Name of the Assignment: Third-Party Monitoring (Main Works including Plantation) of SUFAL Project
Project Location: 31 cost centers of the project covering 25 Forest Divisions spanning over 28 civil Districts
Project Authority: Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Financier: World Bank
Project Background: Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with financial assistance from the World Bank (IDA) is implementing the Sustainable Forests and Livelihoods (SUFAL) Project. The project is implementing a number of activities which are grouped under the following four components. To assess and monitor the progress of the project interventions under 4 major components, 15 indicators have been adopted in the results framework.
Objectives of the Assignment: A main focus of the planned monitoring is to assess forest restoration and plantation activities undertaken since the start of the project, using both remote sensing and field verification. While these performance indicators are pivotal to this assignment, adherence to planned environmental and social safeguards, gender and stakeholder communications are also covered in this scope of this work. The overall objective of the assignment is to monitor the major activities of the project with respect to the results framework as well as the Project Appraisal Document (PAD).
Actual Services provided by SAMAHAR:
The scope of third party monitoring will include quarterly monitoring of all the component-specific activities of the project, focusing on plantation program, infrastructure, AIGAs, fiduciary and safeguard issues as described in the PAD and Development Project Proposal (DPP) as well as in the relevant frameworks (e.g. Results Framework, Innovation Grants Manual, Community Operations Manual, Environmental and Social Management Framework, Gender Action Plan, Livelihoods Framework, etc.) of the project.
Monitoring indicators of results framework include—
Half-yearly monitoring of project development objectives (PDO) indicators:
- Indicator-1 (PDO 1): Forest areas at targeted sites managed according to site-specific collaborative management plans;
- Indicator-2 (PDO 2): Share of targeted forest-dependent people with access to alternative income-generating activities;
- Indicator-3 (PDO 2): Collaborative Forest management committees with increased monetary or non-monetary benefits from forests;
- Indicator 4 (PDO 2): Share of targeted forest-dependent people with rating ‘Satisfied’ or above on project interventions (livelihoods, forest management, other).
Quarterly monitoring of intermediate results (IR) indicators:
- Indicator-5(IR-1): Organizational, functional, and gender review of BFD undertaken;
- Indicator-6(IR-1): Digital site-specific management planning system established and operational;
- Indicator-7(IR-1): Number of staff training;
- Indicator-8(IR-2): Area restored or re/afforested in accordance with site-specific collaborative management plans;
- Indicator-9(IR -2): Protected areas brought under enhanced management;
- Indicator-10(IR -2): Forest area brought under management plans;
- Indicator-11(IR-3): Collaborative Forest Management Committees operational with own bank account and operating fund;
- Indicator-12(IR-3): Households in targeted communities with programs for alternative income-generating activities supported by the project;
- Indicator-13 (IR-3): Collaborative Forest Management Committees with at least 33 male office bearers;
- Indicator 14 (IR-3): Share of households with improved Cookstoves;
Further elaboration of results of indicators (PDO and IRs) of Results Framework into component and sub-component-based monitoring and evaluation of implementation of Annual Development Program (ADP), COM, and IGM, with respect to Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact, and Sustainability of project activities.
- Component-1: Strengthening Institutions, Information Systems, and Training;
- Component-2: Strengthening Collaborative Forest and Protected Areas Management;
- Component-3: Increasing Access to Alternative Income Generating Activities (AIGAS) Forest Extension Service & Trees Outside Forests (ToF);
- Component-4: Project Management, Monitoring, and Reporting.
Documenting the lessons learned from good practices, including reporting as per national and World Bank requirements, annually.
Apart from the above-mentioned task of monitoring, Samahar Consultants Limited will have to produce reports to generate new knowledge based on lessons learned from good practice identification and interpretation. Thus, knowledge shall be transferred to the project audience.