Consultancy for Identification of Information and Indicators of Afforestation and Planting to Integrate in the Management Information System of Forestry Sector

IDENTIFICATION OF INFORMATION AND INDICATORS OF AFFORESTATION AND PLANTING TO INTEGRATE IN THE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM OF FORESTRY SECTOR

1. Background

With the support of the Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam Project (FORMIS I, 2009-2012), the Forestry Administration of Viet Nam (VNFOREST) has built a Platform for the needs in expanding the integration demand of information system. Some applications such as Vietnam Forestry Information Portal, FPD quick reporting system, E-office have been effectively operating through this platform.

Currently, Project FORMIS II (Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Vietnam, Phase II) is supporting VNFOREST to develop an information system, which will allow different forestry agencies and stakeholders to access and share forestry related information and data, meanwhile, the FORMIS system will provide a modern information and communication technology platform (ICT) for agencies in forestry sector to integrate their own data and applications into FORMIS system, creating an effective data management mechanism for the decision making by different management levels.

Project FORMIS II will focus on achieving the following results:  

1.    Procedures, standards and mechanism to transfer information among Vietnamese agencies.
2.    FORMIS platform and tools are operational with a focus on forest covered provinces. 
3.    Forest sector data standardized and converted into FORMIS database and reporting forest performance indicators in place.
4.    Strengthened capacity for information management and collection.
5.    Information Centre of the Forestry sector/ Forest IT Unit is established and operational.

On 28 November, 1959, the Ordinance of afforestation and reforestation (A/R) was issued by President Ho Chi Minh. In memory of that event, the 28th November was chosen as Vietnam Forestry Day by Vietnamese Government on 28th November, 1995. Following the Planting Ordinance, the planting and A/R activities in Vietnam was promoted through the Tet Planting Festival (lunar new year planting campaign), which was launched by the late President Ho Chi Minh in the Spring 1960. Through this planting campaign, serveral planting and afforestation programmes and projects have been implemented in the country during the past years. The planting activities have made valuable economic effects to the people involved, and its effective contribution to the conservation of environment has also been well recognized at a large scale, through which many people are benefitting from program of Payment for Forest Environmental Service (PFES). However, the information and data on achievements of the above planting movement during the past years were not properly managed and recorded, resulted in a fragment flows of information stored in a scattered manner by different Institutions.

In order to facilitate the integration of data related to the planting achievements into the FORMIS system, Project FORMIS II is looking for a consultant team with specialized expertise in evaluation of forestry activities, particularly to the planting. The consultant team will identify the indicators of afforestation and tree planting which should be integrated in the Management Information System of Forestry sector by assessment the results from different tree planting, afforestation program, projects implemented during 1959-2013.

The consultant team will make contributions to the outputs and targets mentioned in Project FORMIS II work plans in 2015. The details of this will be as follows:

Target 4: "Other data has been integrated into FORMIS system according to actual needs” under Output 1: "Forest sector data stored in databases and accessible through standard data service", Result 3 “ Forest sector data standardized and converted into FORMIS database and reporting forest performance indicators in place”.

2. Objectives of the consultancy

The objective of the consultancy is to ensure that the results of planting and A/R will be accessible over FORMIS system.

3. Working methodologies

The consultant team will be in collaboration with PMU of Project FORMIS II and VNFOREST during conducting this consultancy. The information and data to be collected during the consultancy will be based on the reports of different programs and projects, as well as the results from the interviews with the managers, researchers, and producers through different periods at different levels from center to local. The team will consult leaders of forestry sector at different levels, who have close relation with planting and A/R. The consultant team will also conduct the field visits to a some regions, which are representatives for A/R programs such as reforestation on the bare land in North and Costal areas, the A/R activity on the arid land in South center and restoration of mangrove forest in Can Gio, Ho Chi Minh city. The consultant team will be based in Hanoi.

4. The outputs of the consultancy

The key output to be generated by the consultant team will be the report on planting and A/R achievemnts during 1959-2013, with following details:

a.Report on results of planting and A/R of Forestry Sector through period of 1959 - 2013, including economic, environment and social values.
b.Indicators identified for the planting and A/R activities.
c.Manuscript of the book on achievements of planting and A/R of Forestry Sectors during period of 1959-2013.

All those outputs will be approved by VNFOREST.

5. Tasks assigned to the consultant team

In order to achieve the above objectives, the following tasks will be conducted:

a.Go through all related documents to planting and A/R programs and projects implemented by forestry sector in the period of 1959 - 2013.
b.Conduct field surveys on planting, afforestation achievements at different locations, regions.
c.Carry out a needs assessment on the using of data of the planting and afforestation activities by various management units from Central to local levels.

6. Responsibilities and competency of the consultant team

The team will consists of two national forestry consultants

• Competency requirements
• At least MSc. in forestry
• At least 10 years experiences in forestry
• Experience in management and implementing the planting and afforestation projects, programmes.

7. Reporting requirements

The report will be prepared in English and Vietnamese. The report will be submitted to Project Director and Chief Technical Advisor within two weeks since the end of the assignment.

8. Work plan and time schedule

The detailed work plan will be prepared by the consultant team before the commencement of this consultancy. The total time for this consultancy will be 60 working days for two national consultants (each consultant will have 30 working days). The consultant team will implement this consultancy from March to May, 2015.

9. Budget pipelined for the consultancy

This will be detailed later.

10. Mandate

The consultants shall work under the supervision of the Project Director and Chief Technical Advisor of FORMIS II. They shall not have any mandate to make commitments on the behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland or the Vietnamese beneficiaries.

11. Application

Applications including a CV (in English and Vietnamese) and related degrees/ certificates should be addressed to [email protected] and to FORMIS II Office, Floor 2, West Lake Suites Building, 31 Hoang Hoa Tham, Ha Noi. Deadline for applications is 5pm, March 17th 2015.