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National Consultants to develop the Community Forest management plans for the Orhei National Park region.

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00391

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	13 Oct 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	21 Oct 2013
Reference to the project:	Clima-East: Ecosystem-based adaptation and mitigation
Expected Duration of Assignment:	October 2013 - August 2014 (160 working days)
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 13 October 2013. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: alexandru.rotaru@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants. Important notice The applicant who has the statute of Government Official / Public Servant, prior to appointment will be asked to submit the following documentation: a no-objection letter in respect of the applicant received from the government, and; the applicant is certified in writing by the government to be on official leave without pay for the entire duration of the Individual Contract. A retired government official is not considered in this case a government official, and as such, may be contracted.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Moldova has one of the poorest coverage with forests in Europe (around 12% of the territory), which is highly fragmented. The current amount of forested area is insufficient to guarantee effective environmental protection. Forests in Moldova are also playing a major role for the energy security of the country. Due to the high cost of imported fossil fuels (mostly natural gas) and electricity for the end consumers, demand of firewood in rural areas is very high. The main source of alternative fuel most often comes from wood collected from the environment (forest wood, downed wood in community land, vineyard residues etc.). The most of the wood comes from the authorized harvesting in the forests managed by Moldsilva Forest Agency. The rest of the wood comes mostly from forests and protection belts which belong to Local Public Authorities, which are usually unmanaged and are subject of illegal logging. Ensuring the proper planning and management of community forests, through building stable diversified forests, ecological reconstruction of forests in time will positively influence and will be a model for carbon sequestration in the framework of climate change and will have a positive social impact on local population and on biodiversity.

In this regard EU Commission under CLIMA EAST package provided a grant to Republic of Moldova to demonstrate a natural resource management model in the pastures and forests of Moldova which increases ecosystems’ capacity to sequester carbon under pending climate risks, while at the same time retaining biodiversity and economic values. The CLIMA EAST pilot project targets the pastures and forest degraded lands located in the Orhei National Park area (33,792.09 ha) and its buffer zone. The project will develop innovative pasture and community forest management systems on the whole territory of the park, including rehabilitation of 500 ha of pastures and afforestation of 150 ha of eroded and non-productive lands.

Scope of work

The expected output for the assignment is to assist the Local Public Authorities in developing forest management plans for the community forest lands in Orhei National Park region, which will serve as a tool for better management and biodiversity of community forests and increasing the livelihoods in the park area.

The activity will consist in developing forest management plans for the 1,392 ha of community forests from National Park Orhei area and its buffer zone.

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualification

• Graduate degree in forestry or related fields.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of significant experience in forestry or related issues in Moldova;
• Experience in Forest Management Planning activities is strongly required;
• Work experience with projects financed by international organizations will be an asset;
• Experience in working with local public authorities and local communities;
• Technical knowledge in the targeted focal area(s).

Competencies

• Capacity for analytical studies, organization of workshops/meetings, other necessary activities;
• Ability to undertake field works are strongly required;
• Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team;
• Ability to plan and organize his/her work, efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations.

Language requirements:

• Fluent in written and oral communication in Romanian;
• Knowledge of English or/and Russian will be a strong asset.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;

2. Financial proposal;

3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references or the dully filled Personal History Form (P11).

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.

In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including all related costs e.g. fees, taxes, travel, phone calls etc.) and the number of anticipated working days. The consultant shall bare costs for all supplies needed for data collection and data processing including possession of his own personal computer. 

Trave

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Under this assignment consultants will have to travel to the communities of Orhei National Park. When submitting the financial offer, consultants will include travel expenses as per following details:

1) working days in the region – not more than 23 days;

2) total mileage – not more than 5,000 km.