Group of Consultant on Conservation Assessment and Biodiversity Training

Netherland Development Organization is seeking for a Group of Consultant on Conservation Assessment and Biodiversity Training, Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, Nghe An Province.

The USAID Vietnam Forest and Deltas Program is embarking upon a five-year effort that will support four provinces to accelerate their transition to climate resilient, low emissions development through investments in reducing net emissions from forests, and enhancing resiliency of people, places, and livelihoods in the delta regions to short and long-term climate impacts. In collaboration with MARD, the Program will support sustainable forests management and strategies to increase sustainability and climate change resilience, improve livelihoods, and reduced pressure upon forest ecosystems, or to manage them in a more equitable and sustainable manner. Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces are both recognised as internationally important for biodiversity conservation, falling under WWF’s Greater Annamite Ecoregion, Conservation International’s Indo-China Biodiversity Hotspot, and recognised by Birdlife International as of importance for North Indochina Limestone Forest Area.  Within Nghe An Province the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve was established officially as a nature reserve in 2014, (after some years as a proposed Nature Reserve).

The Reserve is going through an initial phase of management planning, capacity building, community engagement and conservation planning. In order to support this the VFD will assist the Reserve to undertake a high conservation value assessment of the reserve and surrounding communes in order to help with management planning. The assessment will form a field-based survey and through participatory field mapping exercises in order to determine threats, causes of deforestation and degradation, traditional community use patterns, cultural and spirit forest, and conservation priorities. The latter will focus on community mapping of key high conservation values, threats and community use. Conservation values will focus on community based interviews with key informants and mapping, a range of flagship species and habitats will be determined, which may include identification of areas supporting key flagship or important species that can be assessed through community mapping exercises such as areas supporting Fokenia, gibbons or priority ecosystems (eg. Least disturbed / isolated forests)

The assignment is to analyse the causes of deforestation and undertake a conservation assessment on Pu Hoat Nature Reserve and surrounding areas through undertaking the following tasks:

• To undertake an assessment of causes of deforestation and forest degradation and identify areas of community use through community mapping exercises
• To develop a methodology for assessment of conservation priorities
• To undertake capacity building for forest rangers
• To undertake a conservation assessment of threats, drivers, high value conservation priorities, community use, spirit forest and to undertake a zonation of key management zones
• To make management and designation recommendations for next steps
• To prepare and conduct presentations of findings and recommendations for provincial and district groups
• To organise and lead a study tour to Nature Reserves / National Parks in Vietnam

You are requested to submit, in English, a proposal to undertake tasks related to the Conservation Assessment Pu Hoat Nature Reserve as per this ToR, which should include a proposed work plan and schedule of activities.

The consultants may, at his/her own discretion engage some team members to work with him/her to deliver the final product. In this case, the consultant will:

• Remain fully and solely responsible for and accountable to the Vietnam Forest and Deltas office for the timeliness and quality of all the outputs delivered;
• Submit a technical proposal including the CVs of the consultant and his/her selected team members indicating their experience and track record in similar undertakings;
• Submit a financial offer with an inclusive price required to deliver the final product(s).

Your offer, comprising a technical proposal and financial proposal, should reach the following address no later than 17:00 Hanoi time, 20th Jul month 2014:

Submission to: Nguyen Thu Phuong, email: [email protected]