Consultants to review, assess forest land allocation and propose solutions to promote forest land allocation to communities in Quang Tri and Quang Nam provinces

INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT SCOPE OF WORK

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A. RECOFTC ORGANIZATION AND VALUES

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.

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

B. PROJECT BACKGROUND

The USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project (the Project) will work with the Government of Vietnam (GVN) to reduce carbon emissions associated with deforestation, the degradation of natural forests, and poor plantation management. The Project will implement 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 will work in seven provinces (Lao Cai, Son La, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Quang Nam) and focus on five objectives:

1. Improve and expand community forest management
2. Increase conservation-friendly enterprises in forest-dependent communities
3. Increase functionality of law enforcement system for forest crimes
4. Improve production forest management practices
5. Mobilize domestic resources for forest management and protection

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.

C. DESCRIPTION OF CONSULTANCY SERVICE:

1. Background

In recent years, the active participation of communities living near forests in forest management and protection is increasingly recognized as an important factor for effective maintenance of forest resources. The communities have participated in forest management and protection in various ways. There are four main types of participation including i) traditional community forest, ii) community forest management, iii) households group managing forest land and iv) individual households whose allocated forests but cooperate with one another in the management and protection of forests as a group of households.

Forest land allocation to communities, households, and individuals is one of the Government’s policies to promote the rights to use forests and forestry land of non-state actors since the early 1990s. This is an important premise to promote and expand community forest management in Vietnam. This process is applied in accordance with the Land Law and the Law on Forestry through the implementation of a series of forestry programs and projects by the Government and international donors. By the end of 2021, the communities manage 989,827 ha, equivalent to nearly 7% of the forest area nationwide. There are still over 3.3 million ha of forestry land currently being temporarily managed by Commune People’s Committees for management in the whole country.

Currently, in Quang Tri and Quang Nam provinces, the number of communities allocated with forest land is still very limited. In Quang Nam province, only 13,153 ha out of a total of 680,250 ha of forested land have been allocated to 34 communities, equivalent to 2.66% of forested land; these forest areas were allocated under some projects such as the Greater Mekong Sub-region Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Project (BCC) in period 2011-2020; the Protection and Sustainable Inclusive Management of Forest Ecosystems in Quang Nam, Kon Tum and Gia Lai province (KfW10) in the period 2018-2020. Up to 239,753ha of forest in the province is temporarily managed by the Commune People's Committees, however in reality, communities are still responsible for protecting this forest area. In Quang Tri province, 14,438ha of forests have been allocated to communities and nearly 40,000 ha (out of 245,996 ha forest of the province) are temporarily managed by the People's Committees.

In order to assess the current status of FA/FLA, especially to communities, as a basis for proposing solutions to promote FA/FLA to communities; RECOFTC Vietnam invites candidates to apply in a team of (02) consultants to review and assess FA/FLA and propose solutions to promote FA/FLA to communities in two provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Nam.

This activity is expected to contribute directly to the main indicators: Indicator 2: Number of institutions with improved capacity to address sustainable landscape issue; Indicator 3: Number of laws, policies, regulations, or standards addressing sustainable landscapes formally proposed, adopted, or implemented; (among 11 MEL indicators of the Project)

2. Purpose of the consultancy assignment

Assess the current status of provincial policies on FA/FLA as well as the results of FA/FLA to communities, households and individuals; propose solutions to promote FA/FLA to communities in Quang Tri and Quang Nam provinces

3. Expected results

• Report on assessment of FA/FLA.
• Report on results of consultancy activities in two provinces.

4. Location:

In two provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Nam.

5. Tasks

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the consultants shall carry out the following tasks:

• Collect documents, prepare technical contents, consultation and implementation plan and agree with the Project and Quang Tri and Quang Nam PPMUs, including:
  
  • Collect provincial policies on FA/FLA, documents of programs and projects on FA/FLA, including maps of FA/FLA /payment for forest environmental services of Quang Tri and Quang Nam provinces 
  • Develop the templates for information collection and interview with stakeholders
  • Develop the report outline.
• Field survey and assessment
  
  • Conduct surveys, collect information, discuss with stakeholders: Provincial FPDs, Forest Protection and Development Fund, PPMUs, Departments of Natural Resources and Environment, District FPDs, Protection Forest Management Boards, commune PCs, communities allocated with forest land;
  • Review, compare the information on the maps of FA/FLA /payment for forest environmental services to determine the overlapped areas in some selected communities;
  • Assess the situation of forest and forestland management and use and benefits from the allocated forest by the communities after being allocated with forest land;
  • Findings, shortcomings in FA/FLA, post-allocation management of forest land; recommendations.
• Develop the report: Based on the results of information collection, field survey and assessment, develop the report on assessment of forest land allocation, the current situation of post-allocation management, protection, and use of forest and forestland by the communities, overlapped areas and propose solutions and recommendations to promote forest land allocation to communities for each province.
• Present at the provincial workshops: The consultants shall prepare the contents and present the report on assessment of FA/FLA as well as facilitate discussions, consult to get comments on the contents of the provincial workshop report (01 workshop for each province/01 workshop for 02 provinces, invite the provinces and the central PMU to participate).
• Receive the comments from the workshops, finalize the assessment report.

6. Level of Effort (LOE) and Deliverables 

The time for this assignment in two provinces is 48 man-days, expected to start from January 2023, submit the final report in April 2023. Details are in the table below

8. Qualifications

In order to carry out the tasks, the consultants need to meet the following requirements:

• Being Vietnamese;
• Engineer/bachelor's degree or higher in forestry, natural resources and environment or professions related to forest land allocation;
• Minimum of 10 years of experience working in forestry or natural resources and environment sectors or professions related to forest land allocation;
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of community forest management, forest land allocation, especially in Quang Tri and/or Quang Nam;
• Experience working with communities, officials and agencies at all levels, especially in Quang Tri and/or Quang Nam;;
• Experience and skills in making presentations and facilitating discussion;
• Experience and skills in report writing; ability to use English at work is an advantage.

9. How to apply and requested documents

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