Liberia: Consultancy to Conduct a Legal Review of Carbon Rights in Liberia

Mar 20, 2018 | Conservation International
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Conservation International's goal is to protect nature as a source of food, fresh water, livelihoods and a stable climate. CI's work focuses on science, policy, and partnership with businesses and communities. The organization employs more than 1,000 people and works with more than 2,000 partners in 30 countries. CI has helped support 1,200 protected areas and interventions across 77 countries, safeguarding more than 601 million hectares of land, marine and coastal areas.

1. Background

On November 29th, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat approved a Project Identification Form (PIF) of USD 4,408,200 for the Conservation of Liberia’s coastal natural capital. Please use the email address below to request the full PIF:

The project entitled “Conservation and sustainable use of Liberia’s coastal natural capital.”will be executed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia and Conservation International (CI) Liberia. A Project Preparation Grant (PPG) has been awarded to enable preparation of the full Project Document (ProDoc), based upon the approved PIF.

The main objective of this project is to “Improve conservation and sustainable use of Liberia’s coastal natural capital by mainstreaming the value of nature into Liberia’s development trajectory.” The project has three components including:

i. Component 1: Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in coastal ecosystems: This component aims to build the foundation for Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in Liberia to ensure that the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services, particularly for coastal areas, is incorporated into national decision-making;

ii. Component 2: Innovative financing schemes for conserving coastal natural capital. This component aims at increasing and diversifying resource flows for the sustainable management and restoration of mangrove and coastal ecosystems; and

iii. Component 3: Community incentives to conserve and sustainably manage natural capital in coastal ecosystems. This seeks to establish a locally appropriate delivery mechanism that can channel payment for ecosystem services (PES) to communities providing the services.

2. Purpose of the consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is twofold: undertake a legal review of carbon rights in Liberia as detailed in the Liberia’s National REDD+ Strategy; and the legal use of coastal ecosystems and resource rights.

3. Scope of work

In conducting a legal review of carbon rights and legal use of coastal ecosystems and resource rights in Liberia, the Consultant will analyse Liberian policies and laws related to REDD+ and legal use of coastal ecosystems and resource rights; analyse the arrangements on carbon rights and REDD+ benefit sharing mechanism of REDD+ projects existing in Liberia; and formulate a strategy for adapting the regulatory framework.

4. Key tasks

The consultant will work closely with CI and EPA to undertake the following tasks:

  • Analyse Liberian policies and laws on land, forestry, decentralization, etc. that may affect the right over carbon and REDD+ benefit sharing arrangements;
  • Analyse the current arrangements relating to the right over carbon;
  • Analyse benefit sharing mechanism of existing REDD+ projects in Liberia;
  • Formulate a strategy for adapting the regulatory framework to encompass forest carbon ownership in a way that will ensure benefit flows for coastal and/or forest-dependent communities;
  • Produce a draft report of legal review of carbon rights;
  • Present the draft report of legal review of carbon results to stakeholders and incorporate comments and feedback; and
  • Produce and submit final report on legal review of carbon rights.

5. Deliverables

  • By 15th April, 2018 an inception report is produced and submitted to CI Liberia. The inception should include a detailed work plan and schedule to complete the above tasks
  • By 31st May, 2018 the first draft report of legal review of carbon rights is produced and submitted to project team for review and comment;
  • By 15th June, 2018 the second draft report of legal review of carbon rights produced incorporating all feedback and comments from the project team;
  • By 30th June, 2018 a final report of legal review of carbon rights is produced.

6. Period of performance

This consultancy will commence in April, 2018 and end on 30th June, 2018.

7. Services Provided by CI Liberia and EPA

CI Liberia and EPA project leads will provide the consultant with an initial orientation and all relevant background documents. Each of the institutions Project leads will be available for ongoing conversations, to clarify expectations about the process and deliverables.

8. Contract Type

Conservation International will issue a fixed-price contract for this work. As per the consultant’s proposal and subsequent negotiations, the contract will include a set of fixed payments based on submission and acceptance of deliverables indicated in 5 above.

CI Liberia will accept proposals from individuals, consulting firms or organizations. CI Liberia anticipates that the work will be completed by a single person. If a team of people is proposed, CI Liberia intends to execute a consulting contract with a single individual, firm, or organization, which will serve as the lead entity and be responsible for contractual and financial arrangements with all others.

