Resilience of fishermen, fishmongers and mangrove restoration in the maritime region of Togo.

The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), on behalf of Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) invites qualified interested firms to submit Expression of Interest (EOI) to participate in the upcoming solicitation for the implementation of technical assistance on Resilience of fishermen, fishmongers and mangrove restoration in the maritime region of Togo. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on behalf of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) requires the services of an institution to deliver the technical assistance as approved by National Designated Entity from Togo. The objective of this Technical Assistance is to restore mangroves with women's groups and fishermen in the Lagoon System (Togokomé area as a pilot point), raise local awareness of mangrove restoration techniques, train fishermen (fishmongers) in sustainable conservation techniques, support local authorities in regulating the management of mangrove resources. The mangrove ecosystems located in the Mono Transfrontier Biosphere Reserve constitute a natural heritage of great value for their multiple biological, ecological, social and economic functions. These ecosystems are highly productive in terms of plant and animal resources, which encourages their exploitation. This exploitation is one of the main sources of income for most local populations. Timber, fish and crabs are the main products exploited and marketed from mangroves. As a result, mangroves are of particular interest to decision-makers, researchers, civil society, local communities, development partners and others. Unfortunately, these ecosystems are very poorly managed and are undergoing degradation that does not guarantee the sustainability of their productivity. The heavy use of wood energy has led to the destruction of lagoon banks, resulting in the ecological dysfunction of these complex ecosystems. This has led to a drastic reduction in water productivity, with numerous ecological and economic consequences (reduced fishing, wood energy, silting-up, etc.) and rising unemployment. Faced with this situation, women fishmongers and coconut growers, formed into cooperatives in 2019, and other local players, have decided to reforest the banks while working towards rational use of the ecosystem services of existing and restored resources. The project will be carried out along the Gbaga channel in south-east Togo. The village communities concerned are: Agbanakin, Togbagan, Zanvé (along the Gbaga channel), and at Togokomé (along the Lake Togo lagoon complex) where a 15-hectare area has been made available for the project. This project directly targets women and young people (women who process fish and coconut products, and fishermen) in the localities concerned, i.e. 5258 people. Indirectly, it will consider the entire population of the Lakes (more than 115,000 inhabitants). Some of the expected outputs are: 1. Mandatory Output: Project Management. 2. Stakeholder mapping, engagement with the communities and formalization of Agreements. 3. Diagnosis of the area and selection of the pilot sites. 4. Define a mangrove restoration strategy and build the capacity of communities to support mongove restoration. 5. Deploying the restoration strategy. 6. Selection of clean preservation technologies 7. Closure of the project and definition of a communication strategy on the need to protect mangroves. The complete details of the requirement will be provided in the tender documents that will be issued to bidders after this request for EOI is closed. Specific Requirements/Information The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) is the Operational arm of The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and hosted by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The mission of the CTCN is to promote accelerated development and transfer of climate technologies at the request of developing countries for energy-efficient, low-carbon and climate-resilient development. CTCN provides technical assistance to the countries using its own funds ( which it recives through voluntary contributions of donor) or through the other funding sources specifically the Green Climate Funds (GCF) through the Readiness Programme. The requests for Technical Assistance (TA) are submitted to the CTCN by the National Designated Entity (NDE) of the respective country. In this present case the CTCN has developed a response plan and expect to implement the technical assistance on its own funding. In case you are not a CTCN network member yet, you may apply for this REOI and subsequent soliciation (Request for Proposal), subject to the condition that you submit your completed application for CTCN membership before the proposal submission closing date, which will be communicated in the subsequent Request for Proposal in due course of time. Furthermore, the contract award – should your proposal be selected – is conditional to your application for CTCN network membership being approved by CTCN management. The requirement to join the CTCN network is only relevant to the main bidder and not subcontractors. Please find more information to join CTCN Network at- https://www.ctc-n.org/network The purpose of this REOI is to identify suitable firms who may be invited for the Request for Proposal after the REOI is closed. In addition to CTCN registration, all applicants should also be registered (free of charge) at United Nations Global Marketplace (www.ungm.org). IMPORTANT: Please note that this REOI is not an invitation for submission of tenders. Its purpose is to identify companies that would be interested and eligible to participate in the solicitation when issued. UNON will examine the outcome of this request for EOI and will consider those companies that have expressed their interest . UNON reserves the right to change or cancel the requirement at any time during the EOI and/or solicitation process. Thus, submitting a reply to this Request for EOI does not automatically guarantee your company will be considered for receipt of the solicitation when issued.