Background
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The project National Biodiversity Planning to Support the Implementation of the CBD 2011-2020 Strategic Plan in Croatia will be implemented over a period of 2 years (1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014). The Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection, Nature Protection Directorate (MENP) is the government institution responsible for the implementation of the project and will act as the Executing Agency. The main implementing partner of the Ministry is the State Institute for Nature Protection (SINP).
The State Institute for Nature Protection is the central institution carrying out expert tasks of nature protection in Croatia. It was established by virtue of a Regulation of the Government of the Republic of Croatia on 30 October 2002, and began operations in September 2003.
UNDP is the GEF Agency for the project and accountable to the GEF for the use of funds. The project is nationally implemented (NIM).
The International Consultant – Expert for Preparation of Study for Freshwater Ecosystem Services will work under the direct supervision of the State Institute for Nature Protection and MENP, and will be expected to take consultant role during implementation of the project.
The project National Biodiversity Planning to Support the Implementation of the CBD 2011-2020 Strategic Plan in Croatia builds on the current status and achievements of Croatia with respect to its obligations vis-à-vis the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in particular the country’s biodiversity planning and Convention reporting processes, and its commitment to implement, at the national level, the CBD’s Strategic Plan for the period 2011-2020.
In particular, the NBSAP was adopted by Croatian Parliament in 2008 (OG 143/08). This version of the NBSAP does not include some of the elements of the new CBD Strategic Plan’s Aichi Targets and newer COP guidance. The new CBD Strategic Plan, adopted at CoP-10 in 2010 in Nagoya, clearly addresses the need for updating NBSAPs, stating in Target 17 that - by 2015, each Party has developed, adopted as a policy instrument, and has commenced implementing an effective, participatory and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan. The Strategic plan also covers a range of issues that will need to be incorporated into the revised NBSAPs, including guidance to countries to: a) raise awareness on the values of biodiversity (Target 1); b) conserve at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas (Target 11); c) restore and safeguard ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and well-being (Target 14); and d) enhance ecosystem resilience to climate change and promote ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation (Target 15).
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Duties and Responsibilities
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Based on the current version of the NBSAP, International consultant – Expert for Preparation of Study for Freshwater Ecosystem Services will work together with project experts (junior and senior), as well as relevant stakeholders in the development of the study for freshwater ecosystem services.
The experts will make a key contribution to the project Component 2 - NBSAP update, Modul 3 – Strategy and action plan development, Activity 7 – Preparation of the freshwater ecosystem services valuation report.
- In consultation with SINP and MENP, select a wider area with high human activities and pressures in the Danube river basin and it’s drainage area in Croatia and within it conduct a case study to demonstrate the value of ecosystems services (as opposed to try to establish the total value).
- Make interviews with the stakeholders (e.g. nature protection, water management, agriculture, economy, energy, etc.) to produce a short overview of the state in the sectors.
- Identify and map the set of biotopes in the area as well as the goods and services of biodiversity and ecosystems, which contribute to the human activities and use (also to be identified).
- Make value assessment for the whole area of Danube river basin and its drainage (in Croatia).
- Within the case study, identify (i) ecosystem services and human activities; (ii) how these services and activities impact biodiversity and communities; (iii) the enabling governance environment, i.e. legislation and regulations that apply to the activity, fiscal conditions, such as tax breaks, subsidies and conditions for accessing credit etc. and estimate the value of human activities that are impacted by ecosystem services.
- Identify two possible contrasting scenarios for the selected case study area:
- scenario A: maintaining a near natural state (SEM i.e. sustainable ecosystem management)
- scenario B: a massive virtual transformation of the selected area as a part of the huge intervention made by man (BAU i.e. business as usual)
- Construct a scenario A and scenario B curve in order to estimate cost benefits of two different management and use scenarios for 10 years period.
- Estimate the economic costs associated with ecosystem degradation in case of both scenarios.
