Terms of Reference

I. CONTEXT

Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) is one of Europe’s leading organizations in rainforest protection, with more than twenty years of experience and a wide network of partners in all major rainforest regions. RFN works to preserve rainforests and their ecosystem services, while promoting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPs and LCs) to their traditional lands and resources.

With the aim to speed up action for protection and better management of the most intact forests in border between Peru and Brazil, RFN will support the setting up of one or several financial mechanisms for IPs and LCs. We are currently looking for consultants in Peru in Brazil to help us deliver this year the first phase of the project and to support the discussion on how to guarantee the direct funding for communities on the ground.

The financial mechanisms will support the establishment of effective, equitable, rights-based management regimes for high-integrity forests and IPs and LCs rights with special focus on isolated indigenous peoples. The mechanisms will focus on creating integrated mosaics of Indigenous/community land tenure and protected areas, recognized and supported in government-endorsed spatial and jurisdictional plans. It will enable greater engagement by civil society, IPs and LCs in forest management and forest governance, upholding the integrity of forest ecosystems while developing forest economy models and protection plans for the isolated peoples. The aspiration is that the mechanisms should evolve into IPs and LCs-led finance mechanism that will enable the direct involvement of IPs and LCs, as rights holders, in the planning, implementation and evaluation of projects, and ultimately in the mechanisms’ governance, decision-making and financial management.

While the Rainforest Foundation Norway will initially incubate the financial mechanisms, the institutional architecture is expected to evolve over time with a progressive transfer of authorities to IPs and LCs representatives.

The financial mechanisms must ensure:

• that resources flow primarily to the communities and others responsible for forest management,
• enabling the flow of significant resources to the funding to reach the territories and communities,
• full participation of IPs and LCs, and broader civil society in development of strategies and in the decision-making process,
• observance of the principle of free, prior and informed consent,
• involvement of key local stakeholders in large-scale collaborative processes with government agencies (for example the provincial integrated REDD+ programs), and
• leverage of opportunities available to communities within current laws and policies.

The consultancy should be seen as a two-part process:

• As the first phase this year, we are opening this call for consultancy to deliver a scoping study exploring possible modalities such as trust funds, or others. Funds could be received in the form of an endowment, long-term sinking funds, or as part of project-based funding, all of which would need to be held and managed to ensure the long-term viability of the mechanisms, while providing funding for activities on the ground. The study should look at existing structures to analyse the pros and cons of creating new or aligning with existing structures.
• In the second phase, planned for next year, the process is to set a design of the mechanisms that are able to disburse grants to NGOs, CBOs, and other relevant organizations and institutions in accordance with the overall objectives and desired outcomes. The financial mechanisms are not implementing organizations; financing will be provided to implementing organizations to achieve results. The mechanisms will be established to attract different types of funding with a goal of securing long-term funding and building an endowment.

II. OVERALL OBJECTIVE

Under the coordination of the Rainforest Foundation Norway together with partners, the selected consultants will present a series of options that can be considered regarding establishing an IPs and LCs financing mechanism for Peru and Brazil. This should entail:

• Assess suitable models that meet our theory of change and core principles. For each model, or scenario, the consultant(s) share an analysis and recommendations on strategic relevance (in term of IPs and LCs’ participation, sustainability of funding, impact on rights-based protection of high-integrity forests), legal feasibility, financial implications (incl. localization of funds, endowment funds, taxation), attractiveness to philanthropic and multi/bilateral donors, and institutional implications of setting up the Facility as a multi-donor trust fund. Consultants will weigh in risks and opportunities as a standalone multi-donor trust fund or as a window of an existing one, including key criteria to consider for choosing one or the other model.
• The consultant(s) will assess the pros and cons of setting up a Fund/other options in the Peru and Brazil versus outside the country and look at the benefits of one country over another.
• Propose the outlines of a process to legally establish and register the funds. Indicate the process to setting up the Fund (based on options outlines), the timeline, and the projects costs involved in establishing the funds. Those processes will reflect the inclusive and highly participatory nature of the financial mechanisms. The workplan will follow the Guideline established in the 2020 Practice Standards for Conservation Trust Funds (The specific sequence of activities may change).
• Propose required evolutions to be made to the current operational and administrative structure of the financial mechanisms and estimate the needed expertise, resources, and costs to establish and run a funding institution.
• Conclusions and recommendations will be presented and discussed during workshops in a form that will facilitate decision making by the stakeholders. The workshops will be hosted during the key milestones this year – including a binational meeting of IPs and LCs representatives at the end of August, New York Climate Week in September and COP16 in Colombia in October.
• A final report covering answers and recommendations against points 1 to 3 and integrating observations and feedback shared in the workshops will be delivered in December 2024.

