Silviculture Consultant

INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT SCOPE OF WORK

A. DAI ORGANIZATION AND VALUES

DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine and project operations worldwide. We tackle fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action—action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world.

DAI and its employees are committed to confronting racism and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work.  DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner.

DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All of our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks.

B. PROJECT BACKGROUND

The USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project (the 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 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 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:

1. Improve and expand community forest management
2. Increase conservation-friendly enterprises in forest-dependent communities
3. Increase functionality of law enforcement system for forest crimes
4. Improve production forest management practices
5. Mobilize domestic resources for forest management and protection

The Project implements 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.

C. DESCRIPTION OF CONSULTANCY SERVICE:

1.     Background

Under Objective 2 (Increase Conservation-Friendly Enterprises in Forest Dependent Communities), there are two main tasks as follow:

1. Identify Target Value Chains, Barriers, and Opportunities
2. Strengthen Conservation-Friendly Value Chains in sustainable forest management (SFM) Landscapes

In order to build a foundation for supporting the development of value chains and enhancing the participation of Conservation Friendly Enterprises (CFEs) to contribute to overall goals on reducing carbon emission and increasing carbon sequestration of the Project, it is necessary to develop the Master plan on Tung tree (Vernicia Montana) production, processing and market access in the period 2021-2025 and vision towards 2030 in Quang Tri province (the Master plan).

According to the Report on the development potential of Tung tree (Vernicia Montana) in 2020 by Medical Committee Netherlands-Vietnam (MCNV), Tung tree is a native tree that is suitable with the climate conditions of Quang Tri mountainous area, especially communes in the North of Huong Hoa district. Tung tree starts to bloom in the year 2 or 3 of the growth cycle, delivering seed products quickly and generating early and continuous incomes for growers. Tung tree is categorized as a multi-purpose tree that is suitable for afforestation with high economic values and yield early incomes. As a result, Tung tree can be used in afforestation activities as well as livelihood activities.

The aforementioned report also indicates that Tung tree has a large plantation area in five communes in the North of Huong Hoa district (i.e. Huong Linh, Huong Phung, Huong Son, Huong Tan and Tan Thanh) with total area of 2,456 hectare (ha). Plantation density ranges from 1,650 to 2,500 trees/ha. Tung tree’s cover rate in these area ranges from 50% to 100% and mostly was planted by Huong Hoa – Dakrong Protection Forest Management Board to increase the area of protection forest. In addition, it is estimated that an area of 35 ha of Tung tree (except of newly plantation area in 2020 funded by MCNV) is fragmentarily  planted in three communes (i.e. Huong Tan, Huong Linh and Huong Son) in Huong Hoa district. Currently, Tung tree’s plantation for seed harvesting was implemented without a master plan and lack of investment from production forest plantation projects/programs.

The report of MCNV also shows that there are two large Tung tree collection agents (first-tier) and ten small procurement agents (second-tier) in Huong Hoa. First-tier agent provides Tung tree’s products to companies in the North of Vietnam then exporting to China market. Total volume of these two first-tier agent is approx. 1,500 tons equivalent to VND 13 – 15 billion for farmers. Farm-gate price of farmer is VND 8,000 – 10,000/kg of dried seeds and the price sold to export companies is VND 15,000 – 16,000/kg of dried seeds. As such, price sold to export companies is 80%-100% higher than farm-gate price. Household survey highlights that Tung tree provides a considerable income of VND 7,000,000 in addition to the main income of cassava of VND 8,000,000 – 10,000,000. It is worth to mention that farmers need to spend far more efforts in cassava’s plantation than Tung tree.

Regarding to forest allocation under management of local authorities, MCNV’s report mentions that Huong Hoa – Dakrong Protection Forest Management Board allocated a total area of 1,446.8 ha to local authorities of communes in Huong Hoa in 2019-2020 (Decision No. 3359/QD-UBND dated on December 5, 2017 of Quang Tri Province People’s Committee (PPC) on the approval of conversion the forest and forest land under category of protection forest into production forest in Quang Tri province; Decision No. 2773/QD-UBND dated on October 11, 2019 of Quang Tri PPC on approval of data adjustment on conversion the forest and forest land under category of protection forest into production forest in Quang Tri province).

In order to support the plantation, production, harvesting, processing and facilitating market access of Tung tree’s products ensuring the economic-social-environmental benefits for forest-dependent communities in a sustainable manner, the Project and partners is recruiting a team of consultants with two members (a Silviculture Consultant as a team leader and a Nature Resources Economist as team member).

