Country: Vietnam
Organisation: SNV – Netherlands Development Organisation
Program: REDD+
Project: Harnessing Carbon Finance to Arrest Deforestation (Darwin Initiative-funded)
Abstract: Consulting services to provide technical oversight of PFM piloting in Cat Tien
Duration: Indicative 30 days over period: August 2011 to March 2012
1. Background:
Local communities have participated in the monitoring of forest resources, through national programmes and development co-operation, for decades. REDD+ presents a new opportunity to capitalize on
previous experiences whilst presenting new technical challenges in terms of forest carbon monitoring. International commitment to REDD+ safeguards also demand monitoring systems to demonstrate social and environmental performance of REDD+; forest carbon supplier countries need to track both carbon and non-carbon forest value, such as biodiversity, livelihoods, and governance indicators.
SNV aims to add value to participatory monitoring of forests through application of emerging best practice, and contributing to methodological innovation. Recognition of local actor contributions
to sub-national and, ultimately, national REDD+ monitoring systems are key to securing forest carbon financing as a significant contribution to the livelihoods of rural poor communities, together with recurrent investments in the conservation of the biological diversity that underpins these livelihoods.
A key area of intervention for SNV REDD+ programme is the piloting of Participatory Forest Monitoring (PFM) for REDD+ applications; both forest carbon measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and safeguard information system (SIS) purposes. At present, there exists a polarised debate, both at international and national levels, about the role of local (government and community) actors in PFM for REDD+.
The SNV-Vietnam REDD+ programme intends to pilot PFM at scale in the province of Lam Dong, within the Cat Tien landscape to demonstrate REDD+ PFM potential in the Vietnamese context.
The piloting is proposed to be conducted in two phases: Phase I (August 2011 to March 2012) – establish solid participatory carbon monitoring (PCM); and Phase II (April 2012 to December 2013) –
integration of biodiversity indicators into PCM and full-scale operation of the PFM model. Piloting is intended to be stratified across forestland management, tenure and ecosystem types to explore
the full range of opportunities and constraints presented by REDD+ PFM in Vietnam. SNV-Vietnam REDD+ programme seeks a highly qualified and experienced Local Capacity Builder (LCB) to take the lead in capturing, evaluating and documenting lessons learnt from the Cat Tien PFM pilot to inform national REDD+ policy dialogue, in additional to global understanding of local actor contributions to REDD+ MRV and SIS.
2. Objective:
PFM piloting is evaluated and technical, operational and financial lessons learnt are documented and disseminated to inform national REDD+ policy dialogue, in additional to global understanding of local actor contributions to REDD+ MRV and SIS
3. Tasks:
- Exploring the technical, operational and financial strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints of PFM as an essential component to REDD+ MRV and SIS
- Observing, firsthand, PFM development and implementation processes (data collection and management) in the field
- Consulting key actors and stakeholders involved in PFM and national/sub-national MRV and SIS development
- Documenting all operational (including valuated transaction) costs associated with PFM operations to present a costed ‘business case’ for PFM in Vietnam
- Investigating livelihood contributions of PFM in the context of opportunity costs for the Cat Tien pilot site (as estimated by the SNV-Vietnam REDD+ programme)
- Producing a bilingual lessons learnt paper, of international standard, which presents an objective assessment of the potential of PFM for nationwide REDD+ (MRV/SIS) applications
- Presenting preliminary and final findings at relevant local (e.g. Lam Dong REDD+ technical working group) and (e.g. REDD+ Technical Sub-Working Groups MRV and Local Implementation) national fora
- Engaging with national REDD+ policy dialogue, and support programmes (e.g. UN-REDD, FCPF) to inform, and be informed by, national REDD+ architectural development
4. Deliverables:
- Indicative work plan allocating days to each task/activity (done in collaboration with SNV advisors)
- Annotated Table of Contents articulating final report content and structure for review by SNV advisors
- Lessons learnt paper, in English and Vietnamese, documenting technical, operational and financial experiences from SNV piloting of PFM in Vietnam; providing recommendations to inform national REDD+ policy formulation and international policy debate
- Concise internal briefing papers as necessary to inform SNV REDD+ programmatic strategizing and planning
- PowerPoint presentations as opportunity presents to inform local and national fora/events of SNV PFM lessons learnt
5. Qualifications
The consultant should have demonstrated expertise in:
- Evaluating and documenting lessons learnt in socialised forestry interventions
- Participatory and/or community-based monitoring of forest parameters
- Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Briefing policy and decision makers on innovative approaches in the forestry sector
- Outstanding written and oral communication skills
- Fluent English and Vietnamese language (speaking and writing)
- Forestry initiatives in the Central Highland region of Vietnam advantageous
Interested consultants must provide information (expression of interest and CV) indicating that they are qualified to perform these services to the highest professional standard. A consultant for this
assignment will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out by SNV. Expressions of interest should be emailed to SNV Senior REDD+ Advisor, Steve Swan ([email protected] [1]) and should be clearly marked ‘Evaluation of PFM for REDD+ Applications, by no later than 29 July 2011.