Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) for Conservation and Sustainable Utilization

China is one of the seven independent centres of crop origin in the world. In order to learn from best practices abroad and promote intenational cooperation, the Chinese Ministry of Abgriculture (herafter the MOA), in collaboration with UNDP, developed and applied to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) a project entitled “Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Wild Relatives of Crops in China”. 

This project will eliminate barriers to the mainstreaming of conservation of wild relatives within the agricultural sector, thus promoting integration of conservation and production, and ensuring that the global environmental benefits secured thereby are sustainable. 

The project will execute a combination of actions aimed at establishing sustainable sources of financial and other incentives for conservation, modification to the legal framework, enhancement of capacity building (including technical monitoring capacity) and awareness rising to address threats and root causes to the conservation of wild relatives and promote integration of conservation and production, thus ensuring the sustainability of the conservation in China.

In May 2007, the project was countersigned by the Ministry of Finance (MOF, the focal point of GEF project in China), the MOA (the project executing agency, hereafter the EA) and the UNDP (the project implementation agency, hereafter the IA). The Project was formally launched in June 2007 and is scheduled to last for six years.
 
The project is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (hereafter UNDP), and executed by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture with managerial support by the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE) in particular financial management. 

Project Objective and Outcomes
Objective: Mainstream conservation of wild relatives of crops in agricultural production landscapes in eight provinces of China

Outcome 1: Generation of sustainable financial or other incentives for conservation of wild relatives at the county level in eight provinces
Outcome 2: The policy, legal and regulatory system supports conservation of wild relatives
Outcome 3: Stakeholders at the central and local level have adequate capacity to conserve wild relatives
Outcome 4: Accurate and timely information concerning the status of wild relatives is available and utilized
Outcome 5: Lessons and experiences from target provinces create conditions for replication and expansion of conservation programmes

Since the project inception on 18 December 2007, several achievements have been achieved in line with the ProDoc, including

• The establishment of the project institutions, e.g. National Project Steering Committee (PSC), Project Management Office under the Ministry of Agriculture;
• Identified 8 project sites;
• Subcontracted the CICETE as the administrative and finical services provider
• Awarded 17 SCs for Development of a monitoring and alerting system and software, Project Baseline Assessment at Each of The 8 Sites, Design of Locally Appropriate Incentives for 4 of the 8 sites, Project Publication Packages and Superior Germplasm Assessment  of Wild Rice/Soybean/Wheat, etc.

Job Descriptions
Under the guidance of the National Project Director and Project Steering Committee, the CTA will work closely with the National Project Coordinator (NPC), UNDP and Project Management Office (PMO). S/he will be primarily responsible for building national and local capacities on identifying, testing and replicating sustainable financing mechanisms for in –situ conservation of wild relatives of crops, based on international best practices. In addition, the CTA also assumes the following responsibilities:

• Advising the PMO on refinement of log frame and project indicators to make them more relevant and appropriate
• Identifying appropriate project lessons and their documentation
• Assisting the PMO for preparing annual progress reports (including PIRs) and updating GEF tracking tool
• Helping build international linkages to appropriate institutions and experts

•  have demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing sustainable financing schemes and capacity building,
• 10 years plus professional experience in consulting for management of biodiversity or related areas;
• be familiar with working procedures of international organizations especially GEF and UNDP;
• have an academic background in either agro-economics or biology;

• have excellent English reading, speaking and writing, Mandarin speaking and reading would be an asset;
• have good communication, organization and writing skills;
• team work spirit