Selection of Consultants

Request for Expressions of Interest

Agence Française de Développement

MARCH 2025

ORGANISATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES-OECS
Project Title: Regional project for the restoration and preservation of mangroves in the Eastern Caribbean states (REMAR).
Activity Title: Consulting Services to Conduct Mangrove Ecosystem and Management Diagnostic Assessment.
Reference No.: AFD_REMAR_2025_01

CONSULTING SERVICES
Request for Expressions of Interest

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has received a financing from Agence Française de Développement ("AFD"), and intends to use part of the funds thereof for payments under the following project REMAR: Resilient Ecosystems through Mangrove Restoration.
The Services of the consultant shall consist of implementing activities under Component 1 of the project (In-depth diagnostics and planning on pilot sites), focusing on the ecological and social aspects of mangrove ecosystem restoration and sustainable management across the six designated sites across the Eastern Caribbean.

Site Territory Island Surface Implementing partners
Petite Rivière, Anse La Raye Saint Lucia Saint Lucia 1,6 ha Directly implemented by OECS

Ashton Lagoon Saint Vincent & the Grenadines Union Island 41 ha Sustainable Grenadines (SusGren)

L'Appelle, Petit Carénage Grenada Carriacou 20 ha Kido Foundation

Anse Meunier Martinique Martinique 26,2 ha Communauté d'Agglomération Espace Sud Martinique (CAESM)

La Lézarde Martinique Martinique 3,1 ha Commune du Lamentin

Jarry Guadeloupe Guadeloupe 0,8 ha Conservatoire du Littoral (CDL) de Guadeloupe

The consultant will undertake comprehensive assessments, including ecological, environmental, and socio-economic diagnoses for each site. This will involve evaluating the current health of mangrove ecosystems, identifying causes of degradation, and recommending restorative actions. Specific tasks include conducting floristic and faunal inventories, mapping habitat integrity, analyzing hydrological and abiotic parameters, and developing topographical models where feasible.
A socio-economic and gender diagnosis will be carried out to assess the communities' interaction with mangrove habitats, map stakeholders, identify income sources, and propose sustainable income-generating activities, ensuring a gender-sensitive approach throughout.
Based on these assessments, the consultant will prepare detailed intervention plans tailored to each site. These plans will include strategies to restore mangroves to a healthy ecological state, promote socio-economic benefits through environmental education and awareness, and ensure sustainable management post-project. Each plan will incorporate community-based restoration initiatives and gender action plans.
Stakeholder engagement will be a critical component, with the consultant tasked with organizing workshops and preparing reports that reflect stakeholder feedback and secure agreements from site managers. The consultant will also produce comprehensive monitoring plans for each site, coupled with training for site management staff to ensure effective implementation of monitoring activities.
Finally, the consultant will submit a detailed final report summarizing all activities, outcomes, and stakeholder agreements, aligning with the project’s overarching objectives.
The estimated budget for this mission is 600,000 euros.
The estimated contract period for the consultancy is eight (8) months.
The OECS hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in delivering the Services described above.
This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to:

X Consulting firms ❑ Individual consultants

❑ NGOs X Joint Venture between NGO(s) and consulting firm(s)

Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for AFD-Financed Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD’s website: http://www.afd.fr.
The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture (JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application, those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several applications.
If the Applicant is a JV, the expression of interest shall include:
− a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members,
or
− a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy of the Agreement proposal,
In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Subconsultants.
Experiences and qualifications of Subconsultants are not taken into account in the evaluation of the applications.
Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent and similar services shall be submitted.
Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on:
- The contracts size;
- The nature of the Services: conducting assessments (ecological, socio economic), development of intervention plans, gender action plans, and stakeholders engagement reports.
- The technical area and expertise: Experience in mangroves or other coastal ecosystem assessments is mandatory; Project management and implementation; Biodiversity and Ecosystems Expertise; community engagement; Gender Expertise; monitoring, evaluation and capture of lessons, Ability to communicate in English and French.
- The location: the six sites are located in the following OECS Member States: Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Client will evaluate the Firm based on the following requirements:
- General experience in environmental management, climate change, policy development and advice and in existence for at least 5 years
- At least 5 years of experience in mangrove or other tropical coastal ecosystem assessments, restoration, community management and socio-economic systems needed to support healthy thriving communities and ecosystems.
- At least 2 projects demonstrating experience in ecological assessments of mangrove or other tropical coastal ecosystems and stakeholder engagement with private sector and communities
- Regional experience with institutional, regulatory and organizational aspects of the management of mangroves or other tropical coastal ecosystems, in particular in the Caribbean or similar SIDS context
To obtain the maximum degree of comparison among Expressions of Interest (EOIs) and facilitate the evaluation process, the EOI should include the following information below:

1. Title page with name of firm submitting the EOI: should contain name of firm (or joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy, if applicable), address, email, telephone, name of contact person and date of submission.

2. Expression of Interest (Maximum 30 pages):

a) Brief description of the background and organization of the Firm, and – in case of a joint venture – of each member for this assignment

b) General and Specific experience of the Firm

c) Similar assignments (Brief Description of main deliverables/outputs, Name of Client & Country of Assignment, Firm's role on the assignment)

Among the submitted applications, the OECS will shortlist a maximum of six (6) Applicants, to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent.

The Expressions of Interest must be submitted electronically to the address below no later than April 04th, 2025, with the subject “Expression of Interest - Consulting Services to Conduct Mangrove Ecosystem and Management Diagnostic Assessment (AFD_REMAR_2025_01)”.

Tehillah Bannis, Procurement Officer
Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States Commission
P.O. Box 179, Morne Fortune, Castries, St. Lucia
Tel: 1-758-455-6418
E-mail: procurementbids@oecs.int Copied to: crispin.dauvergne@oecs.int




Interested Applicants may obtain further information at the address below during office hours: 8.30am to 4.30pm Atlantic Standard Time:
Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head, Environmental Sustainability Division
OECS Commission, Morne Fortune, P.O. Box 179, Castries, SAINT LUCIA
Email: chamberlain.emmanuel@oecs.int copy : procurementbids@oecs.int ; crispin.dauvergne@oecs.int ; shanna.emmanuel@oecs.int ; simon.delage@oecs.int




























Appendix to The Request for Expressions of Interest
(To be submitted with the application, signed and unaltered)
Statement of Integrity, Eligibility and Environmental and Social Responsibility


Reference name of the Bid/Proposal/Contract signed (the “Contract”)
To: (the “Contracting Authority”)

