TOWARDS STRENGTHENED GOVERNANCE OF THE SHARED TRANSBOUNDARY NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE LAKE OHRID REGION

Baseline Assessment of the Lake Ohrid Region – Albania

BIODIVERSITY EXPERT - TERMS OF REFERENCE

BACKGROUND

The Lake Ohrid Region is home to one of the world’s oldest lakes and a remarkable biodiversity hotspot in Europe. Two-thirds of Lake Ohrid, and a significant part of its watershedlocated in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have been inscribed on the World Heritage List as the property “Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region”. The Upstream pilot project “Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid Region”is designed to address the main threats affecting the natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid Region shared between Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It aims to strengthen transboundary cooperation over the region’s cultural and natural heritage, help recognize and profile the transboundary area by assessing its values and sustainable development opportunities, and improve capacities for the effective management of natural and cultural heritage. The project will also supportintegrated management planning based on active cross-sectorial cooperation and public participation and the preparation of an extension file for the World Heritage property to cover the Albanian part of the Lake Ohrid Region (hereinafter: “the Study Area”). The project is managed by UNESCO and financed by the European Union under its assistance to pre-accession countries in the field of Environment and Climate Change.

SCOPE OF WORK

Understanding the natural attributes(values, features) in and around the Lake Ohrid Region is a crucial prerequisite for its effective management and protection. While it is essentialto be clearabout region’s specific attributesthat are the basis for itsrecognition as a World Heritage property, other natural attributesof the property that are important at local, regional, national or European levelsshould also be considered. The emphasis on the importance of local values,alongside Outstanding Universal Value is in line with the fifth StrategicObjective of World Heritage Convention (‘Community’) and reflects the need to strengthen the bridging between the World Heritage property and local communities.

The consultant will be responsible to document the current knowledge of the biodiversity, and its conservation status and trends in the Albanian part of the Lake Ohrid Region (hereinafter: “the baseline assessment”), working closely with key stakeholders and local institutions.

A socioeconomic expert will also be contributing to the baseline assessment of the Study Area through a separate contract, focusing on social, cultural and economic characteristics of the broader landscape, including sustainable development opportunities in relation to its cultural and natural heritage. The biodiversity expert and the socioeconomic expert will exchange their preliminary findings (i.e., the short inception reports and preliminary baseline assessment reports) and seek to exchange information and opinion on complementary issues, such as socio-economic factors contributing to the threats to biodiversity and the causal relationships among these factors, as well as the livelihood sources for local communities,including sustainable development opportunities.

A Local Facilitator of the project, based in the Study Area, will assist the consultant in the preparation and execution of the field work, including identifying and meeting relevant stakeholders in Tirana and locally, as well as visiting specific sites in the Lake Ohrid Region.

The work will be completed in four consecutive phases:

•Gather and analyse available information published in scientific and technical literature (such as studies and policy and planning documents), and identify the major information gaps (desk-top analysis);

•Conduct field inquiry to verify the information, and close the identified information gaps as much as possible through consultation with key stakeholders, such as local and regional governments, local communities and user groups. With the support from the Local Facilitator of the project, and in cooperation with the socioeconomic expert,organize a one-day workshop to conduct a SWOT analysis of the natural and cultural values in the Study Area with key local stakeholders;

•Prepare and submit a draft Report on the Baseline Assessment of Natural Attributesof the Lake Ohrid Region – Albania;

•Prepare and submit the final Report on the Baseline Assessment of Natural Attributesof the Lake Ohrid Region – Albania.

SPECIFIC TASKS

The consultant will be required to conduct the following specific tasks:

•Prepare an inventory of key naturalattributesofthe Lake Ohrid Region identified against a set of criteria, such as:

-Outstanding examples of natural, scenic, geological, scientific, ecological, floral, faunal and recreational/nature-based tourism values, including short justification for each attribute identified;

-Areas essential for protecting the ecological integrity of Lake Ohrid,including areas critical for maintaining water flow and quality, including short justification for each attribute identified;

-Areas and resources that are valuable to localcommunities (economically, culturally or in other ways) using the ecosystem services approach, including short justification for each attribute identified;

-Habitat types of conservation interest (globally, nationally and at the European level, as identified by the EU Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention);

-Rare and endemic plants and animals (relict species, stenoendemic species, species endemic to Albania or the Balkans), including comments on their uniqueness (e.g. unique ecological adaptations, distinct spatialand taxonomic patterns, distinct phylogenetic position, etc.);

-Threatened species at local, national, regional and global levels identified against a set of criteria, including the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Global, European, and regional), annexes to the Birds Directive and Habitats Directive of the EU, the Bern Convention, relevant national legislation and otherrelevant criteria (e.g., draft national red lists).

