Background

The SAFE Ecosystems Project

The UNDP-GEF Sustainable Forest and Land Management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems of Southern Lao PDR Project (SAFE Ecosystems Project) aims to support the government of Lao PDR to facilitate a transformative shift towards sustainable land and forest management in the forested landscape of Savannakhet Province. This sustainable management will help to secure critical wildlife habitats, conserve biodiversity and maintain a continuous flow of multiple services such as the provision of quality water and flood prevention. The project will be implemented over a period of six-years from May 2016 to May 2022 by the Department of Forestry (DOF) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The Dry Dipterocarp Forest (DDF) ecosystems located in Savannakhet Province are recognized for being globally important as habitat for a number of globally significant and threatened species, and nationally important for their provision of numerous ecosystem services that benefit the people of Lao PDR. In recent decades, DDF ecosystems and the species within them have come under increasing threat from large-scale conversion of forest, degradation of forest ecosystem services, and species loss.

Recognizing their global and national importance, the Government of Lao PDR (GoL) has prioritized the conservation and sustainable management of the Dry Dipterocarp Forests landscape of Savannakhet province. As a measure of the GoL’s commitment to the DDF landscape, it has selected this area to be the site of the newest National Protected Area in the country, and as a demonstration site for testing the implementation of new national policies and processes related to Strategic Environmental Assessment, Integrated Spatial Planning, and High Conservation Value Forests. The GoL has also identified this landscape as suitable for the development and implementation of innovative financing mechanisms for sustainable forest management and protected area management, as well as community participation in protected areas management, ecotourism programs, and livelihoods programs linked to conservation outcomes through formal Conservation Agreement mechanisms.

This SAFE Ecosystems Project will seek to strengthen land and resource use planning capacities and procedures, and the policies and regulations that govern them, while simultaneously expanding and strengthening the management of resources on the ground by government agencies, local communities and private sector actors. Furthermore, the project is developing innovative financing mechanisms and programs (including ecotourism and livelihoods programs) that can ensure the sustainability of improved land use and resource management approaches.

2018 Capacity Building Strategy

In 2018, the project assessed the existing capacities of the various stakeholders and developed a capacity building strategy that was tailored towards eliminating critical gaps in managerial, technical and other capacities.  The assessment process included looking at the feasibility of different approaches to training such as on-the-job training, web-based training and technical workshops, as well as the possibility of including study tours.  Particular attention was focussed upon building capacity for staff of Department of Forestry (DOF), Savannakhet Provincial Office for Agriculture and Forestry (PAFO), and the five District Offices for Agriculture and Forestry (DAFO).

GIS Training and Capacity Building

As part of the 2018 Strategy, capacity building in GIS, database management, and other technical software and systems was identified as a critical need amongst technical PAFO, PONRE and DAFA staff interviewed. It was determined that although the requirements for geospatial information in landscape and forestry management was quite high within the PAFO and the five DAFOs, there were few staff that had any skill-sets or resources necessary to perform this type of technical work. Furthermore, staff members that were able to perform GIS work, generally did so on an adhoc basis with limited access to geospatial data and software. Therefore, the Project will engage in building the capacity of key staff and developing the resources and equipment required within the PAFO Forestry Division to perform geospatial analysis.

Forest Cover Monitoring within Five Districts

An urgent requirement with the GIS training and capacity building is to perform forest cover analysis and monitoring within the Project area. In 2018, the Project represented by the Savannakhet PAFO and five DAFOs signed conservation contracts with 16 target villages located within the core area of the Ong Mang Sanctuary (part of the Dry Dipterocarp Forest ecosystem of central Savannakhet province). These contracts were developed in order to ensure local communities were fully engaged with Sustainable Forest Management activities. Using this methodology, 16 target villages within the project area agreed to implement conservation actions such forest patrolling, reforestation, as well as compliance with forest and land use laws.

In order to monitor the effectiveness of the community conservation actions, it will be necessary for the Project to utilize satellite or drone technology combined with GIS software to measure the baseline percentage of forest area within the village areas villages at the start of this contract. The forest area will then need to be measured again at the end of these contracts. The percentages of forest area will then be measured again at the end of this contract will be compared to the baseline percentage to determine if there is any change.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under supervision of the UNDP Technical Specialist, the SAFE Ecosystems Project - National Project Director, Project Manager and Assistant Project Manager, the consultant will be required to undertake the following duties:

