2024.09.20 SSN 72047224RFI00001_USAID_Timor-Leste HOPE (Biodiversity) - Market Research.pdf

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SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR MARKET RESEARCH

Notice No.: 72047224RFI00001

Released Date: September 20, 2024

Due Date for Response Submission October 2, 2024, 17:00, Bangkok Time

The United States Agency for International Development’s Mission in USAID/Timor-Leste

(USAID/Timor-Leste) is in the process of gathering information to support the design of the

Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity. This Notice is issued in support of market research and information gathering for the new design and procurement. In particular, this notice intends to:

1. Offer an opportunity for interested individuals and organizations to provide feedback on the attached draft statement of work (SOW).

2. Seek responses to the following questions.

2.1. Upon reviewing the attached draft SOW, how likely will your organization submit the proposal as a prime offeror in response to the solicitation to be issued at a later date. If you plan to respond to the full solicitation, please include self/organizational information including capabilities and past experiences working on similar activities.

2.2. What additional information, if any, would you recommend be included in the final

SOW that will be useful for prospective Offerors in deciding to compete or in preparing proposals?

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Response Submission Guidelines:

All comments and recommendations must be submitted electronically via an email to

Ms. Amornrat Muansantheai, Acquisition and Assistance Specialist, at amuansantheai@usaid.gov.

Responses to this Notice will be accepted until the due date and time indicated above.

You will only receive a confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response but will not receive individualized feedback on any suggestions. No basis for the claims against the U.S. Government shall arise as a result of information submitted in response to this notice or from the

Government’s use of such information. Specific questions about this notice should be directed only to the email address identified above.

Please include the following information in your submitted response.

● Notice reference number:

● Your Name/Title:

● Affiliation/Organization:

● Expression of Interest in Submitting Proposal for the solicitation as a Prime and organization’s capability statements:

● Information that your organization deems useful for the prospective offerors:

● Feedback/comments on the draft SOW, if any.

Issuance of this notice does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S.

Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation of responses.

Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID programs.

Best Regards, //S//

Tatiana Ronning

Regional Contracting Officer

USAID/RDMA, Bangkok, Thailand mailto:amuansantheai@usaid.gov s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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SECTION C— DESCRIPTION/ SPECIFICATIONS / STATEMENT OF WORK

INTRODUCTION

The HOPE (Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment) for a Resilient Community activity seeks to strengthen biodiversity conservation efforts in Timor-Leste in the coastal and marine environment, support local communities to be more resilient to climate impacts, and inclusively ensure the sustainable use of natural resources in development.

Communities in Timor-Leste rely on their local environment, and the natural capital therein, to support food security, livelihoods, and resilience, both economic and climatic. Timor-Leste is located within the Coral Triangle, which is the global center of marine biodiversity. The country contains some of the most productive waters within their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), but has experienced unsustainable fishing and marine practices historically and through present-day. In addition, the offshore fishing industry and access, particularly by Timorese fishers, is relatively undeveloped, and even access agreements are underdeveloped within the country. Overall development in Timor-Leste can be advanced if coastal marine ecosystems are more resilient to challenges facing them and thereby also increasing the resilience of the communities that rely on them.

BACKGROUND

Timor-Leste’s location in the maritime Southeast Asian area highlights both the island biogeography as well as the connectivity to wider ecosystems that connect both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The country's coastal and marine environments harbor a multitude of species and habitats that are both unique and vital for communities that play a crucial role in the ecological, economic, and cultural landscape of Timor-Leste.

There is an abundance of ecosystems in the coastal marine area of Timor-Leste, such as mangroves, seagrasses, and others. As part of the Coral Triangle, the coral reefs are particularly noteworthy, as they provide habitat and breeding grounds for numerous marine species and are essential for the local fisheries. Timor-Leste’s coral reefs support over 400 species of reef-building corals and more than 1,000 species of fish. Among these, several species are considered endangered or vulnerable, including the Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) and certain species of groupers (Epinephelinae). These fish and other reef fish are critical for certain coastal communities in terms of both food security and livelihoods. The waters are also home to significant populations of sea turtles, including the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Additionally, the dugong (Dugong dugon), a vulnerable species, finds refuge in the seagrass beds along s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Timor-Leste's coast. Efforts to monitor and protect these species are ongoing, but challenges remain due to limited resources and the need for comprehensive conservation strategies.

