Consultant to Formulate a Technical Outline and Budget Estimation Proposal for Forests Allocation, Land Allocation, Re-allocation of Forests and Forest Land to Communities

Position: An Independent Consultant to formulate a technical outline and  budget estimation proposal for forests allocation, land allocation, re-allocation of forests and forest land to communities of the USAID Vietnam Sustainable Forest Management Project, RECOFTC Viet Nam”

Sub-Activity Code: 1.2.4.2 Implement plans for forests allocation, land allocation, re-allocation from household-allocated forests to communities (including forest inventories and field demarcation)

Application deadline: 5.00 p.m. Hanoi local time, 28 March, 2022

At RECOFTC, we believe in a future where people live equitably and sustainably in and beside healthy, resilient forests. We take a long-term, landscape-based and inclusive approach to supporting local communities to secure their land and resource rights, stop deforestation, find alternative livelihoods and foster gender equity. We are the only non-profit organization of our kind in Asia and the Pacific. We have more than 30 years of experience working with people and forests and have built trusting relationships with partners at all levels. Our influence and partnerships extend from multilateral institutions to governments, private sector and local communities. Our innovations, knowledge and initiatives enable countries to foster good forest governance, mitigate and adapt to climate change, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

The USAID Vietnam Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Project (the Project) supports the Government of Vietnam to reduce carbon emissions associated with deforestation, degradation of natural forests and poor plantation management. The project implements a “Green Prosperity” approach that strengthens local communities’ ability to protect their natural resource base and reduce emissions while building a strong foundation for sustainable livelihoods and equitable economic growth.

The project works in seven provinces: Lao Cai, Son La, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Quang Nam. It focuses on five main objectives:

1. Strengthening community forest management
2. Promoting conservation-friendly enterprises
3. Improving law enforcement to tackle environmental crimes
4. Enhancing the management of production forests
5. Mobilizing domestic resources.

The Project will be implemented during the period 2020-2025 by DAI in collaboration with RECOFTC and Preferred by Nature as partners, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) as the counterpart and the Management Board of Forestry Projects (MBFP) as project owner.

RECOFTC is implementing the Project’s Objective 1 by improving and expanding community forest management in the seven target provinces, in close coordination with other partners and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Background

Land allocation associated with forest allocation and the issuance of forest land use right certificates (FLURC) to households and communities play a very important role in ensuring the forest resources and forest land tenure right of local people. This policy aims to improve living conditions and also effective of forest management, protection, development, utility of forest resources as well as to promote livelihood for households and communities who rely on forests sources, contributing to the process of forestry socialization, rural development in mountainous areas.

On 1^st of April, 2021, Vietnamese Prime Minister signed Decision No. 523/QD - TTG approving the Vietnam forestry development strategy for the period of 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050 in which one of the key objectives is completing the land allocation, forest allocation, forest lease associated with the issuance of forest land use right certificates, ensuring that all forest areas and forest land planned for forestry development must be allocated to forest owners. This objective will effectively contribute to effective management, protection and biodiversity conservation of existing forest ecosystems, minimizing the conversion of natural forest to other purposes.

To contribute to the implementation of forest and forestland allocation process and community forestry management in the target provinces, Objective 1 of the Project has coordinated with the Provincial Project Management Unit (PPMUs) of Lao Cai, Son La, and Hoa Binh Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Tri and Quang Nam to develop work plan for Fiscal Year 2022 onwards in support of land allocation, forest allocation process to communities in the targeted communities in the seven provinces.

Son La province has the largest area of ??forest land allocation (FLA) for communities and households in Vietnam. According to the report on reviewing of forest land allocation and forest allocation until 2020, Son La province has allocated 931,445.80 hectares of forest land over 61,800 forest owners. In which, 159.682.01 ha of forest has been allocated to 52,710 individual households and 501,045.17 ha of forest allocated to 3,077 communities.

Despite of this achievement of forest land allocation, the situation of forest management in the province still has many shortcomings and limitations. The current status of land and forest allocation in the province in general and in the three priority districts of Thuan Chau, Yen Chau and Moc Chau in particular still have many complicated and limited problems affecting forest management and protection, namely:

• The allocation of land and forest process in the 2001 - 2006 period was not accurate, because the FLA process applied manually and observation field survey methodology that resulted in many inaccuracies on allocated forest plots such as locations, boundary, forest type, forest area, even forest owners have not yet recognized their own allocated forest boundaries in the field.
• The forest management types for forest land use right certificates of households and communities have not yet been adjusted following the updated three forest management category planning of Son La province.
• The progress of demarcations of the three forest management types in the field is still slow. Because of a lack of capital and technical capacity, the forest owners including individuals, households and communities are not yet setting boundary markers for their own forest areas.
• The forest allocation to groups of households and village-level mass organizations village has not yet been appropriate because these entities are not currently defined as forest owners in the 2017 Forestry Law.
• Merging of community and villages leads to the changing of village and commune names, so it is necessary to update new names of the merging communities and villages on the land use right certificates.
• After many years, the allocated forests have been changed on forest stock, forest status. Encroachment process for planting agricultural crops on forest land area has been taken place for long time.

The problems mentioned above in Son La province in general in three districts in particular cause many difficulties and inadequacies in forest management and protection, payment for forest environmental services. This issue has become a barrier of economic development of natural production forests, affecting the potential of service tourism and forest environmental services in the whole province in general and three districts in particular.

Measurement and correction of cadastral maps; withdraw, re-issue and granting of forest land use right certificatesfor individuals, households and communities should be carried out  as soon as possible  to solve such problems and to improve the quality of management of forests. This is an important initial foundation towards the goal of sustainable forest management, minimizing disputes and conflicts, minimizing fragmentation, and concentrating land resources for cooperation in economic development for natural forest produced. To solve the above shortcomings and limitations, on June 3, 2021, the People's Committee of Son La province issued Decision No. 1133/QD-UBND approving the implementation of the Sustainable Forestry Development Project in the province. Son La to 2025, has developed its vision to 2three0, including a program to review and revise documents for granting certificates of forest land use rights.

In order to contribute to solving the problems of: a) land and forest allocation coupled with support to Son La province to conduct the Program on Measurement and correction of cadastral maps; b) withdraw re - issue and granting of forest land use right certificatesfor individuals, households and communities; The USAID Vietnam Sustainable Forest Management Project (the Project) is supporting the Son La PPMU to conduct an assignment on measurement and correction of cadastral maps; withdraw re - issue and granting of forest land use right certificatesfor individuals, households and communities in five communes of three districts, including: Chieng La commune, Phong Lai commune of  Thuan Chau district; Chieng Hac commune, Tu Nang commune of Yen Chau district; Tan Hop commune of Moc Chau district in Son La province.

The Project will support to  Project Management Unit of Son La province In establishing a foundation for organizing, directing and implementing support by developing a technical outline andbudget estimation on measurement and correction of cadastral maps; withdraw re - issue and granting of forest land use right certificatesfor individuals, households and communities in five communes of three districts, including: Chieng La commune, Phong Lai commune of  Thuan Chau district; Chieng Hac commune, Tu Nang commune of Yen Chau district; Tan Hop commune of  Moc Chau district in Son La province.

Objectives of the consultancy

Support the Project Management Unit of Son La province in developing a technical outline and budget estimation on measurement and correction of cadastral maps; withdraw re - issue and granting of forest land use right certificatesfor individuals, households and communities in five communes of three districts, including: Chieng La commune, Phong Lai commune of Thuan Chau district; Chieng Hac commune, Tu Nang commune of Yen Chau district; Tan Hop commune of Moc Chau district in Son La province.

The technical outline and cost estimate must be eligible for submission to the relevant authority for approval for these to work as the basis for orientating the implementation measures and correction of cadastral maps; withdraw re - issue and granting of forest land use right certificatesfor individuals, households and communities in five communes of three districts, including: Chieng La commune, Phong Lai commune of  Thuan Chau district; Chieng Hac commune, Tu Nang commune of Yen Chau district; Tan Hop commune of  Moc Chau district in Son La province.

The technical outline and cost estimate must cover three modalities of FLA as below indicated: 

• Modality 1: Measurement, correction of cadastral maps, withdraws and re - issue of LURCs for village communities, households, and individuals;
• Modality 2: Measurement and correcting cadastral maps, withdrawing and merging of the area of land and forest areas which were allocated to households, individuals, socio-political organizations, groups of households to their community forest land and issuance of LURCs for this community;
• Modality 3: Measurement, correction of cadastral maps of forest land area temporarily managed by the Commune People's Committee to issue new LURCs for village communities.

Specific Objective

• Collect input database to develop the technical outline and budget estimation;
• Propose technical measures for the following activities:
  
  • Measure and correct the cadastral map; withdraw re - issue and granting of forest land use right certificates for individuals, households and communities in five communes of three districts;
  • Review the current status of land and forest allocation to forest owners in five communes of three districts;
  • Propose plans for withdraw re - issue and granting of certificates of land use rights associated with forests;
• Prepare detailed budget estimates for each specific activity item
• Break down detailed cost estimates for each of the following modalities:
  
  • Modality 1: Measurement, correction of cadastral maps, withdraws and re - issue of LURCs for village communities, households, and individuals;
  • Modality 2: Measurement and correcting cadastral maps, withdraw and  merge  the area of  land and forest areas which were allocated to households, individuals, socio-political organizations, groups of households to the their community forest land and issue LURCs for this community;
  • Modality 3: Measurement, correction of cadastral maps of forest land area temporarily managed by the Commune People's Committee to issue new LURCs for village communities
• Estimation the counterpart expenses of Son La province applied for items not to be covered by the Project including:
  
  • Expenses for appraisal of measurement results and preparation of land allocation documents;
  • Expenses for printing certificates of land and forest use rights;
  • Other expenses.

