About Us

Responsibilities

• Coordinate closely with TREES Project Director and TREES Community Forestry and Enterprise Development Specialist for Ghana in the evaluation and selection of pilot sites guided by the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) and Readiness Plan (R-Plan) processes;
• Develop strategies for enhancing Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) through forest carbon financing under REDD at the landscape level;
• Guide and oversee technical implementation of payment for environmental services strategy for TREES projects in Ghana;
• Conduct analyses of current policy and the legal and regulatory framework for forest carbon projects, activities and investments;
• Work with governments, local authorities and community stakeholders to bring clarity on ownership, contractual, revenue-sharing and reinvestment issues;
• Contribute to the multi-stakeholder consultative process to develop a national REDD strategy (including R-Plan and associated activities).
• Coordinate closely with TREES Community Forestry and Enterprise Development Specialist for Ghana for the following:
  • Train and build the capacity of pilot indigenous communities, traditional authorities, private forest reserve operators and technical professionals to understand national mechanisms, policies, and international markets for REDD based carbon investments;
  • Facilitate linkages between community based forest enterprises, communities, private investors and governments for enhanced communication and understanding;
  • Disseminate project socio-economic and environmental impacts from SFM through case studies and REDD success stories; and
  • Scale up demonstrated successful community based SFM and REDD approaches as part of TREES' overall SFM initiatives as appropriate to other landscapes or countries.
• Assist with the creation of project development documents for the pilot sites and leverage co-financing and support;
• Facilitate development and implementation of high quality carbon sequestration projects verified to the Voluntary Carbon Standard or Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard or other as appropriate, including the administrative and institutional arrangement framework for the sale of carbon credits and reinvestment and distribution of revenues;
• Build market linkages for legally verified, or certified, timber and non-timber products and facilitate formal sourcing contracts with participating communities and community based forest enterprises;
• Use results and lessons learned from TREES REDD activities in Ghana to strengthen the analytical basis for the development of national strategies for REDD in Ghana and other developing countries;
• Prepare scope of work documents and oversee consultants and local service providers as required;
• Prepare progress reports as required by Rainforest Alliance and donor project reporting schedules; and
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; MSc in sustainable natural resources management, environmental economics or related field preferred;
• Minimum 5 - 7 years of experience in renewable natural resources management, with at least one year of experience in environmental services projects, preferably forest carbon;
• Demonstrated experience in rural development directly involving community organizations and/or assisting small rural producers;
• High level of familiarity with national private financial sector and public sector programs related to rural development, environmental and natural resource management, and finance policy;
• Direct experience with national REDD processes and familiarity with key issues including ownership and tenure of carbon credits, administration and reinvestment of revenues, marketing mechanisms, etc.;
• Knowledge of standards related to forest carbon investment including VCS, CBBA, etc;
• Knowledge of environmental finance and voluntary markets for VERs from avoided deforestation;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Ability to formulate and write technical proposals for projects (planning, funding, budgets, management, evaluation, and monitoring) and to negotiate cooperative agreements with national and international organizations, institutions, etc.;
• Strong computer skills (Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint);
• Ability to effectively engage a wide range of parties from local leaders to the highest ministerial levels; and
• Willingness and ability to travel 40% of the time, mostly nationally.