Scope of Work The National Sustainable Land Management specialist (NSLMS) for Yap and Chuuk will lead the technical information gathering on land degradation (LD), sustainable land management (SLM) and biodiversity mainstreaming and prepare relevant project Annexes for completion of the Project Document ensuring adherence of project development to UNDP’s SESP and specific requirements, as appropriate. The consultant will be an environmental expert with hands-on experience in SLM and biodiversity mainstreaming. S/he will work in close coordination with his/her counterpart for Pohnpei and Kosrae, and both will report directly to the International SLM Specialist (and all other members of the PPG team). Under the overall coordination of the PPG team Leader, the consultant will participate in and support the entire PPG process, information gathering, field visits, project development and the preparation of the ProDoc/GEF CEO Endorsement Request package. The consultant will facilitate key stakeholder meetings, working closely with UNDP. Expected Outputs and Deliverables The consultant will prepare a detailed work plan, including inputs from the international SLM specialist to be signed-off by the PPG Team leader. And will work closely with the international specialist to: - Preparatory Technical Studies and Reviews (Component A): Prepare inputs and support the required analyses/studies, including:
- Review the PIF and SESP pre-screening of the PIF, participate in the PPG inception and validation workshops, visits to the demonstration landscapes and related meetings
- With support of the International SLM specialist, through extensive consultations, desk review and information gathering, collect the required information to assess the state, national and Pacific-level (regional activities) baseline for land degradation and SLM from both the agriculture and infrastructure sectors, including:
- Overview of current status of land degradation in each state with assessment of risk to ecosystems, ecosystem services, biodiversity and livelihoods
- Policy, legislation and standards, particularly in the agriculture and infrastructure sectors
- Strategies, programmes and plans for addressing SLM/LDN, including land use plans
- Technical guidelines, handbooks and tools for promoting SLM
- SLM Stakeholder analysis including horizontal (inter-sectoral) and vertical coordination mechanisms
- Review of existing state and national-level mechanisms and protocols for monitoring land degradation, information/knowledge sharing, including nationally and across the Pacific and with other SIDS
- Assess needs of the GIS Units of DECEM, FSM R&D and of each state to support SLM and LDN including needs for recent satellite imagery and drones
- Existing financing strategies (incentives) for SLM (including small grant mechanisms) in FSM and in SIDS contexts
- Current and pipeline donor funded projects for SLM (tabulate)
- Existing best practice techniques to prevent, control and manage land degradation and promote SLM
- Participate in field missions to each demonstration landscape to confirm their selection and delineation (against agreed criteria), based on detailed assessment, delineation and consultations with local communities. Gather the necessary information to prepare a Landscape Profile Report, including:
- Provide a detailed assessment of the SLM/LDN baseline (stakeholders, land tenure and use, current farming and infrastructure practices, LDN indicators)
- Describe and map the current status and impacts of land degradation in each demonstration landscape from both the agriculture and infrastructure sectors (including threats analysis to ecosystem services and biodiversity and role of climate change)
- In collaboration with local communities and stakeholders, co-identify and design priorities, management approaches, climate smart interventions and partnerships to improve the SLM/LDN baseline during project implementation, including incentives and disincentives for communities to transition to more sustainable land management and livelihoods.
- Collect the required information for the International SLM specialist to complete the GEF Core indicators including the FAO EXACT tracking tool allowing detailing of project potential impact due to avoided soil degradation in agricultural lands or potential forest loss avoidance
- Use the adapted UNDP Capacity Development Scorecard to conduct a capacity and core functional assessment of the state and national government departments and extension services concerned with SLM including gaps in hardware or software. Use the findings to prepare a prioritised capacity building plan.
- Confirm and update co-financing commitments made at PIF stage and collect co-financing letters. Assess and secure private sector engagement (agriculture and infrastructure sectors) and co-financing in project activities at state, landscape and national levels – ensuring that partnerships are compliant with UNDP’s private sector partnerships policy. Explore the option of utilizing Land Grant funds of the College of Micronesia Cooperative Research & Extension (CRE) programme as match-funding.
- Support the National Livelihoods, Safeguards, and Engagement Specialist in the identification of social and environmental risks and mitigation measures and the completion of the UNDP Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP) and the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) in particular with relation to: risks associated with all private sector engagement; risks from measures to reduce or reverse land degradation including creation of hazardous waste or causing environmental pollution; current and any possible new negative environmental impacts arising from the project, particularly relating to the demonstration landscapes and to proposed SLM and livelihoods enhancement measures, including policy and legislative changes; risks to sites, structures, or objects with historical, cultural, artistic, traditional or religious values or intangible forms of culture
- Support the completion of any additional studies that are determined to be needed for the preparation of the ProDoc and all other final outputs as guided by the PPG Team Leader.
