Central African Republic: Transhumance Manager

Mar 7, 2022 | African Parks
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African Parks is a non-profit conservation organization that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. We currently manage 19 national parks and protected areas in 11 countries covering over 14.1 million hectares in: Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Chinko’s mosaic of ecosystems at such latitude on the African continent makes this area incredibly rich and unique in biodiversity. The Chinko Conservation Area (CCA) is an important area for endangered wildlife as well a vast ecosystem with complex interactions and is the only managed protected environment in the remote eastern part of CAR.

Most recently, a “functional landscape” of about 64’645 km2 which the government of the CAR designated the mandate to APN to develop a comprehensive conservation strategy and land-use plan. This will need protecting.

Job overview:

African Parks – RCA, engaged in the protection and rehabilitation of the CCA in the Central African Republic, is looking for a Transhumance Manager who will be responsible to co-develop and implement the transhumance strategy.

Main Roles & Responsibilities:

  • Analyze current ways of working, data collected, and results obtained through the current intern and extern TANGO sensitization approach and provide advice to strengthen the strategy; • Provide support in logistic aspects to ensure all TANGO teams are equipped before transhumance season;
  • Take part in TANGO staff education, training and briefings before deployment, debrief teams once back from the field, and analyze data collected to inform the strategy;
  • Support, monitor and guide sensitization teams deployed in the larger periphery of the conservation area, evaluate the results obtained and depending on context analysis, expand the approach in relevant areas, especially into South Darfur, Sudan;
  • Engage with herders’ representatives in key pastoralist locations in eastern CAR and convene workshops to set out Chinko’s approach for sustainable pastoralism and conservation;
  • Conduct prospective field missions in Sudan and South Sudan to meet pastoralists stakeholders and inform the strategy with trends and dynamics poorly understand today – complying carefully with African Parks’ policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for security when travelling in sensitive environments;
  • Supports all necessary work to have APN registered and operational in Sudan and especially South Darfur. Communicates with relevant APN leadership in South Africa and coordinates a joint comprehensive strategy to enable APN to work in South Darfur for awareness raising and training purposes.
  • Work with Chinko Sustainable Development team and government officers of livestock, agriculture, land use planning, and environment to shape and develop transhumance corridors with the relevant facilities (signage, water points, veterinary points, etc.).
  • Represent Chinko Conservation Area in national and regional meetings on transhumance and pastoralism when necessary, and develop/maintain positive relationships with stakeholders;
  • Liaise with colleagues of the Regional Information Coordination Center of Garamba National Park with relevant information and dynamics analysis, and keep exchange with the RICC team in Chinko and Garamba as needed;
  • Take part in relevant exchange missions when arising, in other parks facing transhumance issues in CAR and throughout the larger Sahelian region to share successful approaches.
  • Provide inputs to update the 5 Year Business Plan of Chinko regarding pastoralism and the development of transhumance corridors and sustainable pastureland;
  • Perform any other cognate duties as and when assigned.

Education and Experience:

  • Minimum four (4) years of experience working in the pastoralism field, a prior experience in conservation in protected areas is an advantage;
  • A post-graduate degree in anthropology, biodiversity conservation, rural development or other related fields of study;
  • Excellent analytical, oral and written communications skills in English and French; capacity to interact in Fulfulde, Arabic and Sango is an advantage.
  • Experience working in unstable places following security procedures is an advantage;
  • Strong initiative, perseverance, and resilience;
  • Previous experience living in Africa and willingness to live in a remote setting with regular field missions;
  • Good team player with experience working with multicultural teams.

How to apply:

To apply, please email your CV and cover letter to centralafrica.hr@africanparks.org by Monday, 28th February 2022. Please mention the position name in the subject line of the email. In case you do not hear from us within two weeks after the closing date, this means that your application was not successful. We thank you for your interest in working for African Parks.