Scope of Work

The services of a qualified consulting firm are required to undertake spatial planning and zonation of the twelve (12) demonstration landscapes and seascapes in the Solomon Islands preliminary identified under the SAFE project. This assignment will provide essential geospatial analysis and decision-support tools to guide integrated land and marine resource management, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihood development across key economic sectors. The scope of work includes, but is not limited to, the following:

A. Spatial Mapping of Demonstration Landscapes/Seascapes:

The selected firm will collect, analyse, and map spatial data across the identified twelve landscapes and seascapes across five provinces in the Solomon Islands. The mapping shall cover biological, socio-economic, and environmental features, including the following:

a.     a) Geomorphology and terrain characteristics

b.     b) Inland and coastal water bodies (rivers, streams, estuaries, reefs)

c.     c) Land use and land cover (LULC)

d.     d) Terrestrial and marine ecosystems and habitats

e.     e) Ecosystem services (e.g., carbon storage, fisheries, watershed functions)

f.      f) Land degradation indicators

g.     g)Marine environments and biodiversity values

h.    h) Threats from invasive alien species (IAS), both existing and potential new incursions.

B.    Zonation and Prioritization for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use

Using the mapped data, the consultancy firm is expected to identify, prioritize and inform on-the-ground actions at landscape/seascape levels to support biodiversity conservation and SLM/CSA within the five main sectors (forestry, agriculture, fisheries, tourism and aquaculture). It will facilitate identification of:

a.     a) areas for conservation of biodiversity, in particular for endangered and endemic species and their habitats and their dispersal corridors, such as HCVFs and marine areas, buffer zones around PA sites and other important ecological areas (including water sources and along rivers).

b.     b) areas for sustainable community natural resources management and use, including sustainable harvesting and extraction, community-based conservation and forest management, watershed conservation and climate risk management.

c.     c) degraded areas for community forest restoration and fire management.

d.     d) degraded agricultural areas for restoration using SLM/CSA for sustainable agricultural development.

e.     e) area of seagrass and mangroves, and

f.      f) areas and activities that can promote blue/green livelihood improvement.