UNDP Jobs - 91203- Senior International Consultant on Protected Area

Senior International Consultant on Protected Area Management, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Financing

Location :

Homebased

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jun-2020

Application Deadline :

21-Apr-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Initial contract is from 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2021

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to 60 days per year with possibility of extension up to two years

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

Whereas Cambodia has attained impressive economic growth over the last 20 years, its natural resources have been subject to growing pressure.

Degradation of natural resources may threaten the depth of environmental and socio-economic benefits they offer. While such consequences are likely to be borne by all Cambodians, especially women, it also risks the wildlife and local people living adjacent to natural resource boundaries.

Recognizing these challenges, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has taken numerous policy measures to promote new holistic pathways for sustainable development. Amongst others, they include: 1) the development of new policies and legal frameworks; 2) a set of jurisdictional reforms for ecosystem and protected area management to advance its national agenda for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and 3) the drafting of a new Environment and Natural Resources Code.

The next challenge facing the RGC is how to effectively and sustainably manage the geographically vast Protected Area (PA) system which covers over 40% of the Cambodia’s total land surface. Despite the RGC’s efforts to increase its state budget for PA management, the allocation of government budget to implement conservation efforts remains minimal. The MoE’s current budget comprises less than 1% of the entire Government annual budget in 2019, which is financially insufficient, in sustainably managing the entire Protected Area system where Cambodia’s key biodiversity hotspots and ecosystem are located.

To address this problem, in October 2016, the RGC officially approved advancing dialogue on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) as a new sustainable financing option for the Protected Areas. Connected with this is the piloting of PES approaches at two sites (Phnom Kulen National Park in Siem Reap province and Kbal Chhay Multiple Use Areas in Sihanoukville province). From 2017 to 2018, the UNDP assisted the RGC in conducting feasibility studies of these two pilot sites and the development of a management plan of Phnom Kulen National Park and its zoning. Since 2019, with funding support from Sweden under the Building an Enabling environment for Sustainable Development (BESD) project, UNDP has supported the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) in conducting additional research and providing policy advice for operationalization of PES pilots.

Moving forward, priority actions for PES include 1) creation of mechanisms of fund collection and distribution, 2) development/implementation of a management plan and actions, 3) design of a national PES strategy or programme and 4) development of project concept note(s), and project document for the next phase of the Sweden funded BESD project focusing on sustainable financing and biodiversity conservation.

Duties and Responsibilities

In cooperation with technical focal points assigned by UNDP, the international consultant will be responsible for providing high quality technical inputs for the following areas of works:

Development of fund management proposals for Phnom Kulen National Park: Building on earlier studies and policy recommendations, and with data, information, and inputs from technical focal points and a national consultant, the consultant is to finalise fund management options including 1) options to collect fees, 2) fund management structures defining who will manage the fund, 3) priority activities requiring PES financing, and 4) mechanisms to channel the fund to finance the identified priority activities in Phnom Kulen National Park.
Development of a management and action plan of Kbal Chhay Multiple Use Areas: Based on regular discussions with and data, information and inputs from technical focal points, the consultant is to develop a draft management plan for comments and finalise the plan incorporating comments.
Drafting a roadmap and action plans for a national programme in support of PES or sustainable financing options: Building on earlier studies and policy recommendations, and with data, information, and inputs from technical focal points, the consultant is to propose a roadmap towards building a national programme of PES or sustainable financing while linking this to existing sustainable financing options such as REDD+ and Biodiversity Financing Solutions.
Provision of technical inputs/reviews/edits on technical studies on biodiversity financing:the consultant is to provide technical inputs/reviews/edits for technical studies related to protected areas, biodiversity conservation and sustainable financing.
Formulation of project concept note(s) and proposal(s) in the areas of Protected Area Management, PES and Biodiversity-financing solutions in Cambodia. Based on regular discussions with and inputs from technical focal points, the consultant is to develop draft project concept note/proposal(s) in accordance with criteria and guidelines provided by UNDP as well as possible funding agencies and facilities for comments. The consultant is to finalize full project concept note/proposal (s) based on comments received from technical focal points.
Formulation of UNDP project document(s) in the areas of Protected Area Management, PES and Biodiversity -financing in Cambodia. Based on regular discussions with and inputs from technical focal points, the consultant should develop draft project document (s) for the BESD II or other projects, following UNDP templates for comments. The consultant is to finalize full project document (s) based on inputs and comments received from technical focal points.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Strong writing and analytical skills (demonstrated by one written sample: e.g. policy document, and funding proposal)

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;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

At minimum, a master’s degree in Environmental Policy, Wildlife Conservation, Conservation Biology, Environmental Economic, or other related field

Experience:

At least 12 years of working experience in the field of forest management, protected areas management, and biodiversity conservation, along with prior experience in development of policies and strategies for issues related to protected area management, biodiversity conservation and sustainable financing options and PES.
Prior working experience in Cambodia is a requirement (given this assignment is home-based and requires understanding of Cambodian issues and contexts).
At least 5 years of project proposal writing, and at least 3 successful resource mobilization results related to protected areas management and biodiversity conservation

Language Requirement:

Excellent written and oral English

Interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=64932 or more detail information about term of references, instructions to offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer through online.

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your online applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

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

1. Proposal:

(i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work

(ii) One written sample related to policy document or funding proposal and at least three written samples related to successful resource mobilization to prove criteria of evaluation

(ii) Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable)

2. Financial proposal (Please fill form of Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability)

3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email pheara.lek@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC).