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Terms of Reference |
TERMS OF REFERENCE 1. The regional technical assistance (TA) will be carried out over a period of 22 months and will require approximately 32 person-months of international consulting services with expertise in (i) strategic environmental-economic planning (11 person-months), (ii) public participation (3), (iii) social science/anthropology (3), (iv) natural resources economics (2), (v) environmental institutions and policy (2), (vi) biodiversity (3), (vii) fisheries (1), and (viii) water resources (3). The 32 person-months of services also include the resource persons (2) and a panel of experts (2) to be administered by the Bank. Domestic consulting services of approximately 52 person-months will required in (i) regional environmental planning (10), (ii) public participation (3), (iii) social science/anthropology (5), (iv) natural resources economics (6), (v) environmental institutions and policy (4), (vi) biodiversity (5), (vii) fisheries (3), (viii) water resources (6), and (ix) rural perception teams (10) that will, from time to time, test assumptions, tentative conclusions, and recommendations emanating from the TA, and solicit perceptions and feedback from selected communities, local government offices, and other rural stakeholders. 2. MRC is an important regional institution with a political mandate, responsibilities, experience, and information that have direct relevance to the TA. MRC will be a member of the TA advisory group. In addition, the consultant will ensure that MRC’s experiences are adequately incorporated, and maintain a close dialogue with MRC to avoid duplication of MRC’s activities while making maximum use of MRC’s expertise and information. Specific reference will be made to the objectives and progress made under the MRC’s river basin management project when implementing the TA. 3. When undertaking the work, the consultant will refer to, among others, relevant Bank guideline, policies, and reports. Also refer to the International Study of Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment. A. Phase I: Inception1. Mobilization4. The consultant will mobilize at the offices of the Environment Assessment Program – Asia and the Pacific (EAP-AP) in Bangkok, and establish contact with the advisory group, national steering committees, and cooperating agencies. The consultant will prepare a detailed work program, and undertake other initial activities to prepare for TA implementation. 5. At the direction of the WGE and the Bank, the consultant will assist the advisory group, national steering committees, and national Project offices to keep them closely informed of TA progression, to assist them in their work, and to incorporate feedback on TA implementation throughout the duration of the TA. They will also work closely with the panel of experts when the panel visits the subregion. 2. Data Inventory, Collection, Collation, and Mapping6. This activity will be done by the consultant, counterpart team, with the exception of geographically referenced data, which will be done by EAP-AP. EAP-AP will have largely completed the collation of data available to it, and prepared 1:1,000,000 maps by the time of TA inception. The consultant will provide short-term international and domestic input to UNEP to ensure that all of the available major data sources are identified and acquired, and put in a form suitable for analysis. The consultant and EAP-AP will utilize and build on the outputs of SEMIS to the extent possible. 7. Major activities will include (I) inventory of information; (ii) collection of existing data and information done through national government agencies, regional agencies, universities, NGOs, and other; (iii) data collation and storage ; and, if necessary, (iv) incorporation of additional data into the layers of the geographic information systems at 1:1,000,000 scale. During this time initial discussions will be held with the Bank and the WGE concerning the most appropriate long-term repository for information collected during the TA, keeping in mind SEMIS experience and recommendations. 8. Major biophysical and socioeconomic core date layers to be produced by UNEP will include (I) political boundaries, (ii) demography/major settlements, (iii) geology, (iv) river and wetlands hydrology, (v) topography, (vi) vegetation cover and land use, (vii) protected areas and biodiversity hotspots, (viii) major existing and proposed infrastructure, and (ix) socioeconomic conditions and indigenous communities. 9. Examples of major statistical data (themes) required include (I) forests, (ii) land, (iii) biodiversity, (iv) water resources, (v) air and climate, (vi) transport, (vii) energy, (viii) human resources development, (ix) tourism, (x) trade and investment, (xi) telecommunications, and (xii) policies and institutions. 3. Identification of Case Studies10. Approximately four Bank-assisted projects in the subregion will be selected for analysis as case studies in terms of the success of methods undertaken in software components, such as public participation, indigenous peoples development, institutional coordination, environmental management, and capacity building. The results of the case studies will feed into the analysis and recommendations made in the strategic environmental framework. Projects that have included (I) an indigenous peoples development plan; (ii) gender issues; (iii) public participation; and (iv) valuation of environmental impacts from infrastructure projects in the context of investment initiatives should receive special consideration for selection as case studies. The consultant will ensure that NGOs, governments, local communities, and other stakeholders are adequately consulted during selection and implementation for the case studies, and their opinions incorporated into the case study findings. 