INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT PROCUREMENT NOTICE Date: 07 July 2014 Country: Mauritius Description of the assignment: Coastal Zone Management Expert Project name: UNDP GEF “Mainstreaming biodiversity into the management of the coastal zone in the Republic of Mauritius” PPG Period of assignment/services (if applicable): 20 person days spread over 8 months, starting in August 2014. Proposal should be submitted at the following address through the UNDP jobs website: http:// jobs.undp.org no later than Sunday 27 July 2014. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to Nishi Sewsurn, Procurement Assistant, at nishi.sewsurn@undp.org before or on 14 July 2014. UNDP Mauritius country office will respond in writing or 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 consultants. 1. BACKGROUND Mauritius forms part of the Western Indian Ocean Islands, one of the 25 internationally recognized biodiversity ‘hotspots’. The tropical climate, topography and history of isolation, has resulted in the evolution of a diverse biota with a high degree of endemism. Terrestrial biodiversity is forest-dependent. However, much of the extant forest has been lost: land clearance and forest degradation has already impacted more than 90% of Mauritius Island’s land surface. Marine biodiversity is in a better condition, but is also threatened. Extensive reef systems surround all of the islands of the archipelago. Rodrigues, in particular, harbours a large reef expanse, three times the size of the island. Most of the useable land on the island of Mauritius has been put to production use. In spite of the extensive degradation and transformation that has occurred in many areas, coastal ecosystems and adjacent landscapes still maintain their basic ecological functions. The coastal strip provides prime land for habitation, recreation and tourism, while seascapes provide the basis of food provision though fisheries and also the country’s main touristic attraction— beaches, nautical sports etc. Lagoon habitats are especially important in this regard. They contribute to the overall productivity of coastal waters by supporting a variety of habitats, including salt marshes, seagrasses, and mangroves. The institutional context of the project covers the mandates of various ministries and institutions. The project is led by the Mauritius Oceanography Institute which is responsible for ocean matters in Mauritius. In addition, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security and the Ministry of Fisheries have various mandates which concern the management of ESAs, the management of terrestrial biodiversity and the management of marine protected areas respectively. As tourism is one of the principal parameters of the project, the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure will be involved. Finally, given that one of the landscapes is found in Rodrigues, the Rodrigues Regional Assembly will also be concerned. A Project Preparation Grant (PPG) has been approved by the GEF Secretariat to prepare a FullSize Project Document (FSP) for submission under the GEF-5 STAR to prepare a project on the theme of “Mainstreaming biodiversity into the management of the coastal zone in the Republic of Mauritius”. In this context a Coastal Zone Management expert is required to assist in the preparation of the FSP, focusing on all components proposed in the PIF, and expected outcomes to be achieved, as outlined in the approved Project Identification Form (PIF). The project aims at conserving and sustainably managing land across six multi-use coastal and marine landscapes in the Republic of Mauritius (five in Mauritius Main Island and one in Rodrigues). Together they cover some 150,000 hectares of land- and seascapes and harbour within this area sites that are high in biodiversity values and important for the generation of ecosystem services (e.g. shoreline maintenance, storm protection, soil formation and retention, water provision and flood control). Biodiversity and ecosystem service values are being lost in all six landscapes due to careless coastal developments that reduce and degrade natural habitats, and cause land degradation, undermining ecosystem functionality and resilience, especially in sensitive lagoon areas. These threats are compounded by other anthropogenic pressures that exacerbate degradation (i.e. land-based pollution, climate change). In order to identify focus areas for environmental action in the country, in 2010 the government commissioned a comprehensive, spatially-based study to identify environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs). However, with the exception of forests, the recommendations emanating from the study have not heretofore been implemented and coastal and marine areas have yet to receive due attention. 2. SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK Please refer to TOR – Coastal Zone Management Expert - Annex 1 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS Education: Minimum postgraduate degree in Coastal Engineering, Coastal Zone Management and related subjects Competencies: Ability to conduct research and analysis and strong synthesis skills Builds strong relationships with national consultants, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback; consensus-oriented Highly developed inter-personal, negotiation and teamwork skills, networking aptitude. Regional and national knowledge is highly desirable Excellent English drafting and communication skills Experience: Proven and extensive international experience in Coastal Zone Management Proven extensive experience in UNDP/GEF project formulation/design At least 7 years of experience designing and/or implementing project in developing countries Experience in Coastal Erosion issues, design of measures to abate coastal erosion Experience in coastal tourism issues Experience on wetland restoration Experience in GEF Sustainable Land Management and Biodiversity focal area projects Experience in the use of GIS and Environmental Information Systems 4. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS. Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 1. Proposal: (i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work (ii) Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable) (iii) Letter of confirmation of Interest and Availability (as per template) 2. Personal CV/P11 including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 professional references (at least one of which must have been a direct past supervisor of the applicant) 3.. Financial proposal as per template 5. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL Lump sum contracts The financial offer should be quoted as a lump sum amount, all-inclusive (professional fee, insurance). The Consultant shall be remunerated in accordance with the following time schedule and deliverables Deliverables/ Outputs Tentative Dates Fee (%) 11 August 2014 10% Inception report based on inception workshop 15 September 2014 10% Analytical Report on the sites earmarked in the PIF as concerns coastal zone management issues, coastal 15 November 2014 15% Upon Signature of Contract erosion and wetlands identified Draft project document based on comments by all stakeholders, as required Final project document, based on comments of GEF as required Completion of assignment i.e. approval of project document by the GEF 15 December 2014 25% 25% 11 April 2015 July 2015 15% All reports will be submitted in draft (for comments) and then final form, following incorporation of all comments and suggestions by the reviewing team and the Steering Committee described in the Reporting section. The reports have to be approved by the UNDP, the MOI before payment is effected. 6. EVALUATION The Combined Scoring method will be where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%; Technical Evaluation criteria: Criteria Max. Point Education 15 Communications/Language 5 Experience in Coastal Zone Management 10 Experience in Project Document preparation 15 Experience in Coastal Erosion 10 IT skills (MS Office) 5 Reports writing and Presentation Skills 10 TOTAL max. 70 Candidates scoring 50 or above will be short-listed. The financial offers will be evaluated giving the lowest price proposal 30 marks and marking the other more expensive proposals reverse proportionally to the cheapest offer. The final scoring of short-listed candidates will take into account the technical Evaluation and the financial score: Criteria Weight Max. Point Technical score 70% 70 Financial score 30% 30 The candidate ranking highest shall be selected. Important note: Interested offerors above the age of 62: UNDP regulations require, at their own cost, to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays. Medical evaluation documentation does not need to be submitted with the other requested documents listed above, but will be requested should the candidate be chosen. Interested offeror is required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system, because the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary Annexes Annex 1 - Terms of Reference(TOR) Annex 2 - Letter of Confirmation of Interest and availability & Financial Proposal Annex 3 - P11 Annex 4 - IC Contract Annex 5 - GCC IC