Sustainable Forest Management Expert

Vacancy Number: FVAC17.01 Job Title Sustainable Forest Management Expert Division/Department FAO Representative in Lebanon Programme/Project Number GCP /LEB/027/SCF “Smart Adaptation of Forest Landscapes in Mountain Areas (SALMA)” Location Beirut – Lebanon, with extensive travel to the project sites Expected Start Date of Assignment 01 February 2017 Duration: 5 years Reports to                           Mr. Abdel Hamied Hamid Name:                                         Dr. Maurice Saadé Title: Senior Regional Forestry Officer/RNE   FAO Representative in Lebanon   General Description of task(s)andobjectives to be achieved   The Forest Management Expert will be selected jointly by Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Ministry of Environment (MOE) and FAO through a transparent and open selection process. The PM/Project Management Unit (PMU), which will be under the oversight of the Project Steering Committee (PSC --MOA, MOE and FAO), will be housed at the MOA’s Rural Development and Natural Resources Directorate/Reforestation Program Coordination Unit headed by the Reforestation Program Coordinator (NPC).   Under the guidance of the Budget Holder (BH -FAO Representative in Lebanon), and with technical guidance from the FAO Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and the HQ Technical Officer (LTU), the Forest Management Expert will work under the direct supervision of the NPC and in collaboration with SALMA Project Manager, and will be responsible for overall coordination and supervision of reforestation, restoration and forest management activities including the provision of strategic and technical guidance for MOA, municipalities, NGOs and other related actors who will form Reforestation Consortium (RC). The Forest Management Expert d will carry out the following duties as a part of the project activity:   1.             Manage the Reforestation Unit (RU) and other RU members, including the provision of strategic and technical guidance for the RU staff and RPs; 2.             Ensure coherence and complementarity with other SALMA components; 3.             Coordinate with RDNRD/MoA in carrying out reforestation activities; 4.             Support the development of forest management plans and supervise and ensure their timely implementation in the field; 5.             Provide technical advice and training on reforestation and silviculture  to RC in preparing participatory reforestation plans; 6.             Monitor and evaluate performance of reforestation sites, especially on seedling survival rates and feed the data into the reforestation registry; 7.             Ensure timely implementation of reforestation activities by closely coordinating between municipalities, RPs and nurseries under the management of RDNRD/MoA; 8.             Evaluate proposed reforestation and forest management sites and participatory reforestation plans and prepare ranking lists of municipalities to be supported by the project; 9.             Prepare Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB) based on the approved reforestation and forest management plans; 10.          Identify issues to be addressed in maintaining and protecting the project supported reforestation and forest management sites and propose counter measures; 11.          Promote cost-saving technologies with the project supported RCs and identify effective measures to reduce reforestation costs; 12.          Provide constant review of the POM and update the document based on field experience; 13.          Assist the GIS, Mapping and M&E expert in designing the registry system; 14.          Coordinate and supervise the reforestation component M&E in close coordination with the GIS, Mapping and M&E expert, including preparing biannual progress reports; 15.          Ensure lessons learned are shared and integrated as part of the wider NRP knowledge management approach; and 16.          Contribute to formulating strategies for scaling-up and provide overall recommendations to Inter-ministerial Committee on reforestation activities based on the field lessons learned. key performance indicators Expected Outputs: -       Inception workshop -       Quarterly progress reports and annual reports including updated workplan fro the following reporting period -        Final project report after the final wrap-up workshop. Required Completion Date: 31 December 2021 Required Competencies Academic Qualifications The consultant must have: 1.             Advance University degree in forestry, natural resources management, environmental studies and/or similar fields with at least seven years relevant work experience in forest management and reforestation programmes. 2.             Strong prior project/programme management skills are essential. 3.             Experience in nursery management and tree propagation is an advantage. 4.             Working knowledge in Arabic and English (mandatory). Working knowledge of French would be a plus. 5.             Proficiency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, MS Office.  Technical Competencies and Experience Requirements Proficiency in the field of reforestation, landscape restoration, forest management and ecosystem approach.  Ability to work productively and harmoniously with people of different national and cultural backgrounds in a team environment. Flexibility and ability to work under pressure.