WCS seeks new Executive Director for Forest and Climate Change Program

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) seeks an inaugural Executive Director for our new Forest and Climate Change Program to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This is a unique opportunity for an exceptional climate change leader to play a key role in addressing the greatest challenge facing our planet.

WCS is creating a new Forest and Climate Change Program to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The scope of WCS’ forest and climate change portfolio extends to the forests and ecosystems of every country where WCS works. Fifty-five of the long-term landscapes across 13 regions where WCS implements field conservation are forested. We work closely with national governments, private sector partners and multilateral agencies and agreements to advocate global policy changes toward a more sustainable development.

The goal of WCS’ Forest and Climate Change strategy is to maximize the contribution of NBS to meet global 1.5° and 2° targets set out in the Paris Agreement, and to develop and promote measures for adaptation to climate change. Intact forests are also critical for global biodiversity and achieving sustainable development – they are exceptionally resilient to fire, drought and storms exacerbated by climate change, sustain the livelihoods and cultures of many Indigenous Peoples, minimize extinction risk for huge numbers of wildlife and plant species and maintain regional rainfall patterns much more effectively than degraded forests.

Job Opportunity: Senior Officer, Conservation and Financial Planning, Global Project Finance for Permanence Initiative

The senior officer - Conservation and Financial Planning will report to the project lead for the Global Finance for Permanence Initiative, with strong dotted-line reporting to the vice president, finance and treasurer, and will be a founding member of this new effort at Pew. The position is located in Washington, DC, and will work closely with the project lead and the Pew finance team to develop conservation plans and financial models that will be foundational to the project. Pew’s board of directors has preliminarily approved the project, which is contingent upon final board approval in the spring of 2021.

Responsibilities

• Work with partners to design and build agreement on project scope (geographic and thematic) for individual PFPs.

• Work extensively with a range of local and national partners and stakeholders to assess conservation status and prospects, identify critical threats and opportunities, and conduct stakeholder analysis for individual PFPs.

• Lead consultative processes with partners in developing an extensive conservation plan that includes goals, strategies, activities, and assumptions, as well as monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans.

• Design and conduct related studies; organize workshops to generate relevant information for the project.

• Refine conservation program goals, objectives and activities as needed.

• Travel extensively to project sites and facilitate multi-stakeholder consultation workshops to develop detailed conservation and financial plans.

• Work extensively with a range of stakeholders to collect, clarify and analyze financial and other data relevant to conservation programs.

• In close consultation and with guidance from the vice president, finance, and treasurer, develop detailed long-term financial models including: projections of costs; mapping of costs to funding sources and timing; trust funds and related investment returns; .

• Coordinate with the finance department to ensure financial models include analyses of pertinent risks, such foreign currency risk, sovereign risk, and market risk. Financial models will be designed to analyze funding sensitivities to the various types of risk.

• Guide development, in collaboration with the vice president, finance, and treasurer, of approaches and tools to estimate long-term financial needs for achieving goals, assess existing funding, and calculate financial gaps.

• Engage frequently with internal stakeholders, including the finance and legal departments, to ensure up-to-date information is shared regarding PFP deals, terms, and financing.

• Communicate conservation and financial analysis scope, approach, assumptions, and results in meetings, presentations and reports for various audiences; based on analysis, make recommendations on the design and implementation of financial mechanisms.

• Train counterparts at project sites to prepare/manage financial modeling and related processes.

Call for proposals - 2nd UNEP/ICRI small grants programme 2021

Applications are now open to the 2nd UNEP/ICRI small grants programme 2021 to support the conservation and restoration of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass. 
 
The small grants programme is a joint initiative of the UNEP Coral Reef Unit and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) that builds on the success of the first small grants programme from 2017: https://www.icriforum.org/icri-un-environment-small-grants-programme
 
This grants programme is aimed at protecting and restoring coastal marine ecosystems and is open to governments, NGOs and community groups, for projects implemented in developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing states.
 
Grants up to USD 80,000 will be awarded to projects aimed at protecting and restoring coastal marine ecosystems, with a particular emphasis on payment for ecosystem services, ecosystem restoration, blue carbon, marine protected areas, locally managed marine areas and action on UNEP’s strategic pillars climate stability, living in harmony with nature and a pollution-free planet.

Examples of activities that would qualify for this grant include, inter alia:

• Community-based ecosystem restoration;

• Development, management and sustainable financing of locally managed marine areas or

• marine protected areas;

• Community-based blue carbon projects;

• Co-management of marine resources through public and private partnerships;

• Payment for coastal ecosystem services projects;

• Mainstreaming of gender in coastal ecosystem management

Important dates

• 1 March 2021: Announcement / Call for concept notes

• 31 March 2021: Closing date for submission of concept notes

• 15 April 2021: Invitation for submission of full proposals

• 15 May 2021: Submission of full proposals

• 31 May 2021: Notification of successful recipients

Consultancy Opportunity - Caribbean Biodiversity Fund

The CBF is inviting qualified individuals (“Consultants”) to apply for the “CBF Communications Specialist” consultancy. The objective of this consultancy is to assist the CBF in developing and implementing its Communication, Outreach, and Marketing Strategy.

Specifically, the Strategy and its implementation has been identified as a key instrument for ensuring CBF’s and the overall Caribbean Sustainable Finance Architecture’s visibility at the national, regional, and international levels, and as a key tool to support fundraising efforts, raising awareness, and consolidating the overall Architecture. In addition, this Strategy is a crucial element for the engagement of CBF with different types of stakeholders including, but not limited to, government, regional organization, donors, partners, civil society, and the private sector.

Call for Tender: The MedFund

The MedFund, in collaboration with MedPAN, is issuing a Request for Proposals to prepare a Project Document/ CEO Endorsement Package for a Full-sized GEF funded Project entitled: Build back a blue and stronger Mediterranean.

The attached RFP contains all the necessary information for interested offerors.

Deadline to submit : 12:00 am CET on Monday, March 15, 2021.

Consultancy Opportunity - BIOPAMA, developing the Regional Resource Hub (RRH) Sustainability Plan

The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme is an initiative of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (OACP) Group of States funded by the 11th European Development Fund. The programme aims to assist the ACP countries in developing a framework for improving technical and institutional approaches to conserve biodiversity, particularly in protected areas, through regional cooperation and capacity building activities.

IUCN and the European Union’s (EU) Joint Research Centre (JRC) jointly implement BIOPAMA. In line with BIOPAMA programme objectives, a Regional Resource Hub (RRH) for Biodiversity and Protected Areas was established at the Regional Centre for Mapping Resources for Development (RCMRD), the regional implementing partner of the programme in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. The RRH hosts the Regional Reference Information System (RRIS), which works as a platform to facilitate exchange of data/information among decision makers and managers of protected areas and supports regional priorities for decision support products. One such product is a regional “State of Protected and Conserved Areas” (SoPACA) report which was developed in support of Eastern and Southern African countries in 2020 and another will be developed towards the end of the project.

The BIOPAMA programme is a six-year programme, now in its 4 th year, beginning late 2017 and ending in 2023. The RRH developed under the BIOPAMA programme is intended to continue to operate beyond the end of the BIOPAMA programme. The work within the next years of BIOPAMA is to fully integrate the RRH into the host institution - RCMRD. Sustainability of the RRH is a means to continue to perform and deliver benefits to the primary target audiences after the funding from BIOPAMA terminates. This kind of sustainability includes

a. Programmatic sustainability of the RRH – products and services offered e.g. continuous development of State of Protected and Conserved Areas (SoPACA) report, as well as tool development and capacity building in response to regional needs.

b. Institutional stability – continued support for the work of the RRH within the organisation e.g. communication, human resources, computing and technological infrastructure.

c. Financial sustainability – financing of recurrent costs i.e. steady flow of funds for outreach, staff time, day to day running of the RRH, development of new features, etc.

Objective of the Consultancy

Working under the supervision of the BIOPAMA Regional Coordinator, the main objective of this consultancy is to develop a 10 year strategic plan for the sustainability of the Regional Resource Hub. This will take into account the current internal and external operating environment in order to enhance the RRH’s effectiveness and sustainability in the area of policy and decision making in the Eastern and Southern African region comprising 24 countries

Consultancy Opportunity: CFA Partnership Fund Feasibility Study

The Conservation Finance Alliance, together with strategic partners, seeks to establish the Conservation Finance Partnership Fund (CFPF) as an independent global Conservation Trust Fund (CTF). The Fund will have two principal objectives: 1) to support Conservation Trust Funds through a pooled fund architecture and 2) to build global conservation finance capacity by providing a source of sustainable finance for the CFA.

Application Process

Please send a CV and a cover letter highlighting relevant experience and daily rate to secretariat@cfalliance.org by EOB March 5, 2021.  Please include the subject line: Partnership Fund.

These Terms of Reference seek for a consultant or consulting group to work with the CFA leadership to achieve the following tasks:

1)      Work with the CFA Secretariat and Business Planning Task Force to clarify and expand the details of the concept of a Conservation Finance Partnership Fund (CFPF or the “Fund”).

2)      Review existing pooled Funds such as the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, Micronesia Conservation Trust, and Nature Trust Alliance to inform this study.

3)      Identify the appropriate locality for establishing the Fund that achieves the Fund’s goals at a minimum of administrative and tax costs.

4)      Determine how the investment management structure of the pooled fund concept would operate, outlining how such funds would be managed within an investment firm, and the reporting systems that would be available to meet the needs of the various member funds. Articulate the specific services that the CFPF would offer to the participating CTFs.

5)      Explore the key governance considerations in creating a pooled fund within the Conservation Trust Fund community, including considering implications for each participating CTF’s fiduciary responsibilities, and propose the governance structure for the Fund.

6)      Explore “Know your Client” and other anti-money laundering and Securities rules to assure that the Trust Fund is able to manage the endowments of other funds – and develop an appropriate asset transfer/management strategy in response.

7)      Expand the CFPF concept to include practical details that would go into an operations manual and include in final report.

8)      Identify 10-20 small to medium CTFs with under USD$10 million in assets and conduct interviews to ascertain their top priorities for pooling (building on Winter 2015, see below), as well as any legal or governance constraints that would need to be accommodated for them to participate.

9)      Develop a financial plan for the Fund, including capitalization levels, number and size of participating CTFs, costs and cost sharing, impact of foreign exchange, and net revenue projections. The plan should include sensitivity analysis and cost-benefit analysis.

10)   Conduct a stakeholder analysis to assess how the plan might be viewed by CFA stakeholders and key audiences.

11)   Prepare a short PPT presentation that identifies the benefits of the Conservation Finance Partnership Fund to potential client CTFs.

12)   Prepare a PPT presentation and spreadsheet that quantifies the overall value of this pooled approach to the CFA, Client CTFs, and other key stakeholders including donors. This is a fundraising document.

13)   Prepare a draft Trust Charter that captures the main conclusions of the study.

14)   Prepare a final report that summarizes the findings and includes the other work products as annexes.

Job Opportunity: Restoration Insurance Service Company (RISCO) (CI)

Conservation International (CI) has been protecting nature for the benefit of all for over 30 years. Through science, policy, and partnerships, CI is helping build a healthier, more prosperous and more productive planet.  

