International Protected Area and Landscape Management Expert

Project description

PSMNR-SWR V is a development programme of the Government of Cameroon. The purpose of the programme, which has been maintained from the first phases since 2006, is the “sustainable forest and wildlife management by affected stakeholders in and around targeted protected areas for their benefit, with special emphasis on the poorer segments of the local populations”. This is to contribute towards the preservation of high-value ecosystems in the South-West Region of Cameroon, thereby sustainably contributing to improved livelihoods of the surrounding communities. The approach to be pursued shall combine – in a coordinated manner – conservation measures, sustainable use of natural resources and integrated livelihood support towards target communities and groups. Trends of key species populations and maintenance of ecologically intact forest cover in the targeted Protected Areas (PAs) and important wildlife corridors have been identified as key indicators for measuring the effective achievement of the Program’s overall objective.Within the institutional set up of the programme, the Regional Delegate (RD) for the South-West Region assisted by a programme consultant is in charge of the programme coordination. Actual implementation on site concentrates on the National Park Services and the respective Technical Operation Units (TOU), the Forest Management Units (FMUs), council and community forests. In the National Park Services, the non-governmental organizations Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) collaborate in the implementation of a collaborative management approach in collaboration with Local Support Organizations (LSOs).The intervention area of PSMNR-SWR covers four National Parks and one Wildlife Sanctuary scattered across the SWR. Those are the Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP), Korup National Park (KNP), Takamanda National Park (TNP), Bakossi National Park (BNP) and the Bayang Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary (BMWS). The programme is also intervening in FMUs, the planned council forests, forest reserves which have been transferred to councils, community forests and wildlife corridors between the protected areas in order to promote an integrated landscape intervention.The fifth phase of PSMNR is guided by the objective of consolidating and capitalizing on concepts and interventions, in particular of the collaborative management of Protected Areas. During the previous phases, Conservation Development Agreements (CDAs) have been signed between Park services and individual communities adjacent of the Protected Areas (PAs). In this phase, such negotiations will be conducted at cluster level to streamline the co-management intervention and ease its institutionalisation through legally recognised planning documents: PAs management plan and council development plans. PSMNR-SWR V will consolidate the role of local partner NGOs by associating them to a specific cluster in order take over certain aspects of the co-management intervention. Concurrently, PSMNR-SWR IV supports further delegation of management responsibilities to village forest management committees and other local institutions.

Job description

The responsibilities of the Protected Area and Landscape Management Expert include (but are not necessarily restricted to) the following tasks:

• Support the management around mitigating Land use conflicts around PAs and major corridors;
• Participatory corridor management in collaboration with council and local communities through integration in council and community LUP and the elaboration of participatory management concepts of these corridors, which includes the participation of councils and communities (land-use planning, out-grower schemes, PES linking forest conservation and agricultural productivity increase, community forests, etc.);
• Support of the creation and management of two Transboundary Biosphere Reserves between Cameroon and Nigeria;
• Provide technical advice on land management concepts in the peripheral zones of PAs to support conservation and local development;
• Support and orientation of MINFOF and partners in the implementation and streamlining of the co-management approach, capacity building for co-management, functioning of the cluster platforms, revision of the conservation incentive system (if required);
• Support in the development of collaborative management activity implementation strategies in the different PAs (encroachment surveys, surveillance, trap removal, trail opening etc);
• Support the creation of Permanent Use zone and enclave management plans in KNP and elaborate the management plans in these PUZ, as well as elaborate management concepts for other in-park villages (enclaves TNP, other in-park villages in BNP, BMWS);
• Support of MIINFOF and partners with the integration of the co-management approach into the elaboration and revision of PAs management plans; support consultation for up-grading of BMWS into a NP; support elaboration and revision of MP and BP including integration of ESIA/ESMP in Bayang Mbo;
• Supervise and follow- up conservation education strategy of ICEC in collaboration with PAs and Limbe Botanical Garden and other stakeholders;
• Support of PAs in the identification, mobilisation and engagement of target communities and groups (e.g. hunters) and development of an integrated livelihood approach;
• Establishment of baseline and conduct of livelihood monitoring following SLF approach; conduct encroachments surveys;
• Support of the creation and organisational development of farm and NTFP groups towards cooperatives;
• Follow-up of implementation of priority activities of the MCNP ecotourism development plan and elaboration of feasibility on ecotourism potential in other PAs;
• Supervise implementation of Human Wildlife Conflict management strategy in collaboration with partners;
• Support of the creation and operationalisation of Mt. Cameroon fund; Develop PES/REDD+ for peripheral zone and corridor management and for Barombi Mbo lake; exploration and mobilisation of funding options for TBR, especially Transboundary Trust Fund; Provide technical advice to protected area management in collaboration with MINFOF and further development partners.

The Protected Area and Landscape Management Expert represents the interests of the Consortium (GFA-NNF) towards any project stakeholder, notably the client, the donor, and other institutions in the country of assignment.

Qualifications

• M.Sc. in Natural Resources Management, Nature Conservation, Ecological Science, Wildlife Management, Geography, or similar;
• At least 5 years of professional experience in community-based natural resources management and biodiversity conservation;
• Proven technical experience in land use planning and corridor establishment, sustainable financing mechanism, protected area management (incl. transboundary approaches) and eco-tourism development are an advantage;
• At least five years of professional experience in providing technical advice to public authorities in developing countries;
• Experience in similar development cooperation projects or programmes preferably funded by German Financial Cooperation or international development banks,
• Proficiency in the English language, French language skills are an advantage;
• Ability to work in a team, under pressure, in a multicultural and complex environment;
• Excellent analytic, organization, facilitation and reporting skills;
• Ability to handle a wide range of tasks simultaneously, proactively and responsibly;
• Excellent ability to plan and organise tasks orderly and autonomously.

Contact person

Heike Mainusch