1. We recognize and accept that Agence Française de Développement (“AFD”) only finances the projects of the Contracting Authority subject to its own conditions, as set out in the Financing Agreement that directly or indirectly binds it to the Contracting Authority. The Contracting Authority retains exclusive responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the procurement process and performance of the Contract. Consequently, no legal exists between AFD and our company, our joint venture, and our subcontractors. The Contracting Authority may also mean the Client, Employer or Purchaser, as the case may be, for the procurement of works, goods, plants, equipment, consulting services , or non-consulting services.
2. We hereby certify that neither we, nor any person acting on our behalf, nor any of the members of our joint venture, nor any of our subcontractors, are in any of the following situations:
2.1 Being bankrupt, wound up or ceasing our activities, having our activities administered by the courts, having entered into receivership, or being in any analogous situation arising from any similar procedure;
2.2 Having been, within the past five years, subject to a final administrative sanction, a final conviction issued by a competent authority, or any other non-court resolution having notably an extinctive effect on public action, either (i) in the country where we are constituted, (ii) in the country of performance of the Contract, (iii) in the context of the procurement or performance of an AFD-financed Contract, (iv) pronounced by a European Union institution, or (v) pronounced by a competent authority in France, for:
a) Prohibited Practices, as defined in Article 6.1 below, or for any other offence committed in the context of the procurement or performance of a Contract (in the event of such sanction, conviction or non-court resolution, we may attach additional information to this Statement of Integrity, such as a compliance program, showing that we (or the person acting on our behalf, the member of our joint venture, or our subcontractor) consider that this sanction, judgement or non-court resolution is not relevant in the context of the Contract, where applicable);
b) Participation in a criminal organization, terrorist offences or offences related to terrorist activities, child labor, or other offences related to human trafficking;
c) Having created an entity in a different jurisdiction (i) with the the intention of avoiding tax or social obligations, or any other legal obligation applicable in the jurisdiction of its registered office, central administration or principal place of business, or (ii) for being an entity created with the intention of avoiding such obligations;
2.3 Having been subject within the past five years to a Contract termination fully settled against us for significant or persistent breach of our contractual obligations during the performance of the Contract, unless this termination was challenged and dispute resolution is still pending or has not confirmed a full settlement against us;
2.4 Having been declared ineligible by one of the multilateral development banks signatories to the Mutual Recognition Agreement of 9 April 2010 (in the event of such ineligibility, we may attach additional information to this Statement of Integrity showing that we consider that such ineligibility is not relevant in the context of the Contract, where applicable);
2.5 Not having fulfilled our fiscal obligations relating to the payments of our taxes or social contributions in accordance with the legal provisions of our country of incorporation or of the country of the Contracting Authority;
2.6 Having created falsified documents or committed misrepresentation when providing the information requested by the Contracting Authority in the context of the procurement and award process for this Contract.
3. We hereby certify that neither we, nor any party acting on our behalf , nor any members of our joint venture, , , nor any of our subcontractors, nor any of our direct or indirect shareholders, nor any of our subsidiaries acting with our knowledge or consent:
a. Are directly or indirectly subject to, controlled by a person or an entity subject to, or acting in the name or on behalf of a person or entity subject to individual sanctions measures adopted by the United Nations, the European Union and/or France;
b. Are directly or indirectly subject to, controlled by a person or an entity subject to, or acting in the name or on behalf of a person or entity subject to sectoral sanctions measures adopted by the United Nations, the European Union and/or France;
c. Are ineligible for the implementation of the Project owing to any other international sanctions measures pronounced by the United Nations, the European Union or France.
4. We hereby certify that neither we, nor any party acting on our behalf,2 nor any of the members of our joint venture, nor any of our subcontractors, are [nor have been (in the case of refinancing for a Contract already awarded)] in any of the following situations of conflict of interest:
4.1 Being a shareholder controlling the Contracting Authority or a subsidiary controlled by the Contracting Authority, unless the resulting conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction.
4.2 Having business or family relations with a member of the Contracting Authority’s services involved in the procurement process or the supervision of the resulting Contract, unless the resulting conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
4.3 Controlling or being controlled by another applicant, bidder or consultant, or being under common with another applicant, bidder or consultant, receiving subsidies from another applicant, bidder or consultant, or granting subsidies to another applicant, bidder or consultant, directly or indirectly, having the same legal representative as another applicant, bidder or consultant, maintaining direct or indirect contacts with another applicant, bidder or consultant allowing us to (i) have given and/or give access to information contained in our respective applications, bids or proposals likely to distort competition (ii) influence them, or (iii) influence the decisions of the Contracting Authority;