Along with coral reefs, there are also a number of other habitats that play critical roles in the coastal environments, and ultimately for coastal communities in Timor-Leste, including mangroves, seagrasses, and various sandy/rocky shorelines. Mangrove forests line many parts of Timor-Leste's coastline. These ecosystems are crucial for protecting shorelines from erosion, serving as nurseries for fish and other marine species, and supporting a range of wildlife, including birds and crustaceans. The mangrove coverage in Timor-Leste is relatively small but vital for the ecological balance. Seagrass meadows are found in the shallow coastal waters of Timor-Leste.

These underwater plants provide food and habitat for marine life, including the endangered dugong. Seagrass beds also play a role in carbon sequestration, making them important for climate change mitigation. Moreover seagrasses often provide the ecological link between mangroves and reefs, connecting them and increasing the overall productivity of both and sequestration potential of mangrove forests. These areas support various forms of life, from crabs and mollusks to birds that forage along the coast. While not as biodiverse as coral reefs or mangroves, they are essential components of the coastal ecosystem, particularly for local communities engaged in gleaning to supplement protein intake with their diets.

Despite the rich coastal and marine biodiversity in Timor-Leste, the nation's coastal and marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds, face significant threats. Coral reefs face threats from overfishing, destructive fishing practices, climate change, and pollution.

Overfishing depletes key species that maintain reef health, such as herbivorous fish that control algal growth; whereas destructive practices, such as dynamite fishing or cyanide fishing, cause direct physical damage to the coral structures. Rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification also pose severe threats to coral reefs. Coral bleaching, a phenomenon where corals expel the zooxanthellae (a symbiotic algae living in their tissues) due to stress from elevated water temperatures, has been increasingly observed with the globe's fourth mass bleaching currently ongoing. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that coral reefs worldwide could face annual bleaching events by 2050 under current emission trajectories.

Finally, pollution from land-based sources, such as agricultural runoff from small-scale agriculture, sewage discharge, and plastic waste, degrades water quality and harms coral reefs. A 2016 report by the Asian Development Bank highlighted that coastal waters in Timor-Leste are experiencing increased sedimentation and nutrient loading, which can smother corals and promote harmful algal blooms.

Mangroves and seagrasses face similar threats, but the impacts are different given the differences in ecosystem structure and type. Mangroves are often cleared for timber, fuelwood, and to make way for agriculture and aquaculture. The Global Mangrove Watch estimated that Timor-Leste lost about 20% of its mangrove cover between 1990 and 2010, significantly impacting coastal protection and biodiversity. Moreover, recent coastal development for infrastructure and urban s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity expansion activities have led to a significant reduction in mangrove coverage along key coastal areas in Timor-Leste, according to a Conservation International analysis (2017). Seagrasses are also impacted by coastal development with the construction of ports, marinas, and other coastal infrastructure driving declining seagrass coverage in Timor-Leste in areas adjacent to major development projects (World Bank 2015). Similar to reefs, impacts from climate change like sea level rise and increasing water temperatures impact seagrass beds by causing thermal stress, while sea-level rise can alter light availability for these submerged plants.

Coastal communities in Timor-Leste are heavily involved in fishing, despite many Timorese people eating far less than the global average of fish protein per annum. The health of coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds directly impacts fish stocks and, consequently, the economic stability of these communities. Mangrove forests are particularly valuable for their role in supporting fisheries by serving as nurseries for many commercially important fish species (e.g., Serranidae and Lutjanidae) and providing timber and non-timber forest products, such as honey and medicinal plants, which are important for local economies. A study by Conservation International (2017) highlighted that mangroves in Timor-Leste contribute to the livelihoods of coastal communities by providing resources worth an estimated $1.5 million annually.

Timor-Leste's marine biodiversity and pristine coastal environments hold significant potential for ecotourism, which can provide alternative income sources for coastal communities. Coral reefs, in particular, attract divers and snorkelers from around the world. Developing sustainable tourism can enhance local economies while promoting conservation efforts.

Coastal and marine ecosystems are critical for food security in Timor-Leste. Fisheries provide a primary source of protein for many coastal communities. However, there is a paradoxical situation in Timor-Leste where fish consumption is relatively low compared to other countries with similar coastal access. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that the average fish consumption in Timor-Leste is only 6.1 kg per capita per year (17 kg in coastal areas and 4 kg in inland communities), which is significantly lower than the global average of 20.3 kg. Fish and other seafood are rich in essential nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, which are vital for human health. Increasing fish consumption could address nutritional deficiencies prevalent in many Timorese communities. A greater emphasis on integrating fish into the local diet could improve overall health outcomes and food security. Several factors contribute to the low fish consumption in Timor-Leste. These include limited access to fishing equipment, inadequate storage and processing facilities, and cultural preferences for other protein sources such as chicken and pork. Additionally, environmental degradation and overfishing have led to reduced fish stocks, further limiting availability.

