: Report on Spatial and non-spatial tools;
Fee (%): 5;
Time Schedule: Mar-19;
Means of verification: Approved Report on the Spatial and non-spatial tool.

S/N: 9;
Outputs/Deliverables: Software needed to support MSP process;
Fee (%): 5;
Time Schedule: Apr-19;
Means of verification: Approved software.

S/N: 10;
Outputs/Deliverables: Preliminary data analysis;
Fee (%): 5;
Time Schedule: Apr-19;
Means of verification: Approved Data Analysis.

S/N: 11;
Outputs/Deliverables: Road Map for the MSP Process;
Fee (%): 5;
Time Schedule: May-19;
Means of verification: Submission of Approved Roadmap.

S/N: 12;
Outputs/Deliverables: Capacity building identification activities and capacity building exercise for MSP;
Fee (%): 10;
Time Schedule: May-19;
Means of verification: Certification capacity building activities.

S/N: 13;
Outputs/Deliverables: Validation workshop for the MSP Process;
Fee (%): 10;
Time Schedule: Jun-19;
Means of verification: Approved validation workshop.

S/N: 14;
Outputs/Deliverables: Final Report on MSP Process;
Fee (%): 10;
Time Schedule: Jul-19;
Means of verification: Approval of Final Report.
Total: 100

The consultant will be expected to collaborate with national, regional and international institution/individuals involved in the MSP process. The consultant will also be required to lead and participate in workshops and seminars with key stakeholders on the MSP process during the consultancy. The consultant will at a minimum be required to lead the Inception Workshop and Validation Workshop and participate in at least two other workshops with stakeholders. These workshops may present the opportunity for the consultant to deliver training about the MSP process or to address capacity gaps identified in the skills gap assessment.

All deliverables shall be submitted in appropriate format, in MS Word, PDF, and any required format as per requirement of the Client to the address of the Project Manager Mr. Allen Cedras, allen.cedras@undp.org and with copy to the National Project Director Dr. Rezah Badal mrbadal@govmu.rog, as well as the UNDP Environment Programme Officer, Mr. Satyajeet Ramchurn, satyajeet.ramchurn@undp.org The project manager will be responsible for further distribution. The deliverables should be of high quality in form and substance and with the appropriate professional presentation. The Marine Special Planning Specialist should fully comply with the requirements of UNDP in terms of content and presentation and respect UNDP GEF visibility guidelines, since unsatisfactory performance may result in termination of the contract.
Institutional Arrangement

The selected service provider will provide service to the Joint Commission through Department for Continental Shelf, Marine Zones and Exploration in the Ministry of Défense and Rodrigues, and report to the National Project Director (NPD), Project Manager, and the Head of Environment Unit.

All deliverables shall be approved by the NPD, UNDP and the Project Steering Committee.

Duration of Work

The Marine Spatial Planning Specialist’s work schedule shall be for 70-person-days until July 2019 with the following breakdown (3 field mission days and 15 days home based), if international.

Duty Station

During the field-based part of the assignment, the MSP Specialist will be based at the PMU Office, Department for Continental Shelf, Maritime Zones Administration and Exploration, 2nd Floor Belmont Building, Port Louis and at the UNDP Office 5th Floor Anglo-Mauritius House Port Louis. The consultant might be required to travel to Mauritius/Seychelles to complete the assignment. All such travel must be approved in advance by the Project Manager and the cost associated with travel will be covered by the project.

Competencies

Good interpersonal and communication skill with the ability to effectively interact with government, private sectors and others in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environment;
A good working knowledge of international best practices in conservation, sustainable use, and management of marine and coastal biodiversity is desirable;
Demonstrated ability to take initiative and work independently while also having the skills to work effectively within teams;
Strong drafting, presentation and reporting skills, excellent written communication skills;
A good personality with strong leadership skills;
Be an effective negotiator with excellent oral and presentation skills;
Strong computer skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualification Of Successful Individual Contractor

Education

Minimum Master’s degree in Environment, Marine Spatial Planning, Conservation, Oceanography or related fields. Preference will be given to holders of a PhD in the relevant field.

Experience

At least five (5) years of proven professional experience in Marine Spatial Planning, Geographic Information System or related field;
Experience in the drafting of marine spatial planning strategies and roadmap;
Demonstrate experience in capacity building related to marine spatial planning;
Demonstrable experience in implementing equivalent GEF or other multilateral donor-funded projects;
Working experience in SIDS particularly in Seychelles and Mauritius.

Language

Fluency in both written and spoken English is required; knowledge of French is an asset.

Scope of Price And Schedule Payment

The financial offer should be quoted as a lump sum amount, all-inclusive (professional fee, insurance, all travel costs, per diem, etc.). In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the consultant wish to travel to a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

The contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost components. In the case of unforeseeable travel (additional mission for example), payment of travel costs including tickets, accommodation, and terminal expenses should be agreed upon prior to travel between UNDP and Individual Consultant and will be reimbursed.

Payments will be effected based on deliverables as per Table 1 above.