KEY BIODIVERSITY AREA REGIONAL FOCAL POINT IN LATIN AMERICA

Overall purpose of the job

Thirteen of the world’s leading conservation organisations have established an ambitious new partnership to identify, map, monitor and conserve Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) through the application of the KBA Standard. The KBA Regional Focal Point in Latin America will lead and support the KBA Partnership’s activities in the region and report to the Head of the KBA Secretariat.  He/she will implement a visionary and ambitious Programme to mobilize resources and expertise to identify and map Key Biodiversity Areas in Central and South America. The Regional Focal Point will also lead the KBA Partnerships efforts to advise national governments in expanding their protected areas network, will advocate for the protection of existing KBAs, and will work with private companies to ensure they minimize and mitigate their impact on nature.

Background

The Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Partnership was formed in 2016 by many of the leading conservation organisations to identify, map and conserve the most important sites for biodiversity on earth. The KBA Secretariat was established in 2018 to coordinate the implementation of the programme. Within the KBA Secretariat, KBA Regional Focal Points are responsible for facilitating and encouraging the formation of KBA National Coordination Groups (NCGs) within countries and for supporting the process of proposing KBAs led by NCGs and other independent proponents.

We are recruiting a KBA Regional Focal Point for Latin America (central and South America) who would be based in Medellin, Colombia.

Job description

The main tasks of the KBA Regional Focal Point will be to:

• Promote the KBA programme within Latin America
• Be the first point of contact for people or institutions interested in identifying sites meeting the KBA criteria and proposing them for inclusion in the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas in their respective region
• Maintain an overview of KBA identification initiatives within their region, regularly updating the KBA Secretariat and KBA Partners about them
• Encourage and support the establishment and functioning of KBA National Coordination Groups including working with them to organize and facilitate workshops to identify and map potential KBAs
• Identify training needs within the region, inform the head of the KBA Secretariat and support fundraising efforts for KBA training. Help also in translating training materials into Spanish/Portuguese
• Maintain regular contact with the respective KBA Community Regional Representatives and support their work in the region
• Guide NCGs and independent proponents through the process of proposing KBAs, and provide the first review of proposals to assist KBA proponents with the proposal process
• Coordinate external review of proposals from the region
• Support the nomination of reviewed site proposals to the KBA Secretariat in Cambridge
• Advocate with national and state governments and civil society organizations the protection of existing KBAs

The KBA Regional Focal Point for Latin America should have the following expertise:

• Familiarity with the biogeography and socio-political context for biodiversity conservation across Latin America
• Familiarity with organizations and institutions, at national and regional levels, who can work to establish KBA National Coordination Groups and/or undertake processes to identify KBAs
• Understanding of national and regional political sensitivities and ability to promote the KBA programme within the regional context
• Knowledge of the KBA criteria and thresholds and experience in the application of these would be ideal but willingness to learn these is essential
• Be well known within their region and able to influence governments and/or civil society to engage with KBA identification and conservation
• Capable of using GIS

Reporting

The position reports to the Head of the KBA Secretariat, Dr Andrew Plumptre, and additionally to Rainforest Trust which is financing the post.

Applications

Applicants are expected to have at least 10 years of experience in Latin America, preferably with knowledge of several countries in the region. They must be fluent in English and either Spanish or Portuguese, but able to communicate professionally with both Spanish and Portuguese speakers.  They will be based in Medellin in Columbia within the offices of Fundación ProAves, a national NGO.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter describing their suitability for the post together with a CV that includes the contacts of at least two references and submit these by April 15^th 2019 to jobs@RainforestTrust.org with the files named as follows: name of candidate_Latin-America_RFP.