Consultancy for Piloting Participatory Forest Land and Forest Allocation

Consultancy for Piloting Participatory Forest Land and Forest Allocation in Trung Ly Commune, Muong Lat District, Thanh Hoa Province

1. BACKGROUND

The Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program sponsored by USAID, approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and assigned the Management Board of forestry projects as the project owner. VFD Program is implemented within 5 years, from 2012 to 2017, by Winrock International, Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), American Red Cross Organization, Vietnam Red Cross Organization and Sustainable Rural Development. VFD Program is a 5-year effort which will support four provinces to accelerate their transition to climate change, 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.

2. OBJECTIVES

The VFD Program will support Thanh Hoa province (Trung Ly commune, Muong Lat district) to implement a pilot on participatory forest land and forest allocation. The aim of the pilot is: (1) to implement forest allocation associated with forest land allocation to households, individuals and communities at 2-3 piloting villages in Trung Ly commune with the potential area of around 1,500 ha to gain lessons and propose a suitable process for Muong Lat DPC expanding and (2) enhance the capacity of officers at district and commune level in building a plan and implement participatory forest land allocation.

The work will be conducted in conjunction with provincial stakeholders, and with co-funding from Muong Lat District. The consultancy needs to work with VFD Program (VFD Management Board at all levels, VFD Hanoi), local government and other stakeholders to complete forest allocation dossiers on allocated area, associated with granting certificates of production forest owner on the basis of applying participatory land allocation methodologies to ensure the participation of residents, communities and stakeholders. Based on the outcome of piloting participatory forest land and forest allocation of the Program, the service provider will identify the lessons learned and appropriate methodologies to complete new forest land allocation activities to develop a pilot model which can be up-scaled by Muong Lat DPC under existing government programs. The implementation process needs to include social issues which can be affected by land using plan, such as involvement of poor landless households and gender equality.

3. THE KEY DUTIES OF CONSULTANTS

a) The consultants are requested to implement following duties:

• Work with VFD (VFD CPMU, VFD Hanoi, VFD Management Board in Thanh Hoa province), Muong Lat DPC and Trung Ly CPC to unify content, timeline and the implementation progress;
• Coordinate with Muong Lat DPC and Trung Ly CPC to build a plan, implementation progress (includes: prepare, organize meetings, survey forest resources, compile dossiers and procedures for forest land and forest allocation to households, individuals and communities; print and handover output documents) of forest allocation associated with forest land allocation to households, individuals and communities for pilot villages;
• Review and finalize the plan of forest land allocation for the piloting area (on the basis of forest land allocation plan for Trung Ly commune agreed by the Program and the District)
• Organize trainings and deliver to related officers (at district, commune and village level) about methodology, and implement forest land allocation associated with forest allocation, following the process in accordance with the current guidelines of the State and the principles of piloting participatory forest land and forest allocation agreed by the Program and Muong Lat DPC.
• Prepare and complete FLA dossiers, prepare for local government to submit to DPC and competent level for evaluation and approval on FLA dossiers; and allocate forests to households, individuals and communities after receiving forest land allocation Decision of DPC.

b) Technical requirements

• Implement forest land allocation associated with forest allocation to management components, ensure the accuracy, equity, democracy, and follow prescribed principles and process, ensure rights and legal benefits of forest owners in accordance with the current law.
• Be responsible for guiding technique to the related district and Trung Ly commune officers (Agriculture Division, Natural Resources and Environment Division, FPU, Socio-Economic Development Steering Committee in Muong Lat district, commune officers, etc.) about policy, process and methodology to arrange and implement land allocation, how to use tools (GPS, measuring equipment, etc.) to deploy in the field and analyse data to determine the boundaries, land area and mapping.
• The forest investigation process has to have the participation of CPC and related households. The result of forest resources investigation, evaluation on developing potential and exploitation of forest products which are non-timber have to be shown on maps of forest status with attached detailed chart.
• Map using in FLA dossiers must ensure scale, reference frame and background in accordance with the provision of Ministry of Resource and Environment in term of forest land allocation.
• The result obtained has to be detailed, ensured quality and in accordance with current regulations, then the People’s Committee will process to grant land use certificates and decide to allocate forest to households, individuals and communities.

c) Implementation

In the implementation process, the consultant has to work closely with CPMU, PPMU, VFD Hanoi and follow the Dispatch No. 2062/DALN-VFD dated 14/11/2014 on coordination mechanism.

4. EXPECTED OUPUT AND PRODUCTS

• Inception report on methodology, schedule of the main steps which will be implemented in the consulting process and timetable (within 5 days, consultants will unify to implement).
• Build a detailed plan to arrange and implement forest land and forest allocation in piloting area and submit to DPC for approval (before implementing forest land allocation)
• Approximately 1,500 ha of forest land and forest in 2-3 piloting villages is allocated completely, attaching with sufficient information, data and output map for each owner (household groups, communities and State forest owners, etc.)
• Report on result of land allocation (in both English and Vietnamese), including implemented works, result, lessons learned and a recommendation of participatory forest land allocation process (based on lessons learned and implemented works). Products of the consultant have to be checked and evaluated the quality by stakeholders from Central to local. The final result has to be checked and approved in written by PPMU before contract liquidating.
• Organize trainings, workshops and field trips supported by staffs of Muong Lat DPC and Trung Ly CPC who have knowledge on policies, land allocation process, facilitation skill as well as organization skill to implement participatory forest land and forest allocation.
• Organize debriefing workshops at Muong Lat district and Thanh Hoa province after finishing duties (within 06 months from the date of signing contract).

5. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCES AND COMPETENCY OF CONSULTANTS

• The consulting firm is the legal firm to provide consultancy service to VFD Program; has legal personality operating under the provisions of law; has more than five years’ experience in conducting related assignment; has performed at least five contracts relating to TOR within five recent years. Those having experience in forest land and forest allocation in local are preferred. Consultants must have sufficient equipment needed for this forest land and forest allocation work.
• Members in consultant team with high level in research and analysis are welcome, but more practical experience in forest land and forest allocation is preferred. To implement effectively, the consultant team should consist of five experts who are able to mobilise for the duration of the assignment. The consultant team can use technical staffs or local employees according to specific work after agreement with the VFD Program on specific tasks and number of recruited persons;
• Demonstrate and prove experience and competency in (1) working with participatory forest land and forest allocation, ability in data collection, processing and management, (2) designing and conducting consultations with stakeholders to obtain an actual and objective assessment;
• Extensive knowledge of Vietnam policies and plans, especially related to forest land and forest allocation in province, district and commune;
• Extensive knowledge of participatory methodology and good skills to mobilize participation in rural assessment and forest land allocation;
• Work closely and collaborate with related local organizations, as well as representatives of local people

6. HOW TO APPLY

Eligible applicant should include an application letter/EOI, resume and proposed work plan (maximum 10 pages) to undertake tasks and schedule of main steps which will be implemented in the consulting process.

Deadline for application is at 17:00 April 10th , 2015

Document to be sent to the VFD Program:

Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong
Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program
Quang Ba Trade Union Hotel, 98 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho, Hanoi
Email: [email protected]