Natural Resources Management (NRM) Field Assistant

Description

• Mozambique is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Critical forest, freshwater and marine land- and seascapes provide important benefits to local communities and the country’s economy. Yet these natural ‘assets’ are under extreme anthropogenic pressure and impacts from climate change. WWF Mozambique Country Office (WWF-MCO) vision is “a prosperous Mozambique built on thriving ecosystems and environmental citizenship.” This vision is intended to be achieved through a Country Strategy 2020-2030 that establishes three pillars: (i) inclusive conservation of species and habitats, (ii) sustainable and equitable livelihoods and (iii) greening the footprint of economic development
• WWF MCO is implementing, through the Seascape programme, one project funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), focused on strengthening community management of important mangrove areas and strengthening climate change adaptation in coastal communities and ecosystems of Govuro district (Inhambane Seascape). It is expected that through this project, poor coastal communities will see their rights to manage and benefit from mangroves secured, their vulnerability to climate-related risks will be reduced, and sustainable, climate-resilient livelihood opportunities and enterprises will be developed for mangrove dependent coastal communities in Mozambique
• This project will put in place systems to enable long-term income and other benefits for communities. Sustainability of initiatives beyond the project lifetime will be strengthened through income and benefits generated by community-led enterprises supported by a regional accelerator providing technical support and funding opportunities to achieve investment-readiness and enable the enterprises to attract investor interest. This piloting of new approaches to attract market and investor interest will include aggregation of products from small-scale producers or aggregating small-scale projects under a unified governance structure to achieve sufficient scale to attract market and investor interest
• As part of implementation of this project, WWF MCO intends to recruit an NRM field assistant to be based in Govuro, Inhambane Province and provide support to the implementation of the project on the ground

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• Internal: Interacts and works closely and on a regular basis with project implementation personnel in Vilankulo, Govuro and Maputo. Coordinates and interacts as appropriate with members of the WWF Mozambique marine team, WWF Global Oceans Practice, WWF Regional and International, and other WWF Network staff
• External: Interacts with governmental institutions, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, the media, donors, specialists/consultants, private sector in the fishing and extractive industry and other stakeholders, in collaboration with senior managers and the Country Director, as appropriate
• 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

About the position

• The NRM Field Assistant to be recruited will work under the supervision of the Senior Mangroves Officer at Inhambane Seascape in implementing WWF’s activities in Govuro district, namely:
• Assist and support the WWF Senior Mangroves Officer and Marine Office based in Vilankulo at Inhambane Seascape in implementing project activities at local level
• Work with the different actors at the local level, namely local government, community authorities, with the focal points, CCP (Community Fisheries Council), CGRNs (Natural Resources Management Committee) and local communities
• Assist research teams during field work
• Participate in monitoring activities such as SMOG (Management Oriented Monitoring System)
• Ensure the capacity building of local project stakeholders
• The position will be in Govuro, Inhambane province, with travels and visits outside

Duties

• The NRM Field Assistant will be based in Govuro district (Inhambane province) to implement conservation activities and support effective management of mangroves on the ground. In particular, he/she will:
• Represent WWF at the local level
• Mobilize local leaders and communities to participate in project implementation, ensuring their engagement in all phases of the project
• Implement field activities related to the project, respecting the plans and principles established by the organization
• Collect environmental socio-economic data and information in accordance with the project activity plan
• Support training community facilitators, community leaders and members of local communities on community governance and on biodiversity conservation
• Supervise community facilitators in implementing project activities at the local level
• Provide technical support to community facilitators, community leaders and members of local communities within the scope of project implementation
• Produce regular reports on the progress of project implementation in the communities under its responsibility
• Disseminate/disseminate the results and progress of the project's implementation at the level of local communities
• Monitor the level of implementation of activities implemented by CSOs/ CBOs partners
• Facilitate and participate in research work, through engagement in the various teams
• Establish good working relationships with local communities, their leaders and other stakeholders locally
• Facilitate training aimed at communities and local leaders following the approaches and methodologies established in the project, based on the plan of activities

Requisites

• Secondary technical education in an area related to rural sociology, community development, environmental management, forest management, tourism, conservation, environment or another directly related area
• A minimum of 4 years of experience working with local communities and natural resource management and management committees
• Experience in collecting data/surveys at local community level
• Basic knowledge of the Govuro district
• Knowledge of the legal and institutional framework for environment and conservation in Mozambique, as well as relevant policy issues
• Experience and ability to work with multidisciplinary teams and environments (Government, NGOs, Civil Society)
• Experience in preparing and organizing trainings at community level
• Excellent communication skills in Portuguese (oral and written)
• Knowledge of local languages, namely Ndau and Xitswa will be an advantage
• Computer skills in MS Office (MS Word), spreadsheets (MS Excel), presentations (MS PowerPoint), email and Internet research are essential
• Motorcycle driving license

Notes

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted