Invitation to Tender – Legal review of the Framework for Co-management of Belize’s Marine and Inland Water Reserves and Fishery Areas

Project Programme ID: SI-22-08

Project Description:

Basic Concept: The Second Phase – Improving the Management of the Marine Reserve Network is a one-year project under the Transition Plan funded by The Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT). The Transition Project aims to contribute towards improving protection and biodiversity conservation and enhancing the benefit of the NPAS priority ecosystems and their buffering communities. Through the project the Belize Fisheries Department will be able to improve the management of the Marine Reserve Network by contributing towards the legal review of the Framework for Co-management of Belize’s Marine and Inland Water Reserves and Fishery Areas.

Co-management is a strategy for managing marine resources where responsibility for decision making on how the resources will be managed sustainably is shared between government, resource users and other stakeholders. It can take many forms and varies from country to country and runs a range of approaches from very little power sharing where government generally just consults with resource users on proposed rules, to decentralized systems where decisions are made primarily by user groups.

In Belize, The Fisheries Department started employing co-management agreements since the year 2000 with Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) for the management of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. Co-management of Marine Reserves is entirely with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) to this date. Under the Fisheries Act No. of 2020 section 13¬¬-1 & 2 makes provision for the Minister to enter co-management in whole or part for any area to which the act applies. It also stipulates that the execution of the co-management be done by the execution of a legally binding agreement that details the duration, terms, and conditions of the agreement.

As such, the Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation, with funding obtained under the Transition Plan funded by The Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT), is seeking a qualified individual/firm to conduct a thorough legal review of the final draft of the Co-management framework and agreement to ensure that the proposals contained therein are in compliance with the laws of Belize. 

Objective: 

• The Consultant will set out to achieve a revised and updated Co-management agreement and framework that is aligned with our constitution, legally sound, standardized and adaptable to different levels of organizational capacities.

Consultant Qualification, skills and Knowledge Requirement:

The Team or individual consultant must:

1. Be an established lawyer and or legal firm with at least 5 years’ experience in the legal system of Belize.

Duration of the consultancy

The duration of this consultancy is for a period of five (5) months, commencing upon signature of contract.

Timeline

As include in the TOR

Disbursements/Payment

Payment terms will be stipulated in the contract in accordance with project policies.