III. SELECTION CRITERIA

The study shall be carried out by one consultant or a team. The qualification of the consultant – or combined qualifications of the team members - shall as a minimum constitute 10 years’ experience from working on relevant issues. Suitable consultant(s) will have in-depth knowledge and expertise on:

1. multi-donor trust funds and similar pool fund mechanisms
2. establishing and operationalizing trust funds through participatory approaches in complex environments,
3. Peru and Brazil institutions and context
4. forest and climate, community-based forest management and conservation.

Among the proposed individuals/teams, RFN will select the candidate(s) that provide best value for money based on a consideration of a) to what extent the team are well suited for the task, emphasizing in-depth expertise (including academic work and/or implementation) and the relevance of the specific technical expertise and experience of the team member(s), b) the proposed methodology and c) the total cost of the proposal.

IV. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

Tenderers will be ranked according to a score based on the following criteria:

Understanding of the assignment: 10%

Methodology :30%

Past experience: 20%

Team competency: 20%

Budget: 20%

V. ESTIMATED SCHEDULE

Scoping study report:

Inception report

Include time for feedback and incorporation of comments

Assess suitable trust fund models

Including meetings & all workshops

Pros and cons of setting up a fund in Peru and Brazil versus outside

Outlines of a process to legally establish and register the fund(s)

Required evolutions to be made to the current operational and administrative structures

PV. HOW TO APPLY

Candidates interested in submitting a proposal should send the documents listed below by the 31st of July 2024 in an email to Ogi Sobat at ogi@rainforest.no.

Candidates must submit the following:

- CV of all consultants in the team, and a summary (maximum two pages combined) of their qualifications.

- Proposed methodology and timeline, max 2 pages.

- A financial offer, including daily fees based on 8 working hours per day. If team members have different fees, the expected division of labour between them must be indicated. Include any other costs necessary to carry out the review. Travel costs will be agreed separately, based on economy class travel, and compensated according to Norwegian government travel regulations.

- At least two references (including contacts) for similar work.

Questions regarding the assignment can be submitted to the main contact.

Main contact: Ogi Sobat, Senior Grants Manager, Peru and Colombia program - ogi@rainforest.no

VI. ELIGIBLE TENDERERS

i) Tenderers must provide information on their legal form and ownership structure.

ii) Tenderers shall be excluded from participation in a procurement procedure if:

(1) they are bankrupt, are having their affairs administered by the courts, or have suspended business activities.

(2) they or persons having powers of representation, decision-making, or control over them have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a final judgment.

(3) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct.

(4) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established, or those of the country where the contract is to be performed.

(5) they or persons having powers of representation, decision-making, or control over them have been convicted for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organization or money laundering by a final judgment.

(6) they make use of child labor or forced labor and/or practice discrimination, and/or do not respect the right to freedom of association and the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining pursuant to the core conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

iii) Tenderers shall confirm in writing that they are not in any of the situations listed above. CELCOR reserves the right to investigate any of the situations listed above if it has reasonable grounds to doubt the contents of such confirmation.

iv) Contracts shall not be awarded to tenderers which, during the procurement procedure:

(1) are subject to a conflict of interests.

(2) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required as a condition of participation in the tender procedure or fail to supply this information.