Procurement Notices

Consultancy Title: Integrated Agricultural Land-Use Planning – Senior Technical Advisor

Project Name: Implementing a “Ridge to Reef” approach to protect biodiversity and ecosystem functions in Nauru (R2R Nauru)   

Duty Station: Nauru and Home-based

Duration of the Contract: 4 months (11th  March – 15th  August 2019)

• 50 working days (40 days in-country and 10 days home-based – travel days to be included in home-based days)

Consultancy Proposal should be mailed to C/- UNDP Fiji MCO, Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji or sent via email to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org no later than 11th March, 2019 (Fiji Time) clearly stating the title of consultancy applied for. Any proposals received after this date/time will not be accepted. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to procurement.fj@undp.org. UNDP will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants. Incomplete, late and joint proposals will not be considered and only offers for which there is further interest will be contacted. Failure to submit your application as stated as per the application submission guide (Procurement Notice) on the above link will be considered incomplete and therefore application will not be considered.

NOTE:

Proposals must  be sent to the designated email (etenderbox.pacific@undp.org) 

 Please do NOT copy or directly email applications to UNDP staff.

If the selected/successful Candidate is over 65 years of age and required to travel outside his home country; He/She will be required provide a full medical report at their expense prior to issuance to contract. Contract will only be issued when Proposed candidate is deemed medically fit to undertake the assignment.

Objectives:

The Nauru R2R project Outcome 2 focuses on the development of an integrated landscape management practices to be adopted by local communities living with the ‘bottom-side’ and applicable ‘ridge’ and ‘topside’ areas not covered by mining.

The Senior Technical Advisor will be expected to work with Division of Environment and Agriculture to develop an integrated agriculture and land use plan for Nauru R2R project sites. The plan is essential for identification, planning and monitoring of specific management activities to ensure long term sustainable use and protection of the terrestrial areas. 

The consultant through this work will contribute to achieving the following project outcome and output:

Outcome 2.1: Integrated landscape management practices adopted by local communities living within the ‘bottom-side’, and applicable ‘ridge’, and ‘topside’ areas not covered by mining.

Output 2.1.2:      Integrated agricultural land-use plans developed for the bottom-side and applicable ‘ridge’ and topside areas that are not covered by mining through review of the draft land-use plan and patterns of land ownership for the project districts/sites.

Background

Nauru is a small island state and one of the smallest independent nations in the world. It is located 41 km south of the equator at 0o32’02.5 South and 166o55’57.8 East which is in the dry belt of the equatorial oceanic zone. The one island nation is roughly 6 km by 4 km in length and width respectively covering a land area of 21 km2 and with an estimated population of 10,084 in 2011. The country has a coastline of 30 km and claims an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 309,888km2. The island is divided into 14 different districts of varying sizes and number of inhabitants which are all situated along the coast except for 1 and with a population density of over 1,500 persons per km2. Surrounding the island is a fringing coral reef ranging from 120m to 300m wide, which drops away sharply on the seaward edge to a depth of 4,000m. The central plateau which lies between 20-45 meters above sea level is comprised of a matrix of coral-limestone pinnacles and limestone outcrops between which extensive deposits of high grade phosphate rock are found.

The increasing high levels of marine resources exploitation including fishing pressure and use of unsustainable fishing practices have directly decreased resource stocks and Nauru’s inshore fisheries food security. These threats are compounded by rapid population growth which is increasing the demand for protein sources from the marine ecosystem and the impacts of climate change which is weakening the resilience of the marine ecosystem to such pressures.

To be able to manage these threats and ensure the sustainability of the fisheries and marine resources, the Locally Managed Marine Area network/framework is introduced as a remedial measure to help Nauru biodiversity rehabilitate and mitigate threats. It’s been proven to be effective system in maintaining and preserving island biodiversity and cultural heritage. The system is proposed as an initiative of the Nauru Ridge to Reef project.

