Lake Baikal and its
transboundary basin including Lake Khovsgol represent an unparalleled global
benefit in terms of international waters and biodiversity values. While past
and current efforts to protect and sustainably utilize the environment and its
natural resources are impressive, they are insufficient to the task of
addressing the threats to the health of the Baikal Basin’s interconnected
aquatic ecosystems. These threats include: climate change, pollution and
sedimentation, nutrient loading, and habitat destruction. To address these
threats successfully conservation work must move beyond the protected area
limits and into the 87% of the Basin that is not protected where natural
resource exploitation continues without regard to ecosystem health and
biodiversity conservation objectives. Significant barriers hamper both
countries’ ability to move ahead both within their national jurisdictions and
jointly on a robust transboundary level. These barriers include: policy and
regulatory gaps, institutional weaknesses, poor utilization of BAT/BEP relevant
to key issues facing the Basin, and low levels of awareness of transboundary BB
issues.
The development of a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) as well as a Strategic Action Programme
(SAP) is recommended by the GEF as a best practice for international waters
projects.
The extensive review
and updating of the preliminary TDA of
2008 was concluded in 2013. Updated TDA additionally includes specific studies
like climate change assessment, groundwater pollution risks and ground /
surface water intermixing, Selenga Delta study and etc. A hot spot assessment was made for Russia and
Mongolia and pollution levels were detected. Two sub-basin management plans for
Russia (Tugnuy-Sukhara and Khilok) and two sub-basin management plans for
Mongolia (Ider and Eg) were completed and then they were endorsed by the
governments.
The main purpose of the TDA is to ensure that interventions for
sustainable development of shared water bodies are based on facts and informed
decision making. The TDA is a non-negotiated technical document that provides
the factual basis for the formulation of a Strategic Action Programme (SAP). The TDA is
an element of an adaptive management strategy that enables the identification
of transboundary issues and their causes. It is intended as an ongoing process,
which needs to be updated with periodic reports as new information about the
status of the transboundary basin emerges.
The SAP is a
negotiated policy document that should be endorsed at the highest level of all
relevant sectors. It establishes clear priorities for action (for example,
policy, legal, institutional reforms, or investments) to resolve the priority
problems identified in the TDA. A key element of the SAP is a well-defined
baseline. This enables a clear distinction between actions with purely national
benefits and those addressing transboundary concerns with global benefits.
Another key element involves the development of institutional mechanisms at the
regional and national levels for implementing the SAP and monitoring and evaluation
procedures to measure effectiveness of the outcomes of the process.
The SAP should establish clear priorities for action relating to reforms
in policy, legal, institution or investments. Furthermore, the SAP
should enable the achievement of agreed regional objectives through specific
national actions. The priority transboundary issues that have been identified
in the TDA are used for the formulation of ecosystem quality objectives
(EcoQOs), indicators for monitoring and evaluation, as well as targets to
define strategic program actions for mitigating the environmental problems.
Specific, quantifiable and time-constrained targets are then set for achieving
the EcoQOs. Subsequently, specific interventions are developed to realize the
EcoQOs within the time frame designated.
Each EQO has a long-term objective (20 years),
and a set of short-term (5 years) and mid-term (10 years) management targets
and actions which, taken together, form the Programme of Priority Actions. Each
EQO has linkages with the TDA and identified
problems (degradation
of aquatic and terrestrial habitats; hydrological regime changes; decline of
water quality; unsustainable fisheries and wildlife exploitation; biological
invasions; impacts of global climate
change), followed
by an overview of actions, key agencies for implementation of the actions,
priority levels, timing, stakeholders and uncertainties.
The process of preparing the BB SAP started in 2014 through
national and regional consultations of stakeholders from the riparian
countries, analysis and integration of the outcomes of relevant scientific
studies published after the TDA.
To coordinate and implement the BB SAP
development process, a Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) will be established,
comprising expert teams from Mongolia and Russia. To ensure continuity, the SAG
included several of the experts who also participated in the updating of the
TDA. The SAG will consist of representatives from intergovernmental
organizations working on behalf of the countries in the region, as well as a
number of regional experts in natural scientists and biodiversity, social and political,
legal and economic.
The SAG will be supervised by the Project
Manager and an international consultant with expertise on the GEF TDA-SAP
process.
A two-day regional workshop will be organized in
March 2014 (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) during which the long-term vision and
Environmental Quality Objectives (EQOs) describe will be defined. Next two-day regional workshop will be organized
in April 2014 (Ulan-Ude, Russia) during which the actions and result-based
indicators will be discussed and developed.
During the period May 2014 – July 2014 the
members of the SAG will collect and analyze additional data and information
relevant to a range of topics, including approaches and conditions for
effective BB SAP implementation, cooperative actions to implement the BB SAP,
cooperative mechanisms and institutional arrangements, sustainability and
funding, relevant national action plans and policy documents and BB SAP
implementation steps. The BB SAP will be presented on the Third Baikal Project
Steering Committee Meeting in July 2014.
SAP SAG members are responsible:
- developing and proposing a draft
long-term vision for the Baikal Basin;
- defining and proposing draft
Ecosystem Quality Objectives, Societal Benefit Objectives and Strategic
Directions for inclusion into the BB SAP;
- identifying and proposing draft
Interventions and Activities as these relate to outputs and/or
recommendations that emanate from the TDAs,
- prioritization of proposed Activities;
- developing result-based
indicators;
- proposing BB SAP cooperative
mechanisms and institutional arrangements;
- defining BB SAP sustainability and
funding;
- reflecting BB SAP in relevant
national action plans and policy documents;
- preparing BB SAP implementation
steps;
As such, the Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) is
seeking the expertise of a SAP SAG Expert(s) to pull together the sub-sections
of the BB SAP into a coherent document that identifies the legal, policy and
institutional reforms and investments that are required to address many of the
transboundary issues identified under the Baikal Project as well as to promote
an ecosystems approach to management.
The SAP SAG expert will receive a table of contents
for the BB SAP developed by international consultant using the GEF TDA-SAP requirements
and short instruction on the BB SAP preparation process and agenda of future
meetings.
The SAP SAG social and political expert shall:
- Propose long-term vision for the Baikal
Basin.
- Define Ecosystem Quality
Objective, Societal Benefit Objectives and Strategic Directions/Strategies.
- Propose interventions and
activities for inclusion in the BB SAP.
- Priority interventions and
activities in the BB SAP.
- Develop result-based indicators
for each objective.
- Propose BB SAP cooperative
mechanisms and institutional arrangements.
- Define BB SAP sustainability and
funding.
- Reflect BB SAP in relevant
national action plans and policy documents.
- Prepare BB SAP implementation
steps.
- Provide draft text for sub-sections
for the BB SAP requested by the PCU.
- Review the first draft BB SAP.
- Response on comments on the first draft
BB SAP received from the Steering Committee Members.
- Review the final draft BB SAP.
3. Monitoring and Progress Controls
The
consultants are expected to deliver the following results:
- Draft long-term vision for
the Baikal Basin and draft EcoQOs for discussion during
first meeting - no later than by 17 March 2014.
- Relevant input to the BB SAP according
to this scope of assignment.
- Comments on the first draft BB SAP.
- Progress report of the work done.
- Response on comments on the first draft BB SAP received from
the Steering Committee Members.
- Comments on the final draft BB SAP.
- Final report of the work done.
The
Consultant shall participate in three meetings:
- 24-25 March 2014, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;
- 28-29 April 2014, Ulan-Ude, the Republic
of Buryatia, Russia;
- 23-25 July 2014, Gremyachinsk, the
Republic of Buryatia, Russia.
Travel
costs will be covered in agreement with UNOPS Travel Policy. Cost of travel
(Airplane tickets, DSA and TE) for the consultant to participate in the SC
meeting will be covered by UNOPS – The Baikal Project.
Payment will be made
in 3 installments based on the acceptance of the required deliverables by the
Project Manager as specified below:
- 30% payment as a first installment upon
the submission of draft long-term vision for the Baikal Basin and draft EcoQOs;
- no later than by 30 March 2014.
- 35% remaining payment upon submission of
a) relevant input to the BB SAP according to this scope of assignment; b)
comments on the first draft BB SAP; c) progress report of the work done; –
no later than by 30 May 2014.
- 35% remaining payment upon submission of
a) response on comments
on the first draft BB SAP received from the Steering Committee Members; b)
comments on the final draft BB SAP; c) final report of the work done; – no
later than by 31 September 2014.
In the
case that the conditions of the TOR are not met, the contract may be terminated
and the consultancy fee reduced.
The
consultant shall work under the direct guidance of the Project Manager, and report
to the Project Manager.
The expert
will be supported by the PMU, as required.