Scope of work

Scope of location: In five communes of three districts, including: Chieng La commune, Phong Lai commune of Thuan Chau district; Chieng Hac commune, Tu Nang commune of Yen Chau district; Tan Hop commune of Moc Chau district in Son La province.

Consultants are required to do at least the following:

• Collect input database to develop the technical outline and budget estimation:
  
  • Data of natural conditions, livelihood, economy, custom and social condition of the target communes and villages;
  • Map of administrative boundaries of target communes and villages;
  • Map of land allocation associated with forest allocation of target communes and villages;
  • Map of three forest management type planning of target communes and villages;
  • Forest status map of target communes and villages;
  • Map of payment for forest environmental services of target communes and villages;
  • The cadastral registers of land allocation linked with forest allocation: cadastral books, cataloging books, books for granting certificates of land use rights, forests...
  • Decisions on land allocation linked with forest allocation in target communes and villages have been issued by competent authorities up to the time of developing the technical outline and budget estimation.
• Develop technical measures of measurement and correction, adjustment the cadastral map in the target communes and villages.
• Develop technical measures to review the current status of land and forest allocation to forest owners in target communes and villages:
  
  • Identification of subjects to withdraw LURCs: Number of forest owners, area of ??land and forests that must be withdrawn to re - issue or granting;
  • Determine the area to be measured and the plots to be measured;
  • Determine the current status of forest area, location of land and forest areas ( code of compartment, sub- compartment, plots associated with the code of cadastral plots);
  • Determine the code of plots (code of compartment, sub- compartment, plots) which need to be inventoried  to determine the current status of the forests;
  • Determine the number of plots that need to be issued LURCs, including: Issuance re - issue, granting...
• Cost estimate for implementation and detailed allocation of capital sources for each of the above-mentioned activities.
• Develop technical outline and budget estimation for all activity on measuring and correcting the cadastral map; withdraw re - issue and granting of forest land use right certificates for individuals, households and communities in five communes of three districts, including: Chieng La commune, Phong Lai commune of Thuan Chau district; Chieng Hac commune, Tu Nang commune of Yen Chau district; Tan Hop commune of Moc Chau district in Son La province:
  
  • Work with Son La Project Management Unit for preparation of consultation process with stakeholders; Synthesize consultation opinions of stakeholders to edit and finalize the technical outline and budget estimation;
  • Draft proposal, approval decision for Son La Project Management Unit to send competent authorities for approval of technical outline and budget estimation.

Level of effort, deadline and deliverables

Total of 28 person- days for an independent consultant is allocated for this assignment, starting from March to May 2020 including field trips to the Project site. The required products are listed in the table below. All final report products must be submitted and accepted by Son La PPMU and the Project. Specific products and time frames are as follows:

Qualifications and experience

Essential

The successful candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Vietnamese citizen;
• Bachelor’s degree in in land management or other related fields;
• At least 10 years of experience in the fields of cadastral mapping and surveying activities;
• Experience in design, cost estimation; development technical outlines for land allocation programs and projects associated with forest allocation or similar projects, especially those with experience in Son La province;
• Good spoken and writing skills in Vietnamese with working knowledge and skill in English;
• Demonstrate working experience and/or knowledge in the application of the processes of the Land Law, the Forestry Law and other provisions of Vietnamese law on land and forest allocation to the community;

General

At RECOFTC, our core values are the foundation of our culture and guide all our work. In addition to job specific skills and experience, the applicant should possess the following characteristics, attitudes and skills:

• Embrace innovation
• Adapt to, and learn from, challenges
• Collaborate with partners and stakeholders
• Nurture commitment, responsibility and ownership
• Prioritize sustainability
• Cultivate participation, social inclusion and gender equity

How to apply

Interested individuals are requested to submit their CV and a cover letter indicating why they are suitable for this consultancy along with the expected fee or daily rate and current contact details of three references, to [email protected]. Please quote the consultancy title in the subject line of the email. Only shortlisted individuals will be notified.

For any further information you may need about the consultancy, please contact [email protected].

To learn more about RECOFTC, please visit our website www.recoftc.org