National Consultant –Tourism, Environment & Social Safeguard in Environmentally Sensitive Areas - For Sri Lankans only

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

The Project "Enhancing Biodiversity Conservation and Sustenance of Ecosystems services in Environmentally Sensitive Areas" is a GEF funded project, implemented by the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and supported by UNDP. The Project would contribute to safeguarding globally significant biodiversity on production lands of high interest for conservation. The primary objective of this project is "To operationalize Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) as a mechanism for mainstreaming biodiversity management into development in areas of high conservation significance, outside Protected Area network ". To achieve this objective, the project has two major outcomes; (1) national enabling framework strengthened to designate and manage ESAs and (2) biodiversity-friendly ESA management for long term integrity and resilience ensured at sites identified in the Kala Oya river basin.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) is a very specific area-based concept. It becomes one tool (amongst others) that can be employed to manage a landscape or seascape from a biological or ecological perspective. The Project adopts ESA as a tool to manage a landscape or seascape from an ecological perspective. An ESA is an area outside a formal Protected Area that is vital for the long-term maintenance of biodiversity and/or the productivity of water, soil and other natural resources to provide ecological, environmental, economic and cultural benefits to the local community involved as well as to the nation and global community as a whole. The project developed a clear articulation of the ESA concept and identified ESA sites based on facts and evidence of baseline survey conducted in Kala Oya River Basin (KOB) in 2017, Rapid Biodiversity Assessment in 2019; and stakeholder consultations and community transact walks thereafter.

Gangewadiya area has been identified as an ESA and an ESA Co-management plan was developed in a participatory approach and was validated by Local Management Committee chaired by Divisional Secretary of Wanathavilluwa. Promotion of sustainable tourism with environment safeguards to be implemented as per the approved plan. Therefore, it is needed to develop ecotourism guidelines for Gangewadiya Tourism Destination plan, which promotes sustainable eco-tourism in Gangewadiya ESA.

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

Scope of this assignment is to provide consultative and operational services to the ESA Project to develop guidelines for biodiversity conservation compatible sustainable tourism, such as overall guidelines for Gangewadiya eco-tourism activities, motorboat handling guidelines, hotel health and safety guidelines. Further, it is needed to develop training modules and conduct training and capacity building programmes for identified 25 members in the community.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Thoroughly study of and familiarize with the objectives, concepts and approaches of Environmentally Sensitive Area by studying relevant project documents including ESA Operational Manual;
2. Referring to the Co-Management Plan of Gangewadiya ESA and be familiarize on Co-Management Plan, its theory and pathway of change.
3. Develop a set of guidelines on destination management (tour boat operations, health & safety, eco-tourism) and minimum standards to promote sustainable tourism in Gangewadiya and develop a training package in local languages with inputs from Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. (SLTDA)
4. Deliver training program in local languages to the target audience.
5. Submit advance work plans and monthly progress reports to the Field Coordinator of ESA project.

The consultant’s duty station/location during the contract will be home-based with extensive fieldworks in pursuit of other relevant activities, especially where traveling will be required. If traveling does not take place as planned due to any unavoidable situation, the consultant shall cover those days in extending days for other areas of Puttalam for the same assignment. The contractor will be required to report for the progress review meetings and any other meetings related to this assignment convened by the PMU even if intermittent.

The project will bear the cost on participants’ logistics (food, transport, training venue, visibility material, audiovisual facilities etc) to attend the training sessions.

Expected Output/Deliverables

The following results are expected from the work of the service provider:

Deliverable 01: Inception Report with methodology & Workplan - 25 December 2020

Deliverable 02: Developing draft guidelines on destination management (tour boat operations, health & safety, eco-tourism) and minimum standards to promote sustainable tourism in Gangewadiya and developing training modules in local languages accordingly - 05 January 2021

Deliverable 03: Organize and delivering training sessions and orientation programmes for selected stakeholder groups of 30 individuals on destination management and eco-tourism. (20 days training. 4 days/ week) - 28 February 2021

Deliverable 04: Submission of finalized guidelines, training modules and awareness completion report with recommendations for upscaling and sustainability of destination management and eco-tourism (after addressing final comments and revisions needed) - 10 April 2021

TIMEFRAME

The envisaged time frame of the consultancy is 75 days over 04 months, starting from December 2020 and ending April 2021.

Competencies

The prospective consultant should have;

a. Technical competencies

• Demonstrated experience in environmental management, biodiversity conservation research/ programme developments, wise use and eco-tourism;
• Strong understanding of global and national and local climate change, biodiversity and environmental issues, environmental and social safeguards.

b. Partnerships

• Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of national and private sector institutions;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of quality analysis for the development of the report;
• Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration with personnel with different age groups, educational levels, backgrounds – especially for this case, the players in the district, divisional and community level;
• Excellent communication (both oral and written) and partnership building skills with multi-dimension partners.

c. Results

• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Good team player who has ability to maintain good relationships.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Masters’ Degree in Environmental Sciences, Ecology, Environment Management, Sustainable Tourism or related field;

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of work experience in planning & management in the environmental field;
• Thorough understanding and experience on Eco-tourism concepts and practical applications;
• Thorough understanding and experience on Environmentally Sensitive Areas concept and practical applications.

Languages/ Other

• Excellent English language skills and working knowledge in Sinhala/ Tamil.

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply please access UNDP Jobs site http://jobs.undp.org.

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work.
• Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies and relevant past experience in similar projects and contact details of 3 professional referees who can certify your competencies, professionalism, quality of writing, presentation and overall suitability to this TOR. Please include the Financial Proposal, (Format can be accessed via the link Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability) along with above documentation when applying online.
• Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a combination of factors including cover letter, the credentials on offer and brief interview (optional) and the offer which gives the best value for money for the UNDP.

Not submitting of all the above mentioned documents together with the CV, will be treated as a disqualification.

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

All Inclusive Lump Sum Fee: LKR (_______________________________________)

Or

All Inclusive Daily Fee: LKR (_____________________________________)

Amount in words:

(Rs._______________________________________________________________)

Note: Payments will be based on invoices on achievement of agreed milestones i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR and certification of acceptance by the UNDP. The applicant must factor in all possible costs in his/her “All Inclusive Lump Sum Fee” including his/her consultancy and professional fee, travel (economy class flights is required to and from the Duty Station) honorarium, board and lodging, and any other foreseeable costs in this exercise. No costs other than what has been indicated in the financial proposal will be paid or reimbursed to the consultant. UNDP will only pay for any unplanned travel outside of this TOR and Duty Station on actual basis and on submission of original bills/invoices and on prior agreement with UNDP officials. Daily per diem and costs for accommodation/meals/incidental expenses for such travel shall not exceed established local UNDP DSA rates.

For an Individual Contractor who is 65 years of age or older, and on an assignment requiring travel, be it for the purpose of arriving at the duty station or as an integral duty required travel under the TOR, a full medical examination and statement of fitness to work must be provided. Such medical examination costs must be factored into the financial proposal above. Medical examination is not a requirement for individuals on RLA contracts.

H. PAYMENT FOR SERVICES

Payments will be based on milestones certified by the

Technical Coordinator, Environmentally Sensitive Areas Project

Payment Milestones will be as follows:

1. 10 % of total contract value upon submission of deliverable 01
2. 30% of total contract value upon submission of deliverable 02
3. 30% of total contract value upon Submission of deliverable 03
4. 30% of total contract value upon Submission of deliverable 04