Background
The project seeks land degradation neutrality (LDN) in mountain lands by rehabilitating degraded land and preventing further degradation. It will do this initially at the pilot scale to gain the necessary skills and know-how as well as confidence before it can be up scaled and replicated post-project comprehensively. The pilot areas will be the mountain ranges in the Cazas of Jbeil and Akkar. The project duration is five years.
Rehabilitation practices will be tested for technical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and benefits in the agriculture, mountain pastures and forestry sectors, the quarrying sector, and the eco-tourism and outdoor recreation sectors. Prevention will be achieved through comprehensive land use planning and the monitoring for compliance with set conditions and their enforcement.
There will be clarification of roles and enhancement of capacities particularly at local government level. The institutional and regulatory context will be reviewed, updated, and strengthened so as to prevent new degradation of forests, rangelands and agricultural lands.
Ultimately, the key to achieving LDN is in making the most effective land use planning decisions and in implementing and upscaling these together with appropriate restoration measures – which is reflected in the three Outcomes of the project which are:
- Outcome 1: Degraded mountain land in selected mountain districts of northern Lebanon identified, rehabilitated, and restored.
- Outcome 2: Mountain lands managed sustainably to prevent degradation.
- Outcome 3: Project monitoring and evaluation, communication, knowledge management and financial mechanisms for the dissemination and replication of the results of the project with the aim of achieving land degradation neutrality.
Arising from a land degradation assessment of the project areas, and working in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and relevant NGOs, on-going tourism and outdoor recreation operations in Akkar and Jbeil will be assessed to ascertain any impacts they are having on productive land, protected areas, and ecosystem services, and improvements put in place to minimize impacts. On-going and new responsible tourism ventures, such as farm homestays for family holidays, bed and breakfast for Lebanon Mountain Trail walkers and similar community-based rural holidays, will be encouraged and supported as ecosystem-friendly ventures generating sustainable income.
The economic and financial situation in Lebanon that has left the Lebanese pound devaluated, coupled with the covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent travel restrictions has led to the expansion of the local tourism sector sometimes at the expense of the environment. The organization and the good governance of this emerging sector is needed, while considering sustainability of both the natural resources and this rising economic sector.
UNDP is seeking to procure the services of a national ecotourism expert to work under the guidance and supervision of the UNDP LDN Project Manager (PM) to support in the elaboration of a national ecotourism strategy for Lebanon, assess the impact of on-going tourism and outdoor recreation operations in Akkar and/or Jbeil on productive land, protected areas, and ecosystem services and to put in place activities to minimize these impacts and promote sustainable rural and ecotourism activities.
Duties and Responsibilities
The purpose of the consultancy is to support in the development of a 10-year national ecotourism strategy and action plan for Lebanon with a focus on mountain areas, to assess the impact of tourism and outdoor recreation on natural resources in the high mountains of Akkar and Jbeil districts, design activities to minimize these impacts and promote sustainable rural and ecotourism in these areas.
All actions should focus on the development of ecotourism and improving livelihoods in the project areas taking into consideration their impact on productive land, protected areas and ecosystems services.
The project will be recruiting in parallel an international ecotourism specialist who would be responsible for the elaboration of a national ecotourism strategy, namely the desk review and analysis, the analysis of collected data, and the preparation of a national ecotourism strategy and action plan.
For additional information, please refer to ANNEX I – Terms of Reference
Competencies
Functional Competencies:
- Advanced writing and editing skills in English.
- Computer literacy
Corporate Competencies:
- Ability work with teams and to achieve quality outputs under tight timelines.
- Excellent communication and consultation skills to liaise with a range of stakeholders including district and provincial authorities, local communities, etc. and ability and experience to conduct training.
Required Skills and Experience
I. Academic Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in ecotourism, environmental science, agriculture, forestry, or related field.
II. Years of experience:
At least 7 years’ expertise in eco and rural tourism planning, developing projects related to eco and rural activities in Lebanon.
III. Technical experience:
- Expert knowledge with experience in rural tourism, ecotourism and wildlife-based projects.
- Expert knowledge with experience in elaborating ecotourism plans.
- Adequate knowledge and/or experience of Lebanese ecotourism sector and biodiversity/protected areas as well as knowledge in related national legal systems
- Experience working within rural communities.
- Experience with UN or international donor project(s) is an asset.
How to apply:
The consultancy is open for all national consultants who meet the selection criteria and propose a competitive fee. Interested consultants are requested to apply only through this UNDP jobs portal.
Submissions through any other media will not be considered.
The application must include all of the following documents:
1. P11,
2. Technical Proposal,
3. Annex 3 (Offerors Letter) and
4. Financial proposal
Kindly note that you may find all the required documents on the below link: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=76210 ; whereas the application must be submitted through this Jobs portal
All files shall be submitted in one single document and uploaded as word or PDF file to the UNDP job site.
It has been observed that bidders don’t submit all requested documents and thus reducing their chance to be selected for a contract with UNDP. before you submit your offer please revise that the application is complete and comprises all four (4) documents.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.