National Protected Area Finance Expert

The national consultant should possess the following Competencies and Required Skills and Experience.

Competencies:
(i) The consultant must have experience with environmental programme design and implementation
(ii) The consultant must have knowledge of protected areas management, planning and/or financing
(iii) It is desirable that the consultant would have undertaken scientific research in aforementioned fields.

Required Skills and Experience:

Education:
The consultant must have University degree in the fields of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, natural resource management. Advanced degree is an advantage;
Work experience:
The consultant must have at least 10 years of experience in protected area management, planning and/or financing, environmental protection and natural resources management, related scientific research, or environmental program design and implementation. Prior experience with UNDP is an advantage;
Languages:
The consultant must be fluent in written and oral communication in English;

The principal responsibility of the national consultant is to make substantive contributions to the development and structuring of the CEO Endorsement request document and Project Document for the Medium-Sized Project proposal (MSP). The incumbent will work under the overall guidance of the UNDP Romania Country Office and international protected area finance consultant, as informed by guidance from the UNDP/GEF Regional Technical Advisor.


Within the framework of this ToR, the consultant is expected to perform the following duties:

1. Review the existing data on the Romanian Carpathian PAs: number and type of protected areas; institutions responsible for planning, establishment, management and financing different types of protected areas;
2. Review and analyze the existing legal-regulatory and policy frameworks pertaining to protected area financing, so as to validate the barriers hampering PA financial sustainability;
3. Take the lead in coordination with the international consultant in preparation of the financial scorecard for the Carpathian Protected Area System – based on the standard template which will be provided;
4. Provide support to the international consultant in collecting the info on the available finance, the costs and the financing needs for the Romanian Carpathian Protected Areas. This will involve participation in the workshop facilitated by the international consultant with the view to determine: (a) annual budget allocated for protected areas from the government, donor funds, loans and identify how much is for operations; development; planning and establishment of new areas; capital development; (b) total annual expected revenue generation from protected areas from existing and potential future funding sources for each of Romania’s 22 Carpathian protected areas, broken down by sources (tourism, payments for ecosystem services, etc); The expected revenues should be calculated (including revenues from entry fees, timber-related revenues, national and local government budget allocations (if any), and international donors), based on both an “optimistic” scenario and a “pessimistic” scenario; (c) the percentage of PA generated revenues retained in the PAS for re-investment; (d) annual expenditure for PAS (operating and investment costs); (e) financing needs for the PAS for two scenarios: basic and optimal management costs and investment, based on management plans and conservation priorities; (f) Calculate (to the extent that this is feasible) the economic flows (e.g., from tourism) and the values of ecosystem services for each protected area; (g) Estimate the funding gap for the entire protected area system over the next ten years, based on estimating the year-by-year gaps for each major category of activity for each protected area; and (h) preparation of the financial score card.
5. Provide the necessary support to the international consultant in the process of investigation of any potential cost savings that could result from restructuring the management or operations of individual protected areas and of the national protected area system as a whole;
6. Assist the international consultant in identification of the financing mechanisms and funding sources which (a) have the potential to generate the largest amount of new revenues for protected areas in Romania, and also (b) are most politically feasible, both for individual protected areas and for the protected area system as a whole;
7. Work with the international consultant in undertaking a feasibility analysis of developing a range of potential sustainable funding mechanisms. The study will cover the feasibility of using fiscal instruments (such as an ecological value added tax), better targeting of the current system of user charges and fees to conservation objectives (for e.g., centralizing collection of all fees and charges and then allocating a percentage to management and upkeep of parks an remainder to municipalities for their role in promoting conservation). Work related to financing mechanisms would also include an evaluation of the feasibility of establishing suitable holding and fiduciary mechanisms that safeguard resources generated from different sources, and enables distribution and accounting procedures.
8. Analyze current activities funded by the government and international donors aimed at strengthening protected area system in Romania and integrate the lesson learnt into the project design;
9. Contribute to the design of the project – detailed description of outputs and costs for component I;
10. Work with the international protected area financing expert to put together a set of criteria for the selection of the pilot sites for the demonstration of new financing mechanisms; and
11. Contribute to the preparation of the logical framework – with provision of relevant impact indicators for the objective and outcomes level.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), acting as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is providing assistance to the Romanian Ministry of Environment in the preparation of the GEF Medium Size Project (MSP) “Improving the financial sustainability of the Carpathian System of Protected Areas”.

It is within this framework that UNDP Romania invites experts with relevant experience to apply for the position:

1. Protected Area National Finance Specialist

Applications should be sent:
- by e-mail to procurement.ro@undp.org
- or by fax to 0212017828

Please see attached the Terms of Reference for this assignment or visit UNDP Romania web site www.undp.ro.

Applications should indicate: “National protected area finance expert/ Carpathian”.

The deadline for submitting applications is 5 June 2009.