Consulting Services/Feasibility Study, Expanding the Focus Area of the Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust (PONT)

Brief description of the contract:

Project Measures:

The Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust (PONT) was established in 2015 with funding from MAVA Foundation and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which is working through KfW Development Bank. It is a transboundary conservation trust fund dedicated to conserving the Prespa Ohrid ecoregion situated in Albania, Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia. It is regarded as one of the most ecologically valuable regions in Europe and in desperate need of effective and long-term protection. The focus of PONT is providing funding for the Wider Prespa Area including the six protected areas surrounding the Prespa Lakes. PONT now considers expanding its geographic and possibly thematic scope beyond this region and seeks the support of a Consultant to examine the various options for it.

Requested Consultant Services:

The Consultant shall examine the legal and regulatory implications of an expansion, shall consider organisational and procedural aspects regarding PONT’s structural setup, and shall analyse the demand for additional funding for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the wider transboundary Ohrid-Prespa Biosphere Reserve in Albania and North Macedonia. It needs to be considered that additional funding may be channelled either through PONT or through national bilateral funding agreements. Consultants should have a track record in natural resource management with focus of protected area management and establishing/managing environmental funds, and in legal / regulatory work as well as organisational analyses