RFI - USAID/Haiti Resilient Environment Activity

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Mission in Haiti is in the process of designing the new Haiti Resilient Environment Activity with the goal of increasing community resilience by protecting and restoring ecosystem services. Given the critical nature of this activity, USAID/Haiti is reaching out to all local stakeholders and interested parties, to obtain comments/suggestions in order to incorporate new, innovative, proven, and/or promising solutions on how to conserve watersheds and increase the resilience of communities in targeted regions in Haiti. Please see Attachment 1 - Questions for Response. By issuing this Request for Information (RFI), USAID/Haiti aims to consult with the broad community of private sector actors, public institutions, development partners, non-governmental organizations, industry associations, civil society, think tanks, and academia, concerned with advancing sustainable landscape management, climate change adaptation, reforestation, watershed protection, and/or resilience in Haiti. Your comments will be used to develop a design document that is clear, maximizes long-term development impact, facilitates coordination with existing and planned USAID and other development partner programs, as well as aligns with the Government of Haiti’s priorities. The information contained within the RFI is intended solely as a thought-piece; ideas may change significantly during the activity’s design and approval process. In addition, this RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)/Request for Applications (RFA), an Annual Program Statement, a Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or an indication that USAID/Haiti will make an award from this RFI. Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as applications and will not be accepted by the U.S. Government (USG) to form a binding agreement. This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any NOFO or ultimately award an agreement on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any firm or organization in any subsequent procurement and will not lead to an organizational conflict of interest. Responses will strictly be held confidential. Responses (i.e., comments, suggestions, and enhancements) to this RFI are due on June 30, 2021, 1:00 p.m. (Haiti time). To expedite our review and be considerate of your time, please keep responses to no more than 3 pages in length, 12-point font. Responses may be submitted in English, Haitian Creole, or French. Please number each page consecutively. While the limit on the length of submissions is 3 pages, we value concise, issue-specific comments. Please send responses to this RFI via email to usaidhaitioaa@usaid.gov with the subject title “Request for Information (RFI): USAID/Haiti Resilient Environment Activity”, no later than the date/time stated above. You will only receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response. No feedback or debrief will be provided on comments received. Phone calls or hard copy responses will not be accepted. Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID/Haiti programming. I. Background Water availability is one of the most pressing environmental challenges currently facing Haiti. Land degradation driven by deforestation and poor land management practices, and exacerbated by climate change, threatens the country’s water resources. Haiti’s denuded mountain landscapes are at extreme risk of erosion and landslides, which result in sedimentation of rivers and dangerous conditions for communities. Because forested watersheds are essential for protecting and sustaining freshwater supply, there is a great need to restore critically threatened landscapes near water sources in order to protect vital ecosystem services, such as water purification, surface flow regulation, and erosion control. The Haitian Ministry of Environment’s Ten-Year Strategy (2021-2030) states that restoring Haiti’s watersheds should be treated as a “national emergency.” Despite the threats to Haiti’s landscape and watersheds, there are opportunities to increase water availability and community resilience by alleviating pressures on existing forested landscapes and incentivizing improved management and conservation. The USAID Reforestation Project (2017-2022) established an important foundation for sustainable landscape management in Northern Haiti. Through this project, USAID helped create watershed management plans for five watersheds (Jassa, Marion, Grande Rivière du Nord, Haut du Cap, and Trou du Nord) across the Nord and Nord-Est departments, established tree nurseries and planted seedlings, and promoted alternative economic livelihood opportunities (e.g., honey, animal forage, salt production, agroforestry systems, and short-term employment) to reduce the need to cut trees for income in the targeted areas. USAID is interested in building on the work of the Reforestation Project, while exploring new, innovative methods to increase tree cover and restore landscapes in critical watersheds. Haiti has a long history of domestic- and international donor-led reforestation projects. As far back as the late 1940’s, international organizations have targeted watershed