Consultant for Development of National Protected Areas Strategic Management Plan

A future mechanism on REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) provides an opportunity for Cambodia to be rewarded for its efforts to protect and sustainably use its forests. The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has shown early support for the development of approaches to REDD+ with the approval of two pilot sites in 2008 and 2009. Over a period of 9 months in 2010 the interim REDD+ Taskforce of the RGC in consultation with stakeholder groups and with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), prepared the Cambodia Readiness Plan Proposal on REDD+ (“Roadmap”). This document outlines how the country will become ‘REDD+ ready’.

In 1993, His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk introduced a Royal Decree designating 23 areas, covering about 3.3 million ha (18.3 % of total land area), as protected areas. The current national protected areas system includes seven national parks, ten wildlife sanctuaries, three protected landscapes, three multiple use areas managed by the Ministry of Environment.  These areas are governed by a variety of policy, including the Constitution of Cambodia (1993), the Protected Area (PA) Law (2008) and the Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Development (1996). These regulations will be complemented by the National Protected Areas Strategic Management Plan (NPASMP) that will also act as an important tool to link REDD+ and protected area management at a national level.

The management of the Protected Area system is mainly regulated by the PA Law 2008 and the Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Development (1996). The objectives of these laws are to ensure the management, conservation of biodiversity, and sustainable use of natural resources in protected areas. The General Department of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection (GDANCP) of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) is the designed Ministry responsible for the planning and management of the protected areas system, their supervision and coordination (Art. 4). In particular, it is the duty of GDANCP to develop strategic plans, action plans, and technical guidelines for managing the protected areas (Art. 5). In this regards the PA Law prescribes that a National Protected Areas Strategic Management Plan (NPASMP) should be developed (Art. 15). The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (MoE 2002), that was developed to meet the obligation of the international Convention on Biological diversity (CBD), also recognizes the need to “develop a management plan for  protected  and buffer zones in collaboration with local communities and relevant ministries” such as Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, Ministry of Rural Development Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and Ministry of Interior (Objective and Priority Action 1.1.1).

The NPASMP, as a regulatory instrument, will indicate how to implement the national protected area policies effectively. The NPASMP is expected to be a concise document of focused and detailed set of policies for defining the overall institutional arrangements and priority strategies that are required to design, manage and financing protected areas. This includes the definition of economic development and biodiversity conservation goals that are aimed to be achieved through Protected Areas and the provision of information for developing further guidelines and sub-decrees, sustainable funding arrangements, management planning and zoning, monitoring and reporting, and the further elaboration of a set of community protected areas.

Scope of work:

• Consult with the established GDANCP Taskforce on the content and structure of the National Protected Areas Strategic Management Plan.

• Clarify objectives of the conservation, rehabilitation, prevention, suppression of illegal activities and sustainable use of natural resources and ecosystem within individual protected area (PA Law Art. 16.1), including monitoring systems; 
• Suggest recommended actions for successful achievement of the protected area objectives (PA Law Art. 16.4); 
• Suggest steps to implement management plans for priority protected areas (PA Law Art. 16.4);
• Suggest possibilities of financing Protected Area management (Payment of Ecosystem Services, REDD+, Voluntary Carbon Market, …).

• Review and collation of existing policy, regulations and plans related to protected area functions and management; 
• Review of existing sub-national approaches and practices related to PA management; 
• Review of international plans and guidelines related to PA management; 
• Collation of existing initiatives and frameworks and associated capacity building strategies related to protected area management.

• The current status of natural resources and ecosystems within each zone including flora and fauna species, genetic resources and socio-cultural aspects (PA Law Art. 16.2);
• The contribution of each protected area to achieving biodiversity and natural resources protection and conservation (PA Law Art 16.3), as well as the role of PA in rural poverty reduction and economic development;
• Increase the understanding of the role of communities and stakeholders in PA management. 

• Literature and inventory data review;
• Review the lessons learned and best practices observed at sub-national level and in as pilot projects;
• Write a summary report outlining existing approaches, practices and lessons learnt on Protected Area management including considerations on improved linkages between protected areas planning and management and other forms of land and forest management, including REDD+;
• Provide technical support and inputs to the working group developing the NPASAP.

• Development of an outline of the NPASAP with themes to be developed;
• Drafting of chapters by themes;
• Integration of feedback from stakeholders coNPASAP. nsultations and other consultations;
• Review and finalization of draft 

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

• An assessment of existing approaches to Protected Area management including a SWOT analysis;
• An assessment of current status of Protected Area management;
• A summary report outlining existing approaches, practices and lessons learnt on Protected Area management
• A first draft of the National Protected Areas Strategic Management Plan.

Institutional Arrangement:

• The Consultant will report to the UN-REDD National Programme Deputy Director and to Team Leader of the UNDP Environment and Energy Unit and will be supervised by Deputy Director General, GDANCP and the Technical Specialist, REDD+ Taskforce Secretariat on day-to-day basis;
• The Consultant will be accountable for timely and quality outputs and report monthly to the REDD+ Taskforce Secretariat on progress compared to the work plan;
• The Consultant will work in close collaboration with the national consultant and the established working group, led by GDANCP, to coordinate the development of the National Protected Areas Management Plan;
• The Consultant is furthermore expected to consult relevant stakeholders involved in Protected Areas Management. The national consultant is expected to have the necessary network and to assist the international consultant in conducting consultations with relevant stakeholders.

Duration of the Work and Duty Station:

• The duration of the work from 10th November 2013 to 30th September 2014 for a total of 90 working days.
• The duty stations for this assignment are Phnom Penh, Cambodia and home country. During the assignment the consultant is expected to be in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a total of 47 days, three times, first, for 12 days, between November 10th and November 20th, 2013, second for 20 days between March 20 to April 25th, 2014 and third for 15 days between August 15st and September 30th2014;
• The consultant will be hosted at and be allocated an office space by the GDANCP.

 Functional Competencies:

• Good analytical and communication skills, including the ability to draft and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise manner;
• Good interpersonal skills, previous exposure to cross cultural environments is an advantage; ability to work well in a team whilst also having the capacity and initiative to work independently;
• Sound knowledge of disciplines relevant to development work and climate change, with added consideration given to those with experience in protected area management and REDD+ policy-related in general.

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.

Education:

• At minimum, Master’s degree or equivalent in natural resource management or a related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience;
• Substantial and diverse experience in management of natural resources, protected areas strategies or programs.
• Prior experience of working in Cambodia is a significant asset.

Language: 

• Highly developed oral and written communications skills with excellent writing skills in English.

Important note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, wich can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=13103 for more detail about term of references, instructions to offeror, and documents to be included when submitting offer.

Documents to be included when submitting the application:

Interested offeror/individual must submit the following documents/information:

• Cover letter: Explaining why the candidate the most suitable for the work;
• Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment and Final all-inclusive price proposal with breakdown of costs as per UNDP template, which can be downloaded athttp://www.un.org.kh/undp/media/files/procurement/IC/Form%20and%20Template/Annex%202_Template%20for%20Confirmation%20of%20Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal.docx;
• UNDP Personal History Form (P11), which can be downloaded athttp://www.un.org.kh/undp/media/files/procurement/IC/Form%20and%20Template/Annex%203_P11%20modified%20for%20SCs%20and%20ICs.doc;
• Note for Interested Candidates above the age of 62: UNDP regulations require, at their own cost, to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays. Medical evaluation documentation does not need to be submitted with the other requested documents listed above, but will be requested should the candidate be chosen.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested candidate is required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system, because the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email vannara.chea@undp.org and/or procurement.kh@undp.org. While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.