There is an existing legal and regulatory structure in Timor-Leste that helps to guide actions impacting or addressing the coastal marine ecosystems; however, enforcement has not always been effective in deterring unsustainable actions. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP, 2011-2020), developed in alignment with the Convention on Biological Diversity s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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(CBD), outlines strategies and actions to conserve the country's biodiversity and emphasizes the protection of natural habitats, sustainable use of resources, and the integration of biodiversity considerations into national policies. There is also an Environmental Licensing Law (Decree-Law No. 5/2011) that mandates environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for projects that may affect the environment, including coastal and marine ecosystems. Similarly, the Protected Areas Law (Law No. 5/2016) provides the legal framework for establishing and managing protected areas in Timor-Leste. It aims to conserve critical habitats, species, and ecosystems by designating protected areas and implementing management plans. Fisheries laws are not as well developed with the Fisheries Law (Decree-Law No. 6/2004) regulating fishing but lacks strong provisions for sustainable fishing practices, licensing, monitoring, and enforcement to prevent overfishing and protect marine resources.

Timor-Leste receives significant funding from international donors and organizations to support biodiversity conservation, sustainable fisheries, and coastal community development. Key contributors include the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank, and other countries with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) such as Republic of Korea and Japan. These funds are often directed towards projects that enhance community resilience, improve resource management, and restore degraded ecosystems. The government of Timor-Leste allocates budgetary resources to environmental protection and sustainable development projects with an increasing focus on integrating community-based management approaches and promoting sustainable livelihoods through eco-friendly practices - particularly for the blue economy and environment under the current Government. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play a vital role in funding and implementing conservation and development projects, with NGOs such as Conservation International, and local NGOs working closely with coastal communities to provide technical assistance, capacity building, and financial support for sustainable practices. Finally, there is a growing interest in leveraging private sector investment for sustainable coastal development. Initiatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable fisheries, and aquaculture projects attract private investors who seek to balance economic returns with environmental sustainability.

Link to CDCS/SF and Administration Priorities:

This activity supports USAID’s overall goals in the Indo-Pacific Region, specifically within the Timor-Leste Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) of “An inclusive, prosperous, and healthy Timor-Leste that is more self-reliant”. In particular, the activity will work towards meeting both of the development objectives (DO). For DO1: “Timor-Leste’s Non-oil Sector Economy Strengthened”, this activity will support the increased economic inclusion of women and youth, strengthening of the private sector in key growth sectors such as tourism and fisheries, and bolster the enabling environment for private sector growth. Under DO2: “Good Governance Enhanced”, this activity will work to improve institutional effectiveness to support better blue economy outcomes. This activity will also directly support implementation of the USAID Climate s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Strategy, and in particular advance the resilience of communities, people, and places to shocks and stresses as part of the Natural Resources Safeguards and Security (NRSS) component of the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS).

Anticipated measures of success/results to be achieved by the HOPE activity include conservation of key marine ecosystems within MPAs, improved resilience of coastal communities, more diverse livelihood opportunities directly tied to and adjacent to those critical marine ecosystems, and better inclusion of women, youth, and other marginalized groups (e.g., indigenous peoples) in access to and decision making processes that affect community resilience.

FUNDING REQUIREMENTS

This activity will be funded with different sources of funding that have strict requirements. The Contractor must comply with these requirements as set forth below.

● Adaptation: All proposed interventions must fully align with the definition of the adaptation directive and support the USAID Climate Strategy. The goal of adaptation programming is to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability of people, places, systems, and/or livelihoods to climate variability and change. Adaptation activities are guided by and inform countries' development plans, strategies and policies. A focused adaptation program or component will have the explicit objective of enhancing climate resilience and reducing vulnerability; will be based on an understanding of vulnerability, including the climate change vulnerability or sector risk that is being addressed; will include actions designed to reduce that vulnerability and build adaptive capacity; will be flexible to deal with uncertainty; and will add value beyond the scope of other funding sources.

