Consultant

Brazzaville, Congo

Support for understanding cartographic documents and spatial analysis on land use planning guidelines in the Republic of Congo

Terms of Reference for the Consultant

March 2025

I. Context and Justification

The Sustainable Land Use Program (PUDT) is led by the Government of the Republic of Congo through its partnership with the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). The general objective is to define a concerted process for rural land use planning, to support the implementation of the country's economic diversification policy (PND- 2022-2026).

One of the expected outputs of this program is Product 1.1: Establishment of the consultation and decision-making mechanism at the national level for land use planning guidelines. For this product, WRI will play a leadership role for activity 1.1.2, which concerns the "Establishment and animation of the Land Use Planning Animation and Consultation Group (GACAT)." GACAT is indeed a working group composed of agents with varied profiles from various administrations involved in the land use planning process.

This activity consists of establishing, operationalizing, and animating the group that was previously formalized by activity 1.1.1, which instituted the creation of GACAT. WRI will now support GACAT on aspects of explaining the legal framework, understanding cartographic documents, and spatial analysis. These terms of reference will focus solely on understanding cartographic documents and spatial analysis to help GACAT members make decisions.

II. Objective

The objective of this consulting mission will be to provide GACAT members with the necessary explanations for understanding cartographic documents and spatial analysis on land allocation and use.

III. Methodology

The methodological approach should be based on a bibliographic review of cartographic documents used in land use planning in the Republic of Congo. It should provide an overview of the cartographic methods and tools used in land use planning (cartographic base, thematic maps, country boundary maps, etc.). The consultant will, as part of spatial analyses, cross-reference different geospatial data on land allocations, produce maps of overlapping uses, and prepare analysis sheets for GACAT.

From a didactic perspective, the selected consultant will propose and lead a training and capacity-building workshop on understanding cartographic documents and spatial analysis within the framework of the PUDT, its strengths, weaknesses, and prospects. This workshop will be based on the design of a training module and educational support for GACAT members.

IV. Consultant Tasks

In accordance with the expected results of the PUDT product, the identified consultant will have the following responsibilities:

• Conduct an inventory of the various cartographic documents at MATGT and the PUDT sectoral ministries;
• Work with MATGT's geomatics unit for spatial analyses on land allocation data;
• Collect various cartographic documents and prepare summary sheets for GACAT;
• Assist the expert in charge of Land Use Planning in preparing GACAT meetings in the cartographic aspect;
• Develop maps on overlapping land use allocations within the PUDT framework;
• Facilitate the understanding of PUDT cartographic documents.

V. Deliverables

• An educational support reflecting the training module for GACAT members.
• The realization of a workshop or explanation meeting and its PowerPoint presentation.
• Analysis notes on the state of cartography in land use planning.
• A workshop or meeting report explaining the understanding of cartographic documents and spatial analysis.

VI. Technical and Functional Competencies

The candidate must demonstrate technical competencies in the following areas:

• Territorial planning;
• Forestry (knowledge of the HVC and/or HCS approach);
• Cartography and Geographic Information System;
• Territorial diagnosis;
• Local or rural development;
• Have a good knowledge of the cartographic documents of the Republic of Congo;
• Have a good knowledge of conflict resolution for overlapping land uses;
• Be able to speak French and English is an asset. Have good report writing skills and/or minutes related to the tasks performed;
• Have the ability to work in a team and take initiatives to find solutions to problems, as well as the ability to work under pressure;
• Ability to simplify territorial planning concepts to make them accessible to a public of specialists from different specialties and administrations;
• Skills in facilitating discussions, managing interactions between different specialists with divergent interests to some extent;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Data analysis and synthesis skills and written and oral communication skills;
• Adhere to WRI's institutional missions and values.

VII. Consultant Profile

The consultant must have the following profile:

Education:

Hold a Master's degree (Bac+5) in territorial planning, geographical sciences, natural resource management, or any other postgraduate degree specializing in one of the territorial planning themes.

Experience:

• Justify experience in one of the themes relevant to territorial planning;
• Have proven experience in formulating development projects, preferably according to the standards of international governmental and non-governmental organizations;
• Have proven experience in developing cartographic products and spatial analysis;
• A good knowledge of the country's development strategies and other documents, notably the PND 2022-2026, land use planning and sustainable development laws, the National REDD+ Strategy, sectoral strategies) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), etc.

VIII. Selection Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Experience in writing notes and analyzing spatial data for territorial planning: 50%;
• Experience in the territorial planning process in the Republic of Congo: 30%
• Education: 20%;

The contract will be awarded to the consultant whose submission was:

• Deemed admissible and compliant
• Received the best score on the technical criteria according to the aforementioned weighting.

IX. Mission Duration and Indicative Calendar

The mission duration is estimated at 90 working days.

X. Process Flow

To ensure overall coherence of the process and deliverables:

• A working session, aimed at providing the consultant with the necessary information on the mission, will be organized by WRI. It will allow the consultant to better understand WRI's expectations and the quality criteria that will be applied to the mission's outputs.
• The consultant will then work autonomously.
• A second working session will be organized mid-term for framing and information exchange.
• After receiving comments from WRI, the consultant will finalize the deliverable in the form of an implementation report and support.

XI. Reference Documents

• PUDT PRODOC

XII. Application File

The application file consists of the following documents:

• A signed cover letter;
• An updated and signed curriculum vitae detailing professional experience and similar missions carried out;

XIII. Submission and Request for Additional Information

Interested candidates are invited to apply by sending their application files by email to the address: blaise.louzalakounkou@wri.org and copy to Jean.Bakouma@wri.org and Christ.Otilibili@wri.org with the subject reference: "Consultant Cartographic Analyst."

For any request for additional information, please refer to the addresses above.

XIV. Submission Deadline

The deadline for receiving applications is set for no later than August 26, 2025, at 4 PM (Brazzaville time).