The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has a distinguished history of experts exploring and saving wildlife in some of the most remote and wild places remaining on Earth. WCS Indonesia Program (WCS-IP) has significantly grown over the last decades, and contributed substantially in supporting the Government of Indonesia (GoI) particularly Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) in conserving Indonesia’s biodiversity. WCS-IP currently has programs focusing on landscape/seascape conservation, species conservation actions and engaging local communities.
In Sulawesi, WCS-IP implements the longest-running program and since 1991 supporting the Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park (BNWNP) and Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam Sulawesi Utara (BKSDA Sulut) in conserving important population of endemic and threatened wildlife, such as the Maleo and its habitat. The BNWNP’s buffer zone is made up of high-biodiversity lowland coastal forest dominated by coconut plantations and mixed agriculture and agroforestry systems and forms a vital habitat corridor between the park and the adjoining Forest Management Unit to the north and the coast. There, WCS-IP Sustainable Landscapes program focuses on developing partnerships and initiatives that address the loss and degradation of Indonesia’s remaining intact and high integrity forests.
In order to achieve our overall goal of saving wildlife and wild places, we are seeking a dynamic and experienced individual to support the development and implementation of a landscape partnership and activities, which will support the protection of this critical ecosystem and improve the livelihoods of the farmers living in the buffer zone. The position will be based in one of the priority villages and will be available for a period of one year, starting January 2022 with the possibility of extension depending on performance and availability of funding.
PRIORITY OBJECTIVE
- Provide support to the Sustainable Landscape Coordinator to design and deliver a set of interventions to support the development of ‘biodiversity-friendly’ farming practices in the landscape. This will include improving farmer knowledge and implementation of biodiversity-friendly/sustainable and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and post-harvesting practices and strengthening the organization and capacity of farmer groups to access finance, inputs and markets (including through opportunities for value-addition).
- Work with the wider of Sustainable Landscape Program team to ensure farmer interventions prevent and reduce encroachment pressure on BNWNP and support conservation of key species.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:
Analysis and Research
- Working with the Sustainable Landscape Coordinator and Community Organization Officer, conduct surveys and focus group discussions with community to assess socio-economic conditions and community needs and understand opportunities to address land and forest cover change and threats to biodiversity.
- Together with WCS-IP partners, design/revise training curriculum that supports GAP and biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices based on the results of the community needs assessment and identified threats to biodiversity.
- Support further research to support the implementation of the project, including to support the development of a compliance-based incentives system to ensure against encroachment into BNWNP and to support conservation of key species.
- Provide support for farmer registration and farm mapping to support impact monitoring, adaptive management and the implementation of compliance-based incentives.
- Support the exploration of opportunities for value-addition within the coconut (and other) supply chains in the landscape.
Project Development and Management
- Develop and deliver farmer training and extension program to improve productivity and profitability of farming, and to address agricultural threats to biodiversity, including through group training, mentoring, Farmer Field Schools and continuous engagement.
- Work with the wider WCS-IP team to integrate conservation awareness raising into the farmer extension and training program.
- Ensure and monitor farmer adoption of the training materials into their farming practices.
- Compile, record and regularly update data and information on the farmer training progress.
- Work with the Sustainable Landscape Program team to support the development and implementation of a compliance-based incentives system (including farmer access to inputs, finance, markets and other innovative approaches) to ensure against further encroachment into BNWNP and other forest areas, support forest restoration, and address threats to wildlife and support the conservation of key species.
- Support data collection from farmers and farmer groups to monitor project progress and to monitor compliance and risk of encroachment to inform incentives.
Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
- Establish and maintain good working relationships with local communities, village, sub-district and district governments, and the KPHP Unit II Bolsel - Boltim, BKSDA Sulawesi Utara, and BNWNP authority
- Establish and maintain good working relationships with farmers, farmer groups, and village and community leaders
- Establish and maintain good working relationships with project partners
- Provide facilitating support to meetings, focus group discussions and public outreach activities
- Develop activity reports and provide regular project progress reports and updates, as needed
- Support writing, publishing and presenting high quality research findings and providing data to support communication of project and key impacts and findings through websites, social and print media.
JOB REQUIREMENTS
Qualifications and Experience
- Relevant university level qualification or equivalent experience in agronomy, agriculture or similar
- Minimum 2 years working in a coconut company, NGO, or with solid experience working in coconut production and supply chains
- Demonstrable field experience of working with smallholder farmers and an understanding of the challenges related to the coconut production in Sulawesi
- Knowledge of Good Agricultural Practices for coconut and demonstrable experience in farmer training and/or mentoring (in GAP) and in supporting the strengthening of farmer organization and financial literacy
- Existing relationships and connections with both private and public sector stakeholders in North Sulawesi and Southern Bolaang Mongondow region are highly desirable.
Competencies
- Ability to work independently and proactively with stakeholders in rural areas, as well as in district level
- Good judgement, and the ability to work under pressure and respond quickly to deadlines
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to adapt communications and messaging to a range of different audiences
- Excellent networking and engagement skills
- Good written and analytical skills
- Functional fluency in English is desirable though not essential.
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