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Title

Protected Area Specialist – Chief Technical Advisor (part-time)
Posted
Reference   (Please mention Stopdodo/Environment Jobs in your application)
Sectors Terrestrial / Aquatic Ecology & Conservation
Location Burkina - Africa
Town/City Ouagadougou, BURKINA FASO
Type Temporary / Contract / Seasonal
Status Part Time / Per Day
Level Senior Level
Deadline 10/07/2009
Company Name United Nations Development Program
Contact Name Human Resources
Website Further Details / Applications
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Directory Entry : UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. For environmental jobs with UNDP visit their website. Or for more environmental jobs search environmentjobs.com
Also Listing:
Description
This is announcement pertains to a a UNDP/GEF Regional Biodiversity Project executed by UNOPS and is therefore a UNOPS recruitment.
UNOPS/AFO/SNOC/025/09
Protected Area Specialist – Part time Chief Technical Advisor
“Enhancing the effectiveness and catalyzing the sustainability of the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) protected area system”
PLEASE APPLY DIRECLTY THROUGH THE UNOPS WEBSITE
About the project
W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) is an area of outstanding biodiversity significance. It is the largest and most important continuum of terrestrial, semi-aquatic and aquatic ecosystems in the West African savannah belt, the most significant range area for elephant conservation in the entire West African subregion and the most viable natural refuge available to most of the vulnerable and/or threatened animal species in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Globally significant biodiversity within WAP is threatened by various factors, including agricultural encroachment, uncontrolled transhumance, poaching, uncontrolled bushfires, siltation and pollution of surface waters, climate change and variability, and unsustainable harvesting of NTFPs, timber and fish.
With finance from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and support from IUCN, the governments of the three concerned countries and UNDP, are implementing a regional project under UNOPS execution for addressing these threats. The goal of the project is consolidate the management of the WAP as a complex of protected areas and to provide an appropriate framework within which GEF funds can catalyse the sustainability of the WAP protected area system. Three interdependent elements of the System’s sustainability will be supported: (i) Supportive communities within buffer and transition zones; (ii) Effective and linked PAs at sub-national level within the WAP complex; (iii) Coordinated WAP PA-system wide conservation efforts.
These elements, while currently partially effective in supporting the conservation of WAP biodiversity, are facing numerous barriers preventing them, and the system as a whole, from operating effectively and sustainably. Incremental support from GEF to address these barriers and thereby catalyze sustainability of the System constitutes the guiding principle underlying the WAP project.
The project counts on $5,154 million from the GEF for a duration of 5-6 years and is expected to mobilise an amount of approximately $21 million to be mostly managed by project partners.
Description of the Post
The Regional Protected Area (PA) specialist will provide overall technical support to the regional coordinator and the national implementation teams in all matters pertaining to all aspects of protected area management and conservation of the WAP transboundary PA Complex, ensuring that project activities and outputs remain focused on the objective of biodiversity conservation and cohesion of the Complex and that principles of poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods are pursued and that biodiversity conservation is mainstreamed into the commercial and financial activities relevant for the Complex and its zone of influence. The expert will report to the regional coordinator.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

  1. Function as a ‘strategic advisor’ to the regional project coordinator with respect to policies, relationship with countries, beneficiary communities and service providers, project direction and strategic orientation, planning (both annual and strategic), monitoring of results, project reporting, communication & outreach
  2. Play a pivotal role, with support of other experts from the project team, national structures and collaboration of experts from the IUCN, in the achievement of key project outputs, including the coherence between local development and conservation-oriented initiatives development, strengthening information sharing among stakeholders and disseminating useful lessons.
  3. Collaborate with other experts in the team, and national experts from the IUCN in the completion of other project outputs, including land-use planning, land conflict prevention, local consultations in protected area riverine communities, private sector engagement in PA managenemt, among others.
  4. Within the expert’s domain of work, support the other experts of the project team, national structures and IUCN experts in the completion of the project outputs linked to protected area planning and management in a general way.
  5. Promote the inter-community dialogue and improve the synergy between local development initiatives and those focusing on conservation in buffer and transition zones of the WAP Complex, through the identification of protected area management effectiveness relevant to WAP as a complex.
  6. In consultation with local communities, local authorities, civil society stakeholders and institutional structures at the national level, implement concrete and viable proposals for enhancing the effectiveness of land-use planning at all levels of the territory around the WAP Complex.

Specific Tasks

  • Provide technical advice to the Project’s Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) and the national teams of the project within own field of experience.
  • Work with the NIT in directly coordinate the implementation of a sustainable regional level co-ordination mechanism within the WAP protected area system
  • Coordinate the activities of relevant technical assistance service providers in the area of protected management
  • In particular with respect to the expert’s role as strategic advisor, assistance with the following tasks will be provided:
                     -       Planning of and follow up to the Inception Workshop
                     -       Review of logframe and indicators towards the establishment of the project’s M&E framework
                     -       Review and establishment of the project’s baseline based on the final set of impact and performance indicators
                     -       Risk analysis and risk mitigation strategy
                     -       Strategic budget revision
  • In particular, work with national teams to plan for and insure the delivery of key project outcomes linked to protected area management effectivenes 
                     -       Development of TOR
                     -       Workshop facilitation
                     -       Ensure cross fertilization among countries in own area of work
                     -       Contribute to strengthening the capacities of stakeholder in the management of protected areas
                     -       Coordinate the activities of technical assistance service providers.

 

Competencies

Desired Profile:
  • Experience in a GEF project
  • Qualifications in terms of providing strategic direction to a team and in ensuring technical supervision
  • Excellent communication skills and team dynamics
  • Ability to work in multicultural environments
  • Ability to maintain good relationship
  • Ability to work independently.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Skills domain: Protected Areas
  • Hold an advanced degree in the area of biology, ecology, wildlife or forest conservation/management, or closely related field with appropriate background
  • Mastery of MS office package, ArcView and internet
  • Excellent level of English and working knowledge of French (read and spoken)
Experience
  • At least 10 years practical work experience in biodiversity conservation, protected area or natural ecosystems management in different contexts throughout the world
  • Practical work experience with biodiversity indicators and in implementation of the ecosystem approach, MEET and other tools related to PAs management and conservation
  • Experience with GIS is a plus
  • Experience in planning, organizing and facilitating international meetings and workshops ;
  • Experience in working and interacting with peoples of many and diverse cultures and interests
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