Procurement Notices

Location: Home-based with travel to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Duration: 64 days (Over the period of 15 April 2022 to 31 March 2023) ie : Home Based – 56 Days and Port Moresby – 8Days

1. Project Background

Papua New Guinea is endowed with exceptional natural wealth. It contains more than 293 species of mammals (of which 80% are endemic), 813 bird species (more than 50% endemism) and 346 species of reptiles and 371 species of amphibians. The country comprises of the third largest tropical forest in the world, covering 280,000km2, over 2.4million km2 of ocean including over 7,000km2 of coral reefs and 4,200km2 of diverse mangrove forest.  The coral reefs are of global significance. They lie at the epicenter of the Coral Triangle. These reefs are home to over 1500 species of coral reef fish and at least 514 species of coral. Nevertheless, the IUCN Red List for PNG includes 33 critically endangered species, 56 endangered, 373 vulnerable and 289 near threatened.

The terrestrial environment underpins the country’s productive sectors and supports the livelihoods of 80% of PNG’s population who live in rural areas. The coastal and marine environment provides food security, important sources of protein, protection from coastal erosion, and livelihoods in tourism and fisheries. Furthermore, the forests as well as islands and reefs provide significant spiritual and cultural importance to the people of Papua New Guineans.

However, the country’s natural environment is under threat. Over 50% (or 140,000km2) of PNG’s forests lie within the 298 logging concessions. In coastal areas, population growth, with more than 50% under the age of 24, places increased strain on marine resources. Impacts of development activities (in coastal and upstream areas) including increased runoff and habitat fragmentation and degradation; pollution, especially related to runoff from inland mining activities and poor land management practices, and debris and sewage; and impacts of climate change on coastal erosion all pose immediate and dramatic threats to local communities and the natural environment.

Strengthening biodiversity conservation efforts will improve the country’s resilience to the impacts of climate change as well as the emerging threats. It will enhance the long-term growth of existing productive sectors, support the growth of new economic opportunity based on sustainable national resource stewardship, transforming the growth path of the country. There is a need for the natural capital wealth to be placed at the center of the country’s economic policy in order to achieve the objectives in the PNG Protected Area Policy; the Medium-term Development Plan; Vision 2050; the Sustainable Resource Strategy; the Climate Change Act; and the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority Act.

Protected areas across the country neither have sufficient nor reliable funding.  With a few notable exceptions, there is no revenue being generated by protected areas for on-the-ground conservation management. These exceptions include the Kokoda Historical Reserve and the YUS Conservation Area, but both are highly dependent on donor funding. A national assessment of the management effectiveness of the protected areas across the country noted that 83% of protected areas stated that their current budget was an issue and 91% stated that there was no budget security. This is corroborated with the data collected by UNDP which noted that 40 of a total of 59 protected areas are known not to receive any budget.

A similar lack of investment exists for climate change initiatives. A recent estimate for implementing the National REDD+ Strategy calculated that nearly US$ 100m per annum is required to deliver the strategy over the next 10 years.

The project, Sustainable Financing of Papua New Guinea’s Protected Area Network, will extend the Government of PNG’s ability to fulfil its protected area mandate and implement the Protected Area Policy to: (i) secure stable and long-term financial resources for the management of protected areas across the country; (ii) ensure that these financial resources are allocated to contribute to improving effectiveness of the management of the protected areas across the country; and (iii) ensure that they are managed cost-effectively and efficiently with respect to their conservation and other complementary development objectives. In recognition of this need, the project will assist with the development of a diversified mix of conventional and innovative funding sources and consolidate revenues to finance the ongoing costs of establishing and managing protected areas, and assist the Government to establish a Biodiversity Fund – that will be built on a secure, accountable and transparent financial mechanism, for receiving, administering and disbursing funds. The project will, therefore, result in a system that will provide catalytic and long-term financial support that will lead to stable ecosystems (both within and outside of protected areas), coupled with the social transformations to make that happen (including transforming institutions to become supporters/facilitators of that process, and the establishment of long-term partnerships).

