UNDP Jobs - 77122- Re - Tendering - Provision of consultancy services

Re - Tendering - Provision of consultancy services for the development of National Forest Management Guidelines.

Location :

Beirut, LEBANON

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

19-Feb-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

60 working-days over a period of 6 months.

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

60 working-days over a period of 6 months.

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

The Sustainable Land Management in the Qaraoun Catchment Project aims at achieving wise land use on a sustainable long-term basis for the Qaraoun Catchment. The implementation of the proposed project will have an immediate environmental benefit through the increased efficiency in the management of arable land and rangelands and the expansion of the area under forests through land use plans, buffer zones, and several rehabilitation measures on forests, rangelands and agricultural fields. Ultimately, this will lead to the restoration of natural productivity of the lands and to the conservation of the habitats (plants and animal species) as well as to the protection of valuable ecosystems.

Project Objective

Alleviate land degradation through sustainable land and natural resource management, through maintaining ecosystem services, and improving livelihoods in the Qaraoun Catchment.

Project outcomes

Sustainable Land Management measures avoid and reduce land degradation, delivering ecosystem and development benefits in the Qaraoun Catchment;
Pressures on natural resources from competing land uses in the Qaraoun Catchment are reduced;
Institutional strengthening and capacity enhancement for promoting sustainable forest and land;
management in the Qaraoun Catchment area provided through an Integrated Natural Resources
Management approach across the landscape;
The project is seeking to procure the services of a forest management expert to work under the guidance and supervision of the Project Manager (PM) to support the Project Team in the development of National Forest Management Guidelines.

Duties and Responsibilities

The tasks mentioned below shall be performed in close cooperation with the UNDP/SLMQ team ensuring linkages with both the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment and other concerned stakeholders and will be adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture, in charge of their implementation. It is understood that the Consultant shall perform all the services/work as necessary to fulfill the objectives of the Consultancy Contract.

The requested National Forest management Guidelines should be developed taking into account the local context and the national egulations/policies in this sector, i.e. types of forest ecosystems, land management rights, available forest resources, the prevailing Lebanese socio-economic situation and reliance on forest resources for livelihoods, climate conditions, vulnerabilities most importantly land degradation, forest pest diseases and forest fires, as well as the conservation status of forest areas and other relevant local aspects.

The Tasks involved will cover the followings:

Desk review of existing forest management guidelines and tools.

The Consultant shall conduct a literature review of best international forest management guidelines and tools, including but not limited to the relevant technical modules and guidelines developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Furthermore, the desk review shall cover locally developed guidelines to build upon existing documentation and experience. The review shall cover at least the following:

Structure and purpose of the generally adopted guidelines;
General guidelines on best practices;
Activity specific guidelines (grazing, forest roads, timber and non-timber product harvesting; reforestation, fire and disease protection, etc.),
Implementation arrangements;
Based on the above synthesis, and taking into account the Lebanese context, the desk review report shall include a suggested scope (Table of Content) for the National Forest Management Guidelines;
Furthermore, the report shall include a set of technical and regulatory recommendations consistent with the existing legal framework or policies of the Ministry of Agriculture or other. On the other hand, an additional set of recommendations should be provided to ensure that best-practices identified can also be incorporated into the planned draft Forest Law, upon its application.

Development of National Forest Management Guidelines.

The development of the National Forest Management Guidelines shall be inspired from internationally recognized guidelines based on of the principles of Sustainable Forest Management, yet tailored to the Lebanese context. It should also be divided into three spatiotemporal levels as follow:

Strategic Forest Management Guidelines: a long-term strategic document (25 years), setting the guidelines for forest activities for the duration of the forest management plan;
5-years Forest Management Guidelines: a medium-term tactical document (5 years), setting the guidelines for the management provisions for each forest compartment/area within the forest;
Annual Operational Plan Guideline: a short-term operational document (1 year), setting the guidelines for the annual program and monitoring procedure of the management plan on each annual coupe;
Where possible, the guidelines shall include provisions for participatory planning to allow for the engagement of local communities without gender bias in the planning process and their adherence to the developed plans;
The guidelines shall also include a list of needed annexes and useful form sheets for the development of a forest management plan and its monitoring (e.g. Legal Documents and Regulations relevant to Forest Management Plan, Sampling form, Example of decision chains for identification of suitable activities for Forest Management Planning, etc.);
The guidelines shall be developed in English and Arabic to be validated by the Project Team, Ministries of Agriculture and Environment.

Development of training material and execution of targeted trainings.

The Consultant shall prepare a Training Plan. A minimum of four training sessions for targeted stakeholders (concerned Ministries, local authorities and other relevant stakeholders) shall be organized and implemented to guarantee a full understanding of the developed National guidelines. The thematic areas of the trainings should be adapted to each type of stakeholders, where relevant. Furthermore, the necessary training material (reports and presentations) in both English and Arabic should be developed as necessary. Trainings however should be delivered in Arabic and supplemented by English where needed. Based on the trainings executed, the Consultant shall develop a training report including an account of activities, recommendations for future trainings and target groups.

For additional information, please refer to ANNEX I – Terms of Reference

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Proven analytical skills and capacity of producing quality reports and documents;
Proven knowledge of the existing related policies, legal and regulatory frameworks;
Proficiency in English and Arabic languages. French is an asset.

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;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Kindly refer to the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice and all related Annexes by visiting the below link:

http://www.lb.undp.org/content/lebanon/en/home/operations/procurement/

Please make sure to submit all the requested documents/information; otherwise, your application will be considered incomplete

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Post graduate degree (MSc and/or PhD) in forestry, biodiversity, ecology, or related field;

Experience:

At least 10 years of working experience in forest resources management, forest inventory, monitoring and assessment;
Experience of working with central and/or local agencies/NGOs/Private Sector/ Civil Society on forestry-related assignments;
Experience in forest management planning at the local level;
International experience in forest management is an asset;
Experience with UN or international donor project(s) is an asset.

Language Requirements:

Proficiency in English and Arabic languages. French is an asset.

How to Apply:

1. Read the additional information and annexes on teh UNDP lebanon website at http://www.lb.undp.org/content/lebanon/en/home/operations/procurement/

2. 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 the P11, technical proposal, Annex 3 (Offerors Letter) and the financial proposal in one single document and uploaded as word or PDF file to the UNDP job site.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.