The ASEAN ENMAPS Project supports ASEAN Member States in transitioning from site-based marine protected area (MPA) management toward ecologically connected and effectively governed MPA networks. In Indonesia, Kepulauan Togean and Kepulauan Wakatobi National Parks are priority sites where biodiversity conservation, fisheries sustainability, and community livelihoods intersect within complex governance and socio-economic contexts.
Existing MPA management plans in these sites provide a foundation for conservation but require updating to reflect recent scientific findings, including resource assessments, connectivity analyses, and socio-economic and governance studies. In addition, SESA results and METT assessments highlight the need for improved governance arrangements, stakeholder participation, and enforcement mechanisms. Stakeholder engagement is critical to ensure that management strategies are grounded in local realities, incorporate traditional knowledge, and address the needs of coastal communities, including women, indigenous peoples, and resource-dependent sectors.
At the same time, the sustainability of MPA management remains constrained by limited and uncertain financing. There is a need to identify and operationalise sustainable financing mechanisms that can support conservation actions, strengthen institutional capacity, and deliver socio-economic benefits. Integrating stakeholder engagement with financing development ensures that proposed mechanisms are feasible, socially accepted, and aligned with governance structures.
This consultancy adopts an integrated approach to bridge planning and implementation by combining consultations, management plan enhancement, sustainable financing development, and pilot implementation within a single process, with dedicated MPA management plan updating write-shops to be conducted in Kepulauan Togean and Kepulauan Wakatobi National Parks to ensure direct translation of stakeholder inputs into implementable management plan provisions
The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:
A. Review of Existing MPA Management Plans and Financing Structures
The consultancy will conduct a comprehensive review of existing MPA management plans, including objectives, zoning schemes, resource use regulations, and governance arrangements, to identify gaps and areas for improvement based on recent scientific assessments, including SESA and METT results. In parallel, the consultancy will review and analyze existing financing mechanisms, policies, and institutional arrangements supporting MPA management to identify viable and sustainable financing options, drawing on relevant case studies and best practices from Indonesia, the ASEAN region, and global experiences, ensuring alignment with UNDP Social and Environmental Standards.
B. Design of Consultation Framework
In close coordination with National Parks, the Gender and Safeguards Specialist, FPIC facilitators, and other relevant partners, the consultancy will design a participatory consultation framework and engagement plan. This framework will ensure inclusive and equitable participation of diverse stakeholder groups, including government agencies, coastal communities, women, youth, masyarakat adat, fisherfolk organizations, and private sector actors.
C. Conduct of Multi-Stakeholder Consultations
The consultancy will facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations through workshops, focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), SWOT analysis, and other appropriate participatory approaches. These consultations will generate qualitative and quantitative inputs on management priorities, governance challenges, resource use, and potential financing mechanisms. The process will ensure that stakeholder perspectives
directly inform the enhancement of management plans and the design of financing strategies, with a target of engaging at least 80 stakeholders.
D. Validation and Stakeholder Alignment
The consultancy will present draft management and financing outputs to stakeholders for validation. Feedback will be documented and incorporated to ensure that outputs are technically sound, socially acceptable, and institutionally feasible.
E. Consolidation of Stakeholder Feedback and Development of Recommendations
The consultancy will synthesise consultation outputs into a structured set of findings, highlighting key themes, emerging issues, and consensus recommendations. These will include actionable proposals to improve MPA management effectiveness, governance inclusivity, resource sustainability, and community benefit-sharing mechanisms, ensuring alignment with gender-responsive and safeguards-based approaches.
F. Development of Business and Sustainable Financing Plans
Based on the results of the consultations and agreed management directions, the consultancy will develop site-specific business and sustainable financing plans. These plans shall outline operational, financial, and institutional strategies, including projected revenue streams, cost structures, investment requirements, risk assessments, implementation timelines, and monitoring frameworks, demonstrating how financing mechanisms will support biodiversity conservation objectives and socio-economic benefits for local communities.
G. Conduct of MPA Management Plan Updating Write-Shops
The consultancy will organise and facilitate dedicated write-shops for updating MPA management plans─one in Kepulauan Togean National Park and one in Kepulauan Wakatobi National Park. A technical working draft report, structured into modular, insert-ready sections aligned with MPA management plan components (e.g., governance, zoning, MCS, financing, livelihoods), shall be prepared and made available in advance and during the write-shops to guide deliberations. These write-shops will enable stakeholders to directly translate validated consultation outputs, agreed strategies, and pilot implementation learnings into draft, site-specific management plan provisions that are immediately usable for plan updating.
H. Pilot Implementation of Financing Strategies
The consultancy will identify and recommend the most feasible financing mechanism(s) for pilot implementation and support initial operationalization. This will include facilitating stakeholder commitments, clarifying institutional roles, and establishing practical arrangements for implementation beyond the project period.
I. Integrated Analysis and Final Report
The consultancy will produce a comprehensive final report that consolidates all outputs of the assignment, including technical analyses, stakeholder consultation results, validated recommendations, sustainable financing strategies, and pilot implementation outcomes. The report shall include as annexes or embedded sections the updated management plan components for Kepulauan Togean and Kepulauan Wakatobi, integrating financing strategies and reflecting pilot implementation experience. The final report will also document lessons learned, implementation guidance, and recommendations to support decision-making and scaling at site and national
Qualifications Requirement
- Indonesia-registered firm/institution with authorisation to work within Indonesia
- Presence in K. Togean and K. Wakatobi or adjacent communities is highly preferred
- Demonstrated expertise in environmental governance or policy, sustainable or conservation financing, resource economics, resource management, or conservation/biodiversity-related fields
- Prior experience working with MPAs and National Parks in Indonesia
- Adequate understanding of Indonesia’s coastal and marine governance structures, including decentralisation frameworks
- Experience in developing business plans, feasibility studies, or investment proposals
- Success in implementing/managing conservation-related business is an advantage
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively, manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and deliver high-quality outputs in complex and dynamic environments
- Proficiency in English, to facilitate communication with the National Project Manager and other project staff and consultants
- Familiarity with ASEAN regional frameworks, the role of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), and relevant multilateral environmental agreements is an advantage
Interested firms may obtain further information from the ACB Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Secretariat and may download the Terms of Reference and the Consultant’s Pre-Qualification Form on the ACB website.
Applicants should prepare the following and send all to acb-bac@aseanbiodiversity.org:
- Letter of Intent of no more than two pages addressed to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) through the BAC Secretariat, elaborating how their qualifications and experiences make them qualified for the position Consultancy Firm – Updating MPA Management Plans and Development & Piloting of Sustainable Financing for K. Togean & K. Wakatobi should be indicated in the aforesaid letter;
- Accomplished Consultant’s Pre-qualification Form.
Deadline for submission of completed application is on 15 July 2026 Only applications with complete documentary requirements will be processed. Applications received beyond this date will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be given due notice.
