Landscape Operational Assistant for Coastal Forest Programme Full Time NEW

Want to make a positive difference to the future of people and our one shared home, the Earth? Working with WWF could be the opportunity of a lifetime:

All around the world, people are waking up to the deepening crisis of nature loss. A growing realization that nature is our life-support system. And that nobody will be spared from the impacts of its loss. Here at WWF, we are helping to tackle this enormous global challenge.

Our people come from hugely diverse backgrounds and with a variety of expertise, ranging from HR and finance to advocacy and conservation science. We welcome applications from anyone who believes they can help us create a better future for people and nature.

What we do:

We are an independent conservation organization, striving to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife. From individuals and communities to business and government, we are part of a growing coalition calling on world leaders to set nature on the path to recovery by 2030. Together, we seek to protect and restore natural habitats, stop the mass extinction of wildlife, and make the way we produce and consume sustainable. WWF Network has moved to the development and the implementation of 9 Practices with Global Goals to be achieved.

For WWF Coastal Forest Programme, we are looking for a dynamic and committed Landscape Operational Assistant who will intervene in Banyang Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary (BMWS).

Reports to: Landscape Advisor

Location: Nguti/Bangem

Duration: Two (02) years

Context and mission of the department

In pursuit of her vision of a future with healthy ecosystems and thriving biodiversity supporting people and driving sustainable development in Cameroon, WWF Cameroon (WWF CCPO) went into partnership with the Programme for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources – South West Region (PSMNR-SWR). The partnership is currently in its sixth phase, covering the period 1st of January 2025 to June 2027. The goal of the Programme is that the protected areas and their surrounding landscapes in the South-West Region are managed in an integrated manner to enhance biodiversity conservation and the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. The main purpose of PSMNR Phase VI is to complete full coverage of PSMNR-SWR initial intervention area (26/26 clusters and 161/161 villages) in five targeted Protected Areas, with WWF covering 04 of the 05 protected areas.

Broadly, PSMNR-SWR Phase 6 has been set up to achieve the following:

• Consolidate and build on the achievements and lessons from the collaborative management of protected areas (PA) initiated in the previous phases (phase I-IV);
• Support the institutionalization of the co-management process through local planning instruments (Conservation and Development Agreements, Communal Development Plans, Management Plans of protected Areas, Council Land Use Planning…);
• Promote an integrated landscape approach to enhance connectivity and promote enlarged conservation areas with surrounding forest entities through the technical operations units and landscape management across the Cameroon –Nigeria borders;
• Support transboundary collaboration and management of transboundary protected areas in the Bayang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary;
• With the normalization of the security situation patrols shall be organized to fight illegal logging which is increasing and also poaching;
• Deploy the community-based surveys to all bio-diversity hotspots of the 4 WWF PAs if security conditions are fulfilled;
• Promote targeted biodiversity conservation strategies towards strategic communities and groups;
• Assess what financing mechanisms (e.g. market-based mechanisms, compensation schemes, business investments, corporate contributions/ sponsorship, fiscal instruments) can be successfully applied under the given conditions to generate the identified fund flow, and support fundraising locally and contribute to the SW fund raising strategy.

Major Functions

With guidance from the Landscape Advisor, he/she will:

