Request for Proposal (RFP) for “Sampling Design and Conduct of Survey Service for the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Peninsular Malaysia.” (Ref. MyRFP_2019_008: Event ID # MYS10- 0000003674).

Dear Bidder,

Project Description

The project entitled “Enhancing Effectiveness and Financial Sustainability of Protected Areas in Malaysia” (PA Financing) has been implemented by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) with the support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant financing since 5 June 2012.  There are three project outcomes as follows:

Outcome 1: Systemic and institutional capacities to manage and financially support a national protected area system

Outcome 2: Technical and institutional capacities to manage sub-national protected area networks including capacities for effective financial management

Outcome 3: Effective site-level protected area management

Under the Outcome 1, one of the project outputs is “Budgetary framework created to increase financial support for PAs, allocated on the basis of performance”. Demonstration of total economic value of protected areas towards local, sub-national and national economy, and social well-being can serve as a strong motivation and justification for government agencies which are responsible for public finance allocation such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs (Economic Planning Unit), Ministry of Finance and State Governments to increase financial investments for the whole protected area system in Peninsular Malaysia.

The PA Financing project aims to develop strong evidence base for increased financing and investments for terrestrial protected area system in Peninsular Malaysia through the economic valuation assessment of the terrestrial protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia. The economic valuation results will feed into the development of sustainable financing plans for selected protected area networks in Peninsular Malaysia, the implementation of biodiversity finance solutions under the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), the planning of Malaysia’s Budget 2020 and the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021 – 2025.

The Project Document can be downloaded from the following web link: http://www.my.undp.org/content/malaysia/en/home/operations/projects/environment_and_energy/enhancing-effectiveness-and-financial-sustainability-of-protecte.html.

In response to Outcome 1, the PA Financing project has commissioned an economic assessment titled “the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity of Terrestrial Protected Areas in Peninsular Malaysia (TEEB PA)”. The objective of this assessment is to measure the total economic value of protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia through site-level valuations of the ecosystem services that these areas provide. The study focuses on the three largest protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia namely Taman Negara National Park in the States of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, Royal Belum State Park in the State of Perak and Endau-Rompin National Park in the State of Johor; and aims to extraplorate the site-level economic valuation results to reflect the economic value of the entire terrestrial protected area system in Peninsular Malaysia. The valuation methodology involves the use of public surveys to collect data.

The public survey will be targeting local and indigenous communities (Orang Asli), households resided inside & outside the three protected areas and tourists, therefore cultural awareness and sensitivity must be observed in the engagement with the respondents, particularly local and indigenous communities.

Specific Objective

The objective of this assignment is to identify and design most suitable and cost effective sampling method to collect primary data through the conduct of a series of public surveys as inputs to the TEEB PA assessment.

Scope

The scope of services and activities to be undertaken are:

1. Conduct preliminary field inspection to the three (3) protected areas namely Taman Negara National Park, Royal Belum State Park and Endau-Rompin National Park.
2. Design and finalize sampling method in consultation with the TEEB PA team under the PA Financing project and relevant stakeholders such as protected area authorities, Department of Statistics Malaysia, Departmnet of Orang Asli Development, etc. based on the observations from the preliminary field inspection.
3. Translate the questionnaire in English prepared by the TEEB PA team into Malay language.
4. Recruit, contract and renumerate experienced enumerators in conducting public surveys in Malaysia involving local and indigenous communities. The total number of enumerators to be contracted shall be agreed by the TEEB PA team in consultation with UNDP.

The proposed job description and qualification for the enumerators is required in the technical proposal.

1. Prepare training curriculum and materials, manual and conduct of training for the survey team supervisors and enumerators. Initial training sessions will be conducted jointly with the TEEB PA team. Training will be monitored and undertaken in consultation with the TEEB PA team.
2. Pre-test questionnaires in consultation with the TEEB PA team. Each questionnaire will be pre-tested on a sample of 10 respondents. These 120 respondents are additional to the samples for each survey.
3. Reproduce the questionnaires and other data collection forms in a quantity sufficient to cover the needs of the surveys.
4. Organize and provide logistical support (accommodation,transport, per-diem, etc.) to supervisors and enumerators. Note that access to local and indigenous communities within Taman Negara and Royal Belum requires the hire and use of boats and may involve overnight stay with the communities. Access to Endau Rompin requires the hire and use of 4WD vehicles and may involve overnight stay with the communities or park accommodation.
5. Select specific survey locations in consultation with the TEEB PA team.
6. Select respondents randomly at each location with sample frames based on aggregated enumeration blocks. The selected bidder will be responsible for obtaining the aggregated enumeration blocks and consult with the TEEB PA team in designing the sample frames and determining respondent selection procedures.
7. Implement designed sampling methodology and substitution protocol (in case of failure to survey targeted population) in consultation with the TEEB PA team.
8. Conduct a total of twelve (12) surveys – four (4) surveys for each of the three (3) protected areas i.e. Taman Negara, Royal Belum and Endau-Rompin where face-to-face interviews will be used.
9. Conduct additional surveys to cover deficiency in the sampling size of each target group.
10. Use electronic tablets or equivalent equipment to record survey responses.
11. Implement checks and controls designed in conjunction with the TEEB PA team to ensure the quality of the information being collected during the survey’s implementation and a protocol for returning to the field if necessary when errors for a particular questionnaire reach a certain threshold.
12. Complete electronic databases containing cleaned data from each survey. The TEEB PA team will provide data entry templates with variable names. The contractor should use relevant quality control tools to ensure the quality of data entry, including double entry, consistency and range checks.
13. Prepare and submit weekly progress reports to the TEEB PA team during the conduct of survey and monthly reports to the TEEB PA team during the data entry.
14. Deliver all survey data in electronic format using software agreed by the TEEB PA team.

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