TERMS OF REFERENCE
Position Title: GIS Officer
Reports to: DTL Program Manager
Grade: Senior Officer (Gen 8)
Supervises: None
Start Date: ASAP
Location: WWF Thailand Office in Bangkok Province
Background of the Project:
The Dawna Tenasserim Landscape (DTL) is an extended forested area located between Thailand and southern Myanmar, which supports the largest population of tigers (~ 200 - 300 individuals) in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It also represents the most promising site for the long term persistence of wild tigers. The historical range of tigers extended from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea to Siberia and Indonesia and even in Borneo (Piper,P.J. et al., 2007) and Palawan in the Philippines (Piper,P.J. et al., 2008). Today the range of the tiger is only 7% of what it used to be. Furthermore, within the past decade alone, the estimated area known to be occupied by tigers has declined by 41% (Dinerstein, E. et al., 2007). A global population of 40000 tigers was estimated in 1974, but it has dwindled to approximately 3200 individuals. The major threats for this species are: poaching and habitat loss and degradation due to agriculture (crops and wood plantations), mining and infrastructures development (human settlements, dams, roads).
Despite the land stewardship practices of local residents, the Thai government’s commitments in the area and the inputs of NGOs, DTL is a geographical area particularly susceptible to modifications due to the construction of roads, which allow increased access to Myanmar and China, and the development of dams; the former together with unsustainable logging and plantation projects (mostly rubber and oil palm plantations) are driving high rates of deforestation and habitat degradation, which will lead to the loss and fragmentation of large areas of highly suitable habitat for tigers in the near future.
Therefore, the idea of focusing the protection of tigers just inside protected areas cannot be the only strategy for tiger’s conservation. In order to gain widespread support and necessary political will, conservation advocacies must integrate the protection and restoration of the ecosystems in which tigers live with sustainable development, highlighting the deep linkage between tigers’ core areas and the high values that these sites could likely have for people, in terms of ecosystem services provision.
WWF has provided sustained investment in capacity building, conservation research, education, and participatory conservation in this area for over 25 years. WWF with this project will focus on the impacts of planned infrastructures projects and in general land-use plans not “environmental friendly”, promoting at the same time incentive systems for sustainable development to strengthen the conservation value of Priority Tiger Landscapes in Greater Mekong Subregion.
In order to achieve these objectives we intend to use InVEST to achieve and/or inform the following: • Identify areas of current ES provision in DTL and to evaluate their biophysical and monetary values; • By first mapping planned infrastructure development, we will model future changes in ES provision; • Evaluate key Ecosystem Services in order to inform and help stakeholders and policy makers during the land use planning process. • Key outcome of this project will hopefully be the establishment of strong basis for biodiversity offsets and PES (payments for ecosystem services).
The project is in collaboration between many stakeholders including but not limited to the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plants Conservation, the Royal Forest Department, the Highway Department, Education sectors, and WWF Thailand and others projects and partners will be associated (WCS and GIZ) Project is funded by WWF Denmark and WWF Franch International. The project duration is 2 years of starting period starting at July 2011.
I Major Function:
In the capacity as the GIS Officer of DTL, provide technical support to projects by providing researches using InVest, MARXAN, and Infrastructure Planner as a primary tools to develop outputs advice to the planning, development, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of DTL management, biological corridor initiative activities, and other related projects of DTL.
Represent the Unit to government agencies and other key stakeholders, through networking and developing strategic partnerships to achieve Unit goals. Key responsibilities are to remain informed and up to date on GIS Landuse/cover and InVest database and research results of the DTL.
II Major Duties and Accountabilities:
a) Focus on DTL conservation Landscape Projects
• Conducting GIS analysis in Land use/cover of the DTL. • Conducting research on InVest, MARXAN, and Infrastructure implication, periodically giving presentation to the partners for networking purposes, and providing final report with a high quality for publication purposes. • Collect, analyse and disseminate spatial information at field level to provincial and national levels to support program reporting, site planning and project design. • Advise to DTL manager on GIS development and map interpretation for green infrastructure management planning. • Provide technical conservation advice and support to other land or resource use planning approaches. • Support the design, development and delivery of education and training courses to build capacity for collecting, analysing, managing and disseminating spatial information. • Ensure that all responsible activities use credible approaches and acceptable methodologies.
b) Project Reporting
• Work together with responsible WWF GIS senior officer to prepare materials for project progress reports, technical reports, project publications, leaflets, posters and final reports • Maintain familiarity with Government counterparts reporting formats and support the unit with the production of Thai Language reports for submission to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and other government agencies as necessary. • Responsible to review the final drafts of unit reports and ensure correct publications formats (WWF Network and government counterpart) are followed prior to their submission. • Ensure that all project and activity reports and other documents are produced to an appropriate format, quality, and content, and within the specified time frame. • Responsible to monitor and update the relevant sections of the WWF Thai website and WWF Connect website in regards to those GIS analysis in DTL.
c) Project Development
• Support the DTL manager with project proposal development. • Assist the DTL manager in developing new concepts and proposals in line with the Unit mission.
d) Project Representation, Networking and Partnership Building
• Represent DTL team of WWF Thailand to Meetings, as approved by DTL manager. • Assist the DTL manager to develop a network of contacts, and actively seeks to build strategic alliances with Governments, Local Governments, NGOs and Community Leaders to promote the project activities and Unit’s mission.
III. Supervisory Responsibilities:
None
IV. Working Relationships:
Develop a network of contacts and maintains good working relations with important stakeholders including relevant non-government and their line agencies most relevant to the project
- Internal: Work closely with DTL manager and GIS senior staff, WWF Thailand Programme.
- External: Interact with Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plants Conservation, the Royal Forest Department, the Royal Thai Army, universities, NGOs, community leaders, Tambon Administration organizations and government agency who related with the project. As well as Project External Consultants.
V. Requirements:
- Education and Qualification - Master degree in the field related to GIS and Wildlife Ecology
- Experience
- At least 3 years field experience in GIS regards wildlife conservation
- Experience on wildlife survey and community work
- General Skill - Excellence in Computer Skill - Influencing skill - Presentation, communication and facilitation skill - Fluency in written and spoken English and Thai
- Technical Skill - Report writing - Coping with varied workload
- Ability - Motivating others - Being flexible and adaptive - Setting clear goals and objectives - Working independently - Travelling and working in the field
- Personality
- Outgoing,
- Friendly
- Committed
VI. WWF's Mission and Values:
- It is part of every staff member's terms of reference to contribute to WWF's mission: WWF’s Mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in
which humans live in harmony with nature, by:- conserving the world's biological diversity
- ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable
- reducing pollution and wasteful consumption.
- It is also part of every staff member's terms of reference to embody WWF's values, which are: Passionate & Optimistic, Challenging & Inspiring, Credible & Accountable, Persevering & Delivering Results.
Range of Salary: Baht 27,809 - 37,919.33 (Gross/month) depend on qualification Closing date for application: 25 February 2012
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