Background

The proposed project will enable the Government of Senegal to valorize the ecosystem services provided by the protective forest ecosystem significantly, surely harming the economic importance of the highly productive agricultural zones lying just behind the protective belts, where the majority of the population and economic activity is situated.

Complementary to the Government co-financing leveraged for the project, the seeked resources will be used to address a set of important technical, capacity and information based barriers to increase the effectiveness of forest ecosystem management. It will help to establish a transparent valorization and compensation system for proven contributions to heightened service delivery by these ecosystems, bearing in mind that a large part of the services will need action on the local scale, but bear fruit at the global scale. The overall objective of the project is to ensure sustainable management of forest ecosystems for climate change mitigation, conservation of biodiversity and improved resilience of livelihoods of local populations.

The project represents the Government of Senegal’s initial steps in operationalizing a comprehensive forest ecosystem management to tackle land and forest degradation and deforestation .

Against this backdrop, the Department of forest, with support from UNDP, is formulating a concept note that aims at operationalizing a comprehensive forest ecosystem management. The United Nations Development Programme is therefore seeking an International Consultant (IC) that will be responsible for reviewing the concept note and related annexes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope and Objective

The main objective of the assignment is to reformulate a concept note and a PPF request to meet the criteria of a funding source that Senegal is seeking to access. The IC will work with the Senegal Country Office and work under the overall technical guidance of the UNDP Regional Technical Advisor (RTA° for climate change adaptation at the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub.

After the submission of the PPF request and Concept Note, the IC is required to be available to respond to any comments received during the review process.

Key activities and tasks

The IC is expected to produce a PPF package that includes the Concept Note, the PPF request and all associated annexes. All these documents should be finalized after incorporating comments received from the Government of the Senegal, UNDP and the funding source at different stages of project preparation. The IC is requested to take into consideration the documents provided by the Forest department related to the project (the pre-feasibility study and the Concept Note (dated June 15, 2016)).

Key activities and tasks include the following:

• With the support of UNDP Country Office, organize and facilitate stakeholder consultations to elicit information for designing an effective project and to inform stakeholders about the project;
• Undertake a desk review on the historic climate trends and future projections in the specific context of the project;
• Review and map stakeholders in the context of the project and identify specific role(s) they play during the project preparation and implementation;
• Review existing Government strategies, policies, and regulations as they are relevant for the achievement of the project objective;
• Analyze underlying (climate and non-climate) drivers of land and forest degradation and deforestation and the impacts on forest ecosystems and communities;
• Review ongoing government and non-government work that is relevant for the project and identify gaps;
• Review historic and ongoing government, non-government and community models of sustainable ecosystem forests management that is relevant for the project and identify gaps;
• Analyze the possible solutions to the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems and communities;
• Finalize the theory of change based on the activities designed in the pre-feasibility (available in Annex 1);
• Identify possible partners for implementation given the scope of the project;
• Identify various sources of co-financing, in addition to the fund that the project seeks to access, for addressing non-climate drivers of deforestation and forest degradation;
• Prepare for periodic briefing to the Government, UNDP and other stakeholders to update on the progress of the project preparation.

Key deliverables:

1. Prepare a summary report of the initial mission (meetings with the different key government stakeholders to provide a revised outline of the project);
2. Design an updated concept note based on the documents provided to the consultant (previous versions of the concept note and pre-feasibility studies).
3. Based on the Concept Note, a package of PPF documents that include:

• A PPF request as per the proposal template
• Annexes that include:
• An implementation plan
• An implementation schedule
• A procurement plan
• Terms of References of the project formulation team
• A PPF budget

  4. Responses to the review sheets received from the funding source.

Duration for Work

The expected duration of the assignment is estimated at 20 working days including the required country mission.

Payments SCHEDULE

• 20% at submission (within 2 weeks after signing the contract) and approval of a first draft of the revised concept note by the RTA, Senegal CO and Government;
• 40% at production of the final PPF that includes annexes (within 1 week);
• ?40% at approval of the full PPF request package by the internal peer review process (within 1 week)

Reporting lines :

The IC will report to the UNDP Country Office and UNDP RTA. The deliverables shall be submitted to the UNDP Country Office and UNDP RTA. All of the deliverables are subject to approval from the UNDP Country Office in order to process payments to the contractor.

Reporting Language

The reporting language will be in English.

Title Rights

The title rights, copyrights and all other rights whatsoever nature in any material produced under the provisions of thisTORs will be vested exclusively in UNDP.

Location of work

Home based with one travel to the Senegal. In order to obtain the required information for preparation of the PPF request, the IC is expected to travel to Senegal and visit target Provinces as and when necessary for the duration of the assignment. The IC is required to quote for the following as reimbursable fees:

• Daily Living Allowance Fees in USD in Dakar/ estimation of 4 days
• Daily Living Allowance Fees in USD inside the country (may include visits to Saint Louis, Louga, Thies, Matam, Saloum and Casamance)/ estimation of 4 days
• Ticket to and from Dakar / estimation of one trip

Any other unforeseen travel related costs that UNDP did not refer to shall be calculated in line with UNDP acceptable travel rates and in line with travel rules and regulations as applicable and shall be reimbursed to the contractor accordingly.

Terms OF Payment

Payments shall be processed within 30 days from receipt of signed and stamped invoice specifying the achieved deliverables with relevant documents evidencing achievement of the given output.

All of the deliverables are subject to approval from UNDP Project manager in order to process payments to the IC.

UNDP will not accept any payment request outside of this TOR.

All payments shall be made in USD.

All planned costs related to this consultancy must be specified in the proposal by contractor for this assignment and as required in this ToRs.

Contracting Autority

Contracting Authority for this ToR is UNDP Senegal Country Office.

