Overview

Position Title:

LMMA consultant

Location:

Remote working

 
 

Closing date for applications:

01 April 2015

Start date:

Mid-April 2015

Contract type:

4-month consultancy

Remuneration:

Competitive, based on experience

Organisation overview

Blue Ventures works to rebuild tropical fisheries with coastal communities. We develop transformative approaches for nurturing and sustaining locally led marine conservation, and are committed to protecting marine biodiversity in ways that benefit coastal people. We work in places where the ocean is vital to local cultures and economies, and where there is a fundamental unmet need to support human development.

Summary Job Description

For over ten years, Blue Ventures has been supporting coastal communities in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean region to create Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), areas of ocean managed by coastal communities to help protect fisheries and safeguard marine biodiversity. Since 2012, Madagascar’s LMMAs have been united within an informal network known as MIHARI, established to provide a framework for community exchange and dialogue to share local experiences of community-based fisheries management and conservation.

Blue Ventures is seeking an LMMA Consultant to create a training and educational resource to support the development of the MIHARI network. The LMMA Consultant will be responsible for delivering a series of written, practical guides covering how to set up, finance, manage and monitor an LMMA in Madagascar, and will draw on both organisational knowledge and published literature.

The LMMA Consultant will be an enterprising and dynamic individual, with excellent knowledge of the small-scale fisheries and marine conservation sectors, and first-rate written and verbal communications skills. You will have experience of preparing reports for diverse audiences, enjoy independent working and will demonstrate a high level of personal organisation and an ability to work to deadlines.

The consultant will work remotely, but will report to Blue Ventures’ Outreach manager in London, and collaborate with staff in Bristol, London and Madagascar. This project provides an excellent opportunity for the successful candidate to build professional networks and accumulate knowledge about cutting-edge fisheries management approaches.

Position responsibilities

LMMA toolkit

  • Synthesise 10 years of organisational knowledge of community-based marine resource management in Madagascar.
  • Review literature on community engagement and management of LMMAs and evaluate potential of different financing mechanisms.
  • Distil outputs of review and synthesis into a series of practical guides covering establishment, management, monitoring and funding of local-led conservation In Madagascar.

Communications/reporting

  • Contribution to development of research/conservation publications as required.
  • Regular reporting to Outreach Manager (in UK).

Specific requirements of candidates

Qualifications/Skills Required

  • MSc (or equivalent) in marine conservation, development, or related field (or highly relevant work experience of 5+ years)
  • Excellent writing skills (shortlisted candidates may be asked to sit a written test)
  • Proven ability in producing reports for diverse audiences
  • Fluency in English; French beneficial
  • Dynamic, enthusiastic, hardworking and highly organised
  • Computer and reference management skills (Proficiency in Microsoft Office and research databases such as Mendeley or Zotero)