• Contribute to the consolidation and capitalization of the achievements and lessons of the collaborative protected area management approach at landscape level;
• Support protected area management, particular the co-management aspects, in the BMWS;
• Pro-actively support the implementation of the landscape approach around the BMWS, in particular through participatory corridor management and the setting up of land-based Payment for Ecosystem Services;
• Support institutionalization of co-management and spatially define the intervention, and support institutionalization within Communal Development Plan and Council Land use plans
• Assist with monitoring and evaluation, reporting and communication of, and learning from PSMNR and WWF initiatives in the BMWS.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Contribute to the mitigation of land-use conflict around BMWS (output 2.1).
• Support to facilitate the negotiation of participatory corridor management of important wildlife corridors (output 2.3), their integration into Communal Development Plans and supervise its implementation.
• Support the elaboration/revision Cluster Conservation and Development Agreements (CCDAs) of PA, Council Development Plans (CDP and landscape management plans / tools (Output 3.1);
• Support the institutionalization of the collaborative PA management approach and its integration into legal planning processes (PA management plans, Council Development Plans, Land-use Plans at community and council levels / Output 3.1);
• Support the capacity building of stakeholders in the co-management process (output 3.2)
• Support the identification and implementation of cluster specific collaborative management activities (output 3.3);
• Contribute to the identification of forest users (hunters and others) in targeted communities and their engagement in alternative livelihood projects (output 3.5);
• Support development of NTFP database and the sustainable management of NTFPs by local communities inside locally negotiated access zones and around the PAs (output 3.7);
• Lead the work on Human Wildlife Conflicts around BMWS (3.9)
• Contribute to PA staff capacity building (output 4.2);
• Support research to address priority issues for key wildlife, high conservation value forest for habits conservation (Output 4.3);
• Support the elaboration of BMWS management and business plan elaboration/revision (Output 4.4)
• Contribute to the joint use and maintenance of the WWF and PSMNR-SWR Geographical Information System (GIS) database and the establishment of similar databases for knowledge management at PA levels.
• Contribute to the WWF and PSMNR communication by providing articles for publication.
• Assist in developing monthly, quarterly, semester and annual work plans and budgets for approval by PSMNR-SWR.
• Monitor and report at agreed frequencies and formats the activities in the approved work plans;
• Prepare required quarterly work plans and technical progress reports for the landscape using standard WWF reporting format;
• Develop ToRs for service providers, consultants, or Local Support Organizations (LSO) to assist with implementation of approved activities in the BMWS.

Profile:

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of bachelor’s degree (with 3 years of experience) in one or more of following domains: geography, forestry and wildlife, natural resource management, sustainable development, or any related specialization, and
• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience in protected area management and sustainable management of natural resources, with experience in community or rural development.
• A forestry engineer with a minimum of 3 years of experience in the area of Protected Areas management.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Technical skills in land use planning and natural resource management;
• Strong technical skills in designing and implementing community projects;
• Good knowledge of wildlife and protected areas management;
• Good knowledge of legal and institutional framework in forest and wildlife resources management, and land use planning in Cameroon;
• Strong technical, communication and organizational skills;
• Ability to work and interact with people of different backgrounds;
• Good team spirit and familiarity with the functioning of local and international organizations;
• Computer literate and good knowledge of data analysis and basic GPS/GIS skills;
• Fluency in English, familiarity with French and local knowledge of the area will be an advantage.

Required Behavioral Skills

• Accountable, Persevering & Delivering Results;
• Willingness and ability to work in a remote area with low supervision, natives from the area will be an added advantage.
• Proactive approach to meeting deadlines and delivering results with limited supervision
• Demonstrates WWF behaviors in way of working: Strive for Impact, Listen Deeply, Collaborate Openly, Innovate Fearlessly;
• Adhere to WWF’s values: Courage, Respect, Integrity and Collaboration.

Working Relationships:

• Internal

The LOA will work closely with the Landscape Advisor, the CFP Program Manager, WWF Conservation Director, the Cameroon country program team and relevant WWF network staff.

• External

Within the PSMNR-SWR set-up, the LOA will work closely with the co-management Unit of the BMWS and the Regional Co-management Unit of RDFOF to ensure proper coordination and standardized intervention. The LOA is the direct counterpart of the Head of the co-management unit (CMU) at the Sanctuary and collaborates with the community Development Officer (CDO) and Community Development Technician (CDT) and Local Support Organizations (LSO) in the animation of the co-management intervention around BMWS. For its intervention at landscape level, the LOA will collaborate directly with the BBMM TOU conservator/Assistant Conservator (DDFOF Kupe) and concerned Councils/LSOs across the protected area and landscape.

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.

Tagged as: Cameroon, World Wide Fund For Nature