Рубрика: Wildlife Conservation Society

Location: Epulu, Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Democratic Republic of Congo

Reports To: WCS DRC Country Director

Overseen By: OWR Board of Directors

Start date: ASAP

Position type: Fulltime

Background:

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been active in the OWR for more than 30 years, supporting its creation, and subsequently working closely with ICCN (Institut Congolaise pour la Conservation de la Nature) – the government agency responsible for protected areas and wildlife — in its management. In December 2018, WCS and ICCN signed a 10-year management agreement that delegates management authority of the OWR to WCS, and which was initiated in September 2019. This mandate is implemented through an OWR Management Unit (RMU) that is the executive body in charge of all day-to-day management activities and personnel in the OWR. The Reserve Director is a WCS-appointed position in charge of the RMU.

Created in 1992, the OWR, at more than 13,000km2, is the single largest protected tract of intact lowland tropical forest remaining in the DRC. The OWR harbors one of the largest remaining populations of forest elephants and the largest stronghold of okapi in the DRC and the single largest population of the eastern chimpanzee in Africa. OWR is situated in the larger Ituri landscape; comprising more than 40,000km2 of contiguous forests, in which WCS is actively building conservation constituencies and supporting sustainable agricultural practices amongst the local communities who depend upon the forest resources for their livelihoods, and on whom the future integrity of the OWR is inextricably linked. The Ituri forests also have a rich cultural heritage and are home to the indigenous Mbuti and Efé peoples.

The OWR presents a challenging environment and is faced with a number of threats to its biodiversity and operations, including poaching, gold mining, and sporadic insecurity from armed groups. The past three years have seen the OWR develop its situational awareness, establish a core presence, build capacity and infrastructure and secure significant resources. We are now looking to capitalize upon these gains to make a substantial impact in addressing key threats to the OWR, its unique biodiversity and its local communities.

Position objective

WCS are seeking a highly experienced manager in the role of OWR Director who can lead the OWR through the next phase of its management contract.

The Director will provide strategic and operational leadership and be responsible for all aspects of Reserve management including ranger deployment and wildlife protection, community liaison, research, tourism development, fundraising and reporting, communications, M&E, and capacity building of national staff. The job includes staff management and development, establishing and maintaining strong relationships with government partners, including state enforcement agencies, partner agencies and organizations, as well as oversight of a significant budget and ensuring efficient day-to-day program operations.

The Reserve Director is based permanently on-site at the OWR headquarters in Epulu, Ituri Province. The Reserve has a large staff of around 300, working across six Departments.

Candidates will need to clearly demonstrate they have the necessary experience, leadership, communication and diplomatic skills with which to manage such a large and complex project in a challenging and insecure area.

Responsibilities

• Assuring full financial and operational responsibility of the OWR and its staff, including anti-poaching, research and ecological monitoring, community conservation, logistics, M&E, operations and finance and administration
• Formal liaison with the Steering Committee established under the management contract, and overall responsibility for the coordination of the bi-annual meetings of the Board of Directors and implementation of directives from the Board of Directors
• Responsibility for the review, update, validation and implementation of the OWR Management Plan, SOPs and Strategic Framework.
• Strategic oversight of the law enforcement strategy, in consultation with the Deputy Director and in liaison with the CorPPN (Army Corps detached to ICCN for the Protection of National Parks and Reserve), DRC armed forces and the WCS Law Enforcement Advisor
• Oversight of corrective measures approved by UNESCO to remove the OWR from the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger
• Official representation to, and actively building and maintaining of relationships with, provincial and national Government, community partners, donors and other key stakeholders in the OWR, including hosting of the annual CoCoSi meetings
• Assuring that all park operations adhere to Standard Operating Procedures and Interior Regulations of the OWR
• Management of the RMU and all OWR personnel, including the facilitation of weekly meetings with Heads of Department of the OWRMU
• Preparation of a recruitment plan, staff evaluation plan and proposals for re-deployment of OWR staff according to the Interior Regulations
• Participation, as needed, in field operations for the OWR
• Ensuring monthly and quarterly reporting to WCS, donors and ICCN

Requirements

• As the position will take on a broad management mandate, a wide range of management skills and experience are required. For this position, WCS will consider candidates with:
• At least 15 years of senior management experience
• Strong leadership skills and demonstrated experience in managing a large and diverse team
• Strong diplomacy and decision-making skills in a high-risk environment
• Proven experience of cultural understanding and leadership in a complex, multicultural and remote environments
• Excellent communication and negotiating skills
• Wildlife enforcement training and field experience an advantage
• Fluency in French and English. Knowledge of Swahili is a distinct advantage
• Previous experience with international donor organizations
• A business background or in another professional sector is desirable
• Previous development or conservation experience in Africa is highly preferred
• Experience in protected areas or equivalent natural resource management context desirable
• Commitment to the values and mission of the Wildlife Conservation Society
• Attributes that will make you stand out
• Excellent team building, leadership and communication skills
• Engagement with local communities and indigenous people
• Knowledge and experience of DRC
• Passion for wildlife conservation

Location: Epena, Lac Tele Community Reserve headquarters, Republic of Congo

Reports To: Country Director

Position type: Full-time

Organization Background:

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, presence in more than 60 nations, and experience helping to establish over 150 protected areas across the globe, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organizations, that knowledge is applied to address species, habitat and ecosystem management issues critical to improving the quality of life of poor rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct utilization of natural resources.