9. Location of Work

The consultant(s) shall work from their base of operations.

10. Monitoring and Evaluation of Consultant Performance

CI Liberia Technical Director together with respective colleagues at CI Headquarters will supervise consultant performance and be responsible for review and acceptance of all written deliverables.

11. Key Personnel

The completion of this work is dependent on personnel. As such, applicants must name every individual expected to work on the contract, as well as their individual CV’s. CI will not accept any proposal that lists an expert as “to be determined.” CI considers all personnel named in the proposal as “key,” and must provide express, written authorization for replacement of named personnel.

12. Minimum Qualifications and experience of Consultants

The successful Consultant/firm will have the following minimum requirements:

  • Education: Master’s or bachelor’s degree in law, Environmental Policy, Natural Resources management with specialisation in Environmental Law, or related fields
  • Excellent understanding of Liberia’s institutions, laws and policies
  • Experience in conducting legal and policy reviews
  • In-depth knowledge and understanding of REDD+ and legal uses of coastal ecosystems and resource rights
  • Fluency in English
  • Excellent analytical and report writing skills
  • Proactive and able to work with minimal supervision and high degree of initiative, reliability, flexibility, and self-motivation

13. Instructions for Preparation of Budget (Cost Proposal)

  • Format: budgets must be prepared and submitted in Microsoft Excel and explicitly show all units (e.g., labour days), unit costs (e.g., loaded daily rates), and total costs. Excel files should be “unlocked” and show all calculations.
  • Included costs: budgets should include lines for:
    • Labour, by individual expert, in person-days, multiplied by either a base daily pay (in US dollars) or a “loaded” daily pay (e.g., inclusive of fringe benefits, other indirect costs, or fee). Proposed daily rates must be in accordance with the qualifications represented in the resumes of the named individuals.
    • Other direct costs, including costs for items like telephone, internet, photocopying, small office supplies, etc. (if required).
    • Professional services or subcontracts, if the applicant will engage experts who are not direct employees of the organization, then, as with Item 3.1 above, these lines should list individual expert, in person-days, multiplied by either a base daily pay (in US dollars) or a “loaded” daily pay (e.g., inclusive of fringe benefits, other indirect costs, or fee). Proposed daily rates must be in accord with the qualifications represented in the resumes of the named individuals.
  • Budget Justification: a budget narrative must accompany the budget spreadsheet, justifying proposed costs.

14. Evaluation Criteria

CI will evaluate proposals based on the following criteria:

  • Demonstrated experience in conducting legal review - 40%
  • Relevant technical expertise especially on REDD+ - 40%
  • Appropriate budget, demonstrating appropriate allocation of labour days in relation to tasks and deliverables; appropriate consultant daily rates in relation to qualifications; appropriate other direct costs in relation to the scope of work; and overall cost effectiveness - 20%

15. Instructions for Submission of Technical Proposals

  • Point of contact: the point of contact for this solicitation is CI Liberia Technical Director. Proposal submissions and queries should be sent to his attention at gilebo@conservation.org.
  • Right of award: CI may reject any or all bids that are not responsive to the scope of work.
  • Language: Proposals must be submitted in English.
  • Deadline for Submission: The deadline for submission of full RFP is 30th March, 2018
  • Currency: proposals should be budgeted in United States dollars. Payment will be made in United States dollars.
  • Cover and signature: Applicants should submit their proposals with a cover letter signed by an authorized representative of the applicant.
  • Expert table: Proposals should include a table with the name, position title, and level of effort (in person-days) of all individuals proposed to work on the project.
  • Resumes/CVs: proposals should include the resume of all named personnel corresponding to the table in item (h) above
  • Timeline: proposals should include a work plan with detailed activities per deliverable for completing the baseline survey.

N.B. All expressions of interest should include:

  • Technical Proposal (maximum eight pages) highlighting: brief explanation about the Consultant/s with emphasis on previous experience in this kind of work; profile of the Consultant/s to be involved in undertaking the tasks; understanding of the ToRs, the task to be accomplished as well as write the project document
  • Financial Proposal: The financial proposal should provide cost estimates for services rendered including daily consultancy fees, accommodation, per-diems, transport cost, etc.
HOW TO APPLY:

Interested and eligible applicants should send copies of their CVs, technical proposal and financial proposal to the address below:

The Technical Director

Conservation International Liberia

Email: gilebo@conservation.org