4.4 Being engaged for a consulting services mission which, by its nature, is or may be in conflict with the mission envisaged for the Contracting Authority;
4.5 Having prepared ourselves, being or having been associated with a natural or legal person who has prepared, specifications, terms of reference or other documents that have been used for the procurement process in question, and that contain provisions likely to favor an application, bid or proposal;
4.6 Having or having had access to, having prepared ourselves, being or having been associated with a natural or legal person who has or has had access to or prepared, specifications, plans, calculations, studies, or other documents that have not been communicated to all the applicants, bidders or consultants in the context of the present procurement procedure, and which thereby confer us an unfair competitive advantage;
4.7 In the case of a procurement procedure for works, plants, equipment or goods, having been selected ourselves or proposed to be selected (or any of our subsidiary companies having been or being proposed to be selected) to carry out supervision or inspection of the services in the context of this Contract.
5. If we are a state-owned entity or a public enterprise, to participate in a competitive procurement process, we certify that we have legal and financial autonomy and that we operate under commercial laws and regulations.
6. In the context of the procurement and performance of the Contract:
6.1 Neither we, nor any party acting on our behalf,2 nor any members of our joint venture, nor any of our subcontractors, have committed or shall commit a Prohibited Practice as defined in the document entitled “AFD Group’s Policy to Prevent and Combat Prohibited Practices” available on AFD’s Website.
6.2 Neither we, nor or any party acting on our behalf,2 nor any members of our joint venture, nor any of our subcontractors, shall acquire or provide [have acquired or provided (in the case of refinancing for a Contract already awarded)] in sectors subject to an embargo by the United Nations, the European Union or France.
7. We hereby undertake to, and we undertake to ensure that any party acting on our behalf,2 any members of our joint venture, and any of our subcontractors undertake to:
7.1 Comply with the environmental standards recognized by the international community, including the international conventions for the protection of the environment and, in particular, take all reasonable steps to avoid or limit negative effects on vegetation, biodiversity, soils, groundwater and surface water, and on persons and property resulting from pollution, noise, vibration, traffic and other effects resulting from our activities, in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable in the country of performance of the Contract.
7.2 Implement measures to mitigate environmental and social risks when they are indicated in the environmental and social management plan provided by the Contracting Authority, and ensure that the emissions, surface discharge and effluents produced by our activities respect the limits, specifications or requirements applicable to the Contract.
7.3 Respect the rights of workers related to wages, working hours, rest periods and vacations, overtime, minimum age, regular payments, compensation and benefits, in accordance with the standards recognized by the international community, including the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable in the country of performance of the Contract; indicate these elements in a document annexed to the employment contracts of our employees and made available to the Contracting Authority; and respect and facilitate the rights of workers to organize themselves and set up a complaints management mechanism for direct or indirect workers.
7.4 Implement practices for non-discrimination and equal opportunities, and ensure the prohibition of child labor and forced labor.
7.5 Keep a record for each member of the local staff recording the hours worked by each person, the type of work, the wages paid and the training undertaken, and ensure that these records are available at all times to be inspected by the Contracting Authority and the authorized representatives of the government, in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable to the protection of personal data in the country of performance of the Contract.
8. We, any party acting on our behalf,2 the members of our joint venture, our subcontractors, our direct or indirect shareholders, and our subsidiaries, authorize AFD to conduct investigations and, in particular, inspect the documents and accounting records relating to the procurement and performance of the Contract, including, but not limited to, our internal processes and rules related to the respect of international sanctions pronounced by the United Nations, the European Union and/or France, and to have them verified auditors appointed by AFD.
9. We declare that we have paid, or that we shall pay, the commissions, benefits, fees, gratuities or charges relating to the procurement procedure or the performance of the Contract to the following third party/parties (for example, an intermediary/agent)(*):
Name of beneficiary Contact details Purpose Amount (indicate the currency)
_________________ _________________ _________________ ________________
_________________ _________________ _________________ ________________
_________________ _________________ _________________ ________________
(*): If no amount has been paid or is to be paid, indicate “None”.
10. We undertake to promptly inform the Contracting Authority, which shall inform AFD, of any change of circumstance regarding the sections above, including in case of any sanctions or embargo measures adopted by the United Nations, the European Union and/or France, after we have signed the present Statement.


Name: In the capacity of:
Duly empowered to sign in the name and on behalf of:
Signature:
Dated: