Community Forestry Specialist - Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI).

Libreville, Gabon.

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Since the creation of the Africa Program in 2007, The Nature Conservancy's vision in Africa has been to work to promote a sustainable future for people and nature, in partnership with indigenous communities, governments and the private sector on more than 22 million hectares across the continent. Our efforts are firmly rooted in people, drawing on scientific and technical expertise as we work with key stakeholders to conserve and enhance Africa's shared resources in the countries where we operate. Together with our partners, we are taking decisive steps towards integrated land and fisheries management, protection of oceans and water sources, energy development and sustainable food production. We are working together and strengthening our determination to tackle global challenges such as climate change, loss of habitat and biodiversity, which are likely to have a negative impact on the 1.4 billion people who share Africa.

In Gabon, The Nature Conservancy is working collaboratively to support the country's ambitious biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation program. TNC works in freshwater, ocean, and terrestrial ecosystems to protect and sustainably manage habitats essential for species, ecosystems, and climate change mitigation. Our work in Gabon and our partnership is to support local communities across Gabon to secure their voice, rights and community authority to conserve and manage their lands and waters, strengthen forest governance (?), build capacity on the ground, support local leaders, and catalyze the local economy in Gabon. TNC brings science, tools, and innovative approaches to inform better decision-making, develops innovative financial mechanisms for sustainability, cultivates strategic partnerships and fosters the need for inclusive and equitable conservation that benefits nature and people.

The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) is in its third phase to accelerate Gabon's progressive forest reforms, entitled "Reducing emissions through better forest management: implementing a nationwide certification process and Community Forestry in Gabon".

Gabon's 2001 Forestry Code stipulates that community forests come under the rural forestry domain. Gabon has 85 community forests with simple management plans (PSG) and 41 provisionally created. With CAFI, national ambition has increased. All 2,560 villages in Gabon are entitled to community forests, but not all communities are involved in community forest management in Gabon.

Gabon's Ministry of Water and Forests (MINEF), through the General Forestry Directorate (DGF), and TNC, as part of its participation in the CAFI initiative aims to achieve optimized management of community forests (CF). The General Forestry Directorate (DGF), through its Directorate of Community Forests (DFCOM), aims to improve the governance of CFs, optimize revenues, and produce the local development assigned to CFs. This involves proposing virtuous practices to communities, based on the integrated and sustainable management of land, natural resources, income-generating activities, and the Legal Management Entities (EJG) of their CFs.

The CAFI program aims to strengthen the spirit of collaboration between Gabon's national agencies in the process of creating community forests or assisting communities in drawing up simple timber management plans or other activities. However, despite all the economic potential offered by the diversity of their wealth, the diagnosis of CF management carried out by the DGF between 2019 and 2021 revealed several causes for the many dysfunctions observed.

However, to provide technical support to the Directorate of Community Forests (DFCom), which is responsible for implementing CAFI's community forest program activities, TNC is recruiting Community Forestry Specialist. The position will be basedat DFCOM/MINEF, but also be part of TNC's CAFI team.

As a result, TNC is looking for a Community Forestry Specialistof Gabonese nationality, to provide technical leadership and oversee all aspects of stewardship and community relations as part of the executing agency's role in the legality of timber exploitation. An expert with knowledge of social forestry, agroecology, and agroforestry, capable of initiating and becoming responsible for the supervision of socio-economic diagnostic studies. He/she will have to manage public consultation meeting processes involving rural communities, the local administration, and the agro-industrial promoter.

The Community Forestry Specialistwill be based between DFCOM and TNC for the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI) forestry program. He/she will serve as the main contact with other government and civil society stakeholders and organizations, including the implementing partners of the Community Forestry Program for CAFI. The Community Forestry Specialistwill provide strategic, scientific, and technical guidance and support to the CAFI forestry program.

With regard to community forests (CF), it should be noted that Gabon officially instituted this social forestry tool by Law n°016/2001 of December 31, 2001 on the Forestry Code in the Gabonese Republic, with a view to giving rural populations the opportunity to improve their livelihoods and generate the financial resources needed to carry out development projects in their localities through the sustainable exploitation and enhancement of the natural resources found in the portions of forest allocated to them.

The Community Forestry Specialistmust be a Gabonese national. He/she will be under the joint supervision of TNC's CAFI Forestry Lead and the Community Forests Directorate. Consequently, he/she will work closely with DFCOM and the TNC CAFI team as well as the rest of the CAFI 3 implementation team. He/she will collaborate with a dynamic international team of conservationists, scientists, and policy experts from the wider TNC community. 

The main roles and responsibilities of the Community Forestry Specialistare as follows:

• Provide technical and management support to the CAFI program of the Community Forests Department (DFCom).
• Identify and resolve technical problems to ensure proper implementation of CAFI Community Forest pillar of CAFI 3.
• Support the DFCom in the preparation of various program-related reports, i.e., start-up, progress, and financial reports, as well as any thematic reports relating to technical activities.
• Prepare Terms of Reference (ToR) for consultants and potential service providers and define recruitment criteria.
• Examine and give a reasoned opinion on the reports of national and international consultants.
• Monitor and evaluate the program and its impacts, as well as the quality control of consultants' interventions, and produce related reports.
• Provide technical support for workshops, meetings, and training activities (develop ToRs, propose modules, and identify experts for local community training, capacity building for DFCom and DGF staff).
• Negotiate complex and innovative solutions to advance Gabon's policy for community-based forest management in Gabon.
• Support DFCOM in developing innovative methods, analytical tools, and scientific frameworks to meet the needs of sustainable community forest management.
• Support DFCom and TNC in the search for and mobilization of complementary funds.
• Support the consolidation of the National Community Forestry Strategy.
• Support communication and visibility of the results of CAFI's Community Forestry program.

This description is not intended to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required for this position.

The position reports to the Director General of Forests (MINEF), and the TNC CAFI Forestry Lead and will be based 3 days at the Ministry and 2 days at the TNC Libreville office. This position is time-limited and dependent on CAFI funding.

Frequent travel within the country and/or abroad, evenings and weekends. Possibility of working in variable working conditions.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• BA/BS degree and 5 years' experience in natural resource management, forestry, conservation or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Expertise in community forest management and/or conservation practices.
• Mastery of the management and implementation of sustainable agroecological strategies to improve livelihoods in community forests.
• Experience in project management, including financial management and coordinating the work of other professionals and partners.  
• Experience in managing and implementing multiple projects, with assignments sometimes coming from several sources, and working independently.
• Experience in analyzing technical reports and developing terms of reference for consultants and service providers.
• Experience in working with cross-functional teams.
• Experience in developing partnerships with NGO partners, community groups and/or government agencies in Gabon.
• Experience in report production, analysis, and interpretation.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree in Forestry / Natural resources management or any relevant degree
• Over 10 years’ experience in natural resources management, forestry, conservation or related field.
• Multilingual Fluency in French and English (or commitment to improve and learn)   
• Multicultural or intercultural experience appreciated.
• Experience in Community Forestry and social forestry in the Congo Basin region or globally.
• Ability to develop and improve institutional structures for community forest governance, practical applications of scientific concepts and technical innovations for conservation purposes.
• Knowledge of current trends and practices in forest management, certification, forest carbon development, conservation, or other natural resource-related fields.

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The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our commitment to diversity includes the recognition that our conservation mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, protected veteran status or other status protected by law.

TNC is committed to offering accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application process. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please send a note to with Request for Accommodation in the subject line.

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