- Formulation of the ProDoc, CEO Endorsement Request and Mandatory Annexes as well as project specific annexes (Component B):
- Provide a summary report on Land Degradation and SLM for completion by the International SLM specialist detailing the findings of the preparatory consultations, technical studies and assessments detailed above, including the following information: i) root causes, sources (particularly in the agriculture and infrastructure sectors) and effects of land degradation; ii) barriers to addressing land degradation; iii) policies, legislation, regulations and standards for addressing land degradation (national and for each state); iv) stakeholders for land degradation; v) baseline initiatives (government and project funded – with financial investments) towards sustainable land management and achieving LDN; vi) list of specific project climate-smart interventions to advance the SLM/LDN baseline in accordance with PIF targets, GEF/STAP guidelines and best practices and according to each relevant indicative Output already identified in the PIF for incorporation into the ProDoc (each intervention to be costed with adequate detail for budgeting, and with delivery mechanisms including relevant TORs); vii) Ensure that no non-native species will be used for SLM, re-forestation or for livelihoods development; viii) include sustainable financing mechanisms (including small grant mechanisms in full compliance with UNDP's low value grant policy). Work closely with the PPG Team Leader to ensure findings are meaningfully integrated into the project’s strategy, theory of change, results framework and budget, and to ensure that all proposed SLM/LDN project activities are eligible for funding based on the requirements and approach of the GEF-7 strategy
- Complete the UNDP Capacity Development Scorecard for SLM/LDN and propose a capacity development plan for implementation by the project.
- Provide sections for the Profile report on the demonstration landscapes, including: i) Landscape selection and delineation process; ii) Geographical context; iii) Stakeholder analysis and administrative arrangements; iv) Demographic and socio-economic overview and community profile (provided by the NLSES); v) Environmental baseline including mapping/quantifying habitats and presence of key species, protected areas/KBAs, values and threats (tabulate); vi) Land use and land degradation baseline and the proposed areas for sustainable land management and restoration; vii) Proposed project interventions; viii) Current and previous related projects in the area.
- Prepare inputs for the FAO EXACT Tracking tool in the demonstration landscapes
- Contribute to the following technical Annexes to the Prodoc, with support of other PPG consultants: Multi-year work plan, Monitoring Plan, Overview of technical consultancies / service contracts.
- Contribute to the preparation of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan, SESP and ESMF, based on assessments undertaken during Component A and detailed development of project interventions, and identify management measures to mitigate risks to be incorporated into the ProDoc, with appropriate budget
- Contribute to the drafting of the ProDoc, CEO Doc and related annexes as requested by the PPG Team leader
- Validation Workshop (Component C):
- Contribute to the validation workshop; and
- Support all necessary revisions that arise during the workshop, as appropriate.
Institutional Arrangement - The assignment will be carried out under the close guidance of the Regional Technical Specialist – Ecosystem and Biodiversity, Asia Pacific based in the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and the programme team (RSD Team Leader, Deputy Team Leader and Programme Analyst) at the UNDP Fiji Multi Country Office.
- The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk will work closely with the PPG team (the SLM and SESP specialists), the central FSM Government focal point and the respective 4 States focal points.
- The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk is expected to produce all of the above stated deliverables during and upon the successful completion of activities according to the agreed schedules.
- The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk is expected to provide his/her own computer.
Duration of the Work - The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk consultancy is for 55 days (11 weeks) commencing no later than 24 June 2022 and completion no later than 30 April 2023. The consultancy may extend depending on the collective recommendations of the Fiji MCO and the RTA in BRH.
- The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk shall be engaged to undertake the consultancy working concurrently according to a planned schedule to be completed by the latest 30 April 2023.
- The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk is expected to propose a work plan and timelines to achieve the expected outputs
Duty Station - The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk will be home based;
- The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk is expected to use her/his laptop computer, loaded with the appropriate computer software for the work required and;
- The National SLM Specialist for Yap and Chuuk will be required to report via Zoom (or a similar virtual platform) followed up with an email summarizing the update call, at least once a week with the Fiji MCO and RTA in BRH.
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