Background

World’s largest tract of mangrove, the Sundarban supports Asia’s last two remaining species of freshwater dolphins - the Endangered Ganges River Dolphin (Platanistagangetica), and the Vulnerable Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaellabrevirostris). While these species are generally threatened with extinction across their range, both occur in the Sundarbans in populations large enough for early conservation interventions to be effective in ensuring their long-term survival. In 2012, the Government of Bangladesh declared three Dolphin Protected Areas comprising of six ‘five km channel segments that support especially high densities of these two dolphin species. A few projects have also been implemented in the Sundarbans in the past for the sustainable management of natural resources. In spite of the efforts and the existing legal, policy and institutional arrangements, the Sundarbans’ ecosystems in general and the three protected areas in particular are facing increasing threats due to over exploitation and unsustainable method of resource harvest, poaching, unsustainable livelihood, industrial development, maritime traffic, unplanned tourism etc.

In this backdrop, UNDP Bangladesh in partnership with Bangladesh Government and with support from GEF is taking up the ‘Expanding the Protected Areas System to Incorporate Important Aquatic Ecosystems’ project to implement some long term solution and removing barriers to strengthen conservation management of the globally significant aquatic biodiversity of the Sundarbans taking into account development imperatives, need for sustaining livelihoods and retrogressive factors including climate change. The immediate objective of the project is to build capacity to effectively manage the existing protected areas established for dolphin conservation and also expand their operational coverage while still meeting the livelihood aspirations of local communities especially the fishers. Apart from the Sundarbans, there are some other dolphin habitats are also in vulnerable position due to the anthropogenic pressures in different forms and dimensions. Of which the Halda river basin is one of the critical and important habitats of the country. Whre unfortunately there were 18 Ganges River Dolphins died from September 2017 to February 2018. To reduce dolphin mortality and assessing the population size ensuring sustainable management of Halda river etc. are the  crying needs of all scientists, politicials, Natural Resource Managers, Wildlife Biologists, Bangladesh Forest Department now-a-days. Ministry of Environment and Forests has thus instructed the EPASIIAE Project for conducting  immediate research to save dolphins there.

The objectives of this assignment are :

• To identify the population status and evaluate the viability of the Ganges River  dolphin populations in Halda river, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
• Preparation of Integrated Management Plan for freshwater Ganges River Dolphin conservation in Halda river

Scope of Work

The necessary researches are required to trigger the much needed alterations in the management approach to secure the long-term survival of the cetaceans. Broadly, the GEF investment aims at triggering a change in resource governance in the target project area and generate the  global, national and local benefits.

In this line, the contracted expert will work under the guidance of the Project Manager, Expanding the Protected Area System to Incorporate Important Aquatic Ecosystems Project(EPASIIAEP). IC will submit  report to the Project Manager, EPASIIAEP.

The consultant is expected to identifying shortcomings in the knowlwdge level in line of aquatic biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management in Halda river. S/He will also lead all discussions with stakeholders and experts, including the conceptualization of the views.

Duties and Responsibilities

Tasks to be Performed

To achieve the stated objectives above, the following indicative activities are anticipated under close coordination and collaboration with the PMU,the wildlife biologist will be responsible for identifying knowledge on present status of dolphins in Halda, mitigation measures to ensure the sustainable population and its aquatic ecosystems for future. S/he will work under overall administrative leadership of UNDP Bangladesh Country Office, and direct supervision of the Project Manager. The Project Director will act as the advisor.

Duties and responsibilities of the wildlife  biologist will include but not limited to:

• Evaluate status survey of existing population of Ganges River Dolphin in Halda river basin;
• Identifying and mapping dolphin hotspots in Halda;
• Provide specific and detail guidelines for conducting research/study;
• Collect, collate and synthesize necessary information and data from suitable and authentic sources;
• Liaise and collaborate with relevant Universities, research institutions, networks, government departments, law enforcement agency(if needed), NGOs and community members;
• Organize and attend meetings, consultations, workshops, brainstorming sessions as required, and prepare related documents and reports.
• Prepare a Management Plan for dolphin population in Halda river
• Produce reports and documents as per necessity of the project management.
• Present his/her work and findings in the meeting of project board and/or any other levels, and addressing the relevant feedbacks.
• Contribute to the dissemination of study finding and actualization of relevant output.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables 

