Terms Of Reference Development of guidelines for urban and roadside forestry in Rwanda
Background And Justification
1. About IUCN
IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and some 18,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.
Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

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About the project
In 2011, Rwanda committed to bringing under restoration two million hectares of land by 2030 under Bonn Challenge. To achieve those targets, the government of Rwanda has intensified efforts to restore degraded lands in Eastern province, as it remains the most degraded region facing extreme climate change risks and threats.

As part of the said efforts the government is undertaking a 4-years’ Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Project, dubbed; “Alliance for Restoration of Forest Landscape Ecosystems in Africa (AREECA)” in Kirehe and Nyagatare Districts in the Eastern Province. Funded by the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and targeting three additional countries in Africa, (i.e. Kenya, Malawi, and Cameroon), the project is being implemented by a consortium of five technical partners namely ; World Bank, FAO , WRI , WWF , African, AUDA -NEPAD and the IUCN . The project aims at increasing the economic, ecological, and climate-related benefits from large-scale FLR.
In Rwanda, among other raft of interventions, the project seeks to restore 25,000 ha of degraded lands in the two districts by 2024 through on-ground interventions such as rehabilitation of existing plantations, the establishment of new woodlots, agroforestry, and roadside plantation.
Study background
Since 2014 when Rwanda conducted the national ROAM, various FLR projects have been implemented in the country with the aim of restoring degraded lands using restoration packages/interventions recommended in the report.

These packages include; agroforestry, establishment of new woodlots, management of existing forests, protective forests along roads (roadside plantation) and rivers and Protection and restoration of natural forests. While the packages are adopted widely, roadside plantation remains a “hit-or-miss” intervention given the obvious challenge in land use management in the road reserves and lack of clear guidelines on restoration systems responding to multiple/competing objectives/demands. Most often than not, the competing objectives include; soil conservation, beautification, biological diversity and provision of important ecosystems such as air purification and temperature regulation. Although these an be resolved by enforcing the existing ministerial laws/orders under the RTDA, that needs the attention of the forestry sector to develop a guideline for roadside protection, in line with the existing laws and regulations governing roads and transport in order to achieve multiple objectives and or benefits. Further, due to the complexity of urban systems and rapidly changing land uses, restoration of degraded urban lands continues to face serious technical hurdles. While the 2014 national report recommends the interventions that are also viable in urban areas (protection of natural forest, urban agroforestry, roadside protection, wetland buffer and river buffer), it remains unclear how discreetly, degraded urban lands and ecosystems, and connectivity for biodiversity, can be restored with special reference to master plans, local development plans and many other dictates of urban systems.
It is against this background that IUCN seeks to hire an individual local (Rwandan) consultant to develop roadside and urban forestry guidelines to act as reference for restoration in urban areas and along different road classes in Rwanda.

Objectives
The main objective of the consultancy is to develop guidelines for implementing roadside plantation and urban forestry in Rwanda that benefit biodiversity, habitat restoration, and ecosystem services. The guidelines will underscore the contributions of forests, trees and shrubs to sustainable/ecosystem-based development and will be founded on the scientific principles, best practices and existing laws and regulations in Rwanda.

Scope Of Work And Responsibilities
The consultant is required to do the following:
1. Develop general technical guidelines and recommendations for roadside plantation and urban forestry taking into consideration of improving positive impacts on landscape towards the enhancement of their functionality. For instance, selected suitable native and exotic tree and shrub plantation along the roads or in urban forestry serving as corridors for biodiversity and ecosystem stability.
2. Clearly indicate how to implement the elements in the guideline.
3. Clearly point out the general principles to follow, illustrate with basic drawings, maps, design and specifications for roadside plantation and urban forestry.
4. Propose appropriate tree species selections for appropriate site in both interventions
5. Provide recommended practices and preferred choices/solutions for both roadside and urban forestry plantation in terms of different agro ecological and topographic circumstances.
6. The consultant will be required to make regular consultation with key stakeholders – preferably drawn from the Cross-sectoral Taskforce for FLR; scientists, practitioners and public administrators from key sectors and institutions.
7. Prepare a briefing/inception meeting with IUCN project team.
8. Conduct a consultation workshop with key players in the forestry sub-sector, AREECA consortium, RTDA, Kigali City, scientists, practitioners and public administrators from key sectors.
9. Develop guidelines according to the terms provided.
10. Reporting and quality assurance: The consultant will report to the AREECA Project Manager and will consult IUCN Programme and RFA Specialists for regular technical support.
11. Submit and present inception (to IUCN), draft and final report (with key stakeholders) within the provided timelines.
12. Validate the report /guidelines

IUCN Responsibilities
• Monitor and supervise the work of the Consultant and review progress of the work;
• Provide regular feedback;
• Provide support for engaging stakeholders, organizing workshops/interviews( transport and allowances for the participants)
• Monitor the contract duration and outputs of the Consultant.
• Pay the consultancy fee as agreed in with the contracted consultant.