● Biodiversity: All proposed interventions must fully align with USAID’s Biodiversity Policy1, which aims to conserve biodiversity in priority places and integrate biodiversity as an essential component of human development. All technical components using biodiversity funds must adhere to the USAID Biodiversity Code, which is comprised of four criteria, all of which must be met to be Code compliant: (1) the activity must have an explicit biodiversity objective; it isn’t enough to have biodiversity conservation result as a positive externality from another program; (2) activities must be identified based on an analysis of drivers and threats to biodiversity and a corresponding theory of change; (3) Site-based activities must have the intent to positively impact biodiversity in biologically significant areas; and, (4) the activity must monitor indicators associated with each stated theory of change for biodiversity conservation results.

● Agriculture/Feed the Future: This activity will be funded by funding from an account in the Foreign Assistance Standardized Program Structure and Definitions (SPSD) Program Area

1https://www.usaid.gov/biodiversity/policy https://www.usaid.gov/biodiversity/policy s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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EG.3 Agriculture and/or HL.9 nutrition counts as Feed the Future (FTF) at USAID. The EG.3 Agriculture Program Area is specifically defined as ‘supporting the science and practice of food, feed, and fiber production (including forestry, wildlife, fisheries, aquaculture and floriculture) and its relationships to natural resources, processing, marketing, distribution, utilization (including nutrition), and trade’.2 All FTF funded activities must report annually using the Development Information Solution (DIS) System and adhere to the reporting requirements as presented in the 2023 Feed the Future Indicator Handbook. Specifically, these include: (1) baselines, actuals (annual results), two out-year targets (unless the activity ends prior to this timeframe) for all applicable Activity/IM-level FTF standard indicators; and (2) an Activity / IM Performance Narrative.3 FTF activities are also expected to report both the locations of implementation and locations of intended beneficiaries in

DIS.4

COORDINATION WITH OTHER USAID ACTIVITIES

USAID has a number of past and current activities that entail components complementary to this new Activity. These activities include the following:

1. USAID’s Tourism for All (TfA) Activity, which ended in 2023. The TfA successes include the Hope Spot recognition from the global ocean conservation organization, Mission Blue. This recognition designated Atauro Island as an area of significant biodiversity in addition to being within the global center of marine biodiversity (i.e., the Coral Triangle), which identifies the water of Timor-Leste as a place critical to the health of the world’s oceans. Additionally, the TfA activity supported the Timor-Leste National Marine Tourism Association’s work to develop a Sustainable Management Plan for Atauro Island.

2. USAID currently supports the Coral Triangle Initiative for Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) more broadly through the USAID/Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA) as a component under the Sustainable Fish Asia (SuFiA) project. This activity supports the CTI-CFF secretariat to improve regional fisheries management and supports the Coral Triangle Conservation Fund (CTCF) to develop financing for MPAs. This activity supports sustainable fisheries and biodiversity conservation across the region.

3. USAID Timor Leste’s Plastics Upcycling Alliance (PUA) activity aimed to sustainably address plastic waste management. PUA worked to address both the challenge of excessive plastic waste and the potential to develop a competitive plastics circular economy in Timor-Leste.

The PUA sought to catalyze the growth of a plastics recycling industry, creating and expanding valuable employment and entrepreneurship opportunities with the potential to improve the

4 https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-500/references-chapter/579mab

3https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jJQ0J_-Xmi7-z2VW9uQTWnf492YvAJn-G16SnFs71pA/edit#bookmark=id.ine kzv7valcb

2https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-New-SPSD-June-2017-Accessible-2.16.2023.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-500/references-chapter/579mab https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jJQ0J_-Xmi7-z2VW9uQTWnf492YvAJn-G16SnFs71pA/edit#bookmark=id.inekzv7valcb https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jJQ0J_-Xmi7-z2VW9uQTWnf492YvAJn-G16SnFs71pA/edit#bookmark=id.inekzv7valcb https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-New-SPSD-June-2017-Accessible-2.16.2023.pdf s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity natural beauty of Timor Leste and protect the health and safety of its people.

4. The Avansa Sistema Aihan no Nutrisaun (Avansa SAN) activity is working to advance Timor-Leste’s food systems, enhancing nutrition and strengthening food security across the nation with a focus on Aileu, Ainaro, Dili and Ermera. Avansa SAN is promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, crop diversification, support for small and medium-sized agri-food enterprises, community-based campaigns on dietary diversity, and advocacy for healthy habits to improve overall nutritional well-being. The activity is also providing tailored assistance to smallholder farmers and women, particularly pregnant women with children under five, to ensure greater access to nutritious diets.

