Title: Development of Seven Restoration Strategies for Eastern Province Districts 

Objective of the Consultancy

This consultancy has the following objective(s): The objective of this consultancy is to develop comprehensive, district-specific restoration strategies for all districts within Rwanda’s Eastern Province. These strategies will guide the planning, coordination, and implementation of forest and landscape restoration (FLR) interventions through 2029. Each strategy will outline priority restoration zones, appropriate interventions, cost estimates, and alignment with district development plans. The consultancy will build on the provincial-level restoration strategy and leverage findings from the ROAM (Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology) analysis, incorporating ecological data, socio-economic conditions, and stakeholder inputs to ensure that the proposed actions are context-specific, feasible, and climate-resilient.

Background

Project Reference: P03168

Donor reference: FP167

About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous people’s organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

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About the Project

Rwanda’s Eastern Province contains the largest area of national farming lands, but it is highly vulnerable to increasing drought. With smallholder farmers depending exclusively on rainfall, changes to weather seasonality including shorter and more intense rainy seasons have led to crop failure, food shortages and famine.

In response to these climate change threats, integrated adaptation measures are needed to enhance the resilience of the landscape in the Eastern Province, which will sustain the agricultural production and enable sustainable growth of the region in a manner that reduces poverty, increases resilience, and achieves food security. 

The TREPA project is on course to restore 60,000 ha of drought degraded landscapes into climate resilient ecosystems through reforestation, agroforestry, restoration of pasturelands and soil erosion control measures in all the seven districts of the Eastern Province of Rwanda. The project will also increase the resilience of 75,000 smallholder farmers in the Eastern Province. TREPA will improve food security for over 120,000 households living in high risky areas, over 100,000 rural Households will access ICS, and 260,000 people will directly benefit from enhanced financial inclusion and access for climate resilient investments.

Description of the Assignment

The consultant is expected to lead the development of restoration strategies for each district in Rwanda’s Eastern Province, building on the provincial restoration strategy and ROAM analysis results. This assignment involves stakeholder engagement, field consultations, and technical analysis to ensure that the strategies are evidence-based, practical, and aligned with district development priorities.

Specifically, the consultant will:

• Review and synthesize relevant documents, including the Eastern Province Restoration Strategy, ROAM outputs, district development strategies, and land use plans.
• Conduct consultations with district authorities, and other stakeholders to capture specific local priorities, opportunities, and constraints related to forest and landscape restoration.
• Identify and map priority restoration areas within each district using available spatial data and stakeholder input.
• Propose context-specific restoration interventions, including agroforestry, reforestation, assisted natural regeneration, and soil and water conservation measures.
• Develop detailed costing for proposed interventions and outline a phased implementation plan aligned with district planning cycles.
• Integrate climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood improvement considerations into the proposed strategies.
• Prepare a concise and actionable restoration strategy document for each district, including monitoring indicators and institutional arrangements for implementation.

Duration of the Assignment

From 8 September 2025 to 22 December 2025

Deliverables and Activities

The consultant will provide the following deliverables and carry out the following activities:

Payment Schedule

The Timetable below summarises the chronological order of deliverables and indicates milestones at which IUCN will pay the Consultant.

Skills and Experience

The consultant must have the following skills, education and experience as a minimum:

• A Master’s or equivalent degree in a relevant discipline (forestry, land use, natural resource, environmental management, or other relevant academic fields). A PhD in the related domain will be an added advantage ;
• At least 10 years of professional work experience in forest management, forest landscape restoration, climate change and REDD related issues;
• Must demonstrate ROAM experiences within Africa.
• Strong knowledge of participatory-based approaches, with a proven track record of similar experience in restoration planning studies;
• Organizational experience, including a proven ability to compile decision support reports, work on a variety of tasks simultaneously, and perform well under pressure;
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, especially within team members and multi-stakeholder contexts;
• A strong delivery-oriented work ethic with the ability to provide deliverables within challenging timelines;
• Excellent report writing skills.

Supervision and coordination

The consultant will report to and work under the supervision of TREPA Project Manager.

Notice: For RFP and other documents related to this consultancy should be found:

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