| Overview : National Consultant - Marine Protected Area Expert For The Preparation Of The Project Document A Ridge-To-Reef Approach For The Integrated Management Of Marine, Coastal And Terrestrial Ecosystems In The Seychelles (IC) Context and background A project proposal concept has recently been approved by the GEF for an allocation of USD $3.9 million for the implementation of a project to support the Government of Seychelles in a Ridge-to-Reef project focusing on managing land-based threats to coastal and marine ecosystems. The project will undertake a comprehensive Ridge to Reef[1] (R2R) approach that addresses the ‘whole island’ priorities of improved management and conservation of upland forest and agricultural ecosystems as well as coastal and marine ecosystems in the Seychelles to produce global benefits in terms of conservation of globally significant biodiversity and the effective management of the large marine ecosystems (including coastal and near-shore marine ecosystems), and to arrest and reverse ecosystem degradation. This approach acknowledges and actively incorporates the issues of scale, proximity and interconnectedness of environmental systems on SIDS, and utilises the multi-focal area approach to provide ‘joined up’ solutions for sustainable development. By addressing a range of terrestrial threats to the marine environment, including flows of pollutants, nutrients and sediment, disrupted hydrological services, degradation of critical habitat, etc. that have significant negative impacts on important coastal/marine ecosystems including wetlands, mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs, the project will simultaneously improve the management of the terrestrial landscape, improve the effectiveness of integrated coastal management practices and secure the integrity of existing and new marine protected areas in the Seychelles, which are vital components of, and effective management tools to conserve, the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems. At the policy and strategic level, the project will unite the three most important spatial and resource planning processes in the country (which provide the baseline to this project), namely the Marine Spatial Plan (for the seascape), the Seychelles Strategic Plan (for the landscape, most notably the ‘Green Spine’ on Mahé and other upland forest areas in the Inner Islands), and the Land Use Plans (which embrace integrated coastal management principles and act as the most suitable vehicle to engage District Authorities and local communities in the implementation of these strategic plans). The project will build on these baseline activities by providing strategic incremental funding to implement priority actions in each of the plans. [1] The ‘ridge-to-reef’ approach is promoted by the GEF globally, most notably in the Pacific SIDS through the GEF-5 multi-agency, multi-focal area Program titled ‘Ridge-to-Reef’ (UNDP as the lead IA with FAO and UNEP participating as co-IAs). The GEF continues to promote the same approach in GEF-6, as outlined in GEF-6 IW Program 4 (paragraph 53 of the GEF-6 Strategy). Scope of Work The project context shifted since the PIF stage in that the coral reefs around Seychelles were subjected to a severe bleaching episode in early 2016. The ‘reef’ part of the R2R project will now focus on addressing land based threats that will reduce impacts on reefs in the sense of their ability to recover from the bleaching, or to reduce threats to the most resilient reefs that may have survived the bleaching to some degree. The MPA element of the project remains focused on increasing capacity for MPA management and extending the protected areas through the development of Temporary Protected Areas (TPAs) as supported under the up-coming ‘Nature Reserves and Conservancy Act’. Deadline Submission of Proposal: 10th April 2018 to the email address jobs.mu@undp.org |
