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Title

Consultancy: - Carbon Storage and Sequestration
Posted
Reference   (Please mention Stopdodo/Environment Jobs in your application)
Sectors
Location Zambia - Africa
Type Temporary / Contract / Seasonal
Status Full Time
Level Senior Level
Deadline 09/11/2009
Company Name United Nations Development Program
Contact Name Human Resources
Website Further Details / Applications
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Directory Entry : UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. For environmental jobs with UNDP visit their website. Or for more environmental jobs search environmentjobs.com
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Description
The Reclassification and Effective Management of the National Protected Areas System Project’s main purpose is to strengthen the enabling frameworks and capacities for managing the National Protected Area System. The intervention will put in place appropriate policy, regulatory and governance frameworks in order to provide new tools for public/community/private/civil society management partnerships. It also aims at strengthening the existing institutional capacities for improved Protected Areas representation, monitoring and evaluation and business and investment planning.
The Reclassification and Effective Management of the National Protected Areas System Project has received a grant from the German Government for the management of the West Lunga National Park and the surrounding areas. The Project at the West Lunga Demonstration Site aims to: i) create new protected area categories in the surrounding areas on customary land around West Lunga National Park that would be able to effectively conserve biodiversity; ii) establish a public-private-community partnership for the management of the entire area, and iii) establish innovative funding mechanisms to support the management of the entire area as well as assist in the development of the local community in the area. The project will ensure that a large area of forest in Zambia is prevented from deforestation and restored to its natural functions and biomass content if effectively managed.
Deforestation and forest degradation are the second leading cause of global warming, responsible for about 20% of global greenhouse emissions, which makes the loss and depletion of forests an important issue for climate change. Eighty percent of Earth’s above-ground terrestrial carbon and 40% of below-ground terrestrial carbon is stored in forests. Hence, combating deforestation and degradation has been identified as one of the most effective ways to lower emissions. Any reduction in the rate of deforestation and degradation has the benefit of avoiding a significant source of carbon emissions and reducing other environmental and social problems associated with deforestation.
Unlike afforestation and reforestation activities, which generally cause small annual changes in carbon stocks over long periods of time, deforestation can cause large changes in carbon stocks over a short period of time. Most emissions from deforestation are released into the atmosphere rapidly, whereas carbon removal from afforestation and reforestation is a slow process.
The concept of “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries” (REDD) is currently being developed. The basic idea of REDD is that developing countries willing and able to reduce their deforestation rate keyed to a reference period will receive financial incentives or support. The transfers will be based on foregone opportunity costs or on the value of carbon market prices. Another potential area of environmental finance is the voluntary carbon market. The voluntary carbon market is based around the idea of companies and individuals providing finance to “offset” (compensate for) emissions associated with their commercial activities or products. This market is currently estimated at approximately $80 million per year and is expanding and changing rapidly (growth of 50 to 100% per year). 
A major constraint to successful forestry-based carbon offset programs and potential funding from the REDD programme and the Voluntary Carbon Market is the lack of reliable, accurate and cost-effective methods for monitoring carbon storage. If carbon becomes an internationally-traded commodity, as it appears likely, then monitoring the amount of carbon fixed by projects will become a critical component of any trading system.
Carbon inventories over time record changes in the quantities of carbon fixed due to a specific project’s activities. The inventory process usually yields two types of outputs: baseline reports that describe carbon pool sizes at the beginning of the project and periodic reports that describe changes in these pools based on repeated measurement. The initial baseline carbon report provides an estimate of the quantity and distribution of carbon in vegetation and soils. This baseline should be produced before project activities begin and would serve as a benchmark from which future changes in carbon pool size would be calculated. Periodic inventory reports provide the basis for determining changes in carbon pools. Quantifying changes in non-project (reference case) vegetation is, in most cases, essential for quantifying a project’s net carbon accumulation. Non-project vegetation will most likely change during the project period, so that the only way to quantify projects benefits reliably is to monitor vegetation on both project and non-project sites and calculate the difference in carbon stored.
The following consultancy will lead to the development of a methodology for periodic carbon monitoring resulting in the estimation of carbon sequestration as a result of the project, a baseline estimate of current project and non-project carbon storage as well as information on potential sources of carbon finance and suggested ways of sharing the benefits between stakeholders.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant/s is expected to carry out the following:
  • Develop an inception report on the work to be carried out in the consultancy.
  • Develop a methodology for periodic carbon monitoring that would determine the carbon gains as a result of the project. The methodology should be acceptable under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and approved by the Forestry Department, Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources.
  • Incorporate the effects of fire into the monitoring strategy.
  • Develop a baseline report on the estimates of organic carbon of the entire project area as well as suitable reference cases based on the following carbon pools:
  • Above-ground biomass
  • Below-ground biomass (tree roots)
  • Soil carbon
  • Standing litter crop.
  • Provide an estimate of the potential carbon benefits that could be achieved through conservation of forests in the West Lunga Demonstration Site.
  • Summarise the status and requirements of different markets for carbon services and how these might relate to activities promoting conservation (and restoration) of forests in the West Lunga Demonstration Site.
  • Recommend ways of developing carbon finance streams towards the conservation of forests in the West Lunga Demonstration Site and define the responsibilities of the different stakeholders in securing such funding.
  • Present the findings of the draft report to a group of stakeholders and integrate their comments into the final report.
  • Write final report to the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources.

 

Competencies

  • Technical knowledge of the operations of the carbon sector – components, monitoring and measurements, international governance systems
  • Technical knowledge of carbon markets: types, rules, modalities and methodologies of trading
  • Technical knowledge of carbon projects- community-public-private partnerships in managing carbon resources
  • Technical understanding of ecological and biological systems
  • Research and analytical approaches to problem solving
  • Practical understanding and ability to apply logical framework approach to project development

 

Required Skills and Experience

  • An MSc in environmental economics or natural sciences.
  • 10 Year’s experience in natural resource management.
  • Solid and demonstrated understanding of the Carbon sector, Clean Development Mechanism and International Panel on Climate Change regulations and voluntary markets standards.
  • Clear and solid understanding of the role of communities in managing natural resources and any Carbon project types implementation.
  • Demonstrated competences in the identification, development, implementation and monitoring of Carbon projects.
  • Sound experiences in evaluating Carbon projects from biomass estimation to funds delivery schemes.
  • Proven capacity to work with and establish working relationships with community development agencies, government and non-government representatives and international private companies.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
  • Knowledge of ecological/biological systems.
  • Experience in conducting fieldwork in remote areas.
  • Understanding of Zambian rural culture.
  • Experience in working with Government institutions in Zambia.
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