THEORY OF CHANGE AND RESULTS FRAMEWORK

IF the coastal marine environment in Timor-Leste is better conserved and managed;

IF communities derive increased economic benefits from inclusive and sustainable utilization of their marine natural resources; and

IF communities integrate existing and diversify sustainable livelihood opportunities within coastal ecosystems and resilient practices ;

THEN the resilience of East-Timorese coastal and marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them for food security and livelihoods will be enhanced.

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SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor must work to conserve the marine and coastal biodiversity of Timor-Leste; increase community resilience to climate impacts, and develop and expand resilient livelihood options and food-security for communities in the target geography, which is the Atauro Island and coastal communities along the northern coast of Timor-Leste.

The activities undertaken must meet the requirements of the appropriate Congressional Funding Directive (i.e., Biodiversity, Adaptation, Agriculture), including their reporting requirements, analyses, etc. that are detailed in Annex I of this SOW.

OBJECTIVES, EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Objective 1: Coastal Marine Biodiversity Conservation Strengthened

This area extends from the Philippines in the north, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. This global center of marine biodiversity is critical both for species radiation following mass extinction events as well as for supplying the necessary invertebrates, fish, and corals to support the productive waters globally in terms of fisheries. Many of these critical ecosystems are under threat from climate change (e.g., warming waters causing mass coral bleaching), unsustainable resource extraction (e.g., overfishing), and impacts from rapid expansion of coastal development (e.g., siltation). Working to protect these critical ecosystems supports not only food security for local communities, but also nature based solutions and ecosystem services to better withstand climate impacts, as well as increasing and diversifying economic livelihoods.

Fisheries, which in Timor-Leste are largely tied to reefs given the lack of a large motorized fishing fleet, supplements income and protein for many coastal and inland (using aquaculture) communities.5 However, the Timor-Leste capture fisheries sector is considered to be underdeveloped due to the overall lack of motorized vessels. Nonetheless, there is evidence of overfishing of certain near-shore reef areas close to nearby communities.6 In the country the marine fisheries sector is dominated by small-scale fisheries and there are only about 5% of households country-wide that are engaged in fishing practices7, and these fisheries are overall managed through a combination of co-management through local-based, customary laws and

7 López-Angarita, J., Hunnam, K., Pereira, M., Mills, D.J., Pant, J., Teoh, S., Eriksson, H., Amaral, L. and Tilley, A., 2019. Fisheries and aquaculture of Timor-Leste in 2019: Current knowledge and opportunities.

6 Farmery, A.K., Kajlich, L., Voyer, M., Bogard, J.R. and Duarte, A., 2020. Integrating fisheries, food and nutrition–Insights from people and policies in Timor-Leste. Food Policy, 91, p.101826.

5 Rosegrant, M.W., Dey, M.M., Valmonte-Santos, R. and Chen, O.L., 2016. Economic impacts of climate change and climate change adaptation strategies in Vanuatu and Timor-Leste. Marine Policy, 67, pp.179-188.

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity national regulations.8 This combination of controlling structures at various levels, a distributed coastal fishing population, and low monitoring, control, and surveillance capacity highlights the localized overfishing impacts in certain locations.

Timor-Leste also has several MPAs that have been established over the years since independence, including parts of the seascape associated with the first national park, the Nino Konis Santana National Park. These MPAs have varying levels of engagement from various stakeholders including government, environmental non-government organizations and community groups. In particular, Timor-Leste has been effective in securing a large-amount of its critical coral areas as part of inclusion with no-take MPAs, with more than 20% of its total coral extent included.9 Despite this inclusion within existing MPAs, there exists a lack of operational plans that have the capability to be effectively implemented to achieve stated goals. For example, the USAID Tourism For All activity developed a Sustainable Management Plan for Atauro Island, but that has not yet been approved, despite the opportunity on the island given it is one of the areas with the highest diversity of marine species globally.

Tasks Working with the National Government of Timor-Leste, as well as relevant local government units (LGUs), the Contractor must support enhanced regulatory action and support for MPAs. This must be a combination of building off the partial success of the “tara bandu” 10 process while also recognizing some of the inherent challenges in the existing structure.

