Consultant for Provincial REDD+ Action Planning

TERMS OF REFERENCE: Preparing for Provincial REDD+ Action Planning in Ca Mau province: synthesis background studies on drivers, stakeholders and institutions

Country:     Vietnam
Programme:     REDD+
Project:    Delivering Multiple Benefits from REDD+ in Southeast Asia (MB-REDD)
Implementers:    SNV – Netherlands Development Organisation
Donor:    German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), International Climate Initiative (ICI)
Abstract:     Conducting synthesis background studies of drivers and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, together with barriers to more effective or extensive ‘plus activities’; and stakeholders and institutions potentially involved and affected by REDD+ activities in Ca Mau province
Duration:    35 days
Start:     10th September – 31st October 2014
Station:    Home-based with travel within Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ca Mau)

1. Background

Vietnam’s National REDD+ Action Plan (NRAP) mandates the development of Provincial REDD+ Action Plans (PRAPs) as a means to operationalise the national programme and mainstream REDD+ into existing forest protection and development (FPDP), land-use and socio-economic development (SEDP) planning in pilot provinces.  The MB-REDD project in Vietnam has commitments to financially and technically assist two pilot provinces – Lam Dong and Ca Mau - to plan and implement environmentally sustainable and social sound REDD+ actions (MB-REDD - Output 3). 

REDD+ introduces results-based planning to the provincial decision-making process for forestry and other land uses.  Consequently, the interventions identified in a PRAP have to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation (DD) to ensure these climate change mitigation results.  The MB-REDD project has recently developed and field tested (in Binh Thuan province, under the UN-REDD Programme) a Participatory Subnational Planning (PSP) method*, which takes a participatory impact assessment approach to analyse drivers of DD, as well as the barriers to more effective/expansive ‘plus activities’**.  This participatory analysis of drivers informs selection of a set of strategic and cost-effective interventions for achieving the desired emission reductions.  This participatory analysis of drivers, and corresponding interventions to address those drivers, could comprise the preliminary planning process for Ca Mau’s PRAP. 

The initial preparatory stage of PSP requires a synthesis of all available secondary data on the drivers and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, as well as the barriers to more effective/extensive plus activities.  There is a similar requirement to undertake stakeholder and institutional analysis to inform the series of PSP workshops and the broader PRAP process.

MB-REDD is now seeking a team of national specialists to conduct these background studies to inform subsequent PRAP development and implementation of the PSP workshops in Ca Mau province.

2. Objective

Information - on drivers and barriers; stakeholders and institutions - necessary to inform Ca Mau’s PRAP collated analysed and synthesised into concise reports to inform proposed PSP workshops that would instigate the PRAP process in this province.

3. Indicative tasks***

Drivers and barriers assessment

(1)Collating all relevant existing secondary data on drivers and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, in addition to barriers to potential plus activities in Ca Mau province****

(2)Identifying potential key informants in Ca Mau province who, through face-to-face interview, can corroborate documented secondary data on drivers, underlying causes and plus activity barriers

(3)Identifying the main drivers and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Ca Mau province – past, present and future - through document analysis and key stakeholder consultations

(4)Identifying the potential for plus activities and the barriers to their more effective and/or extensive application in Ca Mau province through document analysis and key stakeholder consultations

(5)Identifying the key stakeholders associated with the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, together with those involved in potential plus activities in Ca Mau province

(6)Producing a synthesis report of no more than 20 pages body text (excluding annexes) that concisely documents, qualitatively and quantitatively, illustrating with spatially explicit data (wherever possible):

• the direct drivers – past, present and future trends – of deforestation and forest degradation in Ca Mau province
• the underlying – cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, political, and technological -   causes of these direct drivers
• geographic ‘hotspots’ of deforestation and forest degradation in Ca Mau province, where these drivers have had/are having/will have greatest impact
• the potential and barriers to that potential of more effective and/or extensive plus activities in Ca Mau province
• any geographic ‘hotspots’ of plus activity potential in Ca Mau province

Stakeholder and institutional analysis

(1)Collating all relevant existing secondary data that might inform the analysis, such as baseline socio-economic data; information on forest-dependent livelihoods, statutory and customary land tenure, formal/information institutions, etc.

(2)Identifying and describing, through document analysis and key informant interviews, stakeholder groups that are associated with drivers, underlying causes, possible interventions to address these drivers and causes, and potential plus activities in Ca Mau

(3)Identifying economically, socially and/or politically vulnerable stakeholder groups - such as women, ethnic minority and poor households – and assessing that vulnerability prior to any future proposed REDD+ interventions

(4)Identifying institutional stakeholders related to forestry and land use in the province, and describing their inter-relationships, interests,  incentives, influence and their potential changing roles in any future PRAP that attempts to address the key drivers

(5)Producing a synthesis report of no more than 20 pages body text (excluding annexes) that concisely documents, qualitatively and quantitatively, illustrating with spatially explicit data (wherever possible):

• key stakeholder groups associated with forestry, land use and particularly drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and potential plus activities
• describing the current roles (comprising the rights, responsibilities, benefits and relationships with other stakeholders) of each key stakeholder group
• vulnerable stakeholder groups, characterising that vulnerability now, pre-REDD+ intervention, and possible changes in vulnerability with REDD+ in generic terms
• constraints to and opportunities for broader, more inclusive stakeholder participation in forest and land use planning, management and governance 

4. Deliverables

• Initial work plan for the assignment, with milestone interim outputs, developed in consultation with MB-REDD Vietnam Project Manager
• Bilingual drivers and underlying causes assessment synthesis report of no more than 20 pages body text (excluding annexes)
• Bilingual stakeholders and institutions causes analysis synthesis report of no more than 20 pages body text (excluding annexes)
• Revised synthesis reports responding to written feedback from MB-REDD project and provincial government partners
• Bibliography and soft/hard copies of all documentation consulted during execution of the assignment.

5. Team member requirements

• Second degree in the fields of forestry, rural development, social sciences or natural resource management  
• Minimum seven years of proven track record assessing changes in land-use change and stakeholder roles related to these changing land-use practices
• Strong knowledge of REDD+, payment for ecosystem services (PES) and other performance-based forestry financing mechanisms
• Knowledge of, and experience working with, existing forest and land-use planning process in Vietnam a distinct advantage

6. Indicative team composition:

• National team leader – overall responsibility for contract delivery, quality and timeliness of all deliverables; technical lead on drivers and barriers assessment 
• National team members – support team leader on contract delivery, quality and timeliness of all deliverables; technical lead on stakeholder and institutional analysis

7. How to apply?

Interested candidates should send their CVs with an indication of expected fee rates to Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh at [email protected] by 05th September 2014.

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*: Richards, M. & S.R. Swan 2014. Participatory Subnational Planning for REDD+ and other Land Use Programmes: Methodology and Step-by-Step Guidance. SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, REDD+ Programme, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

**: Conservation of forest carbon stocks; sustainable management of forests; and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (which includes afforestation, reforestation and forest landscape restoration activities)

***: All tasks will be implemented with assistance from, and/or working through existing full-/and part-time SNV advisors and counterparts in provincial government agencies.

****: Key sources of secondary data include, but are not limited to the following forestry-related projects operating in Ca Mau province: SNV REDD+’s MaM and ENRICH projects; GIZ; KfW; ISPoNRE; JICA; UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II.  Additionally, the team should consult existing, and any draft, relevant provincial plans, such as: Socio-Economic Development Plan; Forest Protection & Development Plan; Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan; Agriculture and Rural Development Plan; commodity-specific plans (e.g. aquaculture); other land-use plans.