International Consultant For The Design Of A Biodiversity Credit Scheme Pilot

International Consultant for the design of a Biodiversity Credit Scheme pilot Africa
Project: Nature-based solutions in the Guinean Forests of West Africa WORK PACKAGE Consultancy
LOCATION Home based (with the possibility of travel to West Africa)
DURATION 25 working days
APPLICATION DEADLINE Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the 28th of March, 2024 ASSIGNMENT START DATE 8th of April 2024
BACKGROUND The World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is one of Canada's leading non-profit international development organizations, committed to building a more equitable and sustainable world. Our vision is a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world for youth. It is a world in which all young people, especially women and refugees, are empowered to secure a good quality of life for themselves, their families, and their communities. We work with a diverse network of students, volunteers, institutions, governments, and businesses to improve education, economic, and empowerment opportunities for youth, and to improve the lives of millions of disadvantaged people around the world.
The Centre d'Etude de Coopération International (CECI) is a leading Canadian organisation dedicated to fighting poverty and exclusion by building the developmental capacities of disadvantaged communities. The mission of CECI is to combat poverty, exclusion and inequality. To this end, CECI builds the development capacities of disadvantaged communities. We support gender equality, violence reduction, food security, resilience and adaptation to climate change. We mobilize resources and promote knowledge sharing.
The NbS Guinean Forest Project  The NbS Guinean Forests Project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is being implemented in Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana by a consortium made up of the World University Service of Canada (EUMC) and the Centre d'Etude de Coopération International (CECI). To ensure the delivery of the project's implementation strategy, the Consortium is working closely with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Center for International Forestry Research and the International Center for Research in Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), ABANTU for Development in Ghana and the University of Guelph (through the International BarCode of Life Association). 
The project aims to strengthen the uptake of gender-responsive and inclusive climate change adaptation (CCA) solutions among communities residing in the Guinean forest region of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Guinea. This will be accomplished by improving women's leadership in CCA planning processes, increasing the restoration of degraded forests and key habitats with biodiversity benefits, and increasing gender-sensitive investments that have a strong earning potential for women. The project will engage with a wide range of stakeholders including women's organizations and local and national organizations to prioritize locally relevant solutions. Six landscapes are targeted by the project with two in each country respectively; 
Ghana: Lake Bosumtwi and the Wassa Amenfi LandscapesCôte D'Ivoire: Loh Djiboua and the Nawa Nature and Scope of the assignment  Among other activities, under its 1 st pillar – 1100, the project aims to improve women's leadership and gender transformative evidence-based and nature-based climate change adaptation planning processes in the Guinean forests of the target zone. One of the ways it is doing so is by conducting a biodiversity assessment on some of the forest landscapes targeted for implementation to gather evidence on the state of biodiversity, with a focus on the habitats of selected species within the target landscapes.While the Guinean forests support massive biodiversity, little is known about their component species aside from key birds and mammals. The project is capitalising on a novel approach to biodiversity assessment – one employing the sequence analysis of targeted gene regions (DNA barcodes) to enable rapid, large-scale surveys of species diversity and distribution. 
Biodiversity management and climate change adaptation requires detailed information on the diversity and distribution of species, which the project will address through this assessment in both protected and heavily impacted habitats in each of the three countries. Over time, the assessment could also contribute to improved monitoring of biodiversity for forests within the selected landscapes. For the private sector in particular, these assessments could potentially serve as an important source of information or create investment opportunities that can improve their compliance with European Union due diligence requirements in relation to deforestation. For instance, while the EU Deforestation Regulation provides a key incentive for actions and investments in agroforestry and forest restoration, companies lack an evidence base to report adequately. The NBS Project biodiversity assessment will contribute to an overall improvement in the evidence-base used for adaptation planning that can structure and inform future investments. Other information will be collected and compiled to determine the biodiversity richness of the landscapes,mainly studies carried out by other organizations such as IUCN, WWF and others, as well as a census of local community knowledge, including that of the women living in these landscapes.
