TERMS OF REFERENCE

DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE  DISTRICT FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANS (SDFMP) AND ELABORATION OF DFMP UNDER THE AREECA PROJECT, FOR NYAGATARE AND KAYONZA  DISTRICT, EASTERN PROVINCE OF RWANDA 

• BACKGROUND 

In Rwanda, forest plantations (public and private) count 387,389 ha which is estimated to be 53.5% of total forest cover[1]. These forests are characterized by poor productivity with an average of 50m³/ha, MAI of 8.66m³/ha/year, and a density of 145 trees/ ha[2]. The studies depicted that more than 95% of the rural population is relying on wood for fuel, and the national reliance on wood exceeds 85%. This indicated that there is a bigger and growing gap between wood supply and demand. It is predicted that wood demand will reach 12 million in 2030 from 7 MT (Millions of tons) in 2015 whilst the sustainable supply of wood products will decrease from 2.5 MT in 2015 to 0.5 MT in 2030 in a business-as-the-usual situation (BAU)[3]. 

The scarcity of fuelwood is a cause of forest degradation in all types of forests. This element is jeopardizing future wood/tree production. Hence, the inadequacy of the forest management plan is exorbitant to the magnitude of the challenges in the forest area. 

According to the Rwandan Forest Law (2013), no 47 bis/2013 of /28/06/2013, each District has to design and implement its District Forest Management Plan (DFMP) in line with the national Forestry Sector Strategic plan (2018-2022). A DFMP is a 10 years operational document, designed for guiding district authorities and any forest actors in the sustainable management of forest resources located under a specific district boundary either public or private.   So far, twenty-eight out of thirty districts of Rwanda have DFMPs in place and effort is being made to embed DFMP database into the Forest Monitoring and Evaluation System (FMES) for easy consultation and smart implementation. Under the ARRECA programme, there are plans to complete the remaining 2 DFMPS - Kayonza and Nyagatare 

It is against this background that IUCN in collaboration with Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA) - through AREECA programme - is launching a consultancy; “Developing Sustainable Forest Management Plans and Elaboration of DFMP for Kayonza and Nyagatare Districts in the Eastern Province of Rwanda”. The plans are expected to enhance the restoration, productivity, and sustainable management of forest resources for the increased livelihood of the population in the two districts.

1. OBJECTIVE/S 

The general objective of this consultancy is to design and develop detailed modern SDFMPs (RFA to provide detailed guidelines) for both Public and Private forests and to elaborate the user-friendly Sustainable District Forest Management Plan (SDFMP) of Nyagatare and Kayonza Districts.

The specific objectives are to develop: 

1. Updating public forest cadastre spatial and attribute data
2. Clear highlight existing conflicts (ownership) in public forests and categorize forest stands accordingly with clear distinction of forest stands free of conflicts
3. Elaborate clear report on the existing conflict in public forests and propose the best way to solve the identified conflicts
4. Carrying out public forests inventory
5. Design public forest management units with related operational chain
6. Identification, mapping, and recording attributes of potential sites for private forest management unities (PFMUs) and Community Forest Management Units (CFMUs) with clear distinction of both
7. Carrying out the baseline forest inventory in both identified PFMUs and CFMUs
8. Design PFMUs and CFMUs with related operational chain
9. Carryout the workshop to explain to the district actors the designed and elaborated management units with related operational chains
10. Elaborate on the user-friendly District Forest Management Plan (DFMP)

• SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant shall work together with the technical committee to be established under Rwanda Forest Authority (RFA) at the headquarter, district, and sector-level forest offices in consultation with Enabel (with Jacques and Jerome) to properly follow Forest Management and Evaluation System (FMES), and use other necessary tools.  The consultant should, therefore, do coordination and collect the necessary data with the RFA technical team.

The firm should build on a forest cadastre conducted by the RFA team to ensure that all public forests have are aligned to  DFMP with the existing Forest Management and Evaluation system – complementing  both the spatial and non-spatial attributes of existing public forests  in the concerned districts. The emphasis will be paid to the productive forests (public and private forests out of special uses e.g.; military domain and not protected by any law or decree).

This consultancy will focus on the development of a Sustainable District Forest Management Plans (SDFMP) for both private and public forests in Kayonza and Nyagatare. 