- Identify incentives in connection with economic activities that impact biodiversity (either positively or negatively).
- Assess the socio-economic cost and opportunity costs of these incentives.
- Prepare a set of simple but strong key economic and political messages backed up by credible data from the results of the analysis to be included in the conclusion of the case study / TEEB-like study.
- Presentation of case study findings.
- Conduct focused 1-5 working sessions (to be defined during the inception period) for the preparation of the Sub-product 1: Study on Ecosystem Valuation in Croatia for freshwater ecosystems and finalise the product.
- Contribute to other relevant products of the Biodiversity Enabling Activity Project as applicable.
Outputs of the activity and deadllines
- Selected a wider area of interest, and defined a case study area (March 2013),
- Made interviews with the stakeholders, produced short overview of the sector (April 2013 – may 2013),
- Identified and mapped a set of biotopes in the area as well as the goods and services of biodiversity and ecosystems which contribute to the human activities and use (identified as well), (May 2013 – June 2013),
- Made value assessment for the whole Danube drainage area (June 2013 – July 2013),
- Identified ecosystem services and human activities and how they impact biodiversity and communities, the enabling governance environment, i.e. legislation and regulations that apply to the activity, fiscal conditions, such as tax breaks, subsidies and conditions for accessing credit and estimated value of human activities that are impacted by ecosystem services within the case study (July 2013 – September 2013),
- Identified 2 possible scenarios of management for the case study area (A-SEM, B-BAU), (September 2013 – October 2013),
- Constructed scenario A and B curves in order to estimate cost benefits of two different management options for 10 years period (October 2013 – November 2013),
- Estimated economic costs associated to ecosystem degradation for both scenarios (A and B), (November 2013 – December 2013),
- Identified incentives in connection with economic activities that impact biodiversity (either positively or negatively). Assess the socio-economic cost and opportunity costs of these incentives (December 2013 – January 2014),
- Prepared set of key economic and political messages backed up by credible data from the results of the analysis (November 2013 – February 2014),
- Presented case study findings (December 2013 – February 2014),
- Conducted focused working sessions for the preparation of the Sub-product 1: Study on Ecosystem Valuation in Croatia for freshwater ecosystems and finalisation of the product (January 2014 – February 2014).
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Competencies
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- Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values.
- Ability to address global development issues.
- Ability to apply development theory to the specific project context to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome identified problems.
- Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate.
- Strong research and analytical skills and ability to rapidly analyze and integrate diverse information from various sources
- Ability to assess institutional capacity, and formulate proposals to foster positive change.
- Produces timely, quality outputs.
- Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally.
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Required Skills and Experience
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Education:
- Postgraduate qualifications in the Natural Sciences or related field, or in environmental economics.
Experience:
- At least 10 years of experience in biodiversity conservation,
- Knowledge and understanding of the relevant UN Conventions and EU policies,
- Experience in ecosystem services valuation (provide relevant materials publications, reports and related documentation),
- Familiarity with biodiversity in SEE region will be considered an advantage,
Language Requirements:
- Demonstrates excellent communication skills in English, both oral and written, including a proven ability to communicate complex processes or technical information orally and to prepare documents that are clear, concise and meaningful, adapting style and content to different audiences.
- Knowledge of local language will be considered as an asset,
Lump sum will be determined according to estimated number of working days and UN fee rates (return air-travel, local travel and DSA included).
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
The application should contain:
- Brief cover letter in English stating interest in and qualifications for the assignment;
- P11 (Personal History Form) application form (to be downloaded from http://www.undp.hr under Jobs).
Financial proposal indicating the total cost of the assignment (lump sum including e.g. consulting fees, per diem, travel costs, proposed number of working days etc.).
The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.
Travel:
All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.
Selection criteria: The evaluation criteria are attached for ease of reference. Applicants are invited to throughly review the Evaluation Criteria and include all information relevant to evaluation of the advertised position within their Curriculum Vitae or their Application Letter.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=35093