Republic of Congo Program Overview:

Over the past 25 years WCS Congo has been the government’s principle conservation partner, assisting the Ministry of Forest Economy (MEF) in managing wildlife and its habitat in several of the country’s national parks, reserves, and protected area buffer zones. Within these sites WCS is developing and implementing actions for effective wildlife protection; community based natural resource management; ecological monitoring; scientific research; and environmental education. The program is the largest in WCS’s global portfolio and reports to the Regional Program for Central Africa and Gulf of Guinea. WCS Congo’s current portfolio of programs includes the management of the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park through a Public-Private Partnership with the Government of Congo, wildlife management in the substantial buffer zones of the Park, co-management of Lac Tele Community Reserve, a national program to support reform of marine conservation and resource management and a substantial policy support program to the central government in Brazzaville.

The Lac Tele Community Reserve (LTCR) comprises over 70% of swamp and seasonally inundated forests. It is part of the world’s largest transboundary Ramsar site (together with the Democratic Republic of Congo/DRC) and sits upon the single largest tropical peatland, Africa’s second largest wetland. Around 20 000 people live in the LTCR, and these communities depend heavily on the Reserve’s natural resources for fish, agriculture, and construction materials. The impact of this region on the Congo Basin’s climate regulation, river flow, and carbon sequestration is likely highly significant though poorly understood. The Reserve has been co-managed by the Ministry of Forest Economy (MEF) in partnership with WCS Congo since 2001.

WCS is thus supporting a wide range of activities, including strengthening protected area management and law enforcement, strengthening community governance of forests and resources, and promoting livelihood and enterprise development, and conducting applied research and ecological surveys. Currently, more than 40 staff are deployed on the Reserve.

There is a growing interest, at the international level, of the role of peatland to reduce and mitigate climate change, and thus, the LTCR is at the heart of international discussions and is becoming a key area attracting interest worldwide.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a dynamic Project Director to oversee implementation, coordination and administration of all activities being implemented on the LTCR. The successful candidate will have project management experience, a strong background in community conservation approaches and an interest in the nexus between wildlife, forests, climate change and local people. This is a full-time position that will require managing a team of several staff, and a close coordination and cooperation with the local authorities.

Major Responsibilities:

The LCTR Project Director will deliver on the following principal responsibilities in full coordination with, and supported by, the WCS Congo management team and the WCS Central Africa Regional team:

• Oversee the coordination and management of the RCLT portfolio projects.
• Lead proposals for the development of project activities in the LTCR.
• Work in close coordination with the Technical Director to revise the strategic approach being used in the reserve.
• Coordinate and oversee the WCS team community conservation outreach team and the research team.
• Coordinate and oversee the anti-poaching activities alongside MEF.
• Work with international and national staff and organizations to create an awareness to promote wildlife conservation, sustainable natural resource management, and conflict resolution, and address particular land-use management issues.
• Advise on development priorities and work with other senior staff to plan and implement activities related to health, human rights, education, etc.
• Work with the WCS staff to integrate the socio-economic and land-use/tenure data into the relevant GIS databases to contribute to the overall natural resource, protected area, and zoning plans.
• As a senior member of the WCS RoC Program Team, participate in strategy meetings and the tasks identified to help ensure sound operations of the program.
• Work with the WCS RoC staff and Director to ensure work plans, reporting, and budgets, organization of logistics, and responsibility for his section budget.

Qualification Requirements:

• Proven experience of project management.
• Strong program and project management skills based on at least 5 years’ experience in a relevant role
• Experience working in interdisciplinary and multi-cultural teams and managing several major activities simultaneously, proven ability to achieve project targets and objectives
• Experience managing international donor-funded projects, with multiple project partners and diverse project elements preferred.
• Experience in gender mainstreaming and the ability to conduct gendered power analyses, effectiveness and needs assessments as required by the program and the ability to encourage active participation of diverse stakeholders preferred.
• Experience implementing monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
• Strong technical, logistical and financial management of projects (planning, budgets, implementation, monitoring and evaluation).
• Knowledge of African conservation issues.
• A Master degree (or higher education level) in community conservation, natural resource management, or other relevant field experience in African conservation.
• Experience working on conservation projects in field settings preferred
• Experience working in the Central Africa region would be an advantage.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven managerial and team building skills.
• Demonstrated high-level competency in writing and editing of professional technical reports and other written products.
• Collaborates and supports the development of others
• Fluency in French and English language required
• Technology and software related skills, ability to utilize computer packages and applications in data collection, data analysis, storage and dissemination
• Proven ability and comfortable with living and working in a multicultural environment in isolated areas, under difficult field conditions.