International Consultant - Expert to Provide Input on Status, Measures and Indicators for the Conservation and Valuation of Natural Capital into the National Strategy of Sustainable Development of Montenegro 2015-2020, Podgorica and home based, Montenegro

• Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
• Country: Montenegro
• City: Podgorica
• Office: UNDP in Montenegro

Closing date: Thursday, 25 June 2015

International Consultant - Expert to Provide Input on Status, Measures and Indicators for the Conservation and Valuation of Natural Capital into the National Strategy of Sustainable Development of Montenegro 2015-2020
Location : Podgorica and home based, MONTENEGRO
Application Deadline : 25-Jun-15
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : International Consultant
Languages Required : English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
10-Jul-2015
Duration of Initial Contract : mid of July - end of September
Expected Duration of Assignment : 3 months
Background
The first National Strategy of Sustainable Development of Montenegro (hereinafter: NSSD) adopted in 2007 was a step towards making an effort to materialize and make concrete the declarative commitment of Montenegro to be an ecological state. In the period of its drafting, it relied on the guidelines and goals set in strategic documents of that time, such as the Directions for Development of Montenegro as an Ecological State, Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy and other strategies at the national level, as well as on the Mediterranean Strategy of Sustainable Development (MSSD), conclusions reached at the two global summits on sustainable development and their key documents (1992 and 2002) and on other instruments for achievement of sustainable development. Since its adoption, the NSSD has been revised in the evaluation process in its part containing the Action Plan when a number of goals, measures and related indicators were revised, which was done in accordance with the reports on implementation and progress made by other programmes, and also in accordance with their results that had been achieved in Montenegro in the meantime. Since the time-frame for implementation of the Action Plan of this Strategy has expired and since many changes have taken place in Montenegro in the meantime, particularly in terms of reforms related to EU integration and harmonization of national legislation with the EU Acquis communautaire, and also given that new sustainable development programmes and initiatives have been launched at the national and international levels, conditions are in place for revision of the NSSD which needs to be harmonized with the new policies and strategies.

UNDP in Montenegro Beogradska 24b, Podgorica Tel: +382 81 231 251

In order to assist the Government in the process of European integration , UNDP will hire an international consultant to give suggestions and develop a proposals a of chapters on status, measures and indicators for the conservation and valuation of natural capital into the National Strategy of Sustainable Development of Montenegro 2015-2020 that will be incorporated in the final version of updated document in close cooperation and consultation of official national working group established by Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism.
Duties and Responsibilities
Main purpose of the advertised Terms of Reference is to obtain services and advice of experienced expert in providing input on status, measures and indicators for the conservation and valuation of natural capital into the National Strategy of Sustainable Development of Montenegro 2015-2020.
As stated above the main objective of the assignment is to generate information on the status, measures and indicators for the conservation and valuation of natural capital, which can be incorporated into the National Strategy of Sustainable Development of Montenegro 2015-2020 (NSSD MNE 2015-2020). Within this process the focus of the input would be on the value and sustainable economic potential of biodiversity and ecosystem services within and around Protected Areas (hereinafter: PAs). In other words, it is biodiversity and ecosystem services aspects that are the main concern, and it is PAs that are being taken as a key mechanism by which to manage and conserve natural capital. Particular emphasis would be given to economic and financial instruments - especially payments for ecosystem services ((hereinafter: PES). It should be underlined that the review and recommendations are driven by, and would target, the need to better integrate sustainable development and biodiversity/ecosystem conservation goals. The work would identify selected priority PAs (national parks, regional parks, etc.) within which NSDS measures could be initiated or piloted. It is also important to emphasize that the proposed measures and indicators should be extremely clear, practical, policy-relevant and simple to operationalize and implement, given that the topics of natural capital, economic and financial measures for biodiversity, and PES are new to Montenegro, and that as yet national technical and institutional capacity in these areas remains limited.
Under the direct supervision of UNDP Project Manager and within this context expected outputs and deliverables would consist from following key tasks:

• Desk review of existing policies, strategies, plans and other documents that touch on issues relating to the conservation and valuation of natural capital in Montenegro (e.g. NBSAP, PA management plans, CAMP documents, EU integration roadmap, etc.);
• Identification of key issues, gaps, needs and opportunities for the conservation and valuation of natural capital, in response to / support of Montenegro's sustainable development priorities;
• Recommendations on potential concrete measures and actions to realise and capture the sustainable value of natural capital;
• Identification of indicators to measure progress in the conservation and valuation of natural capital for sustainable development in Montenegro.

The deliverable outputs would be:

• An interim briefing paper on the key issues, findings and recommendations - to be discussed and commented on by the Ministry and other key stakeholders;
• On the basis of this feedback, a short technical review and recommendations report, including draft sections for inclusion in the NSSD MNE 2015-2020.

Mechanisms for undertaking the tasks and delivering the outputs:

• The work would largely be undertaken as a desk review, but it would be essential to allow for direct consultation, presentation of results and discussion of priorities / options with the Ministry and other key stakeholders;
• There is an emerging body of experts on PES and natural capital valuation in Montenegro. It would be highly desirable to see this exercise as a means of working jointly with these experts, and helping to build national capacity in these technical areas.

Time duration

• The Consultant will be engaged on part time basis during the period from July 2015 - September 2015

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience
Education

• Bachelor degree in Economy, Environmental Management or Biology;
• An advanced university degree (MSc or PhD) in Environmental Science/Management/Policy, Biodiversity Conservation would be considered as advantage.

Experience

• At least 15 years of experience; in the area of Economy, Environmental Management or Biology;
• Minimum 10 years of professional experience in the area of nature conservation especially connected with issues related to transposition and implementation regulations and practices on biodiversity financing;
• Proven experience in the development of legislation or policy advice in the field of nature conservation, biodiversity financing in an EU member state, a candidate or a potential candidate country, would be an advantage;
• Proven experience and participation in minimum one EU or other donors' funded projects related to nature conservation, biodiversity financing including a legal gap analysis, would be an advantage.

Language

• Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English;
• Knowledge of Montenegro language would be considered as an asset.

Criteria for selection
Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the inidividual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

1. Responsive, compliant, acceptable; and
2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weigth - 70% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%).
Financial criteria weight - 30%.
Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation.
For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.
Application procedure
Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by July 10th, 2015 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain a duly completed Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded from http://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/operations/jobs.html.
Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section 'Description of Responsibilities'.
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.