Call for Consultancy Services to Develop a Restoration & Conservation Plan for Two Wetlands of Basin

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Department Purpose

Oxfam’s Asia Regional Water Governance Program focuses on further improving cooperation in governing shared water resources to strengthen riparian communities' resilience to climate change's impacts. The program is supporting climate-resilient livelihoods for vulnerable natural resource-dependent communities in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna (GBM) basins, improved management of shared river ecosystems, and scale up efforts to empower and increase participation of women, youth and Indigenous People in water governance, as well as strengthening institutions and partnerships for cooperation on higher level governance of shared water resources.

Oxfam is working towards an Asia Water Governance Program that aligns with various ongoing water governance programmes in Asia like Mekong Regional Water Governance PEM (People managing their eco-systems in the Lower Mekong basin) and T2-3R Programme.

South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions globally to the effects of climate change. Shared river basin ecosystems in the region support the provision of water, energy and food for up to 1.9 billion people, and projected changes in the shared monsoon and pre-monsoon river flows pose major challenges for both riparian communities and the wider population.

Water governance and climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience are intrinsically linked, and effective water resources governance must systematically address the impacts of climate change, especially on the most vulnerable communities.

In this context Wetlands play a crucial role to protect environment, ecosystem and biodiversity of the area. As per UN definitions, Wetlands are ecosystems, in which water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. A broad definition of wetlands includes both freshwater and marine and coastal ecosystems, such as all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fishponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and saltpans. These lands are critical to people and nature, given the intrinsic value of these ecosystems, and their benefits and services, including their environmental, climate, ecological, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic contributions to sustainable development and human wellbeing.

Wetland/ aquifers are unique structures which hold large volumen of warter and develop flora fauna and an eco-system which support to maintain biodiversity and provide ecosystem services to the residents of the locality. Northeast of India is the home of many such structures. In Chachar districts of Assam there are many such water bodies. Due to lack of care, community protection and over exploitation, these wetlands are being degraded.

Limited public participation in shared water resource governance could lead to many problems, including reduced transparency, accountability issues, increased conflicts, ineffective governance, and environmental degradation. To address these challenges, it's essential to promote people’s participation and strengthen civic space and ensure the active involvement of various stakeholders in the sustainable management of these water resources.

It is noteworthy that engaging community organisations, community leaders (including women and indigenous leaders), public policy influencers, youth organisations, youth networks, civil society networks should not be limited to the traditional grant to NGO method – although resource sharing is necessary for strengthening civil society organisations and grassroots actors. These community organizations need to participate in the water governance processes from local to national level and support to monitor the utilization of available resource for better impact.

Job Purpose

Oxfam is looking for a consultant/team to prepare a protection and conservation plan for two wetlands in Barak River Basin, Assam, India to conserve these two wetlands and strengthen community led water governance, river ecosystem and biodiversity of the area/ river basin.

The overall goal of this consultancy is to develop a community led protection and conservation plan of two anua (oxbow lake) situated in Rupaibali and Chirirpar area in the Barak (Meghna) river basin. This assignment includes following objectives:

• Understanding the bio-physical features of the Anua – its shape, spread and depth
• Understanding and assessing the impact of human activities on habitats, species, water quality, environmental flow and the overall ecosystem health, functions, services and sustainability
• Identifying the drivers of change in ecosystem functions
• Documentation of community knowledge related to anua and its resources and the community perspective of the anua governance.
• Prepare a community led protection and conservation plan to preserve & sustainable use of these water bodies.

Methodology

Consultant may suggest suitable methodology including socio-economic and environmental surveys, FGDs, documentation of the resources and indigenous knowledge to enrich biodiversity.

Review of existing resources, knowledge, and documents will be useful. Consultant /agency may propose ddifferent suitable methodologies.

Management

This consultancy will be managed by the PMU based at Oxfam in Cambodia. The PMU will provide overall management and assist in the entire process. The management will support both the technical and financial aspect of the consultancy.

Key Outputs/ Deliverables

1. A detail report on
2. A brief note (not more than 4 pages) for public distribution and dissemination purpose

Terms of payment

The indicative budget available for this assignment is USD 3500. The cost includes all travel, accommodation and all taxes (inside and outside of Cambodia).

Team composition

The consultant or team of experts or an agency, having background and experiences preferably in water resources management, cooperation on water governance and policy influencing. The complementary skills of the team are program design and implementation, program review, inclusive water governance, especially vulnerable community people, women and youth participation, and policy and institutional processes in water and natural resources governance, at national and regional level. The team should be composed of equal gender representation and will be subjected to Oxfam’s vigorous safeguarding checks and commitments.

Timeline

• Start date is expected on 23th December 2024.
• The timeline to complete this assignment and submission of final report is 15th Jan 2025.

Qualification

The assignment will be done by a consultant or team/ agency with competency and sound understanding of the context of South Asian water governance context, policies and practices as well as the investment trends in water associated sectors in the region, and political ecology of water governance. The consultant/ team should have experience in complex and transdisciplinary program development and implementation on water and wetlands governance and policy influencing at various levels, gender dynamics and principles of justice. Some specific requirements of the are:

• Demonstrated experiences in political ecological or environmental justice research, preferably in South Asian context.
• Experience of programs or projects related to water cooperation, natural resource governance (preferably wetlands), and inclusive development.
• Strong analytical skills in gender dynamics, human rights and civic space strengthening.
• Strong research, documentation, evaluation, and learning experiences
• Demonstrated high level proficiency in writing and concise analysis and in developing reports that include visual representation of data and findings.
• Consultant /Team member should be fluent in local language (Ahomiya, and Hindi).

Key Attributes:

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities;
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible;

Organizational Values:

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions;
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen;
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences.

Other

• Eager and required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values (click here) as well as the promotion of gender justice and women's rights (click here);
• Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles.

Application

Applicants/consulting firms should submit the following documents for the selection process:

• Technical proposal as per requirements in the description above and information reflecting applicant’s financial and technical capacity to complete similar assignments.
• Financial proposal with indicative budget of the entire assignment including daily rate; no. of hours per person; fees and specification of operational costs, VAT/ taxes included, etc.
• Samples of similar assignment/ review reports which were written by the team leader and that are relevant to the ToR
• CVs of key evaluation team members

The application should be submitted to our recruitment website at

https://jobs.oxfamnovib.nl/job-invite/13794/

by 19 December 2024 at 5 pm (GMT +07 time).

For further questions related to this ToR, please contact Mr. Avinash Singh at Avinash.singh@oxfam.org

ONLY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED.