Consultancy Announcement

Position:Independent consultant to improve capacity and skills on forest patrolling and protecting in community forest management (CFM) models in Hoa Binh provincefor the USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project, RECOFTC Viet Nam.

Activity Code:1.2.8: Conduct technical trainings in the formulation process of CFM Plans (Sub Activity Code 1.2.8.1)

Duration:18 person-days in the period from June 2022 to July 2022

Application deadline:5.00 p.m. Hanoi local time, June 17, 2022

At RECOFTC, we believe in a future where people live equitably and sustainably in and beside healthy, resilient forests. We take a long-term, landscape-based and inclusive approach to supporting local communities to secure their land and resource rights, stop deforestation, find alternative livelihoods and foster gender equity. We are the only non-profit organization of our kind in Asia and the Pacific. We have more than 30 years of experience working with people and forests, and have built trusting relationships with partners at all levels. Our influence and partnerships extend from multilateral institutions to governments, private sector and local communities. Our innovations, knowledge and initiatives enable countries to foster good forest governance, mitigate and adapt to climate change, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

The USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project (the Project) will work with the Government of Vietnam (GVN) to reduce carbon emissions associated with deforestation, the degradation of natural forests, and poor plantation management. The Project will implement a “Green Prosperity” approach that strengthens local communities’ ability to protect their natural resource base and reduce emissions while building a strong foundation for sustainable livelihoods and equitable economic growth.

The Project will work in seven provinces (Lao Cai, Son La, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Quang Nam) and focus on five objectives:

• Improve and expand community forest management
• Increase conservation-friendly enterprises in forest-dependent communities
• Increase functionality of law enforcement system for forest crimes
• Improve production forest management practices
• Mobilize domestic resources for forest management and protection

The Project is being implemented during the period 2020-2025 by DAI in collaboration with RECOFTC and Preferred by Nature as partners, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) as the counterpart and the Management Board of Forestry Projects (MBFP) as project owner.

RECOFTC Viet Nam is now inviting applicants for an independent consultant to conduct trainings on skills on forest patrolling and protecting in community forest management (CFM) models in Hoa Binh province.

Background

Forest dependent communities’ participation is increasingly recognized as an important factor in effectively maintaining forests. Communities have been engaged into forest management and protection in various forms. Four main types of these engagements include: traditional community forests; introduced community forests; groups of households managing forestlands; and individual households, who all individually own forestland, collaborating in forest management.

Under SFM Project, the concept of community forestry covers two forms of local people's participation in forest management. The first modality is community forest management (CFM) in which residential communities/villages manage their allocated forests. This also covers the modality where communities manage households’ allocated forests as a community group (community-based forest household groups). The second modality is community-based forest management (CBFM) in which village communities manage contracted forests with protection forest management boards.

Hoa Binh is one of the Project provinces which had initiated the forest allocation and forest land allocation programs to households and communities since the 2000s. This is a fundamental condition for promoting community forestry in the province. Currently, communities manage nearly 35 thousand hectares of the province’s forests. Under this model,local communities may have access to different financial sources, including but not limited to the payments for forest protection, the Payment for forest environmental services (PFES) scheme, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) incomes, cooperation/joint investments and other credit schemes. To support communities to perform more effectively their roles and responsibilities of forest owners under CFM modalities, or forest protection contract holders under CBFM, it is necessary to improve communities’ capacities, particularly skills on forest patrolling, handling forest law violations in collaboration with forest rangers. This will enhance effectiveness of community forest protection groups, ensure long-term benefits from community forests, hence contributing to sustainable forest management.

Objectives of the consultancy

The training program aims to provide knowledge and skills for members of community forest patrolling groups to carry out forest patrols for sustainable management of natural forest allocated to communities. Implementation of patrol activities will contribute to ensuring stable forest quality and forest development, environmental protection, ecological balance and biodiversity conservation in the locality.

Expected outputs

After the trainings, participants are expected to:

• Grasp understanding of their roles, responsibilities, rights and interests of community forest patrolling groups in patrolling and protecting community's forests.
• Be able recognize the types of forest encroachment and identify signs of forest encroachment.
• Be able to handle situations that often occur during patrolling, know how to take notes on patrol forms, and know how to prepare patrol reports.
• Grasp knowledge and first aid skills for some accidents that often occur while patrolling the forest.
• Be able to practice well field activities such as: observing, detecting and handling violations related to hunting wild animals, illegally exploiting forest products and handling unexpected circumstances occurred when patrolling.
• Grasp understanding of regulations on production forests and protection forests; prohibited acts in forestry activities related to forest patrols which are prescribed in the Forest Law No. 16/2017/QH14 promulgated on November 15, 2017.
• Be able to prepare patrolling plans to protect forest with assigned responsibilities to members of the patrolling team and patrolling reports on regular basis following the templates/guidelines by the Project.
• Be able to report potential violations to the Forest Protection Department or other government enforcement agencies, for proper timely resolution by local authorities to prevent deforestation, degradation, illegal hunting, illegal exploitation of forest resources and others. Propose a simplified report format for commune forest patrolling to use.