  • Develop and facilitate three separate courses to be taught in Savannakhet Province. These courses should be as follows:
    • Global Information Software using ArcGIS 10.4 or QGIS 2.18
      • Land Use Planning
      • Watershed Modelling
      • Agriculture Modelling
    • Remote Sensing using ArcGIS 10.4 and ERDAS
      • Practical application of Sentinel 1 and Landsat satellite imagery
      • Forest cover analysis
      • Forest cover change monitoring and analysis
    • Wildlife and Forest Patrol Monitoring using ArcGIS 10.4, SMART 3.3 and Maxent 3.4.1
      • Applications for law enforcement and ranger patrols
      • Prediction of wildlife habitat and distribution
  • As part of this training, fundamentals of GIS should be considered and applied to training courses:
    • Definitions and basic concepts of GIS.
    • Vector Data Model, Information Display
    • Coordinate systems, projections and georeferencing
    • Vector data model; editing and creating information
    • Database management
    • Spatial analysis; most common geoprocessing tools
    • Map production
  • As part of this training, fundamentals of GIS should be considered and applied to training courses:
    • Definitions and basic concepts of GIS.
    • Vector Data Model, Information Display
    • Coordinate systems, projections and georeferencing
    • Vector data model; editing and creating information
    • Database management
    • Spatial analysis; most common geoprocessing tools
    • Map production
  • Provide technical support for PAFO and DAFO staff to conduct forest cover analysis of the 16 target villages.
    • Forest cover analysis to be based upon the Village Forest Management Plan already developed for each village
    • Such support should include ground truthing at the district level to verify remote sensing and geospatial analysis
  • Training reports in English will be required to be submitted for each course delivered. However, the actual trainings and training materials must be prepared in Lao language.

Expected Results and Deliverables

Output 1: A methodology and workplan to be developed one week after signing of the contract in English.

  1. The methodology and workplan should provide proposed activities and timeframe
  2. As part of this, the national consultant must meet with the project team to fully determine the needs and expectations of DOF, PAFO, and the five DAFO with regards to the GIS Training and Capacity Building
  3. The methodology must detail the curriculum of each of the three courses listed within the “Scope of Work”; each course must be delivered over a 10-day period to be implemented within Savannakhet Province.
  4. It is expected that at least one of the courses includes field work and ground truthing related to determining forest cover analysis of the 16 target villages.

Output 2: Submission of training report and course training materials from the first GIS course in English.

  1. The training report must provide: (i) an overview of the training course, (ii) photos as appropriate, (iii) “before and after” participant evaluation, and (iv) annexes containing daily attendance lists and materials covered in class in Lao (i.e. power point pages of presentations).
  2. Should field work be implemented (i.e. ground truthing) as part of the course, this must be well documented.
  3. Should annexes containing training materials be too large, this may be submitted in soft copy.

Output 3: Submission of training report and course training materials from the second GIS course in English.

  1. The training report must provide: (i) an overview of the training course, (ii) photos as appropriate, (iii) “before and after” participant evaluation, and (iv) annexes containing daily attendance lists and materials covered in class in Lao (i.e. power point pages of presentations).
  2. Should field work be implemented (i.e. ground truthing) as part of the course, this must be well documented.
  3. Should annexes containing training materials be too large, this may be submitted in soft copy.

Output 4: Submission of training report and course training materials from the third and final GIS course in English.

  1. The training report must provide: (i) an overview of the training course, (ii) photos as appropriate, (iii) “before and after” participant evaluation, and (iv) annexes containing daily attendance lists and materials covered in class in Lao (i.e. power point pages of presentations).
  2. As part of the final report, include a section indicating noted gaps, recommendations for building up the GIS capacity with PAFO and the five DAFOs, and potential future trainings building upon the trainings implemented as part of this consultancy.
  3. Should field work be implemented (i.e. ground truthing) as part of the course, this must be well documented.
  4. Should annexes containing training materials be too large, this may be submitted in soft copy.

Competencies

  • Functional competencies:

  • Demonstrable experience to research, prepare, organize and implement training curriculums in GIS, Remote Sensing and Wildlife and Forest Patrol Monitoring.
  • Demonstrable experience working with GIS software packages (e.g. ArcGIS 10.4, QGIS 2.18, ERDAS, SMART 3.3, Maxent 3.4.1, or similar).
  • Experience working with or providing training services to Government counterparts is highly desirable.
  • Proven, in-depth knowledge and understanding in GIS, Remote Sensing and Wildlife and Forest Patrol Monitoring.
  • Demonstrable ability to develop capacity building strategies, action plans, programmes, services, policies and procedures

  • Corporate Competencies:

  • Excellent communication and consultation skills to liaise with a range of stakeholders including district and provincial authorities, local communities, private sector actors, etc. and ability and experience to conduct training
  • Ability to lead and work with teams and to achieve quality outputs under tight timelines
  • Excellent report writing skills (in English); excellent command of Lao language.
  • Ability and willingness to travel within Lao PDR.
  • Knowledge of UNDP and the UN system is an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

Holds a Bachelor’ Degree with 7 years of relevant experience, or a Master’ Degree with 5 years of relevant experience from a recognized University in the subject of GIS, or other relevant studies.

Requirements for submission of proposals:

All interested and qualified International Independent Consultants should apply on-line using the following links:

  1. UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/jobs.html   or 
  2. UNDP Jobs at  https://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/jobs.html

In order to make submission please read the attached relevant documents which are also available on our web-site here http://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/operations/jobs/:

  1. TOR (Annex I)
  2. Individual Contract & General Terms and Conditions (Annex II);
  3. OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY (Annex III)

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

  1. Technical Proposal as per Annex III “OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY” 

           (i)    Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;

          (ii)  Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverable;

          (iii) CV of education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services;

   2. Financial proposal:

         (i) Detailed financial proposal: Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable.

Note: The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon monthly outputs, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. UNDP accept travel costs not exceeding of an economy class air ticket.

Instructions for on-line submissions:

  1. Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically;
  2. Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF however Word format can be also accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs using the links above;
  3. Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.