POSITION SUMMARY

Conservation International Foundation (CI) is the proponent of RISCO, a first-of-its-kind sustainable business model for investing in mangrove conservation and restoration, generating revenue from insurance companies that pay to lessen their risk exposure, and from the sale of blue carbon credits. Specifically, RISCO aims to capture the economic value of threatened mangroves upfront (before they are destroyed) through two revenue streams: (1) insurance-related payments for the modelled flood risk reduction benefits of mangroves and (2) blue carbon payments for the validated climate mitigation value of mangroves. More information about the instrument can be found here:

https://www.climatefinancelab.org/project/coastal-risk-reduction/

CI aims to develop RISCO pilot projects in two to three sites over the next two years. Three key phases until anticipated financial closure of the pilot projects will consist of (1) site selection, (2) business case development, including return on investment analysis, and (3) pilot structuring / negotiation of transactions.

The RISCO Senior Director will be a senior position based at CI’s office in Manila, Philippines. The Senior Director will work with both a Development and Advisory Team which will be responsible for RISCO’s overall success and a Pilot Delivery Team which will be responsible for delivering the pilots in the Philippines (and potentially one other country in Asia-Pacific). Team members are based in the United States, the Philippines, and Singapore.

The position is a fixed two (2) year commitment.

Job Opportunity: Terranomics

Terranomics is a consultancy that focuses on using local and global financial systems to support sustainable land use, conservation and climate change solutions. The co-founders have spent the last 20 years working on public and private sector approaches to environmental challenges, and are based in London and Cornwall.

The services Terranomics specialise in are the following:

• Sustainable Land-Use Investment Structuring

• Support for Green Business Growth

• Finance Sector Analysis

• Measurement, Impact and Evaluation

• Proposal and Concept Note Development

The role

Terranomics has a growing portfolio of exciting global client assignments in the areas outlined above, and is seeking support for delivering these projects and further developing our pipeline of work. This is a good opportunity to join an early-stage consulting company with significant opportunity for career development in an environment where individual creativity and entrepreneurship are strongly encouraged.

The role will be full time and location is flexible, with a preference that once COVID restrictions have ended the candidate would be able to work in London or Falmouth for at least part of a typical working week.

Experience and skills required

• A post-graduate qualification with a business, financial or economic discipline looking to apply these skills to the world of sustainable land-use and nature conservation. Will also consider candidates with post-graduate qualifications in natural resource management, ecology, conservation who show a strong awareness and capability in financial and quantitative analysis

• Demonstrated passion for the topic of mobilising private finance for sustainable land-use and conservation objectives

• 6-10 years working experience in a field related to this topic

• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder projects, ideally in a consulting context

• Entrepreneurial spirit with an interest in being part of a start-up environment with excellent growth potential

• Excellent research and analytical skills

• Ability to write in clear, business-friendly language

• Comfortable with working independently and either remotely or in-person

• Enjoys expanding their professional network and investing time in relationship-building

• Strong team-player with good verbal communication skills

• A strong sense of initiative and resilience

• Fluency in English

How to apply

Please send a copy of your CV to jim.stephenson@terranomics.org with a 1-2 page cover letter describing your motivation and suitability for the role.

Job Opportunity - Director of Conservation Funding, Africa Parks

African Parks (AP) is looking for a senior, strategic individual that is deeply passionate about Africa and committed to securing its remaining conservation areas for the benefit of her people. AP is searching for an experienced Director of Conservation Funding to develop and execute an overarching Global Funding Strategy that will secure reliable and adequate funding streams to sustain the current portfolio of 19 parks covering 15 million hectares and enable significant growth in line with organisational strategy. This role is core to African Parks’ objective of ensuring 30 of Africa's unique protected areas and spectacular wildlife are secured by 2030. The organisation’s current annual budget is $80m and it expected to rise to $150m by 2030. The successful incumbent will provide strategic leadership and expert management of the global fundraising teams located in USA, Netherlands, Germany, UK, Switzerland and Asia and will be based at its Head Office in Johannesburg, South Africa, with frequent travel as needed. The role reports to the CEO, is a member of the Exco and shall attend all Board meetings.