The Contractor must work with the national government to design a national conservation pledge and associated green fee of $50 USD for those entering Timor-Leste to support the system of MPAs within the country in addition to the existing and locally-led tara bandu structure. As marine resource tenure is under the purview of the national government, this will allow for the establishment of a trust-fund that can be directly utilized to meet the costs associated with managing, patrolling, surveying, and otherwise operating an effective MPA for local communities.

This will also include effective public financial management (PFM) capacity building to support transparent management of public funds that can support secondary sources of funding such as philanthropic or bond-issuance to further build economic support for long-term management of MPAs.

The Contractor must also work to build effective planning for MPA management that supports local communities’ development needs. The Contractor must update and operationalize

10 Tara Bandu is defined as a “traditional Timorese custom that enforces peace and reconciliation through the power of public agreement to define social norms and practices to a given community”

9 Erikson, K., 2013. ASSESSMENT OF THE EXISTING MPA NETWORK WITHIN THE CORAL TRIANGLE (Masters Project, Duke University).

8 Tilley, A., Hunnam, K.J., Mills, D.J., Steenbergen, D.J., Govan, H., Alonso-Poblacion, E., Roscher, M., Pereira, M., Rodrigues, P., Amador, T. and Duarte, A., 2019. Evaluating the fit of co-management for small-scale fisheries governance in Timor-Leste. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, p.392.

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity sustainable management plans for existing MPAs, including the one developed for Atauro Island with USAID funding. The Contractor must develop new plans for other MPAs that have yet to establish effective management structures, or operational plans. The Contractor must provide technical assistance to local MPA community committees to develop sustainability plans to reinvest the development assistance effectively from the tara bandu process.

This work will also center around the necessary planning for shore-based risks to local marine environments and the planning necessary to mitigate these risks. From coastal infrastructure development to effective slope stabilization agriculture, a holistic approach to build out the necessary safeguards to protect the marine environment need to be included into general development plans for local communities.

The Contractor must work to identify and support more sustainable livelihoods directly connected to the marine environment. Having decreased focus on coastal fisheries while improving cold-chain and supporting methods for value-adding to coastal fisheries will work to decrease overall pressure on coastal fisheries. For eco-tourism, this will include better advertising help and capacity building to be stewards of the resources directly to offer the products and services that can draw more visitors over time to the resources.

The Contractor must work with relevant body (bodies) to reduce unsustainable resource extraction for both marine ecosystems and associated terrestrial environments. In the marine space the Contractor must include fisheries work and include work on seasonal closures to protect important spawning aggregations of fish, a reduction in destructive fishing practices like dynamite or drag-traps.

This work will include efforts on reef gleaning to identify resources which can be used to supplement nutrition for coastal communities outside of fishery resources, but collected in a sustainable manner through seasonal closures. In the terrestrial environment, both a reduction in fuel wood collection will help to stabilize nearby slopes and thereby reduce risks to coastal reefs and seagrasses from sedimentation.

Objective 2: Community Resilience to Climate Impacts Enhanced

Small island developing states (SIDS) are experiencing some of the most immediate impacts of climate change. Communities in Timor-Leste are facing challenges from sea-level rise, changes in rainfall and drought, changes in fisheries composition, and effects from increased intensity and numbers of cyclones, among other impacts. The tidal zone in Timor-Leste can already have tides in some areas that are nearly two (2) meters in amplitude, and erosion and increasing sea level can cause exacerbated challenges for coastal communities. Moreover, the increasing dichotomy of more intense rains coupled with longer periods of drought impacts everything from inland agriculture to mudslides that damage linear infrastructure and cause loss of life. Moreover, these s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity changes may also impact fisheries and the coastal zone which are critical to livelihoods and ecosystem services for Timorese communities. For example, coral reefs and mangrove ecosystems can help to absorb wave energy and support coastal fisheries productivity.

As both a SIDS as well as a fragile, post-conflict nation, Timor-Leste is particularly impacted by some of the stronger effects of climate that mar development outcomes. In particular, the coastal communities that are primarily subsistence in structure are impacted the hardest by increased flooding, droughts, and coastal inundation.11 Despite being coastal, many of these communities are heavily reliant on agriculture where the impacts of climate are well-understood, however, many of them will still need to adapt to differences in the prevailing water regime with increased periods of flooding and drought.12

The dominance of agricultural food production systems in coastal communities highlights that impacts of climate change on current livelihoods and food security are likely to be greater than the underutilized fisheries sector in Timor-Leste.

