Consultancy: Mid-term Review of the GEF7 Sustainable Forest Management Project

Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya

GEF Project ID: 10292

GEF-7 | Land Degradation, Biodiversity and Climate change Focal Areas | Implemented through NEMA and MoEF | GEF Partner Agency: IUCN Project start - 24th April 2023 MTR window - 2026 Focal area - Land Degradation (GEF-7) Executing partners - NEMA Responsible parties - KARLO, NETFUND, SORALO, ACC Landscapes - Kajiado; Narok

1. INTRODUCTION

This document sets out the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the IUCN-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full-sized project titled “Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya” (Project ID: 10292), implemented through the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), and to be undertaken in 2026. The project commenced on 24th April 2023 and is in its third year of implementation. In line with the IUCN-GEF Guidance on MTRs, this MTR process is initiated ahead of the submission of the second Project Implementation Report (PIR). The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in GEF’s evaluation process: https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-05/GEF_EN_Evaluation_Policy_May_1.pdf. This ToR defines the objective, scope, methodology, deliverables, timeframe, team composition, and management arrangements for the review. It is complemented by the annexes, which set out the documents to be reviewed and the required structure of the MTR report.

2. PROJECT BACKGROUND INFORMATION

2.1 About IUCN IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private, and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development, and nature conservation to take place together. Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world's largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources, and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments, and analysis, and fills the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools, and international standards. IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders — governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, Indigenous peoples' organisations, and others — can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide, combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems, and improve people's well-being.

2.2. Project Development Context

The Southern Rangelands of Kenya, covering large areas of Kajiado and Narok Counties, contain globally significant biodiversity, critical forest ecosystems, wildlife dispersal areas, and pastoral production systems that provide essential ecosystem services, including biodiversity conservation, water regulation, carbon storage, livestock production, and tourism. These landscapes are increasingly threatened by land degradation, forest loss, unsustainable land-use practices, invasive species, climate variability, changing land tenure, habitat fragmentation, and increasing pressure from agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, and competing land uses. Although Kenya has a relatively strong policy framework for forest management, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land management, implementation remains constrained by fragmented institutional coordination, inadequate landscape planning, limited financing for restoration, weak community capacity, insufficient knowledge management, and inadequate incentives for sustainable natural resource management. The GEF-7 project **"**Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya" (GEF ID 10292) seeks to address these constraints through an integrated landscape approach combining enabling policies, investments in sustainable dryland management, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, sustainable livelihoods, knowledge generation, and multi-stakeholder coordination. The project contributes simultaneously to the GEF Land Degradation, Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Sustainable Forest Management Impact Program objectives while supporting Kenya's national development and environmental commitments. The Mid-Term Review will assess progress towards these objectives, validate the project’s Theory of Change, examine implementation performance (measurable environmental and socio-economic results), identify emerging opportunities and implementation bottlenecks, and recommend adaptive management actions for the remainder of the implementation period. 2.3 Barriers addressed by the project The project responds to six interlinked barriers to the uptake and scale-up of in the target landscapes: Weak integrated landscape governance and cross-sector coordination: Forest, wildlife, rangeland and agricultural planning are undertaken by different institutions with insufficient coordination across sectors and administrative levels. Limited enabling environment for sustainable forest and dryland management: Existing policies, planning tools and institutional capacities are not sufficiently operationalized to support integrated landscape management. Insufficient investment in restoration and sustainable natural resource management: Financial resources, incentives and private-sector engagement remain inadequate for large-scale restoration and sustainable land management. Limited adoption of sustainable land and forest management practices: Communities require greater technical support, demonstration,