Consultancy for Farm Mapping – CAFE-REDD (SNV)

TERMS OF REFERENCE:

REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION AND FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION THROUGH SUSTAINABLE COFFEE IN LAC DUONG DISTRICT, LAM DONG

FARM MAPPING

BACKGROUND

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is an international policy initiative that has been developed through international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that aims to provide results-based financial incentives to developing countries for actions which reduce emissions from forested lands and investing in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.

Vietnam has demonstrated considerable interest in REDD+ and has made important progress to date in terms of preparing for REDD+ implementation at both national and sub-national levels. Recently, Vietnam became one of the few developing countries in the world to have completed meeting the REDD+ ‘readiness’ requirements under the Warsaw Framework (or ‘REDD+ rulebook’). One of the core requirements is to have a National Strategy or Action Plan, and the Government of Vietnam approved an updated National REDD+ Action Programme (NRAP) in 2017. The new NRAP provides a clearer orientation towards the integration of REDD+ in the context of sustainable development/green growth. It identifies 7 work packages with a total of 35 policies and measures for the development and implementation of actions to achieve REDD+ in addition to a further 4 work packages which focus on REDD+ readiness and programme management, monitoring and evaluation. Several of the new policies/measures indicate REDD+ actions beyond the forest sector - notably reviewing land use planning and the promotion of sustainable and deforestation-free agriculture in key forest landscapes.

At sub-national level, 19 provinces now have approved Provincial REDD+ Action Plans (PRAPs) which provide more detailed guidance for the implementation of REDD+ activities on the ground. Lam Dong province in the southern part of the Central Highlands was among the first provinces to develop their PRAP (approved in 2015) and has also developed a number of other policies aiming to conserve and restore forests and forge a low emissions development pathway. Lam Dong has also been a frontrunner in the piloting and implementation of Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) and has recently approved a Green Growth Action Plan (2018). On the other hand, in spite of these policies and plans deforestation and forest degradation have continued unabated, largely driven by the conversion of forests to agriculture, in particular coffee in the case of Lam Dong.

In this context, and in an effort to support the provincial government of Lam Dong to implement its stated policies and plans, SNV – The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) has obtained funding from the International Climate Initiative (ICI) for a project entitled ‘Coffee Agroforestry and Forest Enhancement for REDD+ in Lam Dong’ (CAFÉ-REDD). The project aims to establish and develop a public-private-producer partnership (4P) for forest landscape conservation and restoration in one of Lam Dong’s most important forested landscapes i.e. the Langbiang Biosphere Reserve comprised of Bidoup Nui Ba National Park and Buffer Zone in Lac Duong District. Activities will include; i) strengthening public sector capacity for climate smart/sustainable land use planning and collaborative management of forests with communities, ii) working with coffee-buying companies to improve monitoring and traceability systems to prevent deforestation in supply chains; and iii) investing in (mainly ethnic minority) smallholder farmers to promote climate smart, sustainable coffee production techniques leading to improved coffee quality and prices, whilst also promoting landscape restoration through mixed agroforestry systems and alternative livelihoods.

A qualified firm/organisation or multi-disciplinary team is required by the project to conduct a farm mapping, intended both to collect relevant information as a baseline for measuring project impact/outcomes later on, as well as providing current status of coffee farms in project area.

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the assignment is:

Farm mapping of individual farms (1,500 farm households ~1,500 ha) and development of a spatially-referenced database for the CAFÉ-REDD project will be served for establishing monitoring and traceability systems using digital hand-held devices to the farm level.

TASKS

The requested tasks of farm mapping under the assignment are structured by the study aspects indicated below, it is expected that the team will develop efficient, cross-cutting and holistic approaches/methodologies of the work:

To collect relevant secondary data and land use planning of province/district and satellite images of Café REDD project sites (Da Sar, Da Nhim, Da Chais and Lat communes in Lac Duong district)
To prepare inception report and work plan
To have a consultation meeting with relevant stakeholders (DARD, Lac Duong DPC, DONRE,…) to make consensus on potential 1,500 ha of Arabica coffee) before doing farm mapping on the site.
To identify the owner’s name, kind of crop, density of each farm as well as to mark the boundaries in a total area of 1,500 ha of Arabica coffee by drone
To establish a map and database of 1,500 ha that can be utilized for Terra-I, traceability applications and/or GFW pro (to be provided by café REDD)
To conduct consultation workshop with relevant stakeholders; based on above, and in collaboration with SNV project staff and partners to finalize farm mapping
To prepare final report

TEAM COMPOSITION/QUALIFICATIONS

Firms/organizations or groups of consultants are free to propose their own ideas for the delivery of the assignment and division of labour among experts to fulfil the TOR who have qualification on:

Experience & knowledge on GIS, drone, mapping software;
Team leader must have bachelor or MSc in agriculture, forestry degree with minimum 5 years of work experience
Good knowledge and experience of conducting similar mapping in Langbiang Biosphere Reserve and/or in Lac Duong district is an advantage

TIMEFRAME

The work specified in this term of reference is expected to be completed within a period of 2.5 months (Oct- Dec, 2019).

DELIVERABLES

Inception report and work plan included detailed approaches/methodologies for the farm mapping
Consultation workshop’s materials and reports
Maps and spatial GIS products (hard and soft copies)
Final report

All deliverables submitted in English and Vietnamese.

APPLICATION

Please submit the following documents to the link https://smrtr.io/3t-xB by 17.00pm on October 11th, 2019:

Technical Proposal:

Cover letter highlighting the firm/organization or groups of individuals experience in completing similar assignments
A brief technical proposal (7-10 pages) outlining understanding of the assignment, a proposed approach/methodology, work plan and staffing plan
CVs of proposed team members

Financial Proposal: