Locations : Home-based in Ghana with travel to Project Communities in SW Ghana
Duration : 60 working days over a maximum of 5 months (from September 2015)
Reports To :  Senior Forestry Officer, West Africa Team, FAO Regional Office for Africa (project Lead Technical Officer)

General Description Of Task(S) And Objectives To Be Achieved

Background

•   The Project: "Development of a trans-frontier conservation area linking forest reserves and protected areas in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire" is a three year project being implemented to protect and conserve biodiversity in a network of forest reserves and shelterbelts in south-eastern Cote d'Ivore and south-western Ghana (herein referred to as Bia-Diambarakro Area). This Bia-Diambarakro area is a complex mosaic of forests, forest fragments and agricultural land (especially cocoa farms), with each of these areas managed for different purposes and subject to different tenure and ownership arrangements (i.e.. state, communal and private ownership of land and trees). The area is a priority landscape that provides habitat for a number of scattered elephant and other endemic or threatened species populations. The area is also an important landscape where people engage in subsistence agriculture with heavy dependence on wild animals for meat. The main threats to biodiversity conservation and sustainable land and forest management in the area are: agricultural expansion; perverse incentives to remove tree cover; hunting pressure; human-wildlife conflict; and weak capacity of local institutions to address the aforementioned issues.
•   Project Objectives: The project's Global Environmental Objective is to establish a viable and sustainable trans-frontier conservation area (TFCA) that links forest reserves and protected areas in and around Bia in Ghana and Diambarakro in Cote d'ivoire. Global benefits of the project will include improved biodiversity conservation in the protected areas and production landscape within the TFCA and reductions in the barriers to sustainable forest and land management.
•   Project Funding and Partners: The project is being funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The project co-financiers/partners are: The Governments of Ghana and Cote d'ivoire, FAO, Conservation Alliance, IITA - Ghana, A Rocha Ghana, CSRS - Cote d'ivoire, FORIG - Ghana, Forestry Commission - Ghana, GIF - Ghana, SODEFOR - Cote d'ivoire, OIPR - Cote d'ivoire and DEPN - Cote d'ivoire. FAO is the GEF agency responsible for project oversight to ensure that the national executing partners follow GEF policies and procedures and that the project meets its objectives and achieves expected outcomes and outputs in an efficient and effective manner.
•   Project Implementation and the Consultancy Assignment: The project is structured along four components and the project implementation strategy envisages the services of one Community Forestry Expert - Establishment in Ghana to lead the implementation of specific activities under project component 2 "Ecosystems restoration and protection",

Project Component 2: Ecosystem Conservation and  Restoration

•   The objective of this component is to improve the local habitat so that there is a more viable corridor for trans-boundary conservation of wildlife and biodiversity. Subcomponent 2.2: Strengthening community management of forest and wildlife resources has the objective to establish two additional Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in Ghana and to improve management of the Community Forests in Cote d'ivoire to consolidate the TFCA.
•   Wildlife exists in a variety of habitats and some species can thrive in cultivated areas. Wildlife does not have to compete with agriculture but it can be a complementary benefit for both farmers and the local population. The most important point about a CREMA is that it gives the local community control over its game resources. For example, this form of management is the most likely strategy to ensure sustained yields of bush meat in the long-term and so avoid the collapse of game populations from over-exploitation. If hunters are confident that they will always have an adequate harvest, they will be less willing to kill the most endangered species.
•   Existing plans have already established Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in some parts of the proposed corridor on the Ghanaian side. The project will work with the FC-Wildlife Division to establish two more CREMAs to supplement the existing ones on the Ghanaian side. The proposed CREMAs will lie between Bia and Krokosua, where the existing CREMAs do not extend, to consolidate the link.
•   In Cote d'ivoire, there is also a total of 6,500 ha of community forests between and beyond the gazetted forests of Diambarakro and Beki. Management inputs in these areas is, at present, very low. The project will attempt to improve the condition and status of these two community forests (Soukoussoukou and Assakrou) through capacity building, particularly with respect to the organisation of user groups and local rules regarding extraction and use offorest and wildlife resources.

Scope of the Consultancy

•   Objective of the Consultancy: FAO and the project partners are seeking a National Consultant - Community Forestry Expert to lead the implementation of activities under project component 2, sub-component 2.2 in communities at the Bia (Ghana) end of the Bia-Diambarakro Corridor.
•   Task of the Consultant: The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the project Budget Holder, and the direct supervision of the FAD Senior Forestry Officer of the West Africa Team of the Regional Office for Africa (project Lead Technical Officer) with support from FAO Forestry Department. S/He will work in close collaboration with the Ghana National Project Coordinator, Forestry Commission (specifically the Wildlife Division), Conservation Alliance, A Rocha and other project stakeholders. S/He will perform the following tasks:
1) Based on the assessment of the status, management and functioning of the existing CREMAs (in Ghana), propose improvement measures to the extent required in order to comply with the future requirements ofthe TFCA;
2) In consultation with community leadership and FC-Wildlife Division staff, facilitate the establishment of two additional CREMAs to consolidate the link between Bia National Park and Krokosua Hill Forest Reserve.

Expected Outputs
Measures for improvement of the existing CREMAs duly identified Conditions in place for two additional CREMAs to be established in Ghana (4,754 ha)

Qualification Required & Experience

•   Advanced University degree in Forestry or related relevant area
•   Minimum of five years experience in Community Forestry activities in Ghana
•   Excellent grasp of issues relating to CREMAs in Ghana
•   Ability to work in teams and deliver timely and quality analysis
•   Knowledge of relevant local languages constitutes an advantage

Location: Ghana

How To Apply For The Job

Interest candidates must complete the FAO Personal History Form (PHF) or PPF and submit together with CV and Cover Letter to The HR Officer, FAO Regional Office for Africa, Accra through:

RAF-REGISTRY@fao.org

Closing Date: 25 August, 2015