Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Management Specialist- International Consultant

BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST- INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

Location :Victoria ,Mahe, SEYCHELLESApplication Deadline :12-Sep-12Additional CategoryEnvironment and EnergyType of Contract :Individual ContractPost Level :International ConsultantLanguages Required :
English  Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)01-Oct-2012Duration of Initial Contract :10 monthsExpected Duration of Assignment :12 weeks

Background

The GEF has approved a Project Preparation Grant (PPG) for Seychelles in order to produce a UNDP Project Document (PRODOC) and a GEF CEO Approval Request for the above-mentioned project. The project to be prepared is a Full-Size Project (FSP). 

The approved Project Information Form (PIF) summarizes the project concept and was produced in close collaboration with key government officials, NGOs, donors and the private sector, under the guidance of UNDP-GEF. 

The PIF was approved by the GEF CEO in December 2011 and it was included in the GEF Work Programme of February 2012. 

The PIF received comments from the GEF Secretariat and from its Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP). These comments will help shape the design of the PRODOC and they will need to be addressed during project preparation through a formal response. 

As per the GEF5 project cycle, once a PIF is approved, the GEF Agency, in this case UNDP, has up to 18 months for developing the project and presenting it for CEO Endorsement with the confirmation of co-financing. In this light, the Project Preparation Grant will be implemented over 10-months period. The Request for GEF CEO endorsement and the UNDP Project Document therefore will be finalized and cleared for submission to the GEF no later than Mid-March 2013 or it will risk forfeiture of its funding. 

The project, which is budgeted for $1,785,500 in GEF funding ($1,068,493 from the Biodiversity Focal Area and $562,100 from the Land Degradation Focal Area). In addition, the PIF foresees that a minimum of $5.8 million in co-financing will be mobilized 

The project’s objective is promote the conservation and sustainable use of coastal and marine biodiversity in the Seychelles’ Outer Islands by integrating a National Subsystem of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas (CMPAs) into the broader land- and seascape while reducing the pressures on natural resources from competing land uses.

This will be achieved through the following three components: 

• Management effectiveness is enhanced within a sample of coastal and marine protected areas (IUCN Category I, II and VI) operating under innovative public-private-civil society partnership agreements.
• Sustainable Development and CMPA management integrated into broader land/seascape in the Outer Islands
• A thorough description of these can be found in the PIF.

Duties and Responsibilities

The assignment encompasses approximately 12 weeks of work throughout the duration of the project preparation phase from October 2012 until June 2013. 

Tasks 

The consultant will be primarily responsible for carrying out project design tasks related to: 

• PPG Activity 4 (Designing interventions, conduct feasibility and risk analyses, strategy development and budget); followed by
• PPG Activity 3 (Assess the project’s baseline on policy, legal, institutional and financial frameworks, on national capacity for CMPA management and INRM, and develop the global significance argument for the project).

The will also assist the national consultants in completing PPG Activity 2 (Complete baseline assessments and Scorecards for sites to be targeted by the project for PA expansion and ecosystem rehabilitation, as relevant sections of the LD PMAT Scorecard). 

Refer to thorough activity and sub-activity descriptions in the PPG. 

Furthermore, the consultant will play a team leader role vis-a-vis other PPG activities and will therefore guide the National Economist and Finance Specialist in the completion of PPG Activity 1 (Elaborate on and analyse the ‘baseline project investments’ -- with particular focus on initiatives related to SLM initiatives and PA management). 

More specifically, the consultant will carry out the following tasks:

• Review and comment on the application of relevant tools, in particular the METT and UNDP’s PA Management Capacity Development Scorecard and the Financial Sustainability Scorecard.
• Support and guide the national consultant and the selected service provider for PPG Activity 2 in collecting and collating baseline data, collaborating with the parties involved, participate in the relevant consultation processes when in country and preparing comments on reports and products during the course of FSP development. The aim is to ensure that the required products are in line with best international practices.
• Collate relevant information on existing policies, legal, regulatory, institutional and financial frameworks for CMPA subsystem management and INRM in Seychelles’ Outer Island and compose an analysis of it, providing the 'baseline picture' and the justification for the project.
• Propose concrete CMPA management and INRM activities for the FSP, such as management planning, zoning, gazettal, partnerships, infrastructure, PA management capacity building, spatially-based decision support systems for INRM, landscape-wide planning, ecosystem restoration and, not least also, financing of CMPAs and IWRM.
• Build into the FSP strategy (and establish the link with) the policy guidance contained in relevant policy documents.
•  Assess technical feasibility, cost-effectiveness and incrementality of proposed FSP activities.
•  Assess project risk and the sustainability of proposed FSP activities and recommend applicable measures to minimise and mitigate risk and to ensure sustainability.
• Provide specific recommendations for stakeholder engagement activities planned for the FP
• Define recommended project monitoring and evaluation indicators.

Prepare a budget for the project, indicating the inputs needed (consultants, contractual services, travel, etc.) in the applicable format.Other tasks will include: 

• Define the marine areas to be gazetted as per CMPA expansion strategy (FSP output 1.1).
• Propose TOR and indicative membership for the Public-Private-Civil Society PA management Partnership Boards (FSP output 1.2).
• Briefly describe and cost the proposed PA infrastructure in Farquhar and Poivre (FSP output 1.3).
• Design the TOR for the long term ecological monitoring system is emplaced for IUCN category I, II and VI Outer Islands CMPAs (FSP output 1.4).
• Outline TOR and responsibilities for the development and effective implementation of PA Management Plans for South Island Farquhar, Goëllettes, Banc de Sables and South Island (Poivre) (FSP output 1.5) and for the updating of management plans for Desroches and Alphonse Islands (FSP output 1.6).
• Develop TOR (or activity description) for the Spatially-based decision support systems for INRM (FSP output 2.1); for the Ecosystem-wide Zoning & Master Plan for the Outer Islands (FSP output 2.2) and for the legally binding Sustainable Land Management Plans (SMPs) (DSP output 2.3) -- in connection with it, decribe the relationship among these key FSP outputs based on existing descriptions in the PIF but with due validation from relevant stakeholders.
• Assess the feasibility of developing and implementing a transparent and independent finance mechanism is operational by project end for ensuring the mobilisation and ring-fencing of financial resources for eradication and control of IAS in the Outer Islands’ Subsystem of CMPAs and for restoring degraded land ecosystems (FSP output 2.5)

Competencies

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced degree in a relevant field of conservation work (either with ecological, socio-economic background), with professional specialization in issues of Protected Areas and Sustainable Land Management.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of proven experience in the mentioned field.
• Extensive knowledge of protected area issues, including legal and policy frameworks, Protected Areas planning and management effectiveness, and ecological monitoring systems for Protected Areas
• Demonstrated track record in protected areas programs/projects (publications, proposals, reports);
• Knowledge of environmental issues, policies and programs in the Seychelles (preferred)
• Experience with GEF project development;

Language:

• Mastery of oral and written English