Global Forest Watch-Gabon Stakeholder Engagement Intern, Libreville, Gabon

Overview

The successful candidate will work closely with WRI's Gabon Global Forest Watch team and partners to propose and/or develop solutions (data products, applications, communications material) that address the specific needs of key target audiences in the government, civil society and private sector regarding use of the Global Forest Watch and Gabon Forest Atlas platforms to improve land-use planning and forest monitoring in Gabon. The position will be based in Libreville, Gabon and the candidate will be embedded within WRI's Global Forest Watch team. Gabon is home to some of Africa's most intact rainforests, pristine beaches and thriving biodiversity – the successful candidate will contribute to safeguarding this natural heritage for future generations.

Global Forest Watch (GFW) - www.globalforestwatch.org – is an initiative convened by WRI and a number of different partners (e.g. Google, the University of Maryland, United Nations Environment Program). GFW's mission is to make high-quality information about forests universally accessible and useful for people worldwide, so as to empower them to manage forest landscapes sustainably and improve the livelihoods of local people. The GFW platform ( www.globalforestwatch.org) unites satellite technology, open data, and human networks to provide free access to the most timely, reliable, and actionable information about forests around the world. The GFW initiative supports governments, civil society, and the private sector to apply this information to solve critical forest monitoring and management challenges (see also www.forest-atlas.org).

In Gabon, WRI-GFW is working alongside a diverse set of partners across government, civil society and the private sector, towards improved management and monitoring of forests. In terms of government partners, WRI has historically worked closely with the Gabonese Ministry of Forests to develop the Gabon Forest Atlas, an online/offline management and communication platform for forest land-use allocation (gab.forest-atlas.org). WRI has also recently begun to work with the Gabonese Agency for Spatial Study and Observation (AGEOS) and the Gabonese National Parks Agency (ANPN), to support improved forest and national park management through improved access to information and technical capacity building. This work is part of an overall strategy which targets access to and application of critical forest information by key forest stakeholders, so that they may make informed policy and land management decisions regarding Gabon's forests.

However, despite the efforts of these partnerships, use of GFW and the Gabon Forest Atlas remains relatively limited within Gabon.

The objectives of this internship are to work with forest stakeholder groups to respond to the following questions: (1) what are the functionalities and data products needed by the local targeted audiences and how could GFW + the Gabon Forest Atlas best address these?; and (2) how can we create a better awareness of these tools and their content in Gabon?

The successful candidate will also research and analyze why certain targeted civil society members and government institutions are not using the GFW and Forest Atlas platforms to better inform their land-use allocation and forest monitoring decision-making, and formulate a strategy to increase their use of these tools and related data products.

Responsibilities

The intern will gain experience in the following areas:

• Identify the objectives, means of operating, available resources, and needs of identified civil society members and government institutions who are intended beneficiaries of GFW and the Forest Atlas;
• Propose a general strategy for working with these groups as part of the appropriation of the GFW and Forest Atlas initiative;
• With one or more of the local NGOs, and to the extent possible, identify and develop together at least one case study or a specific application that could be the subject of a request by the next proposition of 'GFW Small Grants' or other types of support from WRI-GFW;
• Time permitting, work closely with the WRI-Gabon team and above targeted audiences to develop initial data products/analyses (based on GFW and the Gabon Forest Atlas) which address specific needs of these groups;
• Meet with leaders of identified civil society organizations (CSOs) and government institutions to assess their goals and information needs;
• Work closely with leaders of local civil society organizations interested in developing targeted applications of GFW and Gabon's Forest Atlas, to better structure their approach and requests to WRI-GFW;
• Work with the National Coordinator for WRI-GFW to integrate the goals and expectations of local CSOs into the national strategy for land use planning and management;
• Write a brief final report, integrating the above expected results.

Qualifications

• Degree: Kennedy School, Harvard University student
• Professionally competent in French;
• The ability to work well independently and across diverse forest stakeholder groups is highly desired;
• Excellent research and analytical skills;
• The ability to integrate into new cultures quickly;
• Knowledge of forest and natural resource sector in Africa, a plus.

This is an unpaid internship.

Duration: Between 8-12 weeks. May-August, 2015

Location: Libreville, Gabon

Qualified applicants should apply online at www.wri.org/careers.

All applications must be submitted online through this career portal in order to be formally considered.

The World Resources Institute ( http://www.wri.org/wri) is an environmental and development research and policy organization that creates solutions to protect the Earth and improve people's lives. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, it is WRI's policy to recruit, hire, and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, parental status, protected veteran status, or disability. WRI's global agenda requires a staff that is diverse – with respect to race, gender, cultural, and international background. Diverse perspectives and experience enhance the way WRI selects and approaches issues, as well as the creativity and applicability of WRI's policy research and analysis. WRI, therefore, encourages applications from U.S. minorities, persons from other countries (especially developing nations), and from women of all backgrounds.

About WRI

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