This Scope of Work (SOW) is to recruit the short-term consultant position of Silviculture Consultant to support Quang Tri’s Provincial Project Management Unit (PPMU) for the development of the Master plan[1]. This Master plan, once developed, will be approved by relevant authorities in Quang Tri PPC to serve as legal basis for the implementation and resources mobilization. This activity [activity code 2.1.2.4] is under work plan of fiscal year 2021. This activity would directly contribute to four main indicators: ID2 – Number of institutions with improved capacity; ID4 – Amount of investment mobilized; ID5 – Number of people receiving livelihood co-benefits; and ID6 -  Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, estimated in metric tons of CO2 equivalent, reduced, sequestered or avoided (in 11 indicators of the Project).

II. Purposes of the activity

To develop the Master plan on Tung tree (Vernicia Montana) production, processing and market access in the period 2021-2025 and vision towards 2030 in Quang Tri province (the Master plan), focusing in Huong Hoa and Dakrong district, and to increase incomes for forest-dependent communities, reduce deforestation and forest degradation, reduce carbon emission and increase carbon sequestration and forest carbon stocks.

III. Purposes of the assignment

• In collaboration with stakeholders in Quang Tri and related districts as well as other relevant organizations and institutes, the Consultant will implement two activities: i) Assess and provide recommendations on silviculture aspects for Tung tree; and ii) Assess the current status and scale of Tung tree’s plantation by households, including newly planted area in Huong Hoa district.
• Referring to findings in “Assessment of economic, social and environmental impacts of Tung tree;” and “Analysis of Tung tree’s value chain” [2] to summarize, analyze and develop the Master plan.

The Silviculture Consultant, as a team leader, is expected to proactively collaborate with relevant stakeholders. This scope of work might be subject to adjust based on local context and consensus between the Consultant team, the Project’s technical staff and Central Project Management Unit (CPMU) and Quang Tri’s PPMU.

IV. Location

There will be activities conducted at the office of the Consultant and other activities in Quang Tri province, including field activities in Huong Hoa and Dakrong districts.

V.  Tasks

The Consultant is expected to conduct the following tasks:

1. Collect and analyze secondary data, including “Assessment report on development potential of Tung tree in PROSPER project co-funded by EU and MCNV in 2020”[3] and other data and documents on the effectiveness, silviculture techniques and afforestation design costs of newly planted areas in 2020;
2. Prepare work plan, approach to conducting activities and field work; discuss and reach consensus on plan and agenda with the Project’s technical staff and Quang Tri’s PPMU before rolling out implementation.
3. Develop outline [4](a tentative outline is drafted in Annex 1), discuss and reach consensus with the Project’s technical staff and Quang Tri’s PPMU on the Master plan’s outline before rolling out implementation.
4. Design methodology on data collection techniques including consultation workshops with relevant stakeholders at national level (e.g. Institutes, University etc.), provincial level (e.g. Department of Agricultural and Rural Development (DARD), Forest Protection Department, MCNV etc.) and district level (e.g. District People’s Committee, DARD, Forest Management Boards etc.) to collect relevant data, documents and opinions.
5. Assess and provide recommendations on silviculture techniques for Tung tree (in order to yield fruits and seeds), including newly planted area in Huong Hoa and Dakrong.
6. Assess current status and scale of Tung tree’s plantation by households in Huong Hoa and Dakrong, including area, distribution map and estimated volume.
7. Develop a Tung tree’s plantation area planning in Huong Hoa and Dakrong.
8. Collaborating with Natural Resources Economist to implement “Assessment of economic, social and environmental impacts of Tung tree;” and “Analysis of Tung tree’s value chain” [5]in order to summarize, analyze and develop the Master plan.
9. Summarize and analyze data to develop first draft of the Master plan including current land use map and potential plantation area map for Tung tree forest in the period 2021-2025.
10. Organize consultation workshop to present first draft of the Master plan; collect feedbacks and explicit comments to finalize final draft of the Master plan.
11. Collaborate with Quang Tri’s PPMU for the technical acceptance of the Master plan.
12. Finalize the Master plan for Quang Tri’s PPMU to submit to relevant authority level for approval. [6]

VI. Anticipated Level of Effort (LOE) and Deliverables

The estimated LOE for this assignment is 55 (fifty-five) person-days, from August 27, 2021, and ends up on November 30, 2021. All final deliverables must be prepared in Vietnamese. The final Master plan must be in both Vietnamese and English. The specific deliverables and timeframe are listed below in the following table:

VII. Qualifications:

• Vietnamese National
• Have a bachelor’s degree or higher in forestry, natural resources management, sustainable rural development or relevant areas
• Have at least ten years of experience in planning, master plan development in forestry sector, silviculture construction, natural resources management.
• Knowledge on local context, forestry and agriculture sector of Quang Tri province and being able to travel and conduct field work in Quang Tri is preferable in the situation of Covid-19.
• Have skills in analyzing statistical data; synthesizing and writing reports
• Have Vietnamese and English proficiency in speaking and writing

VIII. How to apply and requested documents

Interested candidates are requested to submit:

• A CV in English and Vietnamese
• A cover letter in English
• Scanned copy of highest related degrees
• Short technical proposal in English and Vietnamese on approach to this assignment (methodology and work plan), and list of relevant completed assignments

via email to our recruitment email at [email protected] [1].

