Flagship Species Manager, Cambodia Programme

Flagship Species Manager, Cambodia Programme
Fauna & Flora International

Salary: Circa USD 30,000
Start Date:   As soon as possible
Duration of Contract: One-year fixed term contract
Location:  Phnom Penh, Cambodia (with international travel as required)

Founded in 1903, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is the world’s longest-established international conservation organisation.  Our vision is to create a sustainable future for the planet where biodiversity is conserved by the people living closest to it.  We aim to do this through the conservation of threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs. We have become a trusted entity in the world of conservation.  Today FFI is active in over 40 countries.

Working closely with local partners, the Asia-Pacific Programme currently includes a broad range of species and landscape targeted conservation initiatives in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, and has country programme offices in Phnom Penh, Nanning, Jakarta, Manila and Hanoi and a regional office in Singapore. Around 70 projects are being implemented in the region by a team of approximately 300 staff, consultants, volunteers and partner organisations with an annual regional budget of approximately USD 9 million.

FFI has been active in Cambodia since 1996 and was one of the first conservation NGOs to work in the country. We currently work in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries.  The priorities of our work in Cambodia are to secure and improve the management of areas important to the country’s biodiversity, to help build national capacity, by providing Cambodian nationals with the necessary skills, experience and materials to conserve their unique natural heritage, and to preserve some of the region’s most threatened species.

The FFI Cambodian Flagship Species Programme currently has a main focus on two enigmatic species, the Endangered Asian elephant and the Critically Endangered Siamese crocodile.  In 2005, FFI established the Cambodian Elephant Conservation Group (CECG) to ensure the survival of the Asian elephant in Cambodia. In a unique model of partnership, we bring together three different institutions to maximize the potential for government and non-governmental wildlife managers to act together. FFI provides technical support, the reputation of an established and respected international conservation organisation, and secures funding for agreed priorities.  This complements the decision-making responsibilities and technical capacity of two government wildlife management agencies, the General Department for Administration of Nature Conservation & Protection under the Ministry of Environment responsible for the country’s Protected Areas system, and the Forestry Administration, responsible for the broader Cambodian forest estate. Our core objectives to conserve the Asian elephant in Cambodia include:

• Increasing community capacity for elephant conservation - providing livelihood assistance and education
• Identify particularly important areas for their conservation, monitor population status and structure at key sites, and use this information to adaptively manage elephant conservation
• Ensuring appropriate landscape planning - advising and training of key decision makers

Some of our achievements over the past decade include: Training human-elephant conflict response teams to drive elephants off crops using non-harmful means; large scale awareness programmes countrywide including publication of books, village meetings and “shows”; establishment, training and on-going support to 26 village “Guarding groups” countrywide to mitigate and prevent human-elephant conflict within the community; development of priority elephant habitat maps for whole forest estate in Cambodia; support to the Cambodian government to gazette two large Protected Forest areas encompassing the major elephant core zones; forest monitoring in key elephant areas to identify and deter poaching and extensive surveys of elephant distribution and habitat.

The Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Project (CCCP) is a key part of FFI’s long-term strategy in Cambodia to integrate sustainable development with environmental conservation in ways that benefit both people and biodiversity.

In 1992, the IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group declared the Siamese Crocodile to be “effectively extinct in the wild” owing to a devastating combination of habitat loss, hunting, and collection to stock crocodile farms. Eight years later, the rediscovery of Siamese Crocodiles during a joint FFI-Government of Cambodia expedition to the Cardamom Mountains created a stir among both the scientific community and the world’s media. FFI and Forestry Administration promptly developed an integrated multidisciplinary program to save these crocodiles from intensive, growing threats from poachers and habitat destruction.

Our in situ initiatives to date include field-based research, including studies on: (i) the distribution, status, habitat preferences, diet and reproductive biology of Siamese Crocodiles; (ii) the diversity and status of other reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds and large mammals in key crocodile sites; and (iii) the livelihoods and needs of local communities, especially options to improve their income and food security without jeopardizing the crocodiles or other wildlife. The CCCP has worked effectively with these communities at the three key breeding sites to benefit crocodiles, other wildlife, and their human neighbours.

Evidence from our survey and monitoring work suggests that breeding within the wild population is very limited. Consequently, Siamese crocodiles will not recover naturally. The project has therefore collaborated with government partners and relevant experts to develop the “National Siamese Crocodile Reintroduction and Reinforcement Strategy & Action Plan”, a comprehensive scheme outlining the required steps to implement and manage an effective release programme, from 2012-2031 to augment wild populations.

FFI is seeking a passionate conservationist and experienced project manager to support and strengthen our innovative conservation efforts and secure a future for some of Cambodia’s most threatened wildlife and the habitats and landscapes that they rely on.

S/he will have a strong background in, and experience of, donor management (including  developing funding proposals and reporting), project management and the management of field-based activities, as well as excellent communication skills and a keen interest in building national staff capacity.  S/he will have an advanced degree or equivalent level qualification in a relevant discipline such as biological sciences, zoology, ecology and/or substantial experience in a related role.  Experience working in the South-East Asia region is desirable.

For further details and to apply please visit: http://www.fauna-flora.org/about/jobs/

The closing date for applications is Monday 20 January 2014. No agencies please.

FFI values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity