DRC Land Use Planning Coordinator

Jul 24, 2017 | Rainforest Foundation UK
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The mission of the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) is to support indigenous peoples and traditional populations of the world's rainforest to secure and control the natural resources necessary for their long-term wellbeing and to manage these resources in ways which do not harm their environment, violate their culture or compromise their future and develop means to protect their individual and collective rights and to obtain, shape and control basic services from the state.

RFUK considers that an essential first step to protect and manage the tropical forests and to reduce poverty in tropical forest countries is to realise the rights of the traditional and indigenous communities who live in those forests. With secure rights to land and livelihoods, forest peoples can effectively manage forest resources and direct and manage their own development. Founded in 1989, RFUK has in the past 25 years built a solid body of work based on this rights-based approach to development and protection of the rainforest. Although our work is focused on the Congo Basin, where RFUK has worked since 1996, we also work in the Peruvian Amazon. RFUK tackles the underlying causes of deforestation linked to the problems of disenfranchisement of indigenous forest peoples globally and locally. From the field to the international policy arena, RFUK reinforces the active participation of forest peoples in the decisions that affect them. We work with over 15 partner organisations in tropical forest countries and our programme work is split into the following thematic areas:

  • Threats to forests from the extractive industries, infrastructure development and agro industrial expansion;
  • Conservation effectiveness and monitoring of initiatives to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD);
  • Community-based forest management, land-use planning and tenure reform; Community mapping and forest monitoring; Indigenous peoples’ rights.

Key Responsibility of DRC Land Use Planning Coordinator

As part of a team of four staff, the DRC Land Use Planning Coordinator will participate in the implementation of the DFID-funded Community Forests project, providing permanent support to the RFUK DRC Programme team as well as DRC partner organisations. She/he will take responsibility for developing pilot project(s) on participatory land use planning in DRC, which will be implemented at field level with input and engagement of relevant national and local government institutions. She/he will also provide technical support more broadly on land use planning issues to the DRC programme and other RFUK programmes as required.

Specific Responsibilities and Tasks

The DRC Land Use Planning Coordinator will work in close cooperation with other members of the DRC Programme Team, other relevant RFUK staff as well as with RFUK DRC partners, and with relevant ministries and institutions in DRC and in the Congo basin region, to implement and guide activities related to the execution of the DRC Community Forests project. In particular she/he will be responsible for and expected to deliver the following :

Project Management

  • Manage the planning and implementation of Participatory Land Use Planning pilot project(s) in DRC, including advising and training implementing partners on the use of RFUK Participatory Land Use Planning methodology;
  • Undertake monitoring, evaluation and learning in relation to Participatory Land Use Planning pilot project(s) in DRC;
  • Monitor relevant national and international policy and technical and institutional developments, generally concerning land use planning in the Congo basin and more particularly in the DRC;
  • Work closely with RFUK Mapping team, the Research and Policy team and other relevant programme staff, to develop the Land Use Planning policy strategy and ensure it is aligned with the overall RFUK Programme Strategy;
  • Work closely with the DRC Coordinator, the DRC Community Forests Officer and the Community Forests Consortium Coordinator to ensure the implementation of the DfID- funded DRC Community Forest project according to the Programmes and project strategy, logframe, budget and timetable;, especially through the implementation of land use planning pilot sites;
  • Manage the project budget related to land use planning pilot(s); Contribute as required to project narrative and financial reports to RFUK’s donors; Liaise with relevant members of RFUK staff, projects partners, consultants, national/local authorities in country as necessary to ensure efficient and effective implementation of programme/project outputs;
  • Participate in, conduct and/or organise and lead workshops for sharing lessons and experience at national and regional levels on community forestry and Land Use Planning; Conduct regular visits to DRC (up to 16 weeks per year) to guide and monitor project implementation and provide support to partners, including to remote forest areas where community forests and land use planning pilots will be tested, and as required.

Technical advice and support

  • Under the supervision of the DRC Coordinator, and in close cooperation with the Mapping team, provide technical advice on environmental planning, specifically in land use planning-related project activities implemented by RFUK in DRC and elsewhere;
  • Provide capacity building on planning, land management and planning issues to relevant RFUK staff, partners, participating communities, and other stakeholders;
  • In close cooperation with the Mapping team, to help to refine RFUKs Participatory Land Use Planning methodology, based on learnings from the field and from project implementation;
  • Alongside RFUK’s DRC programme staff, RFUK’s international and local partners, collaborate with the Ministry of Land Use Planning in the DRC and other relevant institutions to determine the most appropriate way forward for developing various institutional tools, implementing programmes and monitoring mechanisms of land use planning implementation;
  • Provide guidance to research and policy issues with respect to land use planning and community forest management to the RFUK Programme team as well as to implementing partners;
  • To provide technical input on RFUK’s community forest pilot sites in DRC, principally on spatial management and land use zoning within these pilot sites;
  • Support the sharing of relevant experience and models of land use planning development implemented by other organisations and institutions in the Congo Basin and in other parts of the world, as appropriate;

Other

  • Supervise the work of consultants, researchers, interns and volunteers as appropriate; Assist in the identification and preparation of new opportunities for programme development, including the preparation of funding proposals;
  • Participate in RFUK’s strategic development and in regular internal coordination meetings; Prepare to publications-standard programme and policy materials and publications, as appropriate, including leaflets, briefings, reports and internet material, in liaison with other Programme and non-programme staff;
  • Contribute to the development of the RFUK’s organisational knowledge base, such as by providing contacts for the central database, etc. ;
  • Represent the organisation in relevant local, national and international fora, on relevant policy issues, as appropriate; Perform other tasks as may from time to time be requested by the DRC Coordinator, the Head of Programmes and the Executive Director.

Please see "Qualifications, skills and experience required" at here http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/media.ashx/jdland-use-planning-coordinatoren.pdf