Samoa: Consultancy Service for the Development of the Management Plan for Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) of the Uafato-Tiavea Conservation Area

May 31, 2017 | UNDP
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The SMSMCL project is the first upscaling initiative by the Government of Samoa to ensure land degradation issues across all levels of society are addressed through the integration of sustainable landscape management into planning frameworks and actions in multi-sectoral arrangements to achieve the Government of Samoa’s long-term goal:

“Samoa’s productive landscapes are protected and sustainably managed to mitigate land degradation and to increase soil carbon sequestration so as to contribute to poverty alleviation and mitigation and adaptation to climate change impacts, as well as to contribute to global environmental benefits by overcoming barriers to integrated sustainable land management.”

The primary objective of this project is to strengthen local capacities, incentives and actions for integrated landscape management in order to reduce land degradation and greenhouse gas emissions and promote nature conservation whilst enhancing sustainable local livelihoods.

The concept of Key Biodiversity Areas is the latest presentation of recent efforts to renew and strengthen the conservation of priority areas for the conservation of indigenous biodiversity of Samoa that were identified in surveys, assessments and conservation efforts of the last decade of the last century. KBAs encompasses and joined together adjacent community conservation areas and in some instances it included national reserves that were established and developed from the last century under various national and regional biodiversity programs. In a sense it is a continuation or a next stage in the continuing evolution of work to conserve and sustainably use the remaining indigenous terrestrial and marine areas of the country in the face of increasing development and the impact of global climate and environmental change. KBAs are much more larger in scopes than the individual community conservation areas and national parks and reserves of the last century and emphasizes a more active participation of KBA land owners in the regular assessment and management of these important natural assets. There are other priority areas for conservation that are not included as KBAs but are still of high value for Samoa biodiversity efforts which include some important fragments of indigenous forest such as the Falealupo Peninsula Forest of the Falealupo Rainforest Reserve and several major mangrove areas in the country such as the Vaiusu bay and the Matafa'a Lefaga bay mangrove areas. All of these together with the KBAs identified and mapped are the main area of conservation and sustainable development programs at the present time for the country's national environment and conservation government and non-governmental organizations.

Duties and Responsibilites: 

To achieve the overall objectives of the Management Plan consultancy, the following deliverables is expected:

  • Inception Report
  • Within three days of contract signing the Consultant should produce an inception report outlining the assignment approach, and detailed work plan including draft layout of the Management Plan.
  • Meetings, Interviews, Workshops
  • The consultant will work in collaboration with the Project Team eg. PMU staff and key Division of MNRE eg. DEC, NPR and Forestry to prepare planned meetings, individual interviews and workshops necessary as part of information collation and review as well as providing a management plan detail outline, and presentation of the draft 5-year Management Plan.  The consultant is also required to organise a meeting with key stakeholders to further discuss on the draft 5-Year Management Plan before the Validation Workshop with the community. 
  • Community involvement and participation strengthened
  • An integral part of the project will involve local communities because of the key stewardship role they play in biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use. Because of the land tenure system in Samoa where 80 percent of the land is customary owned, it is important to engage communities to get their support and commitment to the activities of the project in particular to implement the key recommendations and actions that will arise out of the Management Plan. One of the strategies to engage the communities is through communication and raising awareness activities targeting the different community groups in the villages where the project activities will take place. Visual and audio presentations, printed materials and seminars with the different community groups will be carried out to share information and findings from the project, including on the impact of climate change on forests, and also to gauge community views on ways to better conserve and sustainably manage their biodiversity.
  • Clear recommendations based on practical experiences
  • Based on previous baseline surveys and studies, specifically point out issues to be addressed and recommend potentialities to be harnessed by the management and development opportunities.
  • Draft Management Plan including the implementation plan as Appendix based on the recommendations drawn out
  • The consultant is required to provide a final draft Management Plan for Uafato-Tiavea Conservation Area including the draft Implementation Plan based on the priority actions and recommendations.

Competencies:

  • Demonstrates commitment to the Government of Samoa mission, vision and values;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
  • Good inter-personal and teamwork skills, networking aptitude, ability to work in multicultural environment.

Required Skills and Experience:

Education:

  • At least a master’s degree in natural resource planning and management, or other closely related field;

Experience:

  • Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience in natural resource planning and management, sustainable development, and traditional knowledge management in relation to conservation research and applied knowledge and development of management plans for key biodiversity areas (KBA) or community conservation areas (CAs) and protected areas (PAs);
  • Demonstrated experience and skills in coordinating and facilitating the process required for the formulation of Management Plans for KBAs, CCAs and PAs;
  • Highly developed inter-personal, negotiation and teamwork skills, culturally sensitive and ability to work in multi-cultural environment;
  • Experience working in the Pacific region is preferred.

Language:

  • Fluency in English (oral and written) is a requirement, with sound written and presentation skills using plain English