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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A CREATION OF THE WILDLIFE FRIENDLY LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT TRAINING PACKAGES FOR ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
Linear infrastructure (LI) has particularly significant impacts on biodiversity, impeding wildlife movement, fragmenting intact natural habitats, and causing widespread land conversion. LI is not only causing biodiversity and ecosystem decline, but it also reduces society’s resilience to climate change and compromises human wellbeing and sustainable development.
Type of Contract: Consultant team/research institution
Languages required: English and Mongolian
Duration of Initial Contract: 2 months (September – November 2023)
Background:
Linear infrastructure (LI) has particularly significant impacts on biodiversity, impeding wildlife movement, fragmenting intact natural habitats, and causing widespread land conversion. LI is not only causing biodiversity and ecosystem decline, but it also reduces society’s resilience to climate change and compromises human wellbeing and sustainable development.
With only 13% of its approximately 50,000 km road network paved, Mongolia’s Sustainable Development Vision 2030 calls for extending paved roads by nearly 3,000 km and planning new railways to support the agricultural, industrial, and mining sectors. These developments will have impacts on critical habitats such as wetlands, grasslands, and mountain ecosystems, as well as endangered species including snow leopards (Panthera uncia), goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa), Asiatic wild ass or khulan (Equus hemionus), and Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa).
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding Asia’s Linear Infrastructure safeGuarding Nature (ALIGN) project in Mongolia. The goal of the project, in brief, is to enhance the development and implementation of effective, high-quality linear infrastructure safeguards that protect people and nature from harm.
To achieve this goal, the three objectives were described as follows: Policies and Practices, Partnership and Engagement, and Capacity Development. Under Objective 3, wildlife friendly linear infrastructure development training packages for on-the-job training are required to ensure decision makers, public and linear infrastructure developers to have proper knowledge and skill for the implementation of effective, high-quality linear infrastructure safeguards in Mongolia.
Duties and Responsibilities:
A general task is to create training packages for building capacity to government and private sector decision makers and staff on wildlife friendly linear infrastructure development.
Training packages should be able to provide knowledge through following structure:
Module 1: Introduction to Migratory Ungulates and Ecological Connectivity
Understanding migratory ungulates: Species diversity, their habitats, and ecological significance.
Exploring ecological connectivity: Importance of migration routes and corridors for species survival and ecosystem health.
Impacts of disruption: How railways and fences can fragment habitats and disrupt migration patterns.
Module 2: Documenting Impacts of Railways and Fences
Monitoring methodologies: Techniques for tracking ungulate movements, habitat changes, and behavior.
Data collection tools: Introduction to GPS tracking, camera traps, and remote sensing technologies.
Field surveys: Conducting systematic surveys to assess ecological impacts.
Module 3: Mitigation Strategies for Railway Impacts
Wildlife-friendly infrastructure design: Incorporating underpasses, overpasses, and culverts to facilitate movement.
Fencing adaptations: Installing wildlife-friendly fences, using visibility aids to prevent collisions.
Habitat restoration: Reconnecting fragmented habitats and enhancing forage availability.
Module 4: Case Studies and Best Practices
Showcasing successful projects: Real-world examples of railway companies implementing effective mitigation measures.
Lessons learned: Analyzing challenges faced and solutions applied in different contexts.
Adaptive management: Flexibility in strategies based on ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
Module 5: Regulatory Framework and Compliance
Legal considerations: Understanding relevant wildlife protection laws and regulations.
Compliance measures: Ensuring adherence to environmental impact assessment and mitigation plans.
Consequences of non-compliance: Potential legal, financial, and reputational repercussions.
General requirements for training package:
The training packages should be prepared for the LI related engineers, government officers, LI developers, students in environment and engineering sectors, and it should be easily understandable by the public and decision makers.
The training packages should be based on scientific evidence of linear infrastructure impact on wildlife and the environment, proven examples of mitigation actions.
The total duration of training should be 4-6 hours.
Training packages must have an online training version with training videos and online training materials.
Research, publications, data, materials used in the training package development must be cited in respective sections.
The selected consultant will carry out the following tasks:
Conduct survey on up-to-date example, good practice on wildlife friendly linear infrastructures and up-to-date scientifically proven impact of linear infrastructures to wildlife and environment in Mongolia and internationally.
Develop a training package according to the predetermined structure provided above.
Develop necessary training materials to ensure easy understanding of the topic and successful training.
Produce an online training version with training videos and online training materials.
Present training package to requested organization (WWF) and incorporate feedback into training packages.
Provide finalized training packages along with training materials developed.
Reporting and Delivery Timeline:
Present draft training packages to WWF-Mongolia office within 1.5 months after contract.
Provide finalized training packages along with training materials within 2 months after contract.
Qualifications of the Successful Applicants
Consultant team/research institution should have at least 1 biologist/wildlife ecologist, 1 expert on linear infrastructure, and 1-2 experts on related fields to develop training packages upon compelling reasoning for the successful completion of the assignment.
Education:
At least one of the team members should have a postgraduate degree in biology or the environmental field.
At least one of the team members should have a postgraduate degree in structural engineering, geography, cartography, or a related field.
Experience:
At least one of the team members should retain following experiences:
A minimum of 10 years of directly applicable experience working on integrated wildlife ecology, including at least 5 years of hands-on experience in linear infrastructure impact on wildlife.
Proven experience with teaching and developing training materials, curricula development.
Excellent command of written English and Mongolian.
Experience on wildlife friendly standard development is favored.
Competencies:
Writes professional correspondence adequately.
Excellent knowledge on endangered and migratory terrestrial mammals of Mongolia.
Good communication of experts in the field of wildlife ecology and knowledge in former research outcomes on impact of linear infrastructures to wildlife and environment.
Result-orientation, able to deliver results on an agreed schedule.
The following documents should be requested:
a) Letter for Confirmation of Interest,
b) Team member’s CV indicating experiences from similar projects and contact details (email and telephone number),
c) Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment,
d) Proposed work plan and time schedule,
e) All-inclusive financial proposal, supported by a breakdown of costs.
Applications shall be submitted as a single PDF file by e-mail to info@wwf.mn and indicating “application for creation of the wildlife friendly linear infrastructure development training packages for on-the-job training” as subject. The deadline for applications is on 14th September 2023 by 10:00AM. For additional information, please refer to: info@wwf.mn.
NOTE: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
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