4. National Consultative Meetings11. National consultative meetings will be held to introduce the goals, objectives, scope, and institutional arrangements of the TA to a wide audience, and to define the national perceptions of and priorities for the strategic environmental framework. Participants will include representatives from national socioeconomic planning agencies, line agencies, NGOs, the private sector, and communities. Indigenous peoples will be given special consideration when selecting participants to consultative meetings and in other consultation consultation activities. 12. The Bank will recruit NGOs or other nationally broad-based, third-party organizations to organize and conduct national consultative meetings. Assistance from the consultant will be provided to the NGOs as needed. The consultant will recommend NGOs to the WGE and the Bank, based on criteria to be developed by the consultant in consultation with NGOs, governments, and the Bank. Final selection will rest with the Bank. The outputs of the national consultative meetings will be a set of recommendations for elements to be considered in the development of the strategic environmental framework. 5. Subregional Consultative Meetings13. Two subregional consultative meetings will be held during Phase I. The first consultative meeting will be convened around the beginning of the second month. It will (I) define, scope, and reach consensus on major thematic issues; (ii) assist the consultant in refining the TA work program; and (iii) identify any additional sources of data not already identified earlier in Phase I. Overall meeting arrangements will be done by the consultant, but NGOs will be recruited to organize thematic subgroups and the preparation of issue papers on major themes to be addressed in the strategic environmental framework. The second consultant B. Phase II: Analysis1. Analysis of Data14. The analysis will be done over a period of approximately 11 months to identify major environmental trends and their interrelationships with socioeconomic trends, particularly as they relate to the GMS Program, under different development scenarios. Some additional mapping and data collation will be required during Phase II as the analysis progresses. This will include preparation of maps for key areas at 1:250,000 and 1:50,000 scale. The analysis will be presented spatially and thematically, drawing linkages between ongoing/proposed development projects and environmental protection. Trend projections for the most important development-environment linkages will be prepared. Institutional, policy, and legal aspects of the development-environment interface will be analyzed. Environmental and natural resources economics will be given a prominent role in the analysis to provide as much quantitative results as possible. Close consideration will be given during the analysis, and later, during preparation of the strategic framework, to national socioeconomic development plans, national nature conservation plans, and other planning documents to ensure that the strategic framework components complement national plans to the extent possible. 15. A major task under Phase II will be the cumulative impact assessment. The purpose of this assessment is first and foremost to be able to analyze the environmental impacts of the planned activities in the GMS development plan against other options, before the opportunity for realistic evaluation of these alternatives is closed. The underlying objective should be to determine which options present a frame work for environmentally sustainable development. The consultant as a first step will undertake limited, preliminary impact assessments of the major individual investments under consideration, covering potential direct and indirect, positive and negative impacts, based on existing information. If any proposed projects is expected to cause significant impacts, the consultant should recommend a course of action to address them. The second step is to look at the sum total of the individual activities and estimate their cumulative effects. For example, planning authorities may be contemplating a plan within a largely forested watershed that includes agricultural expansion, hydropower development, and rural road construction. Individually, these activities may result in some deforestation, and perhaps conflicts in water use and changes in settlement patterns. Taken together, the projects may lead to significant deforestation, water allocation problems, and changes in settlement patterns. 16. In addition to the work described above, a gap analysis will be undertaken to identify opportunities for environmental improvements in the GMS. This could include, for example, support for protected area establishment in upland zones critical to maintaining major existing and planned water resource or agriculture development projects. 17. The consultant should take into account those aspects of the national policy, legal and institutional framework likely to influence environmental management in the region, in addition to the regional framework itself. This should include looking at existing political priorities and how they might constrain of facilitate implementation of environmental policies and activities in the region. For example, the relevant national environmental policies, laws, and regulations should be assessed for completeness and appropriateness in light of the particular conditions and problems of the region, and gaps and weaknesses noted. The consultant should look closely at the institutional capacity of the main environmental or natural resources ministry in terms of effectiveness and capacity. Regionally-based policies and regulations should also be examined for their influence on formulation and implementation of the environmental framework. 18. The identification of case studies of Bank projects mentioned under Phase I would be finalized, the case studies undertaken, and conclusions drawn and incorporated into the analysis. The case studies may include the use of the community video (to be determined during the inception phase), involving training of villagers in using video and assistance to edit these videos, which will depict villagers’ perceptions of development, conservation, and other aspects affecting their daily lives. The rural perception teams will be especially active during the latter parts of Phase II and the early parts of Phase III as tentative conclusions and recommendations are being formed. 