The NBS Guinean Forests project under its third pillar 1300, also aims to increase gender responsive investments in nature based solutions for climate change and adaptation (CCA) with income potential for women and biodiversity benefits in the Guinean forests of the target zone. Under this component the project will among others explore public interest on NBS investments, particularly in the form of payments for environmental services. PES can in the short term support climate adaptation activities by providing an incentive to community groups to engage in forest restoration and to promote land use techniques that can accommodate changing rainfall patterns. According to the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Payments for environmental services (also known as payments for ecosystem services or PES), are payments to farmers or landowners who have agreed to take certain actions to manage their land or watersheds to provide an ecological service. Given that these payments according to IIED provide incentives to land owners and managers, PES can be considered a market-based mechanism, similar to subsidies and taxes, to encourage the conservation of natural resources. The NBS project is aligning with this definition through its goal to pilot a biodiversity credits scheme using the PES approach. 
The NBS Forest Guinean project plans to apply the PES approach to pilot initiatives aimed at promoting climate adaptation and biodiversity interventions in the landscapes where the project is under implementation. Currently, implementation is targeting six landscapes across the three implementing countries – Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire and Guinea. In applying PES to support these pilots, the project anticipates leveraging private sector interests in engaging in climate adaptation and biodiversity initiatives by developing co-funding models that can attract industry investments. The focus will be on PES pilots that can build on current project interventions focused on forest protection through biodiversity improvements or those that address deforestation through a range of approaches including agro-forestry. Focus will also be directed to financial incentives through PES that demonstrate the greatest potential for sustainability and while showing promise for shorter term outcomes – in line with the project duration. 
Main Objective of the assignment  The project would like to engage an international consultant to analyse planned project interventions, identify and make recommendations on the appropriate PES mechanism that can be adopted including analysing the Biodiversity credits potential opportunity, to facilitate the achievement of certain planned objectives. The project's overall goal is to pilot a PES supported activity in each of the implementing countries, that are connected to existing activities, that have potential to attract private sector investment, and that show promise for both sustainable and short term outcomes. 
More specifically, the objectives of the assignment include: 
Understand the lay-out for PES, with a particular focus on existing or emerging PES systems in the project implementation areas that the project can contribute to and/or scale. Understand and describe the status of the Biodiversity credits market and analyse its relevance and feasibility for the project Understand industry interest in investing in PES schemes that are aligned with project goals, with a particular interest in biodiversity creditUnderstand the appropriate cost model that could apply for the recommended PES schemes based on a co-investment approach. Conduct literature review on the state of PES with relevance for the target countryConduct an overview of PES schemes, particularly those related to biodiversity, and with relevance for target countries, landscapes and the project implementation strategy, including recommended PES pathways for consideration by the projectAssess industry interest for relevant / recommended PES models Develop a cost-benefit analysis / scenario for the recommended PES schemes, that takes into consideration short-term timelines for the realisation of outcomesPrepare a co-funding investment model for PES that includes private sector and other stakeholder contributionsCo-facilitate with the project team a workshop for critical stakeholders from the public and private sector to present findings, further engage these stakeholder and validate findingsPrepare final report that takes into consideration feedback from public- private sector workshopLevel of effort This is an individual consultancy and the total of 25 days allocated. The consultant will be expected to conduct interviews with a range of stakeholders including consortium staff from WUSC and CECI (in Canada and in the region), project partners, public and private sector actors, key members of the biodiversity credit alliance and other relevant stakeholders. The consultant will also codesign and co-facilitate with the project team a workshop on the findings and recommendations, involving the participation of the private sector and other stakeholders.
Qualifications The right candidate will have the following expertise :
Master's degree in climate change, green finance, conservation, environment, sustainable agriculture or related field;At least 10 years' experience (or equivalent) in climate policies design, biodiversity credits projects, carbon projects, or other Payments for Environmental Services (PES) schemes.Experience at international level in designing, or implementing carbon, climate adaptation, or biodiversity conservation for projects in West AfricaProven experience in PES, climate finance or biodiversity finance experience and a sound understanding of biodiversity credit framework, standards and methodologies; Knowledge of gender mainstreaming within PES schemes will be an asset. Contextual knowledge of the forestry landscapes in Guinea, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire will be an assetFluency in English with intermediate capabilities in French are required for this consultancy. Application procedure Candidates are invited to apply by submitting a technical proposal that outlines their proposed approach for carrying out the consultancy, including their CV and financial offer. Selected candidates will be asked to make a presentation of the proposed approach as part of the interview process. To submit completed applications. please click on this application form
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