The United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and in collaboration with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) Liberia will implement a four -year project) titled “Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management” funded by the Swedish Embassy. Even though Liberia has an estimated forest cover of 6.6 million ha, with enormous biodiversity, there are threats and challenges affecting these forests such as the heavy reliance of local people on natural forests for fuelwood and timber among others. Efforts to mitigate this situation are impeded by inadequate livelihood opportunities and economic incentives for the forest communities, weak institutional capacity and application of the regulatory framework for mainstreaming biodiversity conservation in Community Forest Management (CFM) planning and) limited information on the existing state of biodiversity in community forests, whereas the effective planning and management of these areas require proper resource appraisals and biodiversity assessments and limited participation of forest-dependent/forest fringe communities in Protected Areas (PAs) management. The main components of the project include: I. Enabling policy, governance framework and institutional capacity for CFM. II. Promote effective community-based management of PAs and INRM in the target landscapes. III. Create and strengthen resilient, low-emission land management, equitable, non-timber forest product smallholder value chains through sustainable business development of forest and farm producers, and their organizations (e.g., cooperatives); and IV. Knowledge management, communication and awareness, gender mainstreaming, and monitoring & evaluation. The main target group will be inhabitants of communities on the fringe of the forests, with selection criteria considering social factors, like age, gender, religion, ethnicity, physical (dis) ability. With emphasis on community forests, the South-eastern and North-western landscape will be prioritized (Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Sinoe and Rivercess). The Project will be implemented in close collaboration with a range of stakeholders including communities (especially the people living in their fringes of forests and protected areas), the private sector, NGOs/CSOs, Government, Farmer producer organizations and cooperatives among others . Through this strategy, it is hoped that there will be increased economic engagement of youth, women and persons with disabilities and sustainable utilization of local environment and forest resources to achieve economic and conservation outcomes. This approach will leverage the expertise and support of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), private sector, forest, and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) in the implementation of the project. Based on this background, UNDP wants to source the services of a competent local Consultant to conduct a needs assessment. It is expected that the consultancy work will be done through intensive consultations with various stakeholders from the community, CSOs/NOGs private sector and the FDA. The study will be done by a consultant with support from UNDP/FAO and FDA. |
