Annex 1
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Position:
National Consultant on biodiversity assessment and
design of biodiversity compatible rehabilitation measures
Project number and name:
“Improving sustainability of PA system in desert
ecosystems through promotion of biodiversity-compatible
livelihoods in and around PAs”
Type of Contract:
IC
Duty Station:
Kazakhstan
Duration:
35 days total during 25/05/2012 – 30/09/2012
Introduction:
The desert and semi-desert ecosystems (Central Kazakh, Eastern Kazakh, Mountain-andvalley deserts, foothill deserts) make up most of the country, almost 58%. The Southern Kazakh
desert region (largest deserts are Ustyurt and Kyzyl Kum) covering 30.3 million ha of most
typical dry desert ecosystem contains two Global 200 Ecoregions, a number of Important Bird
Areas (IBAs) and is a home to the largest threatened mammals such as Goitered gazelle
(Gazella subgutturosa), Onager (Equus hemionus), Pallas's Cat (Otocolobus manul or Felis
manul), Caracal (Caracal caracal). The Ile Balkhash region is a mountain-valley desert
ecosystem with unique landscape diversity that provides habitats for nesting and foraging to the
IUCN threatened bird species: Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), White-headed Duck
(Oxyura leucocephala), Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca), Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila
heliaca), Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni), Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata), and Pallas's
Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus). Being the largest drainage basin in the arid region in
Central Asia, Ile Balkhash supports the livelihood activities of app. 3.2 million people, including
the city of Almaty. It is important for rangeland agriculture, irrigated farming, fisheries, hunting and
recreational activities. Tugai forests within desert landscapes, including some patches of unique
Asiatic poplar wooded areas, cover app. 80,000 ha, of which app 15% suffer from severe
degradation.
As confirmed by the CBD 4th National Report, “the biodiversity index of desert and semidesert ecosystems has dropped by 66% in the past decade primarily due to unsustainable crop
agriculture, and excessive grazing”. The contemporary PA system falls short in terms of its biogeographic representation, with the desert ecosystems currently being under-represented.
Deserts have been historically considered wastelands judged purely from economic perspective.
Kazakh deserts shelter important migrating mammals and birds whose status depends on
landscape level approach to conservation, combining strict conservation in the breeding/nesting
areas with sustainable use in other areas. Yet PA design and expansion decisions do not
consider the broader landscape level processes. And collaborative management in protected
area governance in Kazakhstan remains a gap.
Background:
The full sized project “Improving sustainability of PA system at desert ecosystem through
promotion of biodiversity compatibly livelihoods in and around PAs” in amount of USD 4,364,000
for 5 years is cleared for inclusion in the work program and will be funded by the GEF Trust Fund.
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The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved and will be funded by the GEF Trust Fund
the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) in amount of USD 120,500 for 18 months. The PPG process
will engage stakeholders and will support activities that will develop a full project document and
CEO Endorsement Request. The PPG will start in January 2012 and last until the end of July
2013.
According to GEF rules and regulations the following step is submission of signed PPG
initiation plan to GEF Secretary. This document will be submitted to the GEF following further
information gathering and stakeholder consultation, and will be accompanied by co-financing
letters in line with pledges made in the PIF. The respective partners and co-financers will be fully
engaged in the project design phase; one-on-one consultations, working group meetings, and
project development workshops will be convened for the purpose. The project partners listed as
co-financiers to the PIF have ensured proportional co-funding for the PPG, and will fully
participate in the preparation of the full-size project documentation. In this way, the involvement of
co-funding partners will be fully ensured. The PPG activities will consolidate and supplement the
existing information supplied in the PIF on the state of desert landscapes in Kazakhstan, with
focus on protected area management and community involvement in wider landscape. The PPG
will address comments of the GEF Secretariat, STAP, and Council. The PPG activities will take
into account the lessons learnt from previous UNDP-GEF projects in Kazakhstan and projects of
other agencies and donors relevant to the subject matter of the project. The development of the
project will follow the principles of CACLIM partnership and priorities set in this framework
document for Kazakhstan. The project’s technical feasibility and economic viability will be
assessed as will the risks associated with its implementation. In order to achieve these
objectives, the PPG has been organized into the following components and activities:
1. Detailed assessment of policy and regulatory settings of the project;
2. Assessment of the capacity of different agencies to support the implementation of project
activities;
3. Specifics of on-the-ground actions;
4. Feasibility analysis and budget.
Objective:
The project preparatory grant (PPG) is to prepare a full-sized project “Improving
sustainability of PA system at desert ecosystems through promotion of biodiversity-compatible
livelihoods in and around PAs”. The overall goal of the project is assist Kazakhstan in
implementing relevant aspects of the CBD Program of Work on Protected Areas and the project
addresses one of the key priorities of the CACILM initiative, focusing on promotion of landscape
approach to sustainable land management in Kazakhstan. The project’s objective is to enhance
the sustainability of protected areas in globally important desert ecosystems by expanding their
geographic coverage, promoting landscape approach and supporting biodiversity-compatible
livelihoods in and around PAs, focusing on regions of Ile Balkhash and Southern Kazakh deserts.
This objective will be achieved through the following outcomes:
(i)
PA system of Kazakhstan contains representative samples of desert and semi-desert
ecosystems
(ii)
Tools for landscape-level desert and
management are developed and implemented and
(iii)
semi-desert
conservation
Sustainable use of biodiversity by local communities in and around PAs.
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planning
and
Scope of work:
Under the guidance and supervision of the PPG Coordinator and UNDP programme officer,
the National Consultant on stakeholder engagement and resource mobilization expert will provide
high quality services to ensure timely and efficient delivery of expected outputs as per the ToR. In
particular, the National Consultant will:
1. Review of biodiversity impacts and threats at three project sites (maximum 5 pages)

Summarize key anthropogenic threats to biodiversity conservation in three targeted
regions: Ile Balkash area (Ile Balkash Reservat & Altyn Emel NP), Ustyurt Plateau
(Ustyurt Zapovednik and zapovedniye zones), and Aralsk region (Barsakelmess
Zapovednik)—with quantitative and qualitative indicators and rankings (from highest to
lowest). The consultant should also review a list of flagship species in the approved PIF
and update it with species sustainability indicators that would serve as performance
targets for this project.

Provide information on current/future PAs in the three regions: location and size of PAs,
date of establishment (or expected date), type of protection, PA staff, maitenance &
protection costs, ecological and economic parameters of expected buffer zones and
corridors around the protected areas, if any. The consultant should make use of final
ENO & TEO for Ile Balkash Reservat, government PA expansion plans, government and
akimat ordinances, and other relevant documents as reference materials.

Finalize the selection of pilot sites for co-management arrangements under Output 3.1,
and define specifics of co-management arrangements at PAs and in buffer zones.

Presents a brief proposal of how territorial plans can be adjusted to eliminate existing
threats to biodiversity and land degradation in the two targeted regions.
2. Rehabilitation measures at demonstration sites and capacity building (maximum 3-4 pages)

Define boundaries, describe activities, performance indicators, budget and benefits of
demostration projects aimed at rehabilitation of wetlands (approx 2,000 ha), restoration
and sustainable management of Tugai forests (1,000 ha and 20,000 ha respectively) in
the Ile Balkhash basin. When designing these conservation measures, please consider
the use of traditional land use practices and ways of increasing land productivity. The
fullfillment of this task requires that the consultant visits the Ile-Balkash project area to
meet stakeholders on the ground and test feasibility of proposed demos.

Advise of optimal parameters of a cattle management regime for Aralsk and Ile Balkhash
regions.

Assess capacity needs, technical requirements, and institutional arrangements (software,
hardware, competencies, protocols, etc) for implementation of a long-term biodiversity
monitoring system for targeted species and ecosystems of this project (Output 2.2 of
approved PIF).
(ii)

Other support to the preparation stage including:
Provision of short follow-up analyses and commentary on the draft FSP (by email)
Note:
- The overview should be in Russian language;
- The report should be provided electronically as MS Word for Windows files.
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The font used should be: Times New Roman size 11;
Italics should be used only for Latin names of species; no other italics will be accepted into
the text;
The format should avoid bullets; stars; arrows, etc.;
The format of the document should be on Letter size.
-
Expected results and payments:
No.
1.
Results
Review of BD impacts & threats at three
targeted areas finalized and submitted to
PPG Coordinator (Item 1 of ToR)
Finalized and agreed sites and activities for
demonstration projects. Cost estimates for
demonstration projects submitted (Item 2 of
ToR)
Brief assessment of capacity and hardware
needs of existing and about-to-be created
PAs in targeted regions
Responses to comments on draft FSP
submitted
2.
3.
4.
Timing
11 June
Amount (optional)
16 July
de facto
30 July
30 September
Responsibility:



Reports to PPG Coordinator
Ensures timely and quality execution of the Terms of Reference
Ensures unconditional carrying out of requirements of the Contract
Knowledge and skills:
- S/he must have a degree and /or specialization in an area relevant to the consultancy, e.g.
Biodiversity, Natural Resources Management etc.
- S/he must have at least 10 years of work experience in PA feasibility assessment and
establishment in Kazakhstan;
- S/he should have a substantial experience in wetlands restoration and conservation of Tugai
forests;
- Basic knowledge of PC use is required.
- Excellent writing skills in Russian.
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