UNDP Jobs - 81877- “Consultant to Support Strengthening of the Nation

“Consultant to Support Strengthening of the National Legal and Regulatory Framework to Enable Effective Co-management of Natural Resources

Location :

Praia, CAPE VERDE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Dec-2018

Application Deadline :

23-Nov-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 months

Languages Required :

English French Spanish Portuguese

Expected Duration of Assignment :

40 working days, including two field missions to Cape Verde (respectively of 20 and 7 days, starting

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

N.B.

Applications through UNDP jobs will not be accepted, only to the procurement.cv@cv.jo.un.org email address.

Interested candidates are required to read the Procurement Notice for Individual Consultants and its related documents, which are available in the following websites:

UN Cape Verde website,www.un.cv, under the section Anúncios;
the UNGM website at www.ungm.org; and
UNDP Procurement website at http://procurement-notices.undp.org

Background and Project Description

The consultancy will be developed in the framework of the project “Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation into the tourism sector in synergy with a further strengthened protected areas system in Cabo Verde”, executed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAA), through the National Directorate of the Environment (DNA), in close collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Transport, and co-funded by the UNDP and the GEF.

The project’s main objective is to safeguard globally significant biodiversity in Cabo Verde from current and emerging threats, by enhancing the enabling and regulatory frameworks in the tourism sector and activating a critical further subset of the national protected areas (PAs) system.

The proposed alternative scenario, supported by the project, will create enabling conditions to mitigate the adverse impacts on biodiversity by the tourism sector in Cabo Verde. The frameworks will be developed at national level and tentatively rolled out in four priority islands – Santiago, Sal, Boa Vista and Maio – where immediate pressure is greatest and urgent action is required that can be replicated more widely in the future. This urgent action includes at the local level the pending operationalization of a number of critical terrestrial and marine/coastal PAs and the piloting of marine biodiversity and artisanal fisheries management together with communities in two selected sites. At the same time the project will harness the opportunities to establish more sustainable tools for PA financing, protected area management and local community development, contributing to the consolidation and diversification of Cabo Verde tourism product, and the sustainability of the destination and the sector. This will be achieved through the following two project components:?

Under Component 1, the project will develop and put in place coherent and effective enabling frameworks (i.e. legal, policy, regulatory and institutional) for enhanced multi-sectoral strategic land-use planning at the landscape level, to focus on the tourism, fisheries and associated real estate/construction and fisheries sectors. This will involve: (1) strengthening the capacity at the institutional/governmental level for integrating biodiversity into the tourism sector, including through Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs), Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and related regulations in tourism planning and permitting, and for compliance monitoring and enforcement; (2) the setup of policy mainstreaming committees overseeing policy and planning coherence between tourism development and environmental/biodiversity management, at the national level and on the targeted islands with significant local tourism developments (i.e. Santiago, Sal, Boa Vista and Maio); (3) the development and revision of land-use planning regulations (i.e. SEA, EIA, Special Touristic Zones (ZTEs), Zones of Integral Tourism Development (ZDTIs), Zones of Touristic Reserve and Protection (ZRPT), etc.) so they fully integrate biodiversity concerns, and to ensure their recommendations are implemented and monitored; (4) implementation of SEAs to inform tourism development plans, where there are gaps in destinations where significant tourism development pressure is predicted; (5) the revision of financial tax incentives and licensing processes to integrate biodiversity criteria; (6) the establishment and piloting of best-practice standards for sustainable tourism and voluntary certification for enterprises and destinations; and (7) the design and piloting of innovative PAs financing mechanism, through biodiversity offsets.
Under Component 2, the project will support: (1) the operationalization of PAs through the development of management plans, ecotourism plans and supporting regulations for 7 in-operational PAs (i.e. one on Santiago, four on Boa Vista and two on Sal) to address existing and emerging threats to biodiversity; (2) identification of new potential Marine PAs (MPAs) sites for inclusion in the national PAs system, through a systematic assessment of biodiversity resources on the marine shelf, and contributing to the development of key missing marine species/habitat management plans; (3) the definition of and implementation of PAs governance, including co-management and conflict resolution mechanisms; (4) agreements on the regulation, management and enforcement of the use of land and natural resources by local communities/resource users; (5) the introduction of biodiversity-friendly and sustainable artisanal fishing in two pilot sites through the promotion and adoption of suitable gear and best practices, the designation of community-enforced no-take zones and seasonal fishing bans, etc.; (6) develop and pilot island-specific, cost-effective PAs revenue generation mechanisms in conjunction with tourism sector stakeholders – these will potentially include, inter alia, gate fees, tourism operator concession fees, ecotourism taxes, and biodiversity offset and reinvestment schemes; (7) installation of a tracking and environmental monitoring program and plan to track the impacts of tourism and fishing in PAs, using participatory approaches; and (8) the preparation and implementation of Informational Education and Communication (ICE) campaigns to promote the role of PAs and sustainable tourism.

