Research Consultant, Côte d’Ivoire 215 views0 applications

Closing date: Monday, 16 July 2018

Research Consultant for Biophysical land use characterization of cocoa & forests landscapes in Côte d’Ivoire

Position summary:

Background & Rationale

The past year has witnessed greatly increased attention to the role of cocoa expansion in the loss of natural forests and encroachment of protected areas in West Africa and elsewhere. There are also significant concerns about trading fraud, especially in Cote d’Ivoire. These issues have been spotlighted by campaigning NGOs such as Mighty Earth, and are now the subject of partnership commitments between major cocoa industry players and the governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire through the Cocoa and Forests Initiative.

Globally, satellite tools such as Global Forest Watch have enabled stakeholders to easily identify tree cover loss and likely instances of deforestation. However, the ability to distinguish between tree cover loss and deforestation in West Africa may be more challenging, given the mosaic nature of the landscape where cocoa farms may combine cocoa with remnant forest trees. This consultancy will propose a field assessment protocol to enable identification of ‘deforestation’ in West African cocoa farms using Global Forest Watch.

Methods: RA Standard

The RA Sustainable Agriculture Standard (SAS), along with numerous other stakeholders, use a definition of ‘deforestation’ to essentially mean conversion of a natural ecosystem forest to agriculture. A ‘forest’ is defined as a tree-covered area that is not occupied by agriculture, consists primarily of native plants, and contains a vegetation structure that generally resembles that of a natural forest. These ‘forests’ also could have been in an area regenerating for at least 10 years with minimal human disturbance (often referred to as ‘secondary’ forests). Other native ecosystems such as shrublands or grasslands are also defined as natural ecosystems and cannot be converted.¹ According to the RA Standard, areas that meet the above conditions may not be converted since 2014 or 5 years before application for certification, whichever comes earlier (Critical Criteria 2.1). Areas meeting the above conditions and considered a High Conservation Value area may not be converted since 2005. See RA Standard definition of natural ecosystem (p. 22-23) for more information (available online).

¹ An area managed as a forestry or fruit tree plantation or an agroforestry or long-rotation swidden system are not considered natural forest ecosystems, and may be converted.

Methods: Tools

The Hansen/UMD tree cover loss dataset presented on Global Forest Watch (GFW) uses globally available satellite data (primarily Landsat images with 30 m pixel resolution) to describe global land use. GFW creates a composite of satellite images of each pixel throughout a year, and then describes the ‘tree cover’ of each pixel at various canopy cover thresholds (10%, 20%, etc.). This method essentially permits users to interpret different definitions of ‘forest’, given that a forest in one region may be equivalent to 20%, 30%, etc. average tree cover.

Activities and Tasks

RA would like to create a field assessment protocol to allow RA, certification bodies, and auditors to identify ‘deforestation’ per the RA standard based on a prior analysis with Global Forest Watch. To create this assessment protocol, the consultant (or team) should follow the process outlined here:

• Identify 5-10 high deforestation risk landscapes (or cooperatives) to be studied
• Systematically create a sample of 10-20 sites within each landscape with ground truth data; these sites should represent different canopy cover classes (derived from the Global Forest Watch: Tree Cover 2010 layer)
• Visit each site and collect field data (see following table)
• Summarize data by canopy cover class and tree cover loss
• Use these results to draft a field assessment protocol, based on an estimation if tree cover loss at a certain canopy threshold equals non-compliance with the RA standard on critical criteria 2.1 and 2.2
• Make notes of other field indicators or evidence that would demonstrate non-compliance with the RA standard on the above criteria.

Deliverables

• Field data (see below)
• Summary report containing
  • Aggregated data of biophysical characteristics of various tree cover thresholds
  • Aggregated data of biophysical characteristics of sites with recent tree cover loss,
  • Assessment protocol for ‘deforestation’ as defined by the RA sustainable agriculture standard in cocoa landscapes of West Africa

Field Data Table

Selection Criteria

• Relevant technical expertise: Consultant (or consultant firm) must have experience in forest inventory, field data collection, GIS, and use of Global Forest Watch
• Consultant (or dedicated staff person at consultant firm) must speak French
• Consultant (or consultant firm) must be eligible to travel to Cote d Ivoire

Application:

Please submit a proposal in the form of an email to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Research Consultant for Biophysical land use characterization’ by July 6, 2018.

Proposals should contain the following:

• Project team (if a consultant firm), including CV(s), brief description of relevant experience, affiliations, email addresses, phone numbers, and other relevant contact information
• Work plan, technical proposal, methodology, and timeline for deliverables
• Financial proposal, including a daily rate, estimated number of days needed to complete project, and travel expenses, in USD

Finalists will be notified by July 16, 2018