Tax obligation

The Contractor is solely responsible for all taxation or other assessments on any income derived from UNDP. UNDP will not make any withholding from payments for the purposes of income tax. UNDP is exempt from any liabilities regarding taxation and will not reimburse any such taxation to the contractor.

Monitoring and Evaluation

All activities will be monitored and evaluated based on qualitative and quantitative information as applicable.

Confidentialy

The contractor undertakes to maintain confidentiality on all information that is not in the public domain and shall not be involved in another assignment that represents a conflict of interest to the prevailing assignment.

Services and Facilities Provided by UNDP

UNDP and the Government will make the necessary in-country logistical arrangements in consultation with the availability of the contractor and key stakeholders. Please see “Location of Work” for the fees that the company is required to quote for.

Competencies

Organisational competencies:

• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work;
• Excellent human relations, coordination, planning and team work skills;
• 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 adaptability.

Functional and technical competencies:

• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
• Exceptional communication and organizational skills;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement, and report on work;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Demonstrated comprehensive technical knowledge related to climate change projects and ecosystem services, with a focus on sustainable forest ecosystem management.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master Degree in Environmental Science, Management or related fields.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of experience in the field of climate change projects and ecosystem services, with a particular focus on sustainable forest ecosystem management;
• Experience in working with international organisations (developing countries is a strong advantage);
• Implementation of sustainable forest management practices in Africa;
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in REDD+ and other PES schemes;
• Experience on forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation projects;
• Organization of participatory processes in forest policy development and sustainable management of natural resources;
• Thematic specific experience in mapping, national sub-national level forest resource assessments, design and implementation of legality verification systems, economic and financial analysis;
• Work with international financing sources such as GCF, GEF, the World Bank, and other mulitilateral and regional financing institutions.

Language Requirements:

• Language capability to work in French and English.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis( technical criteria 70 % and financial criteria 30 % ) taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews ) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. 

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 point would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Evaluation criteria:

• Master Degree in Environmental Science, Management or related fields; (10 points);
• Minimum 7 years of experience in the field of climate change projects and ecosystem services, with a focus on sustainable forest ecosystem management; (30 points);
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in REDD+ and other payment for ecosystem services schemes ; (40 points) ;
• Work with international financing sources such as GCF, GEF, the World Bank, and other mulitilateral and regional financing institutions;  (20 points) 

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via senegal.procurement@undp.org . The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised assignment;
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees;
• Financial Proposal* - specifying all-inclusive daily fee in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. Mission related costs, if any, should not be included in the price offer, as they will be paid separately per UNDP rules and regulations. 
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials

·     

Annex 1: Proposed project activities

The above analytical studies are targeted at the design of the various aspects of the project. For detailed planning of outputs and activities of project components, the following preliminary assessments and other planning activities are carried out:

Component 1:

• Assessment of urgency of action in view of prioritization of target groups and pilot zones;
• Assessment of mitigation and adaptation potential in view of prioritization of activities to be supported by the PFES programme;
• Preparation of the plan for the development of Criteria & Indicators for Sustainable Ecosystem Management and National REDD+ Safeguards;
• Review of a sample of selected Forest Management Plans, Simple Management Plans and similar plans (including small-scale businesses) in view of their possible upgrading for readiness for PFES programme implementation;
• Assessment of the valuation and payment option(s) to be applied for FES considering different target groups of the project, including approaches to set baselines;
• Assessment of options for the compensation mechanism (polluter pays principle) for activities that are drivers for deforestation and forest degradation;
• Assessment of options for the territorial approach (local governments on different levels: regional, departmental, municipal and community) in the implementation of the PFES programme; probably linked with the existing environmental, climate and sustainable development plans and frameworks;
• Identification and assessment of options for the institutional and organizational arrangement of the PFES programme as a whole and the planned PFES Facility providing the necessary fiduciary management and political-level decision making, including intersectoral coordination and cooperation. This also includes HACT capacity assessment with regard to (a) government agreement and cooperation, (b) macro assessment, (c) micro assessment, and HACT implementation of the Executing Agency and possible options for the PFES Facility.

Component 2:

• Analysis of the methodology of the National Forest Inventory system and identification of the approach to be adopted in the project, considering recent developments in cost-efficient data collection and also taking into account Senegal’s international reporting obligations, including requirements for REDD+ Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system, and develop the procurement specification for the improved system;
• A review of the forest product information and control system taking into account the recent improvement of the PROGED2 project and advanced technologies to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the current system, also considering  technical and approaches for participatory monitoring of forest product markets and develop the procurement specification for the improved system;
• A review of the information system of the Forest Service and identify specific needs for improvement, including tentative specification of the adjustments and new elements in view of implementation of the PFES System and the REDD+ MRV system.

Component 3:

• Elaboration of a gender and community involvement plan including indigenous peoples and other marginal groups;
• Assessment of capacity development needs by targeted stakeholder groups and development of a human resource development plan including training activities, development of educational and training materials, and other capacity building activities for awareness raising as well as improved technical, organizational and managerial skills;
• Description of the scope and process of developing long-term strategic plans for the Niayes ecosystem and the mangrove ecosystems (as pre-identified priority zones for the project) to improve sustainable management and utilization through, inter alia, improved policy coherence and effectiveness, coordination and cooperation between actors and other stakeholders, and other means;
• Identification and assessment of options for modalities for territorial approach in the project implementation.

The project as a whole:

• Development of a Cost-Benefit Analysis and an Economic and Financial Model of the project;
• Elaboration of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Report and Management Plan;
• In cooperation with the Senegalese Government, carrying out consultations on co-financing of the project with interested parties;
•  HACT  capacity assessment with regard to (i) government agreement and cooperation, (ii) macro assessment, (iii) micro assessment, and HACT implementation of the Executing Agency and possible options for the PFES Facility.