| Location : | Port Louis, MAURITIUS | | Application Deadline : | 04-Jul-08 | | Additional Category | Environment and Energy | | Type of Contract : | SSA | Languages Required :
| English | Starting Date :
(date when the selected canditate is expected to start) | 14-Jul-2008 | | Duration of Initial Contract : | Approx 50 working days over 6 months | | Expected Duration of Assignment : | Approx 50 working days |
The development of the Forest Land Information System is one of the components of the GoM/UNDP/GEF/FAO Capacity Building for Sustainable Land Management project in Mauritius (including Rodrigues). A new National Forest Policy for the Republic of Mauritius was published in 2006. The policy document outlines the history of deforestation on the two islands, leading to the current situation where “only about two percent of the native forest which originally covered most of Mauritius now remains …. and very little of it is left on Rodrigues” andprovides an up-to-date framework for the development of the FLIS.The policy document provides further detail, stating that “the degraded upland native forests have since been reforested with fast-growing exotics which form the bulk of the forest plantations”. “The forests of Mauritius are small in area but perform vital functions, the most important of them being soil and water conservation”. Also “the environmental functions of forests in small islands like Mauritius far outweigh their direct economic functions An FAO report in 2000 estimated that a total of only 57,059ha of forests (including State and private forest, inter alia plantations, protected areas and reserves) remained on Mauritius and Rodrigues (total land area 2,040km2, total population around 1.2 million). However, forests play a vital role in soil and water conservation. This is of great significance and importance to agricultural crops, mostly sugar cane plantations, which are cultivated at mid and low altitude. | 