Tasks:

The Contractor must provide technical, administrative, and/or material assistance to the Government of Timor-Leste and relevant stakeholders to help diversify the utilization of locally-managed MPAs through effective regulation that designate no-take areas for coral and fish source areas and seasonal closures for effective replenishment of focused stocks.

The Contractor must provide technical, administrative, and/or material assistance to relevant stakeholders to develop slope stabilization agriculture products that will lessen the impacts from associated climate hazards like flooding and increase the nutritional base.

The Contractor must increase communities’ access to information, understanding, and adoption of climate adaptive behaviors, management practices and technologies , and adoption of optimal behavior to improve nutritional status.

Objective 3: Resilient Livelihoods Developed and Expanded

In Timor-Leste livelihood diversity is limited and more resilient structures around economic development will require increased diversification. For example, crop farming (89% of households) and livestock rearing (93% of households) was nearly ubiquitous across households, 12 Mills, D., Abernethy, K., King, J., Hoddy, E., Jiau, T.S., Larocca, P., Gonsalves, D., Fernandes, A. and Park, S., 2013. Developing Timor-Leste’s coastal economy: Assessing potential climate change impacts and adaptation options.

11 da Fonseca, A., 2015. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation options: case studies of four coastal communities in Timor-Leste. Charles Darwin University (Australia).

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity whereas fisheries represented an area where a far smaller segment of the population (41% of households) was engaged. This further confounded with 93% of fishers being men, a distinction between fishers (those that catch and then sell the fish) versus fish traders that act as middle-persons involved in trading between fishers and other groups, and the households that identify as fishers listing it as their primary livelihood. This further constrains the livelihood options for coastal communities and limits their overall resilience to climate, economic, or other shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Atauro Island in particular, fishing is the primary source of income for a majority of all households that engage in fisheries actions (54% for fisheries compared with 22% of crop farming households). However, and as seen on mainland Timor-Leste, almost all households that fish are also engaged in multiple other livelihood activities (e.g. 95% in crop farming; 84% in livestock;

34% in casual employment).Seasonal access to fishing appears to be a driver of livelihood diversity.9 Despite this opportunity for better fisheries engagement and increased valuation from that livelihood, the resources, particularly pelagic, remain underutilized within Timor-Leste.

The Contractor must provide assistance to both accentuate fishery opportunities and develop more diversified livelihood options, including market-linkages for high-value fishery products.

The Contractor must work to identify export available and ready agricultural products that can be utilized in slope stabilization agriculture.

Cross-Cutting Principles:

Inclusion of Women, Youth, Marginalized Groups, and Indigenous Peoples in Resource Management and Decision-Making Increased

The structure of communities in Timor-Leste sees bifurcation in gender. Men are predominantly engaged in fisheries activities, while women primarily in agriculture. Given the interrelatedness of a landscape approach to maximizing the conservation of critical coastal marine ecosystems, increasing community resilience, and diversifying local livelihoods, better integration of both genders into decision making and sustainable planning is critical for long-term development success. The contractor must ensure substantive community engagement and that priorities are determined directly from the communities.Making sure that all voices are included, and that traditional knowledge is included will be critical to ensure effective implementation to support local organizations working with Timor-Leste communities.

Youth Engagement

Timor-Leste, with a population of approximately 1.2 million people, is home to a youthful demographic, with 70% of its population being under the age of 30. Renowned for its rich marine s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity biodiversity, Timor-Leste offers a unique opportunity for tourism, particularly through diving and snorkeling. These activities have not only attracted visitors but have captivated the local youth.

However, the lack of awareness about proper underwater behavior poses a threat to the marine ecosystem. This, compounded with the waste management issue, poses a pressing concern in Timor-Leste risking its sustainability for the future.

The Contractor must create opportunities for youth to participate meaningfully in the Activity’s interventions and ensure that youth are equipped with the knowledge and skills to protect and preserve marine environments so that they can become change-makers and advocates and promote environmental stewardship within their communities.

Gender equity and social inclusion

USAID is committed to creating opportunities for everyone to contribute to and benefit from development regardless of age, sex, ethnic origin, health status, family structure, sexual orientation, education, employment, income, housing, food security, safety, or any other dimensions of human diversity. LGBTQI+, people living with disabilities, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups face increased violence, economic hardship, stigmatization, and political marginalization. The exclusion of these groups from the economic, social, and political spheres is a violation of these peoples’ basic human rights. The Contractor must seek to apply approaches that focus on inclusiveness, accessibility, and equity.