2. Review by Panel of Experts19. A panel of experts, expected to comprise at least three to five members with expertise on infrastructure development issues, environmental management, public participation, and related topics will review work accomplished up to about the ninth month of Phase II. The panel will provide input and guidance of the consultant to prepare an annotated outline for the strategic environmental framework to be prepared in Phase III. Detailed terms of reference for the panel will be prepared by the consultant in consultation with the WGE and the Bank. 3. Other Activities20. A second series of country consultative meetings will be convened to present TA progress and findings to date, and to discuss the findings from the panel of experts’ review. Arrangements for the country consultative meetings will be similar to those described in Phase I. The third subregional consultative meeting will be held shortly before the end of Phase II to review and reach consensus on the TA findings and progress, and to agree on the major directions for Phase III. 21. A training seminar will be held in conjunction with the third regional consultative meeting, primarily for about 20-25 midlevel and senior representatives from government planning and environmental agencies. SETIS training materials will be adapted for use at the seminar to the extent possible. The seminar will give an introductory look at regional strategic environmental planning and economic-cum-environmental planning, demonstrating how they were done in the past and the benefits of using such planning approaches. A midterm report will be prepared for distribution in the 10th month of Phase II, giving the consultant’s preliminary findings and the annotated outline/conceptual plan. C. Phase III : Strategic Environmental Framework1. Framework Preparation22. The strategic framework will be prepared over a period of about seven months. Based on findings from Phases I and II, the consultants should propose a strategy for strengthening environmental management within the GMS. The report format will be decided during TA implementation, but is expected to include three volumes: a main report, an executive summary, and a data appendix. The main report is expected to present an assessment of ongoing activities, plans, and potential cumulative impacts affecting the ecology and human living conditions, and recommended options and strategies for overcoming potential development-environmental conflicts primarily (though not exclusively) within the GMS Program. 23. Two important points should be mentioned in this context. Mitigation measures are generally of a detailed, technical nature, and therefore normally developed within project-specific environmental impact assessments. However, this study can be an effective tool for identifying, at an early stage, projects that will require special mitigation measures. The consultants should suggest broad solutions for reducing negative impacts on important regional environments and natural resources, or develop mitigation guidelines for specific activities. The consultant should provide general guidelines for long-term environmental monitoring to ensure adequate implementation of the regional program or set of projects, and evaluate progress. The findings of the baseline data should be used to measure progress over the course of implementation. The consultant should also recommend measures needed to collect and organize needed data, if possible within the context of SEMIS. 24. Other major report sections may include (I) recommendations at the conceptual level for environmental investments and TA that contribute directly or indirectly to sustainability of the GMS Program; (ii) guidelines and preliminary action plans on improving public participation in the GMS program and an subregional environmental monitoring arrangements; (iii) institutional/policy/financial/economic considerations for implemented the strategic Framework; (iv) monitoring mornitoring considerations; and (v) recommendations for further work to strengthen economic and environmental planning in the GMS. The strategic framework will identify the repository of data gathered during the study. Documents, maps, and other TA components may be transferred into a format that, using the latest technology, will provide a complete set of TA qutputs, perhaps even animation of key TA findings. 2. Other Activities25. A final review will be done by the panel of experts, and the panel’s recommendations will be considered for incorporation into the final strategic environmental framework. A fourth subregional consultative meeting will be the final public input to the strategic environmental framework, and will be similar in scope and organization to the previous subregional consultative meetings. Participants will reach consensus on the draft. A second training seminar will be held concurrently with the meeting, and will be an advanced version of the firs seminar and is expected to include the same participants. 26. A summary of the strategic framework will be prepared in all six major languages of the GMS for in-country distribution. The governments and the Bank will widely disseminate the TA outputs to government offices responsible for national socioeconomic planning, infrastructure, natural resources, and environment; regional technical institutions and funding agencies; international and national NGOs; and representatives of local communities. The Bank’s GMS homepage on the internet will be considered for use in dissemination this and other TA outputs. The draft strategic framework will be presented at final national consultative meetings. The final strategic framework will be presented by the WGE to the GMS Ministerial Group for endorsement and follow-up action. D. Reporting27. The consultant will submit the following reports; (I) inception report; (ii) midterm report; (iii) draft strategic environmental framework; (iv) final strategic environmental framework; (v) meeting proceedings; and (vi) translations of the executive summary of the strategic environmental framework in six languages. |