Under Project Output 2.3. “Co-management of MPAs demonstrated in pilot sites based on the adoption of sustainable fishing practices by local communities” the project will support the design and establishment of a co-management system of artisanal fishery and, more in general, marine natural resources in Cabo Verde. These will be piloted in the Nature Reserve of Casa Velhas in Maio, and scaled up and broadened to include additional Marine Protected Areas in Sal or Boavista.

In order to provide suitable enabling environment to support development of these and other initiatives, the project will support an initial assessment and review of the national legal and regulatory framework on which these activities should be based on, providing proposals to adjust the current framework, and providing a set of tools to support the implementation of co-management initiatives, with special focus on marine natural resources and fisheries.

A team compounded by one international consultant and one national consultant specialized respectively on co-management of marine natural resources, and on the legal and regulatory national framework on marine natural resources and fishery management will be in charge to collaboratively elaborate and propose expected consultancy outputs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

Develop and agree with the UNDP Country Office (UNDP-CO) (Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction Unit) and the DNA/PMU, the workplan and methodology to carry out the whole consultancy;

Carry out a documental collection and analysis that will include the following documentation relevant for the objectives of the assignment:
Laws, Decrees and other legal documents.
International Conventions and Agreements ratified by the Country.
Regulatory documents produced by Governmental Authorities.
National policy, strategic and sectorial documents and plans.
Documents related to previous initiatives of co-management of marine and other natural resources and in Protected Areas (e.g. co-management plans).
Technical and scientific literature at international level on best practices to establish enabling national legal and regulatory frameworks for co-management of fisheries-related resources, natural resource in general, and co-management into Protected Areas.

Hold meetings with national stakeholders relevant to the assignment in order to:

Complete collection of relevant data and information (see point above).
Discuss preliminary findings from documental collection and analysis.
Identify and discuss with stakeholders results, constrains, lessons learnt related to previous experiences of co-management of marine and other natural resources and in Protected Areas in Cape Verde.
Identify existing opportunities in the national and international contexts for future implementation of co-management initiatives in Cape Verde, with special focus on: i) co-management initiatives to be developed in the framework of the Biodiversity and Tourism Project; ii) co-management initiatives to be developed inside Marine Protected Areas, and more in general into the National System of Protected Areas.
Discuss with actors of the tourism sector the opportunities and options available for their engagement into co-management initiatives.
Explore possibilities for proposals aimed to improve the national legal and regulatory framework to create enabling conditions for successful co-management initiatives.

Attend a meeting with UNDP-CO and DNA/PMU to discuss key inputs and results from the first field mission.

Prepare and deliver to UNDP-CO, DNA/PMU, and DNEM the first draft of the consultancy Progress Report.

In collaboration with the national consultant, review the first draft of the consultancy Progress Report, and deliver to UNDP-CO, DNA/PMU and DNEM the final draft of the Report, incorporating feedbacks from these institutions.

