Africa Forest Coordinator at BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global partnership of conservation organisations (NGOs) that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. Together we are 121 BirdLife Partners worldwide – one per country or territory – and growing. We are driven by our belief that local people, working for nature in their own places but connected nationally and internationally through our global Partnership, are the key to sustaining all life on this planet. This unique local-to-global approach delivers high impact and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people.

Responsibilities:

Leadership and coordination of BirdLife Africa Forest Conservation Programme:

•  Lead roll-out of the BirdLife Forest Conservation Strategies in the GFWA.


•  Lead development and implementation of a Forest Flagship Initiative for Africa.


•  Establish a community of Practice for Forest Conservation work in Africa.


•  Strengthen links with other BirdLife Africa initiatives and Partners elsewhere in Africa.


•  Explore options for sustainable financing mechanisms for long-term management of priority forest landscapes.


•  In coordination with the Global Forest Team, lead the BirdLife Forest Landscape Accelerator Programme in Africa.

Management and development of forest conservation projects:

•  Provide strategic oversight and guidance for ongoing forest projects and collaborative work, ensure clarity of roles, responsibilities, and functions between BirdLife and Partners, and maintain good working relationships.


•  Supervise effective management of existing portfolio of forest conservation projects and ensure timely delivery of high-quality reports and other project deliverables.


•  Based on the list of priority landscapes identified in the Region, develop new forest conservation projects as per need to cover priority conservation gaps, and/or co-finance existing ones.

Mobilize resources (funds, partnerships, and information) for forest conservation in Africa:

•  In collaboration with the Fundraising team, enhance fundraising drive for forest conservation, including through i) cultivation and maintenance of relationships with donors and development institutions, ii) developing of strong concepts/proposals and matching them with funding opportunities, or iii) establish strategic partnerships with other institutions to join efforts with and improve likelihood of access to more substantial funding.


•  Ensure quality control of proposals, and compliance with both donor guidelines and BirdLife internal processes.

Promote BirdLife Africa’s Forest Conservation achievements:

•  Represent BirdLife in international forums and be the focal person on BirdLife Africa Forest Programme.


•  Facilitate documentation and dissemination of lessons from forest conservation actions in Africa.

Provide specific support to Asity Madagascar in ensuring successful delivery of forest conservation portfolio in Madagascar:

•  Ensure delivery of high-quality report submitted to the Donor for the ongoing projects.


•  Oversee implementation of the forest project portfolio and provide technical support, guidance, input, suggest adaptive management as needed during the implementation to ensure implementation is on track.


•  Provide strategic support to Asity Madagascar, with support of the PCCD team.

Required skills, experience, and qualifications:

• Master’s degree level in conservation, natural resources management, sustainable development, social sciences, rural development, environmental economics, forestry, or other relevant fields.


• Good understanding of forest and biodiversity conservation in the Africa context.


• Design, implementation, and monitoring of complex and multistakeholder conservation.


• Understanding of key institutions driving forest loss and conservation in Africa, their mandates and opportunity to influence them.


• Working with NGOs, government agencies, private sector, and community-based organizations


• Successful proposal development


• Proven work experience in project/programme management


• Significant relevant experience at senior management level in international conservation (with demonstrable experience in Africa) and organisational management


• Desirable: Experience in market-based instruments such as voluntary carbon markets, REDD+, PES, conservation trust funds and/or other areas of conservation finance is desirable, engaging with the private sector, including with corporates or commodity value and supply chains.


• Abilities: to act independently, in Finance Management, to motivate and collaborate with others with cultural sensitivity, to network and proactively engage with other organizations, including key donors, to work under pressure and meet deadlines, to manage and prioritize concurrent projects or areas of work, to write professional articles and give presentations to international audiences, to communicate complex processes and ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences alike.


• Excellent oral and written English skills. Working proficiency in French would be an asset.


• Good analytical skills required.


• Promotes innovative ways to solve biodiversity conservation and community development issues.


• Effective at analysing complex environments and resolving problems with practical solutions.


• Ability to motivate and guide staff particularly in both line/non-line-management relationship.


• Collaborative, flexible, and respectful of others’ knowledge and experience.


• Self-motivated, curious, and interested in new ideas.


• Competency in Microsoft Office Suite required. GIS/remote sensing skills would be an asset. Database management skills would be an asset.


• Frequent travel, up to eight weeks per year.

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