ThaiNGO

Work location:          Home-based with travel to the project sites

Duration:                  1 November 2022 – 31 March, 2023 (maximum 10-12 working days)

1. Background of consultancy assignment/ project

The 178,896 km2 Dawna Tenasserim Landscape is one of the largest and most species-rich forested areas in south-east Asia. The forests contain the habitat of the last remaining significant population of Indochinese tiger and are home to numerous other partly endangered species, such as leopard, Asian elephant, wild cattle and deer. But the forest ecosystem is not just extremely important for animals and plants; it is also the source of around 30% of the drinking water for Bangkok’s 12 million inhabitants and home to 50,000 people.

Uncontrolled deforestation causes erosion and poses long-term threats both to subsistence farming by residents and the provision of drinking water to the population in the region and beyond. Road projects reduce and fragment the habitat and wildlife corridors and open up large areas to poachers or further deforestation.

To protect the forests and their wildlife in the long term, WWF is active on various levels. The WWF Switzerland funded project “Forest protection for people and wildlife” includes the following strategies and activities:

1. Monitor and reduce deforestation
2. Promote sustainable and economic land use
3. Monitor biodiversity and combat poaching
4. Involve the local population in alternative, environmentally friendly income generation
5. Reduce conflict between humans and elephants

2. Objective

WWF Myanmar and WWF Thailand aim to conduct a final evaluation of the WWF Switzerland funded project “Forest protection for people and wildlife” which is part of the transboundary program “Protecting the Dawna Tenasserim Landscape”. As detailed above, the project addressed a suite of conservation challenges in the transboundary Dawna Tenasserim Landscape, including human-wildlife conflict, wildlife law enforcement, protected area planning and management, and wildlife inventory. Of necessity due to differing socio-economic-political conditions, implementation actions differ between nations. The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 coup d’état and now nationwide civil war in Myanmar led to widespread delays in project execution and forced both organizations to react promptly to changing circumstances, to adapt their strategy on the go and to use flexible approaches to deliver impact while ensuring the safety of staff.

The primary purpose of this independent evaluation is to both account for the results achieved by the project between 2019 and 2022 and to draw a set of lessons learned and recommendations that will guide the future Dawna Tenasserim Landscape strategies and implementation approach. It will detail how and to what extent the implementation of the planned activities led to the defined project objectives (and if not, why) in order to adapt them before continuing into future program cycles.

The findings, conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation should inform WWF Myanmar, WWF Thailand, WWF Switzerland as well as project stakeholders and partners on the needed adaptation to ensure the achievement of project objectives. The evaluation results will form an integral part of the formulation of the next project phase funded by WWF Switzerland and will be integrated when drafting the new project proposal in 2023. The learnings will also be shared with other WWF offices present in the DTL landscape.

3. Methodology

The methodology described in this section is indicative, and the applying evaluator is expected to adapt, elaborate and integrate the approach and propose adjustments needed to undertake the assignment. The selected evaluator is invited to assess the project according to the evaluation criteria and specific evaluation question listed above, to help to inform WWF Myanmar, WWF Thailand and WWF Switzerland to elaborate their future partnership, develop more appropriate approaches to reduce forest ecosystem degradation and improve the well-being of the local communities.

The evaluation will be conducted by a single consultant with experience in both nations. A desk analysis of existing documentation plus collection of new information for qualitative evidence, for example via phone, other virtual means, interviews, group discussions is recommended, taking into consideration the security and travel restrictions in Myanmar. Given budget constraints, the evaluation would need to be completed in 10 to 12 workdays.

The evaluator will describe the suitable methods to meet the purpose, scope and objectives of this evaluation. The methodology will be further refined, based on the findings of the desk review.

This evaluation will be rolled out in three phases:

1. Desk review: the first phase will contain the review of relevant project documents and materials.
2. Key informant interviews and/or group discussions: the second phase will collect qualitative evidence with team members and particular stakeholders. Given the security, time and budget constraints, field visits to Myanmar are not expected to be conducted. A short field visit to the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex is possible.  
3. Reporting and dissemination phase: the third phase will include reporting, validating and prioritizing findings and recommendations and disseminating the results to WWF and partners.

Key deliverables include a presentation of findings, any newly collected data, draft report and final report.

The evaluator is to adhere to the “principles for ensuring quality evaluations as per the OECD DAC quality standards.

4. Scope of work

Regarding the scope, the evaluation will assess the project activities and their intended outcomes as detailed in the WWF Switzerland funded project proposal, executed between March 2010 and September 2022 (6 months before the end of the project phase). The evaluation will not assess other activities of the overarching transboundary program “Protecting the Dawna Tenasserim Landscape”.

Evaluation Criteria and Guiding Questions

The evaluation will be based on the 6 evaluation criteria of the OECD DAC - Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability, with a focus on Effectiveness as well as on the additional WWF criteria Adaptive Capacity. In the following table, these two criteria are finetuned through the formulation of general evaluation questions:

5. Evaluation Process, Deliverables, and Timeline

The evaluator should work towards the timely submission of the final evaluation report. The evaluator selected will be contracted by WWF Thailand.

6. Required profile:

For this evaluation, WWF Myanmar and WWF Thailand welcome applications from one senior consultant (international or national), with proven experience in past comparable evaluations, if possible in both countries involved in the project under review.

The evaluator will be responsible for the data collection and guiding the data analysis, as well as formulating recommendations, writing the report and presenting / disseminating its conclusions and recommendations.

The evaluator should have the following profile:

• Relevant educational background, qualification, and training in evaluation
• Qualifications and demonstrated experience conducting evaluations
• Ability to both assess past effectiveness and provide strong strategic thinking on future direction
• Demonstrated ability to generate high quality, rich, readable products in English 
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work in a multi-cultural environment
• Orientation and approach are collegial and facilitates learning and analysis by project teams
• Capacity to integrate skills related to the following fields:
• Terrestrial Species Conservation
• Project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, in a context of adaptive management
• Acquainted with basic information of the political and governance context of Myanmar and Thailand

7. Instructions to Applicants

The interested Consulting firm/Consultant should submit their technical and financial proposals to WWF-TH and should include:

• Understanding of the terms of reference, proposed methodology, and a time schedule for the assignment (should not exceed 10 pages);
• The profile/ CV of the consultant which clearly demonstrates experience and qualification to carry out the assignment. If the consultant plans to engage any team members, their profiles/CVs should be submitted as well;
• A detailed breakdown of indicative professional fees and costs;
• Contact details for three (3) professional referees who we can contact for quality assurance of the consultant’s work.
• The start date for this work will be on the contract signature date.