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Tenders are invited for Consultancy: Mid-Term Review of the GEF7 Sustainable Forest Management Project. Closing Date: 21 Sep 2026 Type: Consultancy Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya GEF Project ID: 10292 GEF-7 | Land Degradation, Biodiversity and Climate change Focal Areas | Implemented through NEMA and MoEF | GEF Partner Agency: IUCN Project start - 24th April 2023 MTR window - 2026 Focal area - Land Degradation (GEF-7) Executing partners - NEMA Responsible parties - KARLO, NETFUND, SORALO, ACC Landscapes - Kajiado; Narok 1. INTRODUCTION This document sets out the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the IUCN-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full-sized project titled Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya (Project ID: 10292), implemented through the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), and to be undertaken in 2026. The project commenced on 24th April 2023 and is in its third year of implementation. In line with the IUCN-GEF Guidance on MTRs, this MTR process is initiated ahead of the submission of the second Project Implementation Report (PIR). The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in GEFs evaluation process: https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-05/GEF_EN_Evaluation_Policy_May_1.pdf. This ToR defines the objective, scope, methodology, deliverables, timeframe, team composition, and management arrangements for the review. It is complemented by the annexes, which set out the documents to be reviewed and the required structure of the MTR report. 2. PROJECT BACKGROUND INFORMATION 2.1 About IUCN IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private, and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development, and nature conservation to take place together. Created in 1948, IUCN is now the worlds largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources, and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments, and analysis, and fills the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools, and international standards. IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, Indigenous peoples organisations, and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide, combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems, and improve peoples well-being. www.iucn.org 2.2. Project Development Context The Southern Rangelands of Kenya, covering large areas of Kajiado and Narok Counties, contain globally significant biodiversity, critical forest ecosystems, wildlife dispersal areas, and pastoral production systems that provide essential ecosystem services, including biodiversity conservation, water regulation, carbon storage, livestock production, and tourism. These landscapes are increasingly threatened by land degradation, forest loss, unsustainable land-use practices, invasive species, climate variability, changing land tenure, habitat fragmentation, and increasing pressure from agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, and competing land uses. Although Kenya has a relatively strong policy framework for forest management, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land management, implementation remains constrained by fragmented institutional coordination, inadequate landscape planning, limited financing for restoration, weak community capacity, insufficient knowledge management, and inadequate incentives for sustainable natural resource management. The GEF-7 project **"**Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya" (GEF ID 10292) seeks to address these constraints through an integrated landscape approach combining enabling policies, investments in sustainable dryland management, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, sustainable livelihoods, knowledge generation, and multi-stakeholder coordination. The project contributes simultaneously to the GEF Land Degradation, Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Sustainable Forest Management Impact Program objectives while supporting Kenyas national development and environmental commitments. The Mid-Term Review will assess progress towards these objectives, validate the projects Theory of Change, examine implementation performance (measurable environmental and socio-economic results), identify emerging opportunities and implementation bottlenecks, and recommend adaptive management actions for the remainder of the implementation period. 2.3 Barriers addressed by the project The project responds to six interlinked barriers to the uptake and scale-up of in the target landscapes: Weak integrated landscape governance and cross-sector coordination: Forest, wildlife, rangeland and agricultural planning are undertaken by different institutions with insufficient coordination across sectors and administrative levels. Limited enabling environment for sustainable forest and dryland management: Existing policies, planning tools and institutional capacities are not sufficiently operationalized to support integrated landscape management. Insufficient investment in restoration and sustainable natural resource management: Financial resources, incentives and private-sector engagement remain inadequate for large-scale restoration and sustainable land management. Limited adoption of sustainable land and forest management practices: Communities require greater technical support, demonstration, extension services and access to technologies that improve productivity while conserving biodiversity. Weak knowledge management, monitoring and evidence-based decision making: Ecological monitoring, landscape information systems and knowledge-sharing mechanisms are insufficient to guide adaptive management and scaling. Market and livelihood constraints: Pastoralists and other land users have limited opportunities to derive sustainable economic benefits from biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable value chains. 2.4 Project components Component 1: Strengthening the enabling environment for sustainable management of natural resources in the drylands. This component strengthens policy implementation, institutional capacity, integrated planning, governance mechanisms, stakeholder coordination, and the knowledge base required for sustainable landscape management. Component 2: Investment in scaling up sustainable dryland management. Supports implementation of sustainable forest management, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, climate-resilient livelihoods, community investments, value chains, and landscape-scale restoration actions. Component 3: Programmatic coordination, monitoring, and knowledge management. Strengthens project management, monitoring and evaluation, learning, communication, replication, knowledge management, and adaptive management while supporting policy dialogue and scaling-up. 2.5 Implementation focus Project implementation focuses on strengthening integrated landscape governance in Kajiado and Narok Counties; improving sustainable forest and dryland management; restoring degraded ecosystems; enhancing biodiversity conservation and climate resilience; promoting sustainable livelihood and value-chain opportunities; strengthening institutional coordination among national and county agencies; supporting community participation in natural resource governance; and establishing robust monitoring, knowledge management, and learning systems. Implementation is led by NEMA, in collaboration with the Ministry responsible for Environment and Forestry and Responsible Parties, including KARLO, NETFUND, SORALO, ACC, and ILRI, and works closely with county governments, community institutions, and other stakeholders. 3. OBJECTIVE OF THE MTR The purpose of the MTR is to provide an independent, evidence-based assessment of whether the project is on course to achieve its objective and intended outcomes, and to identify the management, technical, institutional and strategic adjustments required to maximise results during the remaining project period. The MTR will assess progress towards achieving the project objective and outcomes as specified in the Project Document, and identify early signs of project success or failure, with the goal of identifying the changes needed to set the project on track to achieve its intended results. The MTR will also review the projects strategy and its sustainability risks. The specific objectives are to: Assess overall project performance and progress towards outcomes, outputs, and targets against the approved Results Framework; Assess the effectiveness of implementation approaches, technical strategies, and the continued validity of the Theory of Change and identify assumptions, risks and external factors affecting project performance; Evaluate the efficiency of project delivery, financial management, procurement, and resource use; evaluate progress towards integrated landscape management, including sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, restoration of degraded ecosystems, climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods; assess the effectiveness of institutio Tender Link : https://reliefweb.int/job/4228087/consultancy-mid-term-review-gef7-sustainable-forest-management-project
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