WWF (The World Wide Fund for Nature) is an International Non-Governmental Organization that deals with conservation of nature. Our mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

 Context and justification

Cameroon engraved in the heart of the Congo Basin has a rich biodiversity. It ranks 5th in the world for rich flora and fauna following South Africa and Mozambique. Its extensive fauna and flora includes well over 9,000 plant species, 910 bird species, 409 mammal species, 250 reptile species, and 200 amphibian species (Nchami 2010). This wildlife is highly valued as a resource to the local population and the state as a whole, for economic and socio-cultural reasons. 

Unfortunately, recent studies and reports (WCS and WWF 2016) portray a drastic decline of biodiversity in Cameroon and other countries in the Congo Basin over the last decade. This decline can be attributed to increasing illegal wildlife trade (IWT), poaching and deforestation among several other underlying factors all driven by corruption.

Cameroon's Corruption Index (CPI) has been consistently poor throughout the history of Transparency International. The government of Cameroon has taken some steps to address the problem of corruption in the country. Despite this, the threat persists. The interest in the fight against corruption is based on the following socio-economic rationale: a reduction in accountability and transparency will enhance poverty and hinder economic and social development in Cameroon. However, what is lesser known is that corruption equally has a negative impact on both the country’s environmental protection and conservation efforts. Yet the nexus between environmental protection and corruption is still to be comprehensively proven. 

In Cameroon, wildlife crimes and illegal logging are undermining resource management plans and legal trade regimes, threatening food security and the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainable development.

Corruption is a key enabler of environmental crimes, yet there are neither local nor national analyses of these crimes from an anti-corruption perspective, and much less the potential role of civil society organizations in addressing the issue.

Thus, it is critical to address this threat that undermines the country’s environmental protection and conservation efforts.

It is in this regard that WWF seeks a consultant to carry out an analytical study analysis on the nexus between environmental protection and corruption in Cameroon. This study will focus on the Cameroon component of the Tri-national of Dja, Odzala Minkebe (TRIDOM) and Sangha Tri-national (TNS) landscapes with the aim of proposing strategies to promote transparency, auditing and accountability in the environmental sector with focus on the role of civil society organizations.  

General Objective 

The objective of this consultancy is to carry out an analytical study on bribery and corruption in the environmental sector of Cameroon. 

 a. Expected Tasks

The consultant will:

• Conduct a situational analysis on the nexus between environmental protection and corruption;
• Analyse different corruption practices (form, type, locations) that enable/contribute to environmental crime; the different stages of the enforcement chain where bribery and corruption is common and the profile of persons involved. 
• Propose effective anti-corruption measures that are relevant to environmental crime and the different contexts in which they occur in Cameroon;
• Propose a national strategy and action plan, and the accompanying monitoring, evaluation and learning plans to combat corruption linked to wildlife and forestry crimes, paying particular attention to the role of civil society organizations

b. Methodology

The consultant is expected to propose a phase-based methodology appropriate for the assignment, including a justified sampling methodology and plan. The foreseen phases are literature review, fieldwork, data analysis and reporting. 

The consultant should propose a methodology, highlighting and justifying all technical elements and procedures needed for the assignment, and elaborate the proposal by referring to the above-mentioned tasks. S/he is expected to consult relevant stakeholders through meetings, in order to discuss hypotheses, preliminary results and triangulate information. The discussions should be done in a transparent and repetitive manner to bring out the advantages, risks and uncertainty and generate a shared understanding of the feasibility of the project and to conveniently manage the expectations of the stakeholders. S/he shall focus on the following field sites; Yakadouma, Ngoyla, Moloundou, Bertoua, Lomie, Djoum, Mintom, Sangmelima.

The consultant should mention and justify the data analysis and reporting methods/formats to be used in the bid.

The output of the assignment:

• Inception report with a plan of action with a detail framework of activities, methodologies to be applied, schedule;
• Provide lists of persons and full contacts as well as sources of information used for purposes of this assignment;
• A national strategy and action plan, and the accompanying monitoring, evaluation and learning plans to combat corruption linked natural resource management and paying particular attention to the role of civil society organizations;
• A brief report (Max. 3 pages) on the role of civil society organizations in the implementation of the national action plan.

The data and information presented in the reports should be appropriately disaggregated. All reports and presentations are expected to be in English. Texts should be in MS Word, tables in Excel and images in JPEG format.

Duration and Time Frame: The timeframe for the assignment is 35 days.

 Qualifications and required profile

The consultant is expected to demonstrate competence and experience with policy, institutional and methodological considerations that govern anti-corruption works that can be used to combat corruption in natural resource management in Cameroon. S/he is expected to mobilize experts for the assignment with qualification and experience as indicated below:

Expert: Governance;

Qualification and experience:

• Master’s Degree in a development related field; e.g., public law, public policy and management, political science and/or conservation, social sciences or other related discipline.  
• At least 7 years of relevant experience working on governance related issues on natural resources, governments, private sector, etc. 
• Demonstrated experience in project or programme development, including context analysis (stakeholder, power and conflict) in the context of environmental governance, in particular wildlife trade and related crimes.
• Knowledge/experience in developing anti-corruption strategies, citizen mobilization and social and political sanction is desirable;
• Demonstrated knowledge of the national, regional and global policy and institutional dynamics related to corruption in general and natural resources in particular.
• Demonstrated experience in project or programme development, including context analysis (stakeholder, power and conflict) in the context of environmental governance, in particular wildlife trade and related crimes.
• Fluent in English and French

Expert: Wildlife management/conservzation;

Qualification and experience:

•  Degree or equivalent in wildlife, conservation biology or related field
• At least 3 years’ experience in wildlife and protected area management
• Demonstrated understanding and experience in identification and analysis of wildlife trade (supply, marketing and chain actors)
• Solid knowledge of the institutional and policy context of wildlife management in Cameroon
• Fluent in English and French. 

How to apply 

To apply, please send technical and financial bids in ONE DOCUMENT  with the following:

• Provide copies of administrative documents (taxpayer’s card or tax exoneration certificate, certificate of non-indebtedness from the bank to which funds will be transferred, etc.);
• Comments demonstrating understanding of the Terms of Reference and suggestions for improvement, if any;
• A clear statement describing why the consultant is a suitable candidate;
• Outputs of at least two similar assignments;
• Brief (2 page maximum) curriculum vitae highlighting experiences relevant for this assignment;
• A clear methodology/procedure for implementing the assignment;
• A phased-based work plan that provides a breakdown and a logical sequencing of activities, including timeframe;
• A tentative list of persons and institutions to be consulted for this assignment;
• A detail budget (consultancy fees, travel costs, subsistence allowances, activity costs, etc.), including rates (hourly and/or man days) and time spent by each team member on each assignment.

 The highest or lowest cost bidder may not necessarily be awarded this contract. Overall cost and best value for the budget will be strongly considered. WWF Cameroon is under no obligation to issue a contract as a result of the call for tenders.