Background

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.
Monitoring Systems in place to measure changes in key ecological determinants of ecosystem health in dry dipterocarp forests
The project will establish baseline values for indicators of ecosystem health in Dry Dipterocarp Forests and establish systems / processes to measure changes in these indicators as well as to monitor the nature and severity of threats to the relevant ecological processes / components. With regard to forest ecosystem ability to sustain biodiversity, the project will establish baselines and monitor the following globally significant species within the project landscape: the Endangered Eld’s Deer (Panolia eldii); the Near Threatened Silvered Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus germaini); the Endangered Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus); the Endangered Red-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix nemaeus); and the Critically Endangered Siamese Crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis). With regards to the aforementioned species, the proposed project will not implement specific species conservation plans. Instead, the intent is to monitor their populations in order to measure the positive impacts on these species from expanded and strengthened protected areas, the designation of HCVFs, improved and sustainable forest management and land use planning, etc.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under supervision of the SAFE Ecosystems Project - National Project Director, the National Consultant will be required to undertake the following duties:
Implementation of “Line transect-based distance sampling” surveys for Eld’s Deer (Cervus eldii) using the proposed 2018 Data Collection Protocols developed by Lao Wildlife Conservation Association.
Survey Site:
• The 130,750 ha National Eld’s Deer Sanctuary was fully established in 2020 and is dominated by dry deciduous forest, an increasingly threatened habitat type of high biodiversity value.
o Eld’s deer appear to range across the entire area and beyond it, although they are likely to be highly dependent on limited water resources during the long dry season, and this will influence their distribution.
o There are multiple villages in and around the sanctuary and parts of the sanctuary have been converted to paddy and other types of agriculture.
o Other areas within the sanctuary are burnt regularly and large number of domestic livestock are grazed in the area.
Sampling Design:
• A minimum number of 20 spatial replicates in each stratum of interest are required to obtain a precise estimate from distance sampling.
• In this context there is no obvious need to stratify as deer are distributed widely and the habitat is relatively uniform.
• The transects can be of any length but from a practical perspective they should ideally take between two to three hours to survey, in order to maximise the time teams spends in the field close to dawn and dusk, whilst ensuring that teams do not become too fatigued.
• Given the gentle terrain in this area transects will be four kilometres in length, and they should be surveyed twice daily, once starting at first light and again starting two-three hours before dark (depending on the length of time it is expected to take to complete the transect).
• Given the rule-of-thumb requirement of 60-80 observations and based on the encounters rates achieved in the reconnaissance and training surveys up to 500km of survey effort may be required.
Data Collection Protocols:
• Data collected protocols for distance sampling online transects are complex and extensive. A detailed set of protocols is included as a separately, in Annex 1.
• It is imperative the team are extremely well trained and adhere rigorously to these protocols.
Data Analyses:
• Data analysis for distance sampling data is complex and requires a good level of ability in computing and some understanding of quantitively ecology and statistical modelling.
• Analysis can be carried out using the computer application, “Program Distance”.

Competencies

• Proven excellent communication and consultation skills to liaise with a range of stakeholders including district and provincial authorities and local communities, as well as the ability and experience to conduct training.
• Ability to lead and work with teams and to achieve quality outputs under tight timelines.
• Good working knowledge of written and spoken English and excellent knowledge 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

• Master’s degree related to Conservation Biology, Biodiversity Survey Methods, Cervidology, GIS, natural resource management or relevant fields.
• Working experience in Conservation Biology, Biodiversity Survey Methods, Cervidology, GIS, natural resource management or relevant fields
• The National Consultant must have previous experience with cervid surveys.
• Previous experience surveying Eld’s Deer is highly desirable.
• Proven high level of knowledge and experience of Biodiversity Survey methods and GIS.
• Proven experience working with Lao PDR government counterparts and local communities is an advantage.

Selection Criteria:

Applicants will be evaluated based on scoring method. The award of the contract shall be made to the applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive /compliant/ acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70 points) based on qualification, and experience; and combined with the financial offer which will be weighted a max of 30 points.

Note: Only candidates obtaining a minimum 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

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

1. Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex III
2. Personal CV or P11 Form, indicating all experience from similar projects as well as personal information including age.
3. Technical proposal (maximum 3 pages), including a) a brief description of why the individual considers her/himself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) methodology on how s/he will approach and complete the assignment.
4. Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided, as per template provided in Annex III

OFFEROR’S LETTER 

Price proposal could be quoted in LAK or US Dollar.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Instructions for on-line submissions

Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically;

Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF, but Word format can be also accepted) and upload it to the UNDP Jobs links

Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.

Relevant Documents for Individual Contract

IC contract template  &  IC General Terms and Conditions _ Annex II

Female candidates and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

For more information, please visit our website under the link below

https://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/jobs.html