Avis de recrutement : Consultant - Préparation d'une étude d'impact environnemental et social ESIA
LOCALISATION : 🌆️ yaounde-region-centre-cameroun
Publié Le : 15 juin 2021
DESCRIPTION DU POSTE
Advert : Consultant For the preparation of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Mitigation Framework (ESMF) for Boumba Bek-Nki-Ngoyla-Mintom Landscape Nous vous informons que le WWF recherche un(e) consultant pour la préparation d'une étude d'impact environnemental et social (ESIA) et d'un cadre d'atténuation environnemental et social (ESMF) pour le paysage de Boumba Bek-Nki-Ngoyla-Mintom. Les candidats intéressés sont invités à soumettre leur proposition à Gilles Etoga (getoga@wwfcam.org) et Eric Parfait Essomba (eessomba@wwfint.org) avant le Mercredi 30 juin 2021 à 17h00 au plus tard. TERMS OF REFERENCE For the preparation of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Mitigation Framework (ESMF) for Boumba Bek-Nki-Ngoyla-Mintom Landscape BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LANDSCAPE The Boumba Bek-Nki-Ngoyla-Mintom landscape is a complex of protected areas that are part of the Tri-National Dja-Odzala-Minkebe (TRIDOM) umbrella landscape, which spans across Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Gabon. The specific landscape covered by this assignment includes the Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks and the Ngoyla wildlife reserve. It covers over 2,000,000 hectares across the Southern and Eastern regions of Cameroon. The landscape is sparsely populated but is home to more than 120,000 inhabitants including various Bantu local community groups and Baka indigenous peoples. Both community groups strongly rely on forest resources for their livelihoods and their cultural ceremonies. Bantu are traditionally known for carrying out small-scale agriculture farming while the Baka IPs are considered as hunter-gatherers and have a semi-nomadic lifestyle in the forests of the landscape. The landscape is also home to an exceptionally rich biodiversity, with a considerable amount of mammal species and several endemic wildlife species. However, the biodiversity of the landscape is facing pressure from not only existential threats such as poaching, illegal mining and logging but also increasing pressure from emerging threats such large scale extractive investments and infrastructure development. WWF has an overarching Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Forest and Wildlife (MINFOF), which defines the roles and responsibilities of each party regarding the management of key protected areas in the country. WWF started its engagement in the landscape in the mid-1990s to support the Cameroon government in its endeavor to establish an integrated development and conservation area based on the CAMPFIRE model implemented in Zimbabwe. However, MINFOF through its decentralized services (regional delegation, conservation unit), has the ultimate decision-making voice regarding the management of the three protected areas within the landscape. WWF's role is to provide technical advice and financial support to the government to implement its policy on biodiversity conservation and natural resource management; Currently, WWF implements a variety of activities in the landscape which include: support to the integrated land-use planning process; strengthen the effective management of protected area; technical and financial support to law enforcement activities; strengthen local communities and IPs access to forest resources; support implementation of livelihood activities for local communities and IPs; implementation of bio-monitoring activities. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT Overall, the landscape interventions are designed to yield positive environmental and social benefits. However, there is the potential for the implementation of some activities to result in adverse impacts on the environment and the communities. The objective of this assignment is the preparation of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for the entire landscape. In order to ensure that WWF activities within the landscape are aligned with WWF’s Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (ESSF), potential negative environmental and social risks and related impacts linked to WWF activities should be identified, avoided and/or mitigated, while striving to enhance benefits for local communities and the environment. The focus of the assignment will be a review of all WWF supported interventions and activities within the landscape (current and planned). The consultant will be asked to focus on the entire landscape (hereafter collectively referred to as the “assignment”) that covers the three protected areas and their peripheral zones in southern and eastern Cameroon. However, given the connectivity of the protected areas and frequent interactions of people and wildlife in the larger TRIDOM landscape, it is also expected that the consultant will assess the impacts of any transboundary activities implemented by WWF. The ToR aims to outline the tasks in as much detail as possible. Nevertheless, the Consultant shall critically verify the scope of services indicated and may extend, reduce or amend those services wherever such is deemed necessary according to his/her own professional judgement and knowledge. Any suggested amendments to the ToR should be clearly documented within the Consultant’s submission, including accompanying justification for the proposed amendments, and must be approved by the contracting party at WWF. COVID-19 It is recognized that the current COVID-19 pandemic limits the ability to undertake any field-based tasks until travel/health restrictions are lifted or other permissions secured. The Consultant and WWF will regularly review the COVID-19 situation and will jointly agree when it is safe for any field-based work to take place. This decision will be based on adequate assurance that the risk of COVID-19 transmission has been minimized for any communities or other stakeholders, the Consultant team and WWF staff. Since Task 1 is heavily desk-based, it can be started immediately. It is also expected that preparatory work for Task 2 could be carried out remotely. NDA/CONFIDENTIALITY In order for the Consultant to fulfil this ToR, confidential documents will be made available for review. The Consultant will therefore be required to sign and abide by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that will be included with the formal contract. On WWF’s E&S safeguards, and for avoidance of doubt, the Framework document and its nine draft standards have been publicly disclosed, but these are currently subject to review . TASKS It is anticipated that the assignment will be undertaken through the following tasks conducted separately: ● Task 1: Development of a detailed work plan, virtual kick-off meeting and review of available documents. ● Task 2: Development of the stakeholder analysis and stakeholder engagement plan ● Task 3: Field visit(s) and engagement with stakeholders. ● Task 4: Development of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) ● Task 5: Development of the Environment and Social Management Framework (ESMF) Further details of the required tasks, the scope and guidance on content and proposed methodologies are provided in the sub-sections below. Task 1: Development of a work plan, virtual kick-off meeting and review of available documents Prior to commencing the assignment, the