Consultant on Community Forest 02

Consultancy announcement - CLICK HERE [1] FOR VIETNAMESE

Position: Consultant on community forest 02 – Development of organizational structure and operating regulations; developing village conventions/ regulations on forest protection and managements for community forestry management household groups (CFM HG) in Thanh Hoa province for the USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project, RECOFTC Viet Nam.

Sub-Activity Code: 1.2.7.3 Establishing /building capacity for contracting community groups/ community organisation which protect the forest allocated to household groups.

Estimated number of consulting days: about 25 person days, from July to September 15, 2022

Application deadline: 5.00pm. Hanoi local time, June 22, 2022

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.

The USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project (The SFM 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 SFM 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 SFM 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:

• Improve and expand community forest management
• Increase conservation-friendly enterprises in forest-dependent communities
• Increase functionality of law enforcement system for forest crimes
• Improve production forest management practices
• Mobilize domestic resources for forest management and protection

The SFM Project is being 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.

RECOFTC Viet Nam is now inviting applicants for a consultant on community forest for developing organizational structure and operating regulations; developing village conventions/ regulations on forest protection and managements for target communities in CFM demonstration sites in Thanh Hoa province.

The activity will be expected to contribute directly to the main indicator: ID2: Number of institutions with improved capacity to address sustainable landscape issues as supported by USG assistance; ID3: Number of laws, policies, regulations, or standards addressing sustainable landscapes formally proposed, adopted, or implemented as supported by USG assistance, ID5-Number of livelihood beneficiaries; and ID8: Number of hectares under improved natural resource management, safeguards or sustainable business practices (in 11 monitoring and evaluation indicators of the Project)

Background

Background

Forest dependent communities’ participation is increasingly recognized as an important factor in effectively maintaining forests. Communities have been engaged into forest management and protection in various forms. Four main types of these engagements include: traditional community forests; introduced community forests; groups of households managing forestlands; and individual households, who all individually own forestland, collaborating in forest management.

Under the SFM Project, the concept of community covers two forms of local people's participation in forest management. The first modality is community forest management (CFM) in which residential communities/villages manage their allocated forests. This also covers the modality where communities manage household’s allocated forests as a community group (community forest household groups). The second modality is community-based forest management (CBFM) in which village communities manage contracted forests with protection forest management boards.

With CFM modality, local communities can access different financial sources, including but not limited to forest protection expenditures, PFES program, NTFP income, joint cooperation/investment and other credit programs to support communities to more effectively fulfill the roles and responsibilities of forest owners under CFM.

In order to strengthen the capacity of communities to manage, protect, sustainable use and develop the allocated forest resources, communities will actively develop SFM Plans with support from The SFM Project. Through this process, communities will effectively perform the role of forest owner to protect the forests, promote multi-purpose of forest, and protect the environment of the forest, increase the supply capacity of forest and ensure the long-term use of forest products, especially NTFPs. Communities can also effectively explore the potential of eco-tourism, cultural tourism, and environmental education. This process strengthens capacity of the community, towards self-sufficiency in part of financial resources through revenue from forest protection, from PFES, from sustainable exploitation of non-timber forest products, from organizing ecotourism activities to contribute to economic development, poverty reduction, and sustainable livelihood improvement.

Composition of the consultant team:

In order to carry out the task of establishing organizational structure and operating regulations; developing village conventions/ regulations on forest protection and managements in Thanh Hoa province, the SFM Project recruits a community forestry Consultant team, including:

• Consultant 01:  is responsible for directly conducting survey, developing forest patrolling and protection plan, forest firefighting and prevention plan, training and capacity building plan for community household groups.
• Consultant 02: is responsible for researching, evaluating the legality of the community who protect the area allocated to community’s households; and proposing a plan to ensure the legality of the subject of the community households group; and conducting survey, preparing report on establishment of the organizational structure, operational regulations of the forest patrolling and protection group, establishment of the fund for forest patrolling and protection, operating structure of the fund for forest patrol and protection, developing forest protection and management conventions of the household group.

The CFM Consultant team will also cooperate with Expert on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) to ensure proper integration of GESI considerations into planning and consultation processes.