The project has made strong progress to establish the foundations for national system-level financing solutions to support the reduction of the financing gap facing the country’s Protected Area network, namely:

• An Institutional and Regulatory Review of protected area management and financing, which identifies the key actions to strengthen the institutional responsibilities, regulatory environment and capacity needs to lead to increased financial support to protected areas. (Institutional and Regulatory Review)
• A national Protected Area Finance and Investment Plan that identified the funding gaps to the existing and future protected areas as well as well as the capacity needs (Protected Area Finance and Investment Plan)
• The establishment of an independent Biodiversity and Climate Fund to facilitate the receipt, disbursement and accounting of identified finance solutions. The process to establish the fund is ongoing and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. (PNG Biodiversity Fund)

Business plans for protected areas currently do not exist and financial management experience of communities and organisations managing Protected Areas in PNG is very limited. This creates a barrier to attracting and managing financial resources for protected area management and community livelihoods. Therefore, a capacity building programme is required to provide greater business planning and financial management support to both the managers of Protected Areas as well as their support organisations in PNG.

2. Objective

The project requires the services of an individual consultant to provide training and mentoring on business planning, proposal writing and financial management for communities and organisations that manage Protected Areas in PNG as well as support organisations. The initial training will take place during the second week of the national Protected Area Forum, scheduled between 30 May and 10 June 2022 in Port Moresby. It is anticipated that this training will be delivered during the second week. Follow-up training will be provided at the start of 2023.

In order to achieve the objectives of the consultancy, it is expected that the business planning and financial management training will include but not be limited to the following topics:

Business planning for Protected Areas

• What is a business plan and how does it differ from a management plan?
• Why is business planning important?
• What is the purpose of the plan?
• How can the business plan be used?
• The components of business plans
• Elements of strong and weak business plans with examples
• Description of the PA, ecosystem services and contribution
• Market analysis (market trends, competitor and visitor analysis)
• Management and organizational structure
• Developing a financial plan
• Locally-generated financing mechanisms
• Prioritising financing mechanisms
• Demonstrating impact to strengthen government budget support

Financial management for Protected Areas

• Importance of demonstrating financial management, good governance and transparency
• Financial procedures required to assist CBOs/NGOs in PNG
• Financial governance, detecting and combatting corruption
• Long-term financial forecasting
• Developing an annual budget
• Bank account management including how to access to digital and microbanks options
• Procurement and purchasing process
• Accounting and reporting for financial expenditure; maintaining a book of accounts
• Maintaining an asset inventory

Grant writing

• Understanding the granting process
• The components of developing a grant proposal
• Developing a problem statement and theory of change
• Stating goals, objectives and formulating indicators
• Communicating impact

The exact topics and format of presentations will be agreed with UNDP and CEPA in advance. The UNDP Chief Technical Advisor will support the consultant by providing global examples of good practice in business planning and financial management for Protected Areas. It is expected that the consultant will liaise closely with the CTA on the development and delivery of the training materials.

