Empleos en el PNUD - 38517- International Natural Resource Management / Ecosys

International Natural Resource Management / Ecosystems Specialist

Localidad :

Dili, Timor Leste

Tipo de contrato :

Individual Contract

Fecha de comienzo del contrato :

01-Sep-2013

Fecha límite de postulación :

11-Jul-13 (Medianoche Nueva York, Estados Unidos)

Nivel de puesto :

International Consultant

Duración del contrato inicial :

32 Days

Idiomas requeridos :

Inglés

Duración esperada del puesto :

32 Days

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Antecedentes

Local communities in the Dili to Ainaro development corridor are already experiencing highly unpredictable weather events, including high intensity rainfall, extended drought and dry periods and variable seasonal timings. Recent climate change projections for Timor Leste suggest that these trends are likely to continue in the future and potentially intensify, including: increasing surface air temperatures; increasing intensity and frequency of extreme heat events; increasing intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events; and gradual increases in mean sea levels. These factors translate to a range of disaster related hazards and risks for vulnerable, natural resource dependent, rural communities. Local consultations carried out during the NAPA process (2010) revealed some of these effects. The reported impacts of climate induced disasters include landslides and flooding from rapid rainfall run-off, damage to homes and public infrastructure (particularly roads and bridges), reduced access to markets and related loss of income.

The Government is investing heavily in transport infrastructure as a basis for securing the country’s long term development goals. This investment recognises both the challenging physical environment that it is situated in as well as increasing climatic variability of recent years. For this reason, investments in key arteries (East-West and North-South) are building in greater physical redundancy into designs and maintenance schedules (with support from WB, ADB and JICA). However these measures tend to be limited to the existing Rights of Way (RoW) and their immediate vicinity. By contrast many of the challenges of sustaining the value of these investments in the longer term require consideration of the wider landscape, for example through watershed management measures that can help to move and filter surface water ‘through’ rather than ‘over’ the soil profile. At this point such measures are only being considered in a very piecemeal way. Within the Dili to Ainaro Road Corridor there is no strategy in place to link wider landscape management to road infrastructure management. Consequently existing landscapes can present an additional hazard to infrastructure maintenance rather than acting as a buffer protecting this infrastructure from disaster events. This undermines the Government’s ability to secure the necessary social and economic benefits to bring vulnerable communities out of poverty in a way that is sustainable in the long term.

In response to this challenge the government of Timor Leste has requested LDCF funding to protect critical economic infrastructure from climate induced natural hazards (flooding, landslides, wind damage) through better policies, strengthened local DRM institutions and investments in risk reduction measures within the Dili to Ainaro development corridor.

The proposed project is linked with the World Bank investment in the upgrade of critical economic infrastructure in the Dili to Ainaro road corridor, together with complementary DRM related measures (total indicative co-financing of approximately USD 65 million). While the additional risks to this infrastructure from climate related disasters are being factored into the design and works within the RoW of the main road, and some of its branch roads, wider measures to managed climate and disaster risks both to assets and related livelihoods are yet to be designed. These additional risks will be addressed through a joint approach to be implemented through the WB-DRM component and the proposed LDCF grant.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Work closely with the lead international Natural Resource Management / Ecosystems Specialist and seek for his/her guidance on the number and types of data and information inputs to contribute to the project development;
Compile and collate existing baseline data, including available climate scenarios and impact information, as relevant to hydrological processes and water and soil related ecosystem functions and services in the target region;
Undertake field missions to collect data from the local communities through targeted surveys on land use, land ownership and land management practices as relevant in the context of land degradation, erosion control, flood control and landslide formation;
Under the guidance of the lead consultant help identify critical ecosystem functions that need to be reinforced for improved climate risk management. Particularly focus on watershed and micro-watareshed functions to stabilise the soil and regulate the movement of water, including the water absorption capacities that are liked with vegetative cover;
Identify and review baseline policies, programmes and investments linked to land use and watershed management and identify the current gaps and deficiencies that need to be addressed to maintain the critical ecosystem functions for acheiveing greater resilience of the population and settlements, including the rural infrastrucutre;
Carry out consultations with selected communities to identify existing coping strategies;
Take stock and examine in detail the current baseline programmes and other initiatives that attempt to address disaster risks to economic assests, including infrastructure and identify additional landscape wide measures that are complementary and necessary to improve the ecosystem integrity in the target region and maintain the critical functions of watersheds in soil stabilisation and regulation of water movement;
Under the guidance of lead consultant, identify and recommend a range of effective community level watershed management measures fitted to reduce direct physical impacts of high intensity rainfall events (flooding and landslides) in climate vulnerable hotspots along the Dili to Ainaro development corridor;
Based on desk reviews, consultations and field mission findings, identify the strategic locations for specific interventions (e.g. areas for reforestation, sustainable harvesting and coppicing practices, establishment of vegetative barriers and other bio-engineering methods for soil stabilization and minimization of the flood and / or landslide risks);
Identify the issues with current land use practices that exacerbate underlying vulnerabilities to climate related disasters and long term climate change impacts and determine the effective ways of addressing these issues in the framework of the project; Particularly focus on the issues related to current grazing schemes and slash-and-burn farming that contribute to land degradation and erosion processes that in combination aggravate flood and laslide risks and contribute to the magnitude of these events;
Identify feasible alternative land use, natural resource management as well as livelihood practices that can reverse current trends of degradation; in this regard identify a set of incentives to move towards terraced farming practices and other options that help reduce and reverse land degradation and erosion processes;
Identify landscape wide measures for water flow regulation that can help increase water capture, absorption, infiltration and diversion capacity of the target landscape and thus minimize the flood risks and its destructive powers;
Work closely with the lead cosultant and contribute to finalization of a Results Framework and definition of indicative project activities, including AMAT framework;
Contribute to articulate additionality of the proposed measures as a required funding criteria for GEF/LDCF projects and guide/facilitate respective discussions;
Contribute to determine and articulate socio-economic and environmental benefits of the proposed measures and try to quantify these benefits to the extent possible;
Contribute to ensure that the proposed ecosystem-based and landscape wide approach to climate risk management is cost-effective; in cooperation with the project development specialist contribute to the cost-effectivness analysis;
Contribute to the definition of UNDP-GEF compliant management arrangements.

Competencias

Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty;
Project design competencies, demonstrated by significant previous experience;
Technical expertise in natural resource management, ecosystems and land management;
Ability to communicate effectively in order to articulate complex, technical information;
Good knowledge of results based management.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Academic Qualifications:

Hold an advanced degree in environmental management, natural resource management or related areas of expertise.

Experience:

3-5 years experience in related field;
Extensive knowledge of landscape level planning and natural resource management in the context of land use and land management options; ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation i.e. terracing and similar water harvesting and sloping land technologies, wetland management, watershed approaches;
Extensive knowledge of Timor Leste or other countries in Asia, demonstrated by previous experience and involvement in the country / region;
Experience in the design of GEF projects;
Demonstrated track record of relevant experience in the mentioned area (publications, project proposals, reports).

Language Requirements:

Proficiency in English is required, especially excellent writing skills;

FC: 62000