Expected Outputs And Deliverables

The expected outputs of the assignments are:
• A strong and concise background including key challenges in roadside and urban forestry interventions in Rwanda.
• Stakeholder analysis and management.
• Policy and legal framework supporting the interventions
• Policy review and analysis around road reserve and run development in relation to forestry.
• Highlights on the key principles and best practices in roadside plantation and re-greening urban areas.
• Target roads and urban forestry areas in Rwanda.
• Selection/suitability of trees, shrubs grass species and site matching.
• Setting up and running tree nurseries.
• Designing roadside plantations and urban forestry including corridors for biodiversity and ecosystem stability.
• A systematic guide to tree and bush planting, watering, maintenance and survival rate management, and monitoring schemes.
• Indicate community engagement.
• Required tools and equipment,
• Cost benefit analysis for designed roadside and urban forestry/plantations.
• Awareness/dissemination plan.

Deliverables And Timeline
This assignment is expected to take 3 months (working and non-working days) and will have three deliverables:
No Deliverables No of days
1 Inception Report
This will set out the methodology and work plan for the execution of the assignment as described in these and will be submitted 2 weeks after signing the contract paving way for the inception/stakeholders consultation meeting. The following will be done during the stakeholder consultation meeting: (i) scope and expectations of the assignment on the Terms of Reference (ToR); (ii) roles and responsibilities of the key stakeholder; (iii) detailed methodology, including strategy, tools and templates for information collection; (iv) reporting outline and layout; (v) work scheduling and timeframe for deliverables. 15
2 Draft final Guidelines
To be submitted within 2 months from the submission of inception report 60
3 Final Guidelines:
• Validation meeting
• Submission of final guidelines – two weeks after the submission of draft guidelines 15

Required Professional Qualification And Experience Of The Consultant
• The consultant/s should have advanced university degree /Post Graduate Qualification in Forestry, Urban Environmental Management or any other relevant discipline
• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in the area of Forestry or natural resource management and having held a decision making position in public or private sector.
• At least 5 years of experience in review and development of forestry strategic and /or development plans, policies, guidelines;
• Demonstrable understanding of landscape, habitat and biodiversity populations’ connectivity, and how roadside vegetation can function as effective biodiversity corridors.

• Proven ability to develop good working relationships with groups and individuals from varied backgrounds;
• Excellent knowledge of the Rwanda forestry policy and institutional arrangement, Urban development plans/strategies, Forest Landscape Restoration and Restoration Opportunity Assessment Methodology (ROAM).
• Excellent and proven report writing skills;
• Ability to deliver quality product on time.
• Track record of successful completion of past assignments; and
• Willingness and flexibility specifically related to the probable effects of COVID-19 pandemic and work within the required deadline.

Evaluation Criteria
Criteria Weight
Advanced university degree /Post Graduate Qualification in Forestry, Urban Environmental Management or any other relevant discipline 15
At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in the area of Forestry or natural resource management and having held a decision making position in public or private sector in Rwanda 30
Clear understanding of the assignment and demonstrate excellent knowledge in developing strategies, plans, and guidelines – preferably in the forestry sector. 40
A clear work plan outlining a logical flow of activities/tasks, clear timing, and schedule for undertaking the study. 15
Total 100%

Remuneration
Remuneration shall be a lump-sum amount with two components: (i) Fees and (ii) Reimbursable. The following milestone schedule is set out for payments under the fixed-price contract and the consultant should adhere to these milestones in their proposals:
• 1st Payment: 30% of total contract value will be paid after signing the contract;
• 2nd Payment: 40% of total contract value will be paid after submission of Draft Guidelines -deliverable 1, 2
• 3rd Payment: 30 % of total contract value will be paid after submission of final document-Guidelines-deliverable 3


Proposal Submission
1. Interested consultants are invited to submit their financial and technical proposals (in English and not exceeding 15 pages) by email to Rwanda@iucn.org copying Valentine.Ikirezi@iucn.org . Deadline for submissions is 11th October 2022, 17:00 CAT.
2. Late submissions shall not be considered for evaluation. Further the proposal must include the following information: consultant’s specific experience, detailed CV with at least 3 referees, description of a methodology to be adopted, work plan and time frame, budget indicating remuneration, and reimbursable if any.