Please quote the position title in the subject line: “Candidate’s full name _ Silviculture Consultant to develop the Master plan on the development of Vernicia Montana in Quang Tri province”

Deadline for application: 5.00 p.m. (Hanoi time), August 19, 2021

To learn more about DAI, please visit our website www.dai.com [2].

DAI is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer with a commitment to diversity. DAI does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, parental status, veteran status, or other non-merit factor.

ANNEX

(for reference only)

Section I - INTRODUCTION   

I           THE NECESSITY OF THE MASTER PLAN        

II          BASIS OF THE MASTER PLAN

2.1        Legal basis

2.2        Practical basis  

2.2.1     Tung tree (Vernicia Montana) plantation, production and distribution in the world

2.2.2     Tung tree (Vernicia Montana) plantation, production and distribution in Vietnam

III         SCOPE OF THE STUDY

3.1        Scope of the Study of the Master plan

3.2        Research subjects

IV         Methodology    

Section II - INFLUENCING FACTORS ON TUNG TREE PLANTATION AREA IN QUANG TRI

I.          NATURAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF QUAN TRI RELATED TO TUNG TREE PLANTATION AREA

1.1        Natural conditions

1.2        Social factors (ethnics, human resources, livelihood standards and other relevant factors).

1.3        Overall assessment on natural and socio-economic conditions factors related to the potential of Tung tree plantation area planning

II          CURRENT STATUS OF TUNG TREE PLANTATION AREA IN QUANG TRI

2.1        Assessment on Tung tree distribution, production, harvesting and production

2.2        Assessment on harvesting and processing techniques and current market access  

2.3        The situation on investment and supporting policies for Tung tree plantation and production

2.4        Economic values of Tung tree plantation and production

2.5        and challenges in Tung tree development in Quang Tri for the previous periods

III         INITIAL ASSESSMENT ON LAND USE SUITABILITY TO TUNG TREE PLANTATION AND PRODUCTION

4.2        Findings on suitable land use area for Tung tree plantation

4.3        Categorization map on suitability scale of land use area for Tung tree plantation area development

IV  INFLUENCING FACTORS ON TUNG TREE  PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT IN THE COMING PERIODS

5.1        Forecast on Tung tree market

5.2        Forecast on the development of technology application for Tung tree plantation, harvesting, production, processing and storage

Section III – TUNG TREE PRODUCTION PLANNING TO 2025 AND VISION TOWARDS 2030

I           OBJECTIVES OF THE MASTER PLAN ON TUNG TREE PLANTATION

1.2        Overall goals

1.2        Specific goals

1.3.      Main tasks

II          KEY CONTENTS OF THE MASTER PLAN

2.1        Assessment on socio-economic-environmental impacts of Tung tree;

2.2        Analysis of Tung tree value chain

2.3        Assessment on silviculture techniques, including newly planted of MCNV in 2020

2.4        Assessment on current status and scale of Tung tree plantation by households

Section IV – PROPOSED SOLUTIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MASTER PLAN

I           SOLUTIONS ON POLICIES AND MECHANISMS

II          SOLUTIONS ON INVESTMENT FOR TECHNOLOGY AND CAPACITY BUILDING

III         SOLUTIONS ON MARKET ACCESS AND COMMERCIAL PROMOTION

Section V – INVESTMENT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MASTER PLAN

I           REQUIRED INVESTMENT TO IMPLEMENT THE MASTER PLAN

II          INVESTMENT MOBILIZATION

2.1        Government budget

2.2        Other sources

III         EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MASTER PLAN

3.1        Economic effectiveness

3.2        Social and environmental performance

Section VI – IMPLEMENTATION AND PROPOSED PRIORITIZATION

I           IMPLEMENTATION

II          LIST OF PRIORITIZED ACTIVITIES

Section VII – CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

I           CONCLUSIONS

II          RECOMMENDATIONS           

ANNEXES

-        Current and potential land use map for Tung tree plantation

-        Costs of Tung tree plantation plot