Human Elephant Conflict Intern

Want to make a positive difference to the future of people and our one shared home, the Earth? Working with WWF could be the opportunity of a lifetime:
All around the world, people are waking up to the deepening crisis of nature loss. A growing realization that nature is our life-support system. And that nobody will be spared from the impacts of its loss. Here at WWF, we are helping to tackle this enormous global challenge.
Our people come from hugely diverse backgrounds and with a variety of expertise, ranging from HR and finance to advocacy and conservation science. We welcome applications from anyone who believes they can help us create a better future for people and wildlife.
What we do:
We are an independent conservation organization, striving to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife. From individuals and communities to business and government, we are part of a growing coalition calling on world leaders to set nature on the path to recovery by 2030. Together, we seek to protect and restore natural habitats, stop the mass extinction of wildlife, and make the way we produce and consume sustainable. WWF Network has moved to the development and the implementation of 9 Practices with Global Goals to be achieved.
For our Cameroon Country Office, we are looking for a dynamic and engaged Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) Intern to support the Coastal Forest Programme in filling its need.
Reports to:
– Line manager: Coastal Forests Program Landscape Advisor
– Dotted line report: Coastal Forests Program Manager
Location:Limbe
Contract type: Professional Internship
Duration: Seven (07) months
The mission of the department
To support the WWF CCO’s vision and broad conservation goals. The objectives of the consultant include:

Monitor the HEC measures taken and their effectiveness;

Monitor attitudes, perception, tolerance, and benefits in the concerned communities for inform decisions;

Collect and analyze the data, and produce and share regular reports from the HEC data;

Identify the locations, demographic groups and activities, most at risk of elephant and other wildlife attacks, in order to inform safety guidelines and zoning;

Analyze the existing risk factors for crop loss to inform mitigation measures, land use planning, and zoning;

Increase awareness and understanding of the importance of protecting elephants in the West Coast and Bomboko Clusters of the Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP);

Develop appealing stories on the HEC work in the West Coast and Bomboko Clusters, and

Produce on the ground reports in various formats that highlights HEC field results, key achievements, success stories, challenges and perspectives.

Major Functions and Responsibilities:
This position provides support to the proper implementation of the HEC in the communities of the West Coast and Bomboko clusters of the MCNP area. It strives to also engage with diverse stakeholders, including local communities, government of Cameroon, PSMNR, CSOs, private sector, international NGOs, parliamentarians, senators, … to contribute to the management of HEC issues in the MCNP area. Specifically, the position performs the following duties:

Assist in the implementation of a holistic HEC management program (C2C), including:

Establishment of a HEC monitoring standardized system/protocols, including elephant sightings, and crop raiding events, using a variety of methods (SMART, camera traps, hand eldps, remote sensing, …);

Compiling additional information on human impacts using ground-based methods (e.g. recent agricultural expansion, agroforestry, land use patterns, poaching signs, …), and

Development of a HEC Monitoring Database for the MCNP area.

Provides key HEC support and training to the communities in the West Coast, Bomboko and other clusters of the MCNP area, including MINFOF/PSMNR and WWF-Coastal Forests Programme staff;

Serves as liaison between the people of the West Coast and Bomboko Clusters and WWF and MINFOF/PSMNR;

Identifies fields to be fenced and trains local teams in the fence maintenance;

Assists in the supervision and capacity building of the rapid response teams (RRTs);

Develops stories on HEC and shares them with WWF and PSMNR for input and publication in their different channels;

Attends meetings and workshops relating to HEC to improve on the HEC work;

Provides quality assurance to reporting on the programme’s progress and results (activities, outputs, lessons learned and outcomes) on a regular basis. This includes quarterly and Technical Progress Reports;

Participates in planning and plays an active role in events, national and international forums organized by WWF and other partners, and

Provides WWF technical staff with necessary information, including photos and videos, for presentations and fundraising on HEC.

Profile:
Required Qualifications:

At least a bachelor’s degree or preferably a Master’s degree in conservation biology, wildlife management, sustainable development, conservation anthropology, natural resource management or related disciplines;

Minimum 01 year of relevant working experience in similar role,

Experience working for a conservation/development agency is an added value.

Required Skills and Competencies:

Data collection, including biological, analysis and reporting;

Demonstrated experience to work with local communities;

Good knowledge on GIS, geospatial analysis and database development;

Production of publishable articles;

Interaction with different partners;

Demonstrated understanding of natural resources management, climate change and socio-economic development;

Experience in the management of protected areas;

Conflict management;

Communication;

Fully computer literate – skilled and confident in using office applications such as MS office (word, excel, power point, project), and

Proactive approach to meeting deadlines and delivering results with limited supervision.

Competencies

A good team player with excellent interpersonal, presentation and communication skills;

Excellent writing skills;

Able to handle multi-tasks and meet with tight schedule, work with various parties;

Independently and able to deliver results under pressure;

Detail-oriented, hands-on and able to follow through projects or tasks;

Positive thinker with a ‘can do’ attitude and eager to learn;

Outgoing and able to work in the field;

Passionate about conservation issues;

Good command of both written and spoken English and some French;

Proficient in the use of the computer

WWF’s Values & Behaviors:

Aligns and identifies with the core values of the WWF organization: Courage, Integrity, Respect and Collaboration.

Able to demonstrate WWF behaviors in ways of working: strive for impact, listen deeply, collaborate openly and innovate fearlessly.

Working Relationships:
Internal
Interacts with the WWF team (landscape, national and International, thematic leads,Programme Managers).
External
Interacts with Government and private sector partners (to ensure alignment with environmental Impact assessment), service providers (printing offices, graphic designers, video editors, documentary producers).
This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.

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