The Nauru Ridge to Reef (R2R) GEF Project has been designed to develop, establish and implement a government and community partnership approach to increase knowledge for better management of natural resources and ecosystem services for the entire Island of Nauru (South Pacific) through innovative integrated land, water, biodiversity, coastal and marine management approaches thereby protecting and increasing livelihoods opportunities, food security, and enhancing climate resilience. These goals will be achieved by building Nauru’s capacity to implement a comprehensive cross sectorial regime for sustainable land, freshwater water, solid waste, coastal and marine area management and ensuring the initiatives are mainstreamed and established into all levels of decision making including government policy, laws and regulations and community plans.

This project is designed to build stronger linkages between sustainable development and management of freshwater ecosystems (e.g. ground water systems for Nauru) and coastal/marine areas and promotes the implementation of holistic, integrated management of the nation’s natural resources. The R2R Nauru Project will deliver its community outputs through the development of pilot sites located in five (5) districts of Nauru, which include; Anabar, Anibare, Ijuw, Menen and Buada (exclusive of LMMA development however support the initiative).

Scope of work/Expected Output

The Senior Technical Advisor will be required to undertake the following activities in the project document:

1. Review current information, district profile with Nauru District Community Council and local stakeholders and review the implementation of existing plans

The consultant is expected to conduct an assessment on any existing/draft land-use plans of the entire island and the status of its implementation. The assessment should also take in account any work already done on identification of key biodiversity areas, land use patterns and/or terrestrial profiling, identification of threatened areas, priorities for protection, rehabilitation to determine areas etc for any zoning management that will need to be considered into an integrated agriculture and land use plan. The assessment should also identify any gaps, strengths and weaknesses in any of the existing/draft plans. 

1. In a participatory manner, finalise an integrated Land-Use Management assessment of the entire island and a detailed plan for the 5 R2R pilot site

From the assessment, identify recommendations on specific issues to address through an integrated management approach for each district and discussed this in a participatory manner with key stakeholders. A detailed management plan for the 5 pilot sites should be compiled and discussed with the involved key communities.

At the end of the consultant period, the following should be provided to the Nauru R2R project and UNDP:

1. An assessment report on the review of existing land-use plans and its current implementation status. The report should also highlight a list of recommendations on management approaches that needs to be considered and will be incorporated into an integrated agriculture and land-use planning process
2. A detailed management plan for each district (5 districts) that will help address land use-issues and threats.  The management plan will have to be discussed with key stakeholders and endorsed for future implementation 

Resources Provided

• All in-country transport cost associated to the achieving project activities
• Office space in-county
• All meeting costs and any other project related costs

Supervision/Reporting

• To UNDP for all achieved deliverables which must be endorsed by CIE with the support of R2R PMU;

• To Nauru R2R PMU for all activities in-country and logistic support.
• Presentation to key stakeholders on delivery as advised by PMU   

Requirement for Qualifications & Experience

Education:

• Minimum  university degree in environmental or agricultural science

Work Experiences:

• More than 5 years experience in sustainable land use management planning and/or ridge to reef management approach project
• Has worked in the Pacific region or small island developing states conducting work on sustainable land use management planning and is knowledgeable of issues faced in these countries. It will more advantage if you have worked in Nauru already.    
• Experience working on UNDP-GEF project development and/or implementation focusing on land use management planning projects
• Experience working with Government and/or NGOs on similar initiate and has been able to build strong relationships

        Language requirement:

• Fluency in English with very good diplomacy and communication skills

Proposal Requirements

Technical Proposal

• Detailed CV( signed)
• Statement of how applicant meets requirement
• Methodology
• Names/Contacts of 3 referees

Financial Proposal

• An all-inclusive financial proposal to be submitted separate from Technical proposal
• This to include travel /living allowance and any other related cost to conduct this consultancy

Payment Schedule (if required):

Evaluation

• Cumulative analysis
• The proposals will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method with a split 70% technical and 30% financial scoring. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract. Applications will be evaluated technically and points are attributed based on how well the proposal meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below:
• When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract may be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
• a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• b) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
• * Technical Criteria weighting; 70%
• * Financial Criteria weighting; 30%
• Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Interviews may be conducted as part of technical assessment for shortlisted proposals.

Proposal Submission

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
• Signed detailed CV , indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
• Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II.

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on a Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Template for confirmation of interest and Submission of Financial Proposal is available under the procurement section of UNDP Fiji website (www.pacific.undp.org)

Women candidates are encouraged to apply