Based on the above description, the consultant/firm will adhere to the scope below: 

1. Assess all the productive forests in Nyagatare and Kayonza Districts based on the cadastre database at RFA. (See the maps; Figure 1 and 2 above).    
2. Work out the balance between production, social and environmental objectives, and prescribe recommendations for all forest management units based on species, silvicultural, and management operations for different site types and users.
3. Produce an updated map for the above forest resources categorizing Public, and Private protected forests and their respective current productivity
4. Delineate the degraded forests and other areas that need restoration (degraded forests, riversides, roadsides, and steep slopes) for further rehabilitation interventions
5. Design FMUs, PFMUs, CFMUs, and related sub-groups
6. Elaborate operational chains of designed FMUs, PFMUs, CFMUs, and related sub-groups from which the most appropriate match between site factors and stakeholder requirements and capacity are taken into consideration
7. Assess, quantify, and determine the current forests' productivity par category and each forest unit.
8. Developing capacity-building manuals targeted at various stakeholders identified.
9. Validate the final SFMP report with the local and national stakeholders.
10. Provide training on the use of the SFMP targeting local stakeholders at the district level and involving the Rwanda Forestry Authority.
11. Produce the DFMP report
12. Since RFA has developed a DFMP user-friendly software (FMES) for sustainable management of forestry resources in Rwanda, it is preferred that all works related to this assignment should be performed using this system.

KEY DELIVERABLES, DURATION & REPORTS

(V)       REPORTING

The consultant must deliver and submit the 3 reports to IUCN with coping to the RFA team within 180 calendar days. The Consultant shall submit the preparatory works/inception report within 30 calendar days after the contract is signed, and finalize the report within 150 calendar days after submission of the preparatory/inception work. Tentatively this work will be started by the 30^th of September 2023 and completed by the 30^th of March 2024.

EXPERTS PROFILE

This consultancy is open to consultancy firms/Institutions/Teams of Individuals with appropriate technical competencies to deliver the work.

The lead of the consultant firm should have at least MSC in the above-related discipline with a minimum of 15 years of experience conducting at least five proven similar assignments with a similar subject/s in Africa in general and in particular in Rwanda. The team in the firm should comprise relevant & experienced professionals with an appropriate mix of academic backgrounds, skills, and experience that are relevant to this work assignment.

The team members should embrace the following:

• a forestry expert preferably MSc  in Forestry or Agroforestry  with a proven experience of 10 years in forest management
• The other required team member should have a specialty GIS with at least a BSc degree in GIS or a related area and relevant experience of a minimum of 5 years in GIS.
• The company should identify other key junior technicians for this assignment as needed
• The company should provide a minimum of two certificates of good completion of similar work done in the context of Rwanda.
• Proven writing skills with the ability to produce publishable reports.
• Fluency in English speaking and writing is mandatory and essential; the ability to speak French and/or Kinyarwanda will be beneficial.

• REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

The consultant team should report to IUCN copping RFA team. The Consultant shall submit the inception report within 30 calendar days, the interim report within 120 calendar days after the inception, and the final report within 180 calendar days after signing the contract.

VII. TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA 

The submitted Proposals will be evaluated against the following criteria:

VIII. EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL PROPOSALS

The total score will be calculated as the weighted sum of both the technical score and the financial score. Please note that the proposal with less than 70 percent for the technical evaluation will not continue with the evaluation.

The relative weights will be:

• Technical:        70%
• Financial:         30% 

APPLICATIONS

Interested consultancy firms should email Technical and Financial proposals (in Rwandan Francs) detailing the proposed approach, methodology, and work plan for the assignment. The proposal should be accompanied by (i) detailed CVs outlining the consultant’s academic qualifications, previous relevant experience, contact information, etc.; (ii) documented evidence or reference of at least two similar completed assignments. 

Both proposals (Technical and Financial) MUST be password protected and failure to do so leads to immediate rejection.  One day after the application deadlines, applicants are requested to send the passwords to the same email used while applying. 

Applications entitled “DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANS AND ELABORATION OF DISTRICT FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN UNDER AREECA PROJECT, NIYAGATARE AND KAYONZA DISTRICT, EASTERN PROVINCE OF RWANDA. Full names of Consultants” should be sent electronically by email to Rwanda@iucn.org with a copy to Valentine.Ikirezi@iucn.org  no later than 10^th September 2023 at 5:00 PM, local time in Rwanda. 

During the course of this procurement process (from the publication of this RfP to the award of a contract), please address all correspondence and questions by email to the following IUCN  contacts: Tenaw TEDELA, email: Tenaw.Tedela@iucn.org if you have any question.