3. Scope of consultancy

The main tasks of the assignment include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Participate in an inception meeting with UNDP and CEPA to clarify the objectives of the consultancy, methodological approach, tasks, deadlines and logistical schedule. The results of the meeting should be captured in an inception report, which should be formally approved by UNDP and CEPA before proceeding. (2 Days)
2. Review the Institutional and Regulatory Review and Protected Area Finance and Investment Plan as well as conduct interviews with UNDP and CEPA to document capacity building needs for business planning and financial management training for Protected Areas. (3 Days)
3. Review the manuals Financial Planning for National Systems of Protected Areas: Guidelines and Early Lessons, and the IUCN Financing Protected Areas Guidelines for Protected Area Managers. These will be provided by the project’s CTA and provide important background literature to help structure the components of the training. The CTA will also provide presentations of previous business plan training provided to Protected Area systems. (5 Days)
4. Conduct an online survey with PNG conservation stakeholders of topics to be addressed during the business planning, grant writing and financial management trainings. The dissemination of the survey will be supported by the project team. (3 Days)
5. Develop a detailed agenda, outline training approach, structure of breakout sessions and resource requirements. (2 Days)
6. Develop presentations and workshops exercises that focus on business planning, grant writing and financial management for Protected Areas, incorporated the capacity needs identified in Tasks 2 and 4. The training materials will be developed in coordination with the UNDP Chief Technical Advisor who will provide examples and templates of business plans. The consultant will be expected to use specific practical examples from protected areas that are relevant to the PNG context. (15 Days)
7. Deliver a four-day training at the Protected Area Forum on business planning (2 Days), grant-writing (1 Day) and financial management (1 Day) to an audience of up to 150 participants. Stakeholders will consist of Protected Area Managers, Non-Governmental Organisations as well as Government Organisations responsible for Protected Areas. The training will be delivered in both English and Tok Pisin depending on the needs of the audience. (Total 4 Days)
8. Deliver a summary report of the training (a maximum of 20 pages), the presentations and the documenting the results of the evaluation reports completed by participants before and after the training, identified areas for future support. (3 Days)
9. Based on the results and feedback from the training, develop a guideline to business planning for protected areas in PNG. This should utilise existing best practice guidelines provided but tailored to the PNG context and the needs of local stakeholders. (15 Days)
10. Prepare and conduct a four-day follow-up training for selected grantees in Port Moresby on further business planning, financial management and reporting training. (10 Days)
11. Deliver a summary report based on results of the follow-up training. (2 Days)

4. Key deliverable and schedule of payment

5. Institutional Arrangements

The work will be undertaken for 64 days over a period between 15 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 by the consultant. The consultant will discuss and closely coordinate the scope of work with the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) and UNDP at each stage of the consultancy.

6. Resources Provided

UNDP will be responsible for organising and financing the training along with the invitation of stakeholders, as well as any workshop materials required. The consultant will be responsible for their international travel to and from Port Moresby, accommodation in Port Moresby, subsistence allowance and visas. CEPA will approve the agenda provided by the consultant.

7. Duration of the Assignment

The duration of the assignment is 64 days over a period between 15 April 2022 and 31 March 2023. In accordance with expected outputs and deliverables, the consultant submits reports to UNDP Chief Technical Advisor for review outputs, comments as well as certify approval/acceptance of works afterwards.  In case of any delays to achieve the expected outputs, the consultant should notify the Chief Technical Advisor in advance to take necessary steps.

8. Duty Station

The duty station for this assignment is home-based with travel to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, for the delivery of training workshops.

9. Qualifications and Experiences

A minimum level of expertise and qualifications of the consultant should be as follows:

• At least a Bachelor’s degree in business development, economic development, financial management or related qualification;
• At least 10 years experience on business planning and financial management in a conservation context.
• Demonstratable experience working with government and CBOs/NGOs on financial management at a leadership level.
• Experience in the Asia Pacific region. Specific experience and understanding of the financial requirements in Papua New Guinea would be highly desirable.

Competencies

• Ability to work independently and to deliver high quality programs with minimal supervision
• Excellent written and spoken English.

10. 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.

Documents to be included when submitting Consultancy Proposals

The following documents may be requested:

1. Duly executed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. P11 form using the template provided by UNDP which indicates all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) with at least three (3) professional references;
3. A technical proposal outlining the proposed methodology and approach for completing all the tasks outlined in the TOR.
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must stipulate that arrangement at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

11. Lump-sum contracts

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump-sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in instalments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump-sum amount (including travel, living expenses, and number of anticipated working days). 

12. Travel 

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel, applicable visa fees, accommodation, per diems, as well as any other foreseen costs.  The consultant will only be required to travel to Port Moresby under this contract. In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket; should the IC wish to travel on a higher class, they should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging, and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

13. Submission Instructions

Completed proposals should be submitted to procurement.png@undp.org , no later than 4 April 2022. For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to procurement.pg@undp.org 

Please be guided by the instructions provided in this document above while preparing your submission.

Incomplete proposals and failure to comply with proposal submission instructions will not be considered or will result in disqualification of proposal.

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to UNDP on procurement.pg@undp.org.