•Conduct quantitative and qualitative assessment of current conservation status and trends in the key biodiversity attributes of the Lake Ohrid Region, based on selected indicators, such as population size, structure and trends, geographical distribution, and species richness, as appropriate;

•Identify and analyse threats to biodiversity, their causes, in particular with respect to the key biodiversity attributes, and the means of addressing them. A special emphasis to be given to impacts of the current waste water and solid waste management and also climate change issues;

•Identify the constraints on the management of existing protected areas, such as legal obligations, constraints of tenure, prior usage, health and safety considerations and institutional and organizational constraints with a special emphasis on the transboundary context;

•Identify specific studies, long-term research, and/or monitoring activities to address major information gaps during the development and implementation of the management plan for the Study Area to be part of the extension file for the existing World Heritage property.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

The consultant will be required to deliver the following results and products:

•A short Inception Report – including a preliminary annotated bibliography of relevant secondary sources of information (research papers and studies, technical reports, planning documents and other sources), identification of major information gaps,and a detailed work plan for the field activities (delivery date:June 20, 2015);

•A report on the consultation with key stakeholders, including the workshop with local stakeholders and the results of the SWOT analysis of natural and cultural values in the Study Area(delivery date: June 28, 2015);

•A draft Report on the Baseline Assessment of Natural Attributes of the Lake Ohrid Region – Albania (delivery date: July 15, 2015);

•The final Report on the Baseline Assessment of Natural Attributes of the Lake Ohrid Region – Albania. The final report shall take into consideration the comments from UNESCO, IUCN, ICOMOS, ICCROM, and the members of management planning team made on thedraft Report on the Baseline Assessment of Natural Attributes of the Lake Ohrid Region – Albania. The final report shall document the current knowledge of the biodiversity and its conservation status and trends in the Albanian part of the Lake Ohrid Regionfollowing the indicative contents presented in Annex I (delivery date: July 31, 2015);

•A topographic map (Scale 1:25.000) indicating the extent of the Study Area and the spatial distribution or location of key biodiversity values (where appropriate) (delivery date: July 31, 2015).

DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The duration of the assignment is estimated to be 38 working days, including 4 days for visiting the Lake Ohrid Region and organizing a one-day workshop with key local stakeholders.

TRAVEL TO TIRANA AND THE STUDY AREA

The consultant will be required to conduct a field inquiry to verify the information, and close the identified information gaps as much as possible through consultation with key stakeholders, including local communities and user groups. The Local Facilitator of the project, based in the Study Area, will assist the consultant in the preparation and execution of the field work, including identifying and meeting relevant stakeholders in Tirana and locally, visiting specific sites in the Lake Ohrid Region.

In the frame of the field work the consultant will also be required to organize a one-day workshop to conduct a SWOT analysis of natural and cultural values in the Study Area with key local stakeholders. The workshop will be organised with the support from the Local Facilitator and in cooperation with the socioeconomic expert. Suggestions from UNESCO, ICOMOS, and ICCROM, concerning the workshop format and stakeholders to be invited shall also be taken into consideration. All expenses related to the workshop will be covered by the project.

All related travel costs to Tirana and the Study Areawill be covered by the project.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The consultant will coordinate all of his work with the Project Officer, Protected Areas at IUCN’s Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe and with the Local Facilitator with respect to planning and implementing the field work. The consultant will report to the Project Officer. All reports and deliverables shall be in English. The final Report on the Baseline Assessment of Natural Attributes of the Lake Ohrid Region – Albania shall also contain an Executive Summary in Albanian.

ANNEX I

Indicative contents of the

Report on the Baseline Assessment of Natural Attributes of the

Lake Ohrid Region – Albania

  1. Executive summary in English (app. 1.000 words)
  2. Executive summary in Albanian (app. 1.000 words)
  3. Introduction (app. 1.000 words)
  4. Methodology (app. 1.000 words)
  5. Description of the Study Area
  6. The physical environment (geology, tectonics, geomorphology, soils, hydrology and climate, app. 1.000 words)
  7. The biotic environment (ecosystems, habitat types, fungi, plants, animals; app. 2.000 words)
  8. Description of the key natural attributes in the Study Area (app. 7.000 words)
  9. Conservation status and trends in the key biodiversity attributes of the Lake Ohrid Region (app. 1.500 words)
  10. Ongoing and potential threats to the key natural attributes in the Study Area (app. 1.500 words)
  11. Constraints to effective conservation and management of the key natural attributes in the Study Area (app. 1.500 words)
  12. Conclusions and recommendations (app. 1.500 words)
  13. References

Attachment I: a topographic map (Scale 1:25.000) indicating the extent of the Study Area and the spatial distribution or location of key biodiversity values (where appropriate);

Attachment II: a short description of specific studies, long-term research, and/or monitoring programmes to address major information gaps during the development and implementation of the management plan for the Study Area to be part of the extension file for the existing World Heritage property;

Attachment III: a detailed description of the criteria used to identify the key natural attributes ofthe Lake Ohrid Region;

Attachment IV: a detailed description of the key natural attributes in ofthe Lake Ohrid Region – Albania.