Scope of work (SOW)

The consultants are requested to conduct the following tasks but not limited to:

1. Desk review of relevant laws/policies including Forestry Law 2017, Decree 156 and other guiding papers of the Forestry Law relating to forest management and patrolling, documents of the Project with linkages to community forest management (CFM), including household-group community forest management (HG CFM), with particular focus on the Project’s training program and materials on forest patrolling 
2. Propose plans for building capacity on forest patrolling for CFM and GH CFM.
3. Based on available training materials on forest patrolling for other provinces, update or prepare training plans and finalize training materials for Hoa Binh, including but not limited to the followings:
   
   
   • Updates on the state laws and policies on community forest management and patrolling;
   • Identification of the main roles and tasks of the community forest patrolling groups in patrolling and protecting forests; What are the rights and obligations of  community forest patrolling groups when detecting violations of the law on management, protection, and encroachments of forest resources:
   • Types of patrols and procedures for organizing forest patrols with the participation of the community forest patrolling groups;
   • Identification of some endangered and rare wildlife animals and plants;
   • Skills in using topographic maps for forest patrolling;
   • Identification of common and special traces and signs to help preventing illegal harvest of forest products;
   • Skills for taking notes on patrol forms, preparing forest patrol reports;
   • How to handle some common accidents and how to give first aid and preventative actions during forest patrol;
   • Skills to handle common situations during patrol such as: wild animals are trapped but not dead, how to safely remove all kinds of traps, how to deal when the forest thieves who left the current evidences/ equipment in the field,  how to respond to unforeseen circumstances and risks related to life during forest patrol;
   • Some contents of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP dated November 16, 2018 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Forestry Law  No. 16/2017/QH14  promulgated on November 15, 2017 related to the community; prohibited acts in forestry activities related to forest patrol;
4. Conduct on-the-job training sessions on basic skills in forest patrolling, including but not limited to the following contents:
   
   
   • Note taking during patrolling activity, such as: log books, incident minutes, and patrolling activity reports.
   • How to prepare and submit potential violation reports to the local enforcement authorities. Propose a report form.
   • Proficient use of equipment for forest patrol (map, compass, GPS, smartphone, etc.)
   • Observation, detection and handling of violations on illegal exploitation of forest products; hunting wild animals and unforeseen circumstances during patrolling, providing first aid to injured or sick people during patrolling.
5. Conduct trainings as planned at the selected communities, including:
   
   
   • Prepare pre and post training evaluation forms based on Project’s forms
   • Deliver the participatory training courses (including theory and practice)
   • Prepare training reports (including process, findings, training photos, and recommendations for other similar training courses to ensure the effectiveness)

Level of Efforts (LOE), deadline, and deliverables:

Estimated LOE for this task is 18 man-days including field trips to the selected sites, scheduled to start from 24^th June, 2022, and submit the final report on 31^st July, 2022. The required products are listed in the table below. All final products are submitted in Vietnamese with the following timelines.

 

No.	Tasks	Deliverables	LOE	Approval mechanism
1	Prepare a detailed implementation plan including implementation method, expected training plans	A training plan to strengthen the capacity of patrolling and protecting forests for each of the two CFM modalities (CFM and CFM HG)	02	Technically approved by RECOFTC/ SFM
2	Completing/updating training methods and training programs for communities in forest protection and patrolling for each target group (Forms provided in Task #3)	Final training plans and materials	04	Technically approved by RECOFTC/ SFM
3	Conducted 03 trainings (2 days each) as follows: 02 trainings in Thanh Son commune, Mai Chau district 01 training in Tu Ly commune, Da Bac district	03 trainings completed	10	Technically approved by RECOFTC/ SFM
4	Prepare training report, covering pre and post training assessments and updated training papers, photos taken during the training events	Training reports on patrolling and protecting forests	02	Technically approved by RECOFTC/ SFM
Total			18

Qualifications and experience:

Essential:

The successful candidate must meet the following requirements:

• Vietnamese national
• Bachelor’s degree in forestry, natural resources management or other related fields
• At least 5 years of experience in preparing teaching/training materials and directly teaching/training;
• Having knowledge and understanding about community forest management.
• Having experience and practical skills in patrolling and protecting forests and handling situations during forest patrol and protection mission (minimum 3 practical experience years in patrolling and protecting forests), especially those whose experience with activities related to forestry in Hoa Binh province.
• Having skills and experiences in conducting trainings for adults, particular for ethnic people. Priority is given to candidates who have experiences in training for communities on forest patrolling.
• Having skills in report writing and presenting in Vietnamese. Working language of English is an advantage.

 

General:

At RECOFTC, our core values are the foundation of our culture and guide all our work. In addition to job specific skills and experience, the applicant should possess the following characteristics, attitudes and skills:

• Embrace innovation
• Adapt to, and learn from, challenges
• Collaborate with partners and stakeholders
• Nurture commitment, responsibility and ownership
• Prioritize sustainability
• Cultivate participation, social inclusion and gender equity

How to apply

Interested candidates are requested to submit their CV and a  cover letter indicating why they are suitable for this consultancy along with current contact details of three referees, including recent supervisors to [email protected]. Please quote the consultancy title in the subject line of the email. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

For any further information you may need about the consultancy, please contact [email protected].

To learn more about RECOFTC, please visit our website www.recoftc.org

 

Organization: RECOFTC
Location: Hanoi
Application deadline: 2022-06-17
Send application to: [email protected]