Job Description

DEVELOPMENT OF CARBON CREDITING OPTIONS IN 2 EAST AFRICA LANDSCAPES

Terms of reference for a new position    D4 WCS    December 2019

Position:   Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Department:   Division: East Africa Regional Program

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Reports to:  Regional Director, East Africa

Coordinates with:  Conservation Solutions staff

Term:  2-year contract with possibility for renewal

Expected Start Date: January-March 2020, formal job

Context

WCS seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of carbon projects across a set of three landscape programmes in East Africa. Two landscapes have been pre-selected on the basis of opportunities for a blend of forest protection (avoided  deforestation) and restoration activities that can generate carbon credits. In each case WCS will commence pilot   activities in a small portion of the landscape at the same time as it evaluates the potential for cost-effective generation of verified emissions reductions. The final product of this work will be to prepare the studies and documentation required to have the projects validated against the appropriate methodologies of the Verified Carbon Standard. As a whole we refer to this package of work as a ‘feasibility assessment’.Job Descriptions The position will oversee feasibility assessments covering project activities in 2 WCS landscapes in East Africa, likely being based in WCS’s regional headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda. The objective of the feasibility work is to create a fact base that will facilitate an investor decision on the potential for cost effective credit generation over the long term i.e. to establish whether each project can deliver carbon credits at scale and at a cost below that of the revenue generated by sales of the carbon credits. A feasibility assessment in each country will investigate the potential for carbon sequestration and determine the costs of proceeding with a full project. Each assessment will address the following issues:

• Baseline data: Working with WCS country teams and other independent experts, review the existing baseline
information and update the emissions and sequestration baselines for each landscape in light of each proposed
activity. This will include a re-assessment of the historical drivers of deforestation and, possible additional future
drivers. Determine the project area for each project, the reference area, and relate the drivers and agents of land use
change to carbon stocks the start date for all activities
• Activities and methodologies: For each landscape, review the selected project activities against the appropriate
verification methodologies. Determine the data and knowledge gaps that need to be filled through pilot tests and field
implementation, to quantify accurately the true emissions reduction potentials of the chosen activities when taken to
scale.
• Pilot activities: For those activities where data is insufficient to build an investment case, work with WCS field teams
to design and implement activities fill these data gaps – through field measurements or other studies, over a period of
12-18 months.
• Develop carbon crediting mechanisms & consultations: Working with WCS in country staff, determine the optimum
pathway to quantification, verification and sale of the carbon credits.
This will require consultations with government and community stakeholders accurately to determine carbon
ownership rights and appropriate benefit sharing structures. The position will identify potential regulatory barriers to
the project producing and selling carbon credits, for example possible requirements for nesting the projects in an
emerging national REDD+ system. The position will not be required to undertake marketing or finding buyers for the
credits.
•  Project document synthesis: For each project in each country, write up the final feasibility assessment as a project
document, ready for submission to a Validation and Verification Body, compiling all relevant baseline data and pilot
test results, and providing a final, realistic assessment of the credit generation potentials. The position will be
employed on a fixed-term contract (2 years) with the expectation that the project will be extended through future
funding to support the scaling up phase through credit sales.They will work under the supervision of the WCS East
Africa Regional Manager, based in Kigali, Rwanda, and in close collaboration with the WCS Conservation Solutions
team. The position will:
•  Oversee the work of technical consultants, hired to conduct specific studies in each country towards the overall
project aim (for example, carbon baseline establishment, socio-economic assessment)
•  Work with the WCS country programme directors, and designated landscape leads to coordinate the field activities to
be conducted in each landscape
•   Design and implement a data collection and monitoring framework to be implemented alongside the pilot activities,
accurately to quantify costs and assess scale-up feasibility
•   Oversee the preparation of project documents (the synthesis of feasibility work) for each landscape, in collaboration
with technical consultants and the WCS Conservation Solutions.

Qualification Requirements

Qualifications:

• An advanced degree in conservation, environmental studies or other related advanced degree
• At least 5 years’ organization/project management experience, including budget and financial management
• Demonstrated experience working on REDD+ related to sustainable finance in a global context
• Demonstrated experience in the convening of networks and multi-stakeholders engagement
• Experience working on field based implementation of avoided deforestation, reforestation, woodlots, or natural regeneration projects
• Excellent written and oral language skills are required in English; the ability to function in another language (e.g. Spanish, French) is a plus
• Excellent skills in representation, outreach and partnerships building
• Excellent skills in mediation, communication and animation of multi-stakeholders initiatives

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth.  WCS seeks to conserve the world’s largest and most ecologically intact wild places. These places are home to more than 50 percent of the world’s biodiversity and sustain over 300 million of the world’s poorest people.

How to apply

Please provide expressions of interest online at www.wcs.org/about-us/careers