Consultant shall develop a detailed work plan for the assignment. The work plan shall refer to the tasks as described in these ToR and shall include any additional tasks as identified by the Consultant during the preparation phase. This work plan will form the basis of the detailed terms of the assignment and shall be approved by WWF prior to starting the work. The work plan will be routinely reviewed with WWF during the assignment and adapted to reflect any change of circumstance. Following this, the Consultant shall participate in a virtual kick-off meeting with relevant WWF staff members. This meeting will enable WWF to provide to the Consultant with additional context information for the tasks and the list of WWF documentation to be reviewed. WWF will provide available background documentation regarding the environmental and social aspects of the landscape, including its initial safeguards risk screening and categorization memo performed by WWF staff, any previous impact assessments, any baseline studies developed for WWF activities in the landscape, and any mitigation measures already being adopted and under implementation. The Consultant shall get familiar with the available documents and with the relevant WWF ESSF Standards. In addition to the documentation provided by WWF, the Consultant is also expected to explore any relevant external research/literature to inform the gap analysis. Based on the preparatory information analysis, the Consultant shall identify any gaps in the existing documentation, highlight the need for any additional assessments and adjust the work plan for the assignment accordingly if needed. The gap analysis is not intended to validate assumptions in the risk screening but instead it is expected that the gap analysis will focus on uncovering any additional gaps that were not captured in the initial risk assessment and subsequent safeguards categorization memo. Task 2: Carry out a stakeholder analysis and a stakeholder engagement plan Based on the information provided by WWF during the first task, the Consultant will carry out a stakeholder analysis and will develop a subsequent draft stakeholder engagement plan to be used during the ESIA. It is important to note that there have already been multiple efforts by WWF and other partners towards stakeholder analysis within the landscape. The Consultant is then expected to carry out a gap assessment about these previous analyses and based on this, update the previous stakeholder analysis and also assess where applicable the form and processes of the consent obtained from communities under past FPIC processes. The draft stakeholder engagement used during the ESIA will serve as a basis to develop a comprehensive final plan for future stakeholder engagement in the landscape. This plan is meant to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms and nature of engagement with the different rights-holder groups, including their participation and representation in decision-making. Further technical guidance about the development of the stakeholder analysis and stakeholder engagement plan is outlined in the annex. Task 3: Carry out field visit(s) and consult with stakeholders, based on the draft stakeholder engagement plan Data collection and consultation processes in the framework of this assignment will include at least a couple of field visits to the landscape sites (to be agreed in consultation with WWF) that are representative for informing the development of the ESIA , ESMF and any subsequent plans such as the Indigenous Peoples Plan. Once both the ESIA and ESMF are completed, the consultant is expected to present their main outcomes to local stakeholders during a national workshop. The field trips will be scheduled depending on the evolution related to travel restrictions in the country. The selection of field visit sites/communities will be evaluated and jointly established by the Consultant and the WWF landscape team, based on the following criteria: ● Area of influence: the specific areas within the Nki-Boumba Bek-Ngoyla-Mintom forest block landscape where WWF has activities or exerts influence. ● Accessibility: Access the impacted villages by road and possible mobility of impacted villagers to travel to the location where the consultation will take place; ● Community groups: Differences in culture and community groups identity; ● Livelihoods: Differences in the main livelihood strategies – agriculture, NTFP collection, fishing, etc. ; ● Dependency: Dependency of household livelihoods on forest products or more generally on the areas impacted by WWF's work; ● Impact: Difference in types of project-related positive and negative impacts and their spatial distribution; ● Historical conflicts: Areas where conflicts resulting from WWF work have happened in the past with local communities and indigenous peoples. A particular attention will be paid to different sub-groups inside communities, e.g. women, youth, elders, and different community groups (if a community is diverse). Especially in the social context, consultations with IPs and local communities shall be made using, to the extent possible in the scope of the mission, participatory rural appraisal methods based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques, including focus group discussions. The consultations shall be made in a manner that is culturally acceptable and accessible to the community groups. Local interpreters will be used, where appropriate and to the extent possible. Institutional stakeholders relevant in the context of the environmental and social aspects of WWF activities (as applicable), including but not limited to environmental agencies/administrations, institutions related to water resources management, institutions related to forestry and agriculture, protected area management as appropriate as well as relevant social institutions shall be consulted during the mission, for example through key informant interviews and multi-stakeholder workshops. Task 3: Development of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment The process of developing the ESIA is to generate a supplementary analysis of the environmental and social risks of WWF activities in the landscape and not to validate already known risks identified during the screening phase. The ESIA is also meant to help to fill the gaps in information identified in the inception report and integrate the views and feedback provided by stakeholders in relation to the potential negative social and environmental impacts, as well as the preliminary mitigation measures. The ESIA will also assess alternatives to inform program design. See additional technical guidance about the ESIA in the Annex. The impact assessment shall be undertaken by the Consultant in a structured manner, along the relevant national legislation and the requirements of the relevant WWF E&S Safeguard Standards (ESSS), with a special focus on, but not limited to: ● ESSS 2 on Stakeholder Engagement ● ESSS 3 on Grievance Mechanism ● ESSS 4 on Restriction of Access and Resettlement ● ESSS 5 on Indigenous Peoples ● ESSS 6 on Community Health, Safety and Security ● ESSS 7 on Protection of Natural Habitats ● ESSS 8 on Pest Management ● ESSS 9 on Cultural Resources Currently, known risks and/or issues in both the Nki-Boumba Bek-Ngoyla landscape include: ● Social risks related to anticipated impacts from restriction of access to and use of natural resources, socia | (c) http://minajobs.net