The Contractor’s approach must also align with the GESI Analysis referenced above and ensure the integration of GESI according to USAID’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy in that interventions will take into account Timorese gender and social norms. Special emphasis is placed on the inclusion of the marginalized sub populations including women and girls, youth, the elderly, the disabled, and LGBTQI+ people into all activities to broaden the pool of potential change makers. At the same time, considerations of the unique circumstances and needs of these groups within the context of Timorese culture should guide intervention approaches in every stage of the Activity.

The Contractor must integrate the specific needs of citizens with disabilities--such as barriers to engaging in access to information, civic education and community development activities, and access to information and communication technologies into activity design at all levels and consider the integration of people with disabilities into broader programming efforts.

Private sector engagement

Economic diversification based on private sector development is a key priority for the Government of Timor-Leste, specifically shifting from the oil-dependent economy. The local private sector can create job opportunities, strengthen skills, and build a strong revenue base for the country’s rising young population. While there is widespread agreement among development https://www.usaid.gov/gender-policy s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity partners and the GOTL on the importance and relevance of private sector development as key to sustainable development of the country, there is also acknowledgement that the private sector currently faces a range of challenges. These include challenges in relation to the policy and regulation of the environment, workforce skills, and access to finance and markets. The Contractor’s efforts to engage the private sector need to be well targeted and strategic to address economic challenges and identify opportunities without putting additional stress on existing natural resources. The Contractor must conduct regular consultations and information-sharing with a wide range of private sector actors including local enterprises and cooperatives; and build relationships and align efforts with the private sector actors even when no funding is involved.

Climate Change Integration

The Timor Leste Climate Risk Profile provides a brief overview of some of the climate impacts anticipated in Timor Leste.

Climate adaptation and helping communities prepare for climate change and manage its impacts are the core objectives of the USAID Climate Strategy 2022-2030. The Government of Timor-Leste has a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) on climate risks and resilience. Considering climate change impacts lead to a decrease in agricultural production, food insecurity, water shortage, destruction of infrastructure, loss of human life and biodiversity as well as human displacement, the Contractor must integrate climate change adaptation, mitigate risks, and take advantage of opportunities during the activity. This includes giving due consideration to one or more of the following principles: locally led development, equity and inclusion, private sector engagement, nature-based solutions, and evidence and innovation, and ensuring considerations from the National Adaptation Plan are incorporated.

Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

(MEL)

USAID intends to commission an independent impact/performance evaluation of this Activity. The

Contractor must cooperate with the evaluation contractor to plan roll out of the intervention in order to facilitate the rigorous evaluation. The evaluation design will be completed in consultation with the Contractor to ensure alignment with the Activity work plan and implementations.

The Activity will use a combination of biodiversity earmarks, adaptation earmarks and food security. Thus, the Contractor must use all required as applicable standard indicators for biodiversity (EG.10), -- in their Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan.

Given the complex context in the proposed areas of work, the Contractor must incorporate CLA management, as well as complexity-aware MEL approaches, into its design, implementation, and https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/2017_Climate%20Change%20Risk%20Profile%20-%20Timor%20Leste.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/policy/climate-strategy https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/NAPC/Documents/Parties/Timor%20Leste%20NAP.pdf s S ou gh t N oti ce fo r M ark et

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Healthy Ocean, Protected Environment (HOPE) for a Resilient Community Activity management approach so that continuous learning, reflection, and feedback from the Government, vulnerable communities and other key stakeholders informs adjustments and changes in implementation.The Contractor must develop learning priorities as part of its Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan with input from USAID to support the activity objectives and goal and will be expected to track the learning and adjust implementation approaches accordingly.

CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT

Climate risk management (CRM) is required for all new USAID projects. CRM is the process of using climate information to assess and address the risk that climate change poses to USAID projects and building in flexibility to adjust and adapt to a changing climate to achieve the intended objectives. For USAID’s purposes, climate risk is the potential for negative consequences due to existing and changing climatic conditions where the outcome is uncertain. The goal of CRM is both to render USAID’s work more climate resilient (i.e., better able to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to changing climate conditions and withstand, respond to and recover rapidly from disruptions) and to avoid maladaptation (i.e., development efforts that inadvertently increase climate risks).The Contractor will be required to work with USAID to submit and approve a comprehensive Climate Risk Management Plan as part of their Environmental Management and Mitigation Plan.

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