Background

The objective of the GEF-funded project ‘Sustainable Land and Forest Management in the Greater Caucasus Landscape’ is the sustainable land and forest management in the Greater Caucasus Landscape secures the flow of multiple ecosystem services, including carbon storage and sequestration and water provisioning services, while ensuring ecosystem resilience to climate change. The project will engineer a paradigm shift from the current unsustainable practices to sustainable land and forest management practice. The project will address barriers to sustainable pasture and forest management. In doing so it will support measures to mitigate CC such as managing natural forests to emphasize natural regeneration through improved grazing and wood collecting in forests. It will avoid GHG emissions caused by degradation, increase sequestration through enhanced biomass and improve the productivity of forests and pasturelands. This would result in short and long-term global benefits.

Duties and Responsibilities

The expert will be responsible for the development of guidelines on the cost-effective use of GPS and GIS technology in the surveying, monitoring and mapping of forests and pastures in Azerbaijan.

The expert will – in collaboration with counterpart national experts – be responsible for analyzing and using remote sensing information to prepare all base maps required for the project.

The expert will be required to oversee the in situ mapping and monitoring of the forests and pastures, in support of the preparation of Integrated Forest and Pasture management plans, in two pilot Rayons in Azerbaijan.

Scope of work for 2014:

• Facilitate collaboration and cooperation with all complementary forestry and pasture mapping projects in the region;
• Derive land use classification maps from 2014 remote sensing images (i.e. 5m resolution RapidEye images) for the two project Rayons;
• Using the 2014 remote sensing images (i.e. 5m resolution RapidEye images), identify: (i) priority areas of natural forest and pastures; (ii) the areas within the priority forests and pastures that are vulnerable to permanent degradation; and (iii) and the areas within the priority forests and pastures that are subject to high erosion effects;
• Prepare guidelines on the cost-effective use of GPS and GIS technology in the mapping and monitoring of forests and pastures in Azerbaijan;
• Support training and capacity building initiatives on the use of GPS and GIS technology in pasture and forest surveys and monitoring.

Scope of work for 2015:

• Develop a field survey and monitoring program for the detailed mapping of forests and pastures in the two Rayons;
• Oversee the implementation of the field survey and monitoring program for the detailed mapping of forests and pastures in the two Rayons;
• Maintain the metadatabase of all mapping and monitoring information for the forests and pastures in the two Rayons;
• Support the drafting of all maps required in support of the drafting of the Integrated Pasture and Forest Management Plans for the two Rayons.

Competencies

• Displaying cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills; Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills;
• Outstanding time-management, organizational and inter-personal skills;
• Sharing knowledge and experience, communicating ideas and managing information flow;
• Strong team building skills, team management;
• Respond positively to feedback and differing points of view;
• Planning, organizing and multi-tasking;
• Analytical thinking;
• Strong drafting, presentation, management and reporting skills;
• Strong computer skills;
• Excellent written communication and coordination skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• Post-graduate degree (Masters or PhD) in Geography, Information Management and/or Environment;

Experience:

• At least 5 years of practical experience in the use of GIS technologies;
• Working knowledge of best international practices on forest and/or pasture management and monitoring;

Language: 

• Fluent in English;
• Knowledge of Russian will be an asset.