protection and erosion prevention through tree planting, agroforestry, and the injection of capital and technological expertise into Haiti’s rural mountain regions. Yet deforestation remains the most critical environmental challenge in Haiti, suggesting that the same approaches traditionally used by the international donor community warrant reevaluation. At the same time, although tree cover remains sparse across the country, it reaches a much greater extent than was once believed. As of 2010, 29 percent of the country had tree cover, belying a widely cited 1979 report that predicted an “environmental apocalypse” due to deforestation driven by charcoal demand. USAID/Haiti’s new Environment Activity seeks to use innovative approaches to protect and restore ecosystem services, including water availability, in a critical watershed over a 5-year period. The new activity seeks to hone in on the area or areas of most critical need in Northern Haiti in terms of landscape degradation, deforestation, vulnerability of communities, and the potential for long-term results. Efforts may include, but are not limited to: community forestry management; economic incentives to encourage natural regeneration; small-scale infrastructure, such as retaining walls; direct tree planting; payments for ecosystem services and/or cash-for-work schemes; and alternative livelihoods to mitigate the drivers of deforestation. II. Questions for Response USAID seeks responses and feedback to any or all of the following questions: Geographic selection[1] Where within the USAID Northern Resilience Zone(s) / Reforestation Project targeted watersheds (see footnote below) are the most critical areas for protecting water sources through landscape management? And why? What size or configuration is feasible and/or ideal for activity implementation to yield concrete results? For example, is there an ecological or administrative advantage to target a specific (or subset of) sub-watershed(s) or water source(s) rather than the entirety of the full watershed? Environmental context and technical approach What actions are most needed in this area to increase water availability and restore environmental services? Given the geography of Haiti, what types of small infrastructure, if any, are most appropriate and proven to encourage natural regeneration and/or soil retention (e.g., retaining walls)? Livelihoods Successful community-led forest management often relies on community buy-in and support coupled with strong governance and rule of law. Given the relatively weak governance and complex land tenure issues in Haiti, what might a community-led forest management approach look like? What is the best way to link participation in forest conservation to economic incentives? Are short-term, project-linked direct employment mechanisms (sometimes known as “cash for work”) feasible and/or recommended? What are the anticipated risks of such programs? Which “alternative livelihoods” have the potential for positive environmental impacts (i.e., reduce deforestation and increase incomes) in the northern RFZ and are most likely to be successful and sustainable? Nearly all reforestation projects in Haiti involve some type of “alternative” livelihood approach, following the development hypothesis that if people have access to more or better economic opportunities, then they will voluntarily decide to stop engaging in activities that are destructive to the natural environment (e.g., cutting trees). In the context of Northern Haiti, is there evidence that promoting alternative, sustainable livelihoods actually decreases deforestation or increases protection of trees? If yes, in what ways? If no, then why? Would conditional cash transfers -- payments for leaving land fallow, or for protecting existing trees -- be feasible and/or appropriate? What are the anticipated risks of such programs? Local government engagement is key to community buy-in and sustainability. However, lack of resources and capacity hinder implementation of plans and long-term results. In addition, given the density of donor projects in the Northern RFZ, coordination and collaboration offer an opportunity for projects to be more effective and efficient. What is the best way to engage local governments in the implementation of watershed management plans? Where and how are other donors and entities working on reforestation, climate change adaptation, and watershed protection in the northern RFZ and what are their lessons learned? Which lessons should be learned from past watershed management activities and how can we build on these lessons to design and implement a more successful program? How can coordination and collaboration between projects, especially in the field, be improved? What resources or support need to be in place to ensure coordination? [END OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION] [1] The Northern Resilience Focused Zone comprises the Nord and Nord-Est departments and its 19 communes. These communes are: Fort Liberté, Ouanaminthe, Ferrier, Capotille, Terrier Rouge, Vallières, Les Perches, Sainte Suzanne, Caracol. The geographic selection include the following five watersheds: Jassa, Grande Rivière du Nord, Trou du Nord, Marion and Haut du Cap.