Central African Republic: Primate Habituation, Research and Tourism Advisor

Position Base: Bayanga, Central African Republic

Reports to: WWF Principal Technical Adviser, Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic

Supervises: PHP Technical assistant

Grade: B1

Date: September 2016

I. Mission of the department:

The Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas complex (DSPA) is a 4,450 km² area, comprising the Dzanga Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve with its various community use and other land use zones, and the Dzanga Ndoki National Park. This area is home to spectacular large mammals such as forest elephants, lowland gorillas and chimpanzees, bongos, buffalos, sitatungas, giant forest hogs as well as a large variety of monkeys and duikers. The area is also home to an exceptional diversity in other taxa.

WWF is supporting the Government of CAR to manage DSPA both to conserve its exceptional biodiversity and to promote the sustainable management of natural resources for the well-being of nearby human populations.

The DSPA administration and WWF take a multi-disciplinary approach to management of this important area, including developing and managing infrastructure, human and financial resources; conservation through surveillance and anti-poaching activities; income generation via tourism through a primate habituation programme focused on lowland gorillas as well as other tourism activities; and sustainable rural development to take pressure off natural resources and to sustain livelihoods.

DSPA is part of the recently inscribed Sangha Tri-National (TNS) World Heritage Site. The TNS is made up of three national parks (Dzanga Ndoki in CAR, Lobeke in Cameroon and Nouabale Ndoki in the Republic of Congo) and their buffer zones. The protected area managers and their key partners work together to manage the TNS.

The conservation department’s mission is to ensure the protection and conservation of DSPA’s biodiversity. It is responsible for managing the 68 eco-guards, and the conservation trackers and porters, and for supporting anti-poaching and law enforcement activities. The department also contributes to planning and implementing trans-boundary anti-poaching patrols and contributes to the operations of the TNS anti-poaching brigade.

The WWF team based in Bayanga providing support to the DSPA consists of a Principal Technical Advisor, a Technical Advisor for Conservation, a Primate Habituation, Research and Tourism Advisor (this position), a Community Development Technical Advisor as well as different support staff for logistics, finances and administration; WWF also has a national office in Bangui.

The main roles of this position are to provide technical assistance, oversight and leadership to ensure the effective management of the Primate Habituation Programme (PHP), tourism-related activities, and research activities in the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas (DSPA), ) and transfer his/her technical and management knowledge and experience to the DSPA staff.

The TA will serve as an advisor to the DSPA National Director (ND – Expert National) for primate habituation and research and to the DSPA Department Head of Tourism.

II. Major duties and responsibilities:

Ensures that primate habituation and research activities are managed to the highest international standards (approx. 50%)

· Supervise all aspects of the PHP focussing essentially on Lowland Gorilla and Agile Mangabey and associated tourism development towards programme sustainability and increased revenue for DSPA and local communities;

· Support the PHP Technical Assistant in ensuring the day-to-day operations and management of the PHP, including spending substantial time each week at each field site in the forest (Bai Hokou and Mongambe);

· Ensure that the habituation process is conducted using a non-invasive methodology that minimises risk (stress, disease, injury, behaviour change) to the primates. Similarly, ensure the risks of injuries and of transmission of disease to visitors, staff and volunteers are minimised;

· Ensure the PHP adheres to IUCN best practise guidelines;

· Supervise all staff associated with the PHP and participates in staff evaluation, training and programme evaluation;

· Work to identify and train national counterparts;

· With the PTA, ensure timely reporting of PHP activities to donors;

· Contribute to the development of new proposals, including to bilateral and multilateral donors, the WWF network and others;

· Solicit conservation-focused research with external partners (academic, conservation, etc.);

· Manages volunteer recruitment and field performance;

· Supervises PHP data collection and ensures that the various data are properly organised, stored, backed-up, archived and disseminated as needed;

· Ensure the preparation and dissemination of information related to the PHP to contribute to the WWF communication strategy for Central Africa.

Supports the development and management of DSPA tourism activities (20%)

· Support the DSPA Head of Tourism regarding staff management and development, staff evaluation, detailed and accurate record keeping, visitor management, etc.;

· Co-supervise activities related to tourism in collaboration with lodge contractors and existing / potential tour operators, ensuring an efficient activity reservation system and logistics, tourism welcome centres, guide training, and data collection and analysis;

· Work with DSPA management, private operators and community groups to develop new eco-friendly tourist activities which increasingly generate revenue for the tourism programme;

· Supports DSPA administration in setting appropriate fees for tourism activities;

· Contributes to developing a system of revenue sharing that effectively benefits the local communities (including Bayaka pygmees) while sustaining both the costs of the programme and its conservation component;

· Contributes to supporting ecotourism development at DSPA and in collaboration with TNS partners.

Promotes and coordinates research activities at DSPA (30%)

· Ensure appropriate research procedures are in place (including proposal assessment, permits, methodology, report submission and appropriate acknowledgement etc.);

· Maintain an up-to-date record of all publications and reports emanating from research work carried out at DSPA;

· In close collaboration with the WWF Regional Bio-monitoring officer based in Yaoundé, coordinate relevant biological data collection by DSPA staff and support the procedure from conception to evaluation;

· Work to identify opportunities, funding and people to increase the research activities at DSPA, especially in the context of ecological monitoring and biodiversity research as a support to conservation management;

· Contribute, as needed, to the development and implementation of joint research and bio-monitoring procedures with partners in the Sangha Tri-national Landscape.

Transversal tasks:

· Submit to the PTA and ND a quarterly report outlining programme activities and to the PTA a 6-monthly WWF report;

· Conduct annual evaluations of staff under his/her supervision;

· Remain well informed of legislation, policies and procedures that could impact primate and tourism management and shares all relevant information and documentation with DSPA staff;

· Contribute to the formulation of DSPA policies;

· Assist the ND and PTA in communications, permits and logistics associated with external researchers, volunteers, students, film makers, photographers and journalists;

· Provides monthly accounting reports of the PHP and tourism programmes;

· Assists the PTA to ensure accountability of WWF project funds according to project planning and contractual obligations in collaboration with the F&A Manager;

· Contributes to fund-raising, grant writing and reporting to donors as requested by the PTA.

IV-Profile

Required functional skills

· A minimum of an MSc in biology, ecology or a related field.

· A minimum of five years of experience in working in the field of primate habituation and research, especially in a similar biome;

· Knowledge of eco-tourism management;

· Fluency in both French and English;

· Depth and breadth knowledge of conservation and development issues;

· Ability to live and work in a remote place.

Required behavioural skills

· Organisational, managerial and administrative skills;

· Strong communication skills, particularly in writing reports and proposals for donor agencies;

· Adheres to WWF’s values, which are: Knowledgeable, Optimistic, Determined and Engaging.

IV. Working relationships:

Internal: National Director, Head of Tourism and DSPA staff, WWF Technical Advisors at DSPA, WWF National Coordinator, WWF DSPA F&A Manager, CARPO teams, in particular the Regional Bio-monitoring Coordinator and WWF network including the WWF African Great Apes Programme.

External: local, national and regional authorities, community representatives, commercial partners, Sangha Tri-National partners, and donor representatives.

Interested candidates who meet the above requirements are invited to send a cover letter and a detailed CV to the address recruit-roaydehub@wwfafrica.org

The subject should read PHTRA.

Please note that only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted for follow up. If you have not been contacted six (6) weeks after closing, consider your application unsuccessful.

WWF is an equal opportunity employer and committed to having a diverse workforce