ENGAGEMENT TERM: March 2023 - February 2024 (one year)

WORK WITH: Technical Consultant (NBS), WWF-US, WWF national and subnational consultants (SPRING), CARAGA LGUs, and stakeholders

BACKGROUND 

This consultancy is in support of WWF's objectives under the larger project, Sustainable Infrastructure in Asia Program (SIPA),  led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and in cooperation with multiple partners to support countries in Central and Southeast Asia in meeting their objectives under the Paris Agreement through sustainable infrastructure planning and development. WWF contributes to the specific objective of "improving capacity in the target regions for upstream strategic infrastructure planning to ensure that investment projects are situated within broader long-term sustainable development pathways (incorporating low-carbon  transition  and climate  resilience  goals)."  WWF is working collaboratively with government partners and key stakeholders through WWF  country offices in Indonesia and the Philippines to identify areas of natural capital and the ecosystem benefits they contribute to climate resilience for communities and infrastructure: for example, forests that reduce flooding or prevent soil erosion, wetlands that absorb floodwaters, or coastal mangroves that provide protection against extreme storms, also known as nature-based solutions (NbS). 

The  IUCN has defined NbS as "actions to protect,  sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems,  that address societal challenges  (i.e. climate change)  effectively and adaptively,  simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits".  Nature-Based Solutions are an umbrella concept that can encompass concepts such as ecosystem-based adaptation, "natural infrastructure" (intact ecosystems), and green infrastructure. Ecosystems and their services are a central component of the climate-resilient infrastructure. They provide options to mainstream resilience in infrastructure planning from development to operations cycles. 

For the Philippines, in collaboration with WWF-US and Philippines project and modeling teams, the consultant will develop/identify the model to be used and the parameters of the model for the project mapping exercises in relation to the mainstream resilience in linear infrastructure plans. The consultant is also tasked with providing tools and methodologies to mainstream natural capital in infrastructure for decision-making to selected government entities. Once the parameters have been determined, and the hotspots have been selected, the consultant will also assist the NbS consultant with mapping.  In order to spatially map ecosystem services/NbS and determine their economic values through stakeholder consultation and validation workshops, WWF and the consultant will collaborate with relevant government, academe, and NGO stakeholders in the CARAGA region.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

In general, the consultant will provide technical (GIS mapping) support to the SIPA project, develop an algorithm/model to mainstream natural capital for sustainable and strategic linear infrastructure, and  present  the  output  to  key  project  stakeholders  (government  technical  staff,  local organizations,  WWF,  and  partners)  for  feedback.  Specifically,  the  consultant  will  conduct  the following: 

1. GIS-RS Mapping
   1. Determine the best extent of the unit of analysis to the area of interest in the Caraga region and Butuan City watershed.
   2. Conduct data gathering, consolidate all the GIS data collected from various sources, and identify data gaps and possible data sources (with support from research assistant and larger WWF team, including team modeling services at the national scale).
   3. Update the geospatial data and its geodatabases using the agreed mapping requirements and mapping standards and perform data reconciliation.
   4. Undertake data processing – application of the mapping algorithm for linear infrastructure planning and perform GIS manipulations, such as thematic map overlays and conversion of coverages, spatial analysis, remote sensing and calculations.
   5. Provide mapping support to the NbS consultant upon determination of the parameters and selection of a hotspot.
   6. Design, produce and print maps and other graphic products.
   7. Provide all GIS thematic layers for creating and publishing an interactive web/online map to share it with the different stakeholders, partners, and the public.
2. Application of the mapping model/ algorithm; spatial analysis
   1. Develop/ identify units of analysis, algorithm/model for use in the sustainable infrastructure decision-making process at the subnational scale, per appropriate units of analysis..
   2. Conduct spatial assessments to identify and evaluate ecosystem services and natural capital that support community and infrastructure climate resilience, acting as nature-based solutions (NbS) to reduce climate vulnerability and risks.
   3. Mapping and analysis of priority NbS to guide strategic and sustainable  infrastructure planning
3. Multi-stakeholder consultation forum
   1. Present the project output and report back to the key stakeholders on the results of the analysis to elicit additional feedback.
   2. Offer recommendations that will be taken into consideration in the decision-making for the selection and development of infrastructure projects.
   3. Guide and influence local spatial land use planning, taking into account investments in transportation infrastructure as well as in ecosystem protection and conservation
4. Final Reports/Deliverables
   1. Final Maps
   2. GIS data layers
   3. Technical Report

EXAMPLE WORKPLAN: