Deadline: 14-Oct-21
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) has launched its proposals for Development of a Long-Term Vision for the Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot.
Scope of Work
- The consultant/team will lead the process to develop a long-term strategic vision for CEPF investment in the Guinean Forests of West Africa hotspot. The long-term vision will consist of a concise document, prepared through targeted stakeholder consultations and literature review.
- It will establish criteria for determining when the conditions for local civil society to graduate from CEPF support are met and set targets that consecutive CEPF investment phases can work toward.
- It will also include a timeline of actions required by CEPF and other funders to meet the graduation targets, and a financing plan that provides a best estimate of the funding required. It will provide a description of what a long-term structure responsible for the coordination of this effort should look like.
Tasks
The consultant/team will undertake the following tasks.
- Establish an advisory group for the long-term vision process. This group should ensure that the long-term vision engages with appropriate stakeholders and takes account of relevant initiatives within civil society, government, private sector, and the donor community. At a minimum, the group should include representatives from leading conservation-focused civil society organizations, the CEPF Regional Implementation Team, and donors supporting the development of civil society and biodiversity conservation in the hotspot.
- Undertake a review of relevant literature, including, but not limited to, government and donor strategies for biodiversity conservation and civil society development and key CEPF documents relevant to the hotspot, to ensure alignment of the long-term vision with other initiatives and avoid duplication of effort. Literature related to biodiversity mainstreaming, Key Biodiversity Areas, Protected Areas coverage, main positive or adverse policies, and climate change projections for the hotspot, should be consulted.
- Consult with key stakeholders to solicit their input into the development of the long-term vision for the hotspot. These consultations may take place through one-to-one meetings (in person or remotely), small group discussions, or formal workshops. Depending on the prevailing COVID-19 situation, virtual meetings may be substituted for in-person meetings. Regarding government stakeholders, these consultations should, at minimum, involve the GEF Operational Focal Point for each of the countries in the hotspot. Key stakeholders should include, but not be limited to, a selection of the CEPF grantees in the region.
- With guidance from the advisory group, synthesize the results of the literature review and stakeholder consultations to:
- Set criteria for determining whether each of the five graduation conditions has been met.
- Set at least one Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound target for each criterion, with milestones for each five-year investment phase.
- Determine how many targets need to be met before the graduation conditions can be considered to be in place.
- Identify and prioritize actions that can be taken by CEPF to influence the changes required for the graduation targets to be met.
- Prepare a financing plan for the implementation of the long-term vision.
- Describe what a long-term structure responsible for the coordination of this long-term vision would look like.
- Present the draft long-term vision at a workshop or a virtual meeting (depending on the prevailing COVID-19 situation) involving at least 30 key stakeholders from across the hotspot, including representatives of leading local and international civil society organizations with missions relevant to conservation, including women’s groups, and indigenous people’s groups, as well as participants from government and private sector.
- Revise the long-term vision to address comments from participants.
- Submit the document to the CEPF Secretariat and help present it at a virtual meeting of the CEPF Working Group, which comprises technical staff from each of CEPF’s donor partners. The consultant will be expected to attend this presentation by electronic conferencing from his or her base of operations.
- Revise the long-term vision to address comments from the CEPF Secretariat and the CEPF Working Group.
Eligibility Criteria
- Type of applicant: A consultant or a team of consultants able to demonstrate relevant experience in the region and a very good network of experts which they can tap into to consultancy
- Location: Flexible, home based with virtual/remote consultations
- Countries: Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea (islands) and São Tomé and Príncipe
For more information, visit https://www.cepf.net/grants/open-calls-for-proposals/2021/gfwa-long-term-vision