Regional assessment of protected area and biodiversity management needs in
eastern and southern Africa
Request for proposals for consultancy services
Launched by the European Commission in July 2011, the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management
(BIOPAMA) programme is funded through Intra-ACP (Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries)
resources from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF). The four-year Programme is being
implemented jointly by IUCN, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) and the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). By making better use of data on
biodiversity and socio-economic issues, the project will enhance the understanding of the ecological and
human factors that influence the management of protected areas. The project will develop a regional
capacity building programme in partnerships with existing institutions, such as regional training centres
and universities. These programmes will involve updating and expanding curricula on conservation and
protected areas, developing tool kits to solve priority regional issues, training of decision makers,
protected area staff, and others. The project will also support the creation of a regional “Observatory for
Protected Areas and Biodiversity” with the right capacities and means. The regional observatory will
build on global efforts for collecting data, directly from the ground, from national services, and from
international institutions holding relevant information on biodiversity, pressures and threats. They will
have the general mandate of ensuring the awareness and effective buy-in to the necessity to maintain
efforts on biodiversity conservation of political institutions of the three regions.
The IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) is currently seeking qualified consultants
to carry out feasibility and capacity needs assessments to inform the implementation of BIOPAMA in the
eastern and southern Africa region. The terms of reference for this work are outlined below.
Terms of reference
The purpose of the consultancy is to carry out the following assessments: (i) a capacity needs
assessment for protected areas management in the region and (ii) an assessment of the options and
regional priorities for establishing an “Observatory for Protected Areas and Biodiversity” to support
protected areas and biodiversity management in the region. Separate proposals are required for
carrying out each of the two assessments.
(i) Capacity Needs Assessment
The consultant(s) should have a good understanding of protected area management challenges in
eastern and southern African area with practical experience in protected area management including
capacity building activities.
The consultant(s) will:
1. Identify, acquire and summarize the results of previous protected area management capacity
needs assessments carried out in the eastern and southern African region in recent years (e.g.
those prepared by national governments as part of the national reports on the implementation
of the CBD/POWPA) and other relevant documents.
2. Provide a review of the main existing capacity building programmes/activities relevant for
protected area managers in the region (e.g. main training institutes, universities, e-learning
modules, etc.)
3. Based on the above assessments, identify main gaps and prioritize capacity building needs at
various levels e.g. individual protected area managers, national protected area management
authorities, regional organizations, etc.
This work is expected to mainly consist of a desk top study of existing information. If necessary, the
desktop studies may be supplemented by telephone interviews of key informants.
Output: The consultant(s) will be expected to provide a short report (maximum 20-pages including
annexes) covering the above issues.
Date of delivery of draft report: by 15th of September 2012
Date of delivery of final report: 30th September 2012
(ii) Assessment of existing regional biodiversity databases
The consultant(s) should have a thorough understanding of environmental databases, bioinformatics,
GIS and be familiar with the constraints of data storage, handling and dissemination in the eastern and
southern Africa region.
The consultant(s) will:
1. Identify the main institutions currently hosting biodiversity databases relevant to protected area
management and biodiversity conservation in the eastern and southern Africa sub-region;
2. Assess the main strengths and weaknesses of the existing databases and institutions with
respect to their ability to serve as a regional observatory on biodiversity conservation and
protected area management in eastern and southern Africa (e.g. type of data, extent of regional
coverage, equipment, human resources, etc.);
3. Based on the above, provide detailed recommendations for the establishment of a regional
observatory to support biodiversity conservation and protected area management in eastern
and southern Africa.
The consultant(s) will be expected to compile information mainly from existing sources supplemented
by telephone interviews and limited travel to visit one or two key institutions in the region. During the
assessment, the consultant(s) will be required to liaise with the JRC team (by telephone / video
conference) on technical criteria relevant to the information systems for the Regional Observatory.
Output: The consultant(s) will be expected to provide a short report (maximum 20-pages including
annexes) covering the above issues.
Date of delivery of draft report: by 15th of September 2012
Date of delivery of final report: 30th September 2012
Interested consultants are requested to email by 9th of August 2012 their technical and financial
proposals, together with detailed CVs of consultants undertaking the work, to:
Leo Niskanen
Technical Coordinator
Conservation Areas & Species Diversity Programme
IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office
P.O. Box 68200 0200, Nairobi, Kenya
Email: leo.niskanen@iucn.org