Full text of the MRV call for project 2018

Call for projects for valorising existing data and establishing biodiversity indicators around protected areas

The framework agreement between the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD) and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) aims to contribute through its CEBioS program to a better knowledge of biodiversity and biodiversity policy and a better implementation of international environmental conventions in developing countries.

In order to measure, monitor and report on the state of biodiversity, particularly in the context of the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other conventions, indicator development is a key tool for monitoring the implementation of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and for reporting at national or local scale. This goes hand in hand with the collection of data to establish these indicators. Such indicators can also be used to measure policy and project progress, support policy-making, and so on.

This call aims at promoting links between the worlds of science and policy in order to develop such biodiversity indicators in the buffer zones of protected areas in English-speaking countries that are partners of the Belgian development cooperation.

Eligibility

This call is open to the following countries: Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Palestinian Territory, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda. Please note that focusing on the following areas will be an asset:

• Uganda/Kenya: Mount Elgon Biosphere Reserve
• Tanzania: Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve

Future calls will allow other countries to apply.

Promotor and partners of the project:

The project should be submitted by a partnership between two institutions:

1) a national institute, research centre or public university able to collect and provide the needed data;

2) a governmental institution (ministry, local government,…), a structure in charge of the management of the protected area or an NGO, able to apply the data or indicators to the follow-up of the NBSAP, local action plans or management plans addressing the buffer zone of the protected area.

Two persons should be designated -one in each institution- with only one being responsible for the budget, coordination, implementation and reporting of the project (the promotor).

Themes and activities

The projects will aim to valorise existing data on biodiversity, making them usable for reporting, dissemination and for the development of a standardized follow-up. Moreover, the selected projects will be used to develop, apply or refine one or more biodiversity indicators. You can find more information about biodiversity indicators (including examples) here:

https://www.bipindicators.net/national-indicator-development ; https://www.bipindicators.net/national-indicator-development/initiatives

The focus of this call is the use of natural resources in the buffer areas of protected areas, such as the transition zones of biosphere reserves, and the link between local communities and conservation.

In particular, this call will only accept projects focusing on the development or use of indicators for the monitoring of human use of natural resources, benefits provided by ecosystems to local communities and/or changes in ecosystem services caused by anthropogenic activities. Moreover, projects have to deal with the following themes:

• Human-wildlife interactions (including, but not limited to, human-wildlife conflicts, and hunting/poaching)
• Charcoal and firewood
• Fisheries

The identified indicators should be used to establish a baseline and / or measure the progress  of local policies, action plans or management plans of the buffer zone of the protected area. Examples of indicators may be found in the NBSAP of your country or here. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have difficulties to find this information.

The projects will therefore contribute to improving the monitoring methodologies and the assessment of biodiversity in buffer zones of protected areas. In this perspective, it is highly desirable that the existing data used for the project already contain a chronological aspect (e.g. time series, valorisation of historical data…), which will allow the trends in an indicator to be tracked over time.

The activities should include at least:

• Synthesizing and valorising the data of master or PhD theses, inventories, reports, field logs, lab books, field notes and other sources of grey literature ... to follow the chronological evolution and propose a methodology for a continuous standardized monitoring;
• Involving local stakeholders (e.g. policy makers, NGOs, communities…) through e.g. workshops or surveys to gather existing information sources, reflect on their perception, their own knowledge about the theme studied, or their priorities for monitoring/indicators and data gathering;
• Establishing a current baseline, based on the methodology developed in the first steps.

The valorisation of data can be done through syntheses, graphs, databases, the publication of data (scientific and/or popular scientific publications), recommendations, ...

The following aspects are an asset:

• Involvement of Belgian development actors (not as a main partner);
• Including the socio-economic importance of biodiversity/benefits people receive from biodiversity and/or their perception of biodiversity;
• The focus on data usable for the monitoring of plans, programmes or projects aiming to protect biodiversity through payments for ecosystem services (PES).

Scientific support and planned workshop

The persons in charge of the projects will be invited for a closing workshop, bringing together one person per project and the persons in charge of the follow-up of projects in Belgium. This workshop will provide an opportunity to present and discuss the projects, exchange experiences, best practices and difficulties. The aim will be to jointly write a scientific publication and/or communications to policy-makers on project results (report on the CHM website, policy brief, scientific publication).

Type of support

RBINS will finance the selected projects for up to 80% of their estimated costs. The remaining 20% will have to be provided by the local partner. The maximum amount funded by CEBioS is 3500 euros per project. The number of projects supported will depend on the type, size and quality of projects submitted.

A project contract will be established between the RBINS and the promoter's institute. The distribution of financing will be the following: 80% of the requested budget at the beginning of the project and 20% after the end of the project. This last payment will only be made after receipt of the original justification of expenses (receipts and supporting documents).

Possible costs will include: communication (internet, credits ...), organization of small workshops, any costs related to local transport, local accommodation, and if necessary small equipment (e.g. USB stick, hard drive ... contact us in case of doubt). Consultancy fees and salaries will not be eligible under this call.

In addition to the budget allocated for the project, travel and accommodation costs for one contact person for each selected project will be covered by the RBINS for the closing workshop in one of the eligible countries in 2018 (date and place still to be determined).

Preparation of a proposal and submission instructions

Projects must be submitted to RBINS by 17 December 2017 the latest, at the electronic address cbd-mrv<at>naturalsciences.be.

Alternatively, and only if there are e-mail problems, the application can be sent by regular mail at the address mentioned at the end of this document.

Projects must be submitted using the template available here. 

Selection criteria

The criteria that are considered for selecting the projects are the following:

• A clear and logical description of the functions, mandates and tasks of the partners' project;
• A description, preferably in a logical framework, of the general and specific objectives, the expected results and their indicators, as well as the envisaged activities and the budget (see template for the logical framework);
  
• Sustainability of the selected indicators: plans or collaboration to continue the application of indicators and their regular update in the future;
• Relevance of the indicators or the theme for monitoring the progress of local action plans or management plans of the buffer zone of the protected area and/or for NBSAP follow-up and their future use for reporting to the CBD;
• The existence of usable data and their chronological aspect;
• A data management plan: a description of the primary data (biodiversity, environmental or other) used, including their origins, formats, and the methodology for calculating the proposed indicators;
• Strong links between local communities and ecosystem services in the selected protected area;
• Creating collaborations at the science-policy interface.

Reporting

A report of activities and a financial report must be submitted to RBINS at the end of the project (this will be stipulated in the contract).

All original supporting documents and justification of expenses will be asked, in order to conform to the requirements of the Belgian Development Cooperation. Any expenses that cannot be justified will not be considered and will have to be supported by the partner.

Reports must be submitted using the following template: Financial template.

Any report that does not follow the instructions will not be accepted.

Indicative dates for the examination of proposals and for the execution of the projects

Contacts

The following persons will be in charge of the evaluation and follow-up of projects, with the support of experts:

• Ir. Anne-Julie ROCHETTE 
• Ir. Hilde KEUNEN  
• Dr. Maarten VANHOVE

In order for each of these persons to be informed at all times of the status of the application, it is asked to use only the generic e-mail cbd-mrv<at>naturalsciences.be.

Physical address

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Rue Vautier 29
1000 Brussels
Belgium