Objective of the consultancy

Researching, evaluating the legality of the communities who protect and manage forest areas allocated to community’s households; and proposing options to ensure the entity’s legality community households group; and establishment of organizational structure, operational regulations of forest patrolling and protection group, establishment of the fund for forest patrolling and protection. This includes formulation of operating structure of the fund for forest patrol and protection, developing forest protection and management conventions of CFM households whose allocated land and forest by collecting, synthesizing and analyzing information/data according to the current regulations under participatory method, integration of gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) considerations. GESI integration is targeting the participation of at least 35% female and ethnic minorities in the developing process, in which they are motivated to participate effectively in implementing the forest patrolling and protection activities. Women and ethnic minorities are also empowered to participate in forest patrolling and protection group.

Tasks

Consultant team is responsible for performing the following tasks:

1. Develop organizational structure:

• Research and evaluate the legality of community who protect the area allocated to the community’s household members and propose a plan to ensure the legality of the subject of the community household group.
• Assess the current situation, finalize the organizational structure for the community household group.
• Review and establish forest patrolling and protection group for the community household group.
• Review and establish regulations on activities of the forest patrolling and protection group.

2. Establish the forest patrolling and protection fund, operating regulations for forest patrol and protection fund for household group with community participation:

• Review and establish forest patrolling and protection fund for the community household group.
• Review and develop regulations on activities of forest patrolling and protection fund of the community household group.
• Consult with local authorities on the establishment of an organizational structure of forest patrolling and protection fund and operation regulations for forest patrolling and protection fund.

3. Review and finalize the conventions/regulations of forest management and protection for the community household groups with the participation of community.

Scale and sites for implementation

The CFM consultant team is expected to establish organizational structure and operating regulations; develop village conventions/ regulations on forest protection and managements for the 6 community household groups:

1. Household group in Chieng village, Nam Dong commune, Quan Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province; area 1.340 ha.
2. Household group in Ken village, Nam Tien commune, Quan Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province; area 1.233 ha.
3. Household group in Xuan Son village, Son Dien commune, Quan Son district, Thanh Hoa province; area 1.307 ha.
4. Household group in Ngam village, Son Dien commune , Quan Son district, Thanh Hoa province; area 977 ha.
5. Household group in Phu Nam village, Trung Xuan commune, Quan Son district, Thanh Hoa province; area 1.097 ha
6. Household group in Soi village, Son Lu town, Quan Son district, Thanh Hoa province; area 933 ha

Anticipated duration, level of effort (LOE), timeline and deliverables

Duration

The estimated time for the consultant to carry out this task is 25 man-days, expected to start in July 2022, and submit the final report on September 15, 2022. Details are in the following table:

LOE

Implementation plan and deliverables

Schedule of consultant 02 for 06 household groups in Thanh Hoa province are presented in the table below:

Requirements of deliverables

1.     Minutes of the village meeting (with the consultant 01)

Minutes of the 1^st village meeting: in Vietnamese language, include 6 minutes (1 minute / 1 household group): result of the consultation on organizational structure: management board, forest patrolling and protection group, the fund, operational regulations, the need of training and capacity building, conventions/regulations on forest protection and management.

Minutes of the 2^nd village meeting: in Vietnamese language, include 6 minutes (1 minute / 1 household group): agreement on organizational structure, management board, forest patrolling and protection group, the fund, operational regulation, the need of training and capacity building, conventions/regulations on forest protection and management.

2.     Report on establishment of organizational structure of the fund for forest patrolling and protection, operational regulations of the fund: in Vietnamese language, include 6 reports for 6 CFM household groups.

3.     Village conventions/regulations on forest protection and development: in Vietnamese, includes 6 conventions/regulations for 6 CFM household groups.

Required qualifications

• Vietnamese nationality only
• A bachelor’s degree or higher, majoring in forest inventory and planning; forest protection or related fields
• Having at least 10 years of experience in the forestry sector
• Having in-depth knowledge and understanding of community forest management; experience working with the community. Having experience in local consultancy is preferred
• Experience and skills in teamwork
• Experience and skills in writing reports in Vietnamese; Able to use English at work

RECOFTC’s core values

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

How to apply

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] [2]. 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] [2].

To learn more about RECOFTC, please visit our website www.recoftc.org [3]