• Inception Report with detailed Work Plan: Work procedure specifying the adopted methodologies, Outline key issues to be covered, Work Plan (including meeting, field visit etc.) Annotated table of contents for the final report, Output delivery timeline;
• Draft Report:   a) Draft report on staus survey of dolphin population which covers population estimation and its viability, identifying present threats, dolphin mortality trend, mitigation measures. b) Draft Integrated Management Plan for dolphin conservation ensuring sustainable aquatic ecosystems of  Halda river, Chittagong, Bangladesh;
• Final Report:  a) Final report on evaluating the viability of the Ganges River dolphin populations in Halda river along with the report on present dolphin population status in Halda river and b) Integrated Management Plan for the conservation of dolphin ensuring suatainable management of important aquatic ecosysytems of  Halda river Chittagong, Bangladesh.

SUPERVISION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION:

The consultant will report directly to the Project Manager (PM), Expanding the Protected Area System to Incorporate Impotant Aquatic Ecosystems Project (EPASIIAEP). The Individual Consultant will work closely with the PMU, in particular the PM, with technical guidance from the Programme Specialist, UNDP Bangladesh..

Competencies

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Excellent communication, organization and time management skills;
• Ability of using GPS and an advanced version of ArcGIS is necessary;
• Familiar with the working environment and professional standards of international organizations;
•  Experience of working in the UN system will be valuable;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Comprehensiveness knowledge of Cetacean biology, social attributes, global development concerns and climate change;
• Proficiency in the use of office IT applications and internet in conducting research;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills;
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

TIMEFRAME AND DEADLINES:

The assignment is for a total of 45 days over a period from  August 2018 to January 2019.

 DOCUMENTS

 The National Consultant will submit following reports:

1. Inception Report with detailed Work Plan:
2. Draft report which covers the main findings of the study.
3. Final Report:  Final reports (both hard & soft copy) on detailed field Research and workshops/consultation meetings.

Required Skills and Experience

Working Arrangement/duty station and Inputs:  The duty station will be home based and the field visits will be required as per the work plan and requirement of the methodology submitted by the Consultant. Consultant also needs to organize 4  consultation and validation meetings at stakeholder levels (one in Dhaka and another one in Chittagong and 2 at Halda river Site with 20 -30 participants/researcher/ stakeholder per meeting). The Consultant will also organize  a numbers of sharing/coordination meetings in the Project Office and/or UNDP Country Office.

Travel Plan:

Below is an indicative travel plan for the duration of the assignment. The Consultant will be required to travel to the below indicated destinations and include the relevant costs into the proposal. There may be also unforeseen travel that will come up during the execution of the contract which will be agreed on ad-hoc basis.

REQUIREMENTS:

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum Masters  degree in the field of aquatic biodiversity, wildlife/aquatic biology, marine science, forestry, environment science or any closely related field. Ph.D. will be preferred.

EXPERIENCE: 

• At least 7 years of proven research experience in a similar fields. Experience of working on cetaceans in the Sundarbans and in country river ecosystems is preferred.
• Authored at significant number of scientific papers published in important national and international journals.
• Past experience of working with the government, UN, NGOs, CSOs, local communities and in participatory approaches.

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

Lump sum contracts

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the ToR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, digital mapping and number of anticipated working days).

Deliverables are linked with the payment schedule:

EVALUATION

Individual Consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

1. responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight; 70%

* Financial Criteria weight; 30%

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

Financial Evaluation: (Total obtainable score – 30)

All technically qualified proposals will be scored out of 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals receive points according to the following formula:

p = y (µ/z)                                                                             

Where:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested individuals must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references. P11 can be downloaded from the link below: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/bangladesh/en/home/operations/jobs/
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment and a methodology on how they 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. If an offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the offeror must indicate this  at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. Template can be downloaded from the link below: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Jobs/Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal-Template%20for%20Confirmation.docx

IMPORTANT:

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Incomplete proposals will not be considered for evaluation.