In collaboration with the national consultant, co-lead a validation workshop attended by key stakeholders, which will aims to present and discuss:

Key findings from the documental collection and analysis on the structure of the national legal and regulatory framework to base co-management initiatives.
A comparative analysis between national experiences and international – with special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and SIDSs - best practices and lessons learnt in co-management of fisheries-related resources, natural resource in general, and co-management into Protected Areas.
A SWOT analysis on the national context for co-management initiatives in Cape Verde in general, and a specific SWOT analysis for each one of the project intervention sites visited during the field mission.
Based on the SWOT analysis indicated at the point above, provide and discuss a characterization of possible co-management activities in each one of the three project intervention sites (key stakeholders, key resources, priority sites, how to take advantage from specific opportunities, how to avoid previous mistakes, or constrains in co-management processes, etc.).
Select a second Marine Protected Area - within the three project intervention islands (Sal, Boavista and Maio) - as the second pilot site for marine natural resources co-management development within the framework of the Biodiversity and Tourism Project.
Opportunity available to reach engagement and involvement of actors from the tourism sector, to improve the likelihood of success in co-management initiatives.
Practical proposals that the national consultant will use to develop draft documents to improve the national legal and regulatory framework on co-management of natural resources, with special emphasis on co-management of marine and fisheries-related natural resources, and co-management into Protected Areas.
One, or few drafts models for marine resources co-management identified and defined with national and local stakeholders.
An action plan to develop co-management initiatives in the Nature Reserve of Casas Velhas and in the second selected pilot site that is compatible with current and updated legal and regulatory framework on co-management.

Attend a final meeting with UNDP-CO, DNA/PMU and DNEM to discuss key inputs and results from the second field mission, especially the inputs from the validation workshop.

Prepare and deliver to UNDP-CO, DNA/PMU the first draft of the consultancy Final Report.

Prepare and deliver to UNDP-CO, DNA/PMU and DNEM the final draft of the consultancy Final Report, incorporating feedbacks from these institutions.

Review and provide inputs on the final deliveries of the national consultant.

Competencies

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.

Functional Competencies

Knowledge Management and Learning

Ability to provide top quality policy advice services on environmental issues;
In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing in order to communicate complex, ?technical information to technical and general audiences;
Skill in negotiating effectively in sensitive situations;
Skill in achieving results through persuading, influencing and working with others;
Skill in facilitating meetings effectively and efficiently and to resolve conflicts as they arise.

Management and Leadership

Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback;
Encourages risk-taking in the pursuit of creativity and innovation;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Hold an advanced degree (Master or PhD) with expertise in the area of marine natural resources management, fisheries management, environmental and natural resources law and policy, or related fields assessed as suitable to carry out the appointment.
Additional relevant professional trainings and courses are a plus.

Experience:

Have at least 10 years of proven experience in marine natural resources planning and management, or fisheries management, or in developing work related to rights on natural resources.
Relevant previous professional experience in designing and establishing co-management arrangements (negotiations, agreements, plans, etc.) in Marine Protected Areas, and/or marine/fisheries related natural resources, or other sets of natural resources and assets.
Relevant previous professional experience in preparing or supporting preparation of legal and policy documents on co-management of natural resources, community rights on natural assets, and related fields.
Sound understanding of tourism related opportunities for biodiversity and natural resources conservation, as well as for co-management initiatives in marine environments.
Demonstrated track record of production of relevant publications and technical documents (papers, project proposals, guidelines, manuals, planning documents, etc.) on natural resources management into MPAs, fisheries resources management, co-management of natural resources and related fields.
Previous working experience in MPAs and/or marine biodiversity conservation in SIDS, in archipelagos of the Macaronesian Region, or Sub-Saharan Africa is an asset.
Previous experience with GEF project development and technical support is an advantage.

Language

It is required the working knowledge of at least one of the following languages: Portuguese, English, French, or Spanish;
Working knowledge of spoken and written Portuguese is a strong competitive advantage.