Consultant, Project on Conservation Techniques in the Gulf of California

Consultant for Two Month Project on Conservation Techniques in the Gulf of California

Organization Background:
Rare is a fast-growing, international conservation organization that runs state-of-the art communication and outreach projects that empower local communities with the tools to solve their own conservation challenges. Rare’s innovative conservation programs fuel projects located in more than 40 countries around the world.  Named to Fast Company magazine’s list of “Top Social Capitalists” for the last four years in a row, Rare is committed to bringing a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity to solving one of this century’s great challenges – changing human behavior to make conservation possible.

All Rare projects are managed by local partners; our focus is on building community support for conservation and developing local communications capacity among the world’s leading local environmental organizations. Rare has trained 150 local conservation leaders implementing dynamic change processes in 40 countries. These “campaign managers” work for the largest and the smallest conservation organizations globally, including The Nature Conservancy, WWF, and Conservation International. 

Opportunity:
Designing a Rare Pride + Fisheries Fellows Campaign Cohort for the Gulf of California. Please see full Terms of Reference and Project Description below.

Qualifications, Skills & Knowledge Requirements:
• At least 5 years experience in marine conservation issues
• Extensive knowledge and understanding of the Gulf of California and its culture, political landscape, and people At least 5 years experience in marine conservation issues
• Ability to devote at least two months of part time (20 hours/week minimum) to this project.

To apply:
Please prepare a proposal describing professional background, services, and fees to: Cynthia Brown Mayoral,Director of Fisheries Fellows at cmayoral@rareconservation.org
  
Project Description and Terms of Reference for Consultant:
Rare is planning to develop a cohort of 4-6 marine-oriented Pride (social marketing) campaigns accompanied by full-time technical assistants, Fisheries Fellows (FF) in the Gulf of California (GOC), Mexico.  These campaigns will aim to achieve specific marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable use objectives through the identification and reduction of threats to natural resources, focusing on those threats that emanate from local communities.

RARE will engage the Consultant to support the development of the concept/strategy for this campaign cohort.  The Consultant will draft strategies for threat reduction and sustainable management, and the Consultant will identify ways to apply social marketing and fisher-level technical assistance in support of those strategies towards achieving behavioral change where it matters most.

A very specific and essential niche will be identified where RARE campaigns will contribute to conservation programs and projects, by achieving behavioral change in essential sites within the Gulf Of California. Supporting training programs will be developed to enable the creation of a strong, knowledgeable cohort which can communicate confidently and convincingly from a solid basis of understanding of the issues, threats and essential strategies.

This niche could form around the designation of No Take Zones, the catch share initiative being implemented by WWF and EDF, or some other management scheme.  The niche should be directly related to, and support the direction of, fisheries management in the GOC as being implemented by local NGOs and authorities.

In support of the marine Pride + FF campaign development, Consultant will:

1. Draft a strategic plan for the RARE cohort from the basis of initial RARE planning documents, focusing on key strategies for marine conservation success in the GOC and key open niches of social marketing which RARE can fill with their marine cohort. 

2. In the strategic plan, prioritize threats to marine biodiversity in the region, especially the threats that communities play a major role in, and which should be priorities for Pride campaigns.  How important are these threats compared with threats not linked with local communities? (This should be backed up by citation of relevant literature).

3. From the literature on Pride campaign impact, estimate how significant it would be for biodiversity conservation globally to implement a cohort of Pride campaigns in the GOC, expecting that these campaigns will have an average impact.   Given that the cost of Pride campaigns that include a pride campaign manager and a fisheries fellow may be $200K per community for 5 communities, would this blended approach achieve superior results for biodiversity than an investment of 1 million dollars in a different NGO-led marine conservation strategy?  Is there another strategy or initiative that may be more cost effective for these communities?

4. In the strategic plan, indicate which key components of marine conservation in the GOC most urgently need social marketing to achieve behavioral changes upon which conservation success is dependent.   This should also be backed up by citation of relevant literature.

5. Analyze the role that the FF can provide through daily accompaniment of fisher groups, providing specific incentives to promote adoption of specific behavioral changes.  Indicate what specific incentives the FF could provide to achieve campaign objectives.

6. Indicate how Pride + FF will play a significant role in helping to reduce these threats and what would be a (or several) “theory of change” describing the chain of effects leading to conservation impact.  (Please see attached example).  Together with examples of theories of change, also attach a narrative for each explaining the roles of the various partners, monitoring protocols that would be practical and cost effective, and any particular challenges that should be highlighted.

7. Develop site selection criteria and a process for application of these criteria, which would be used to determine priority sites for Pride. In addition, consultants will suggest between 8-15 sites and partners at those sites on the basis of these criteria.

8. Review and highlight the key relevant aspects of the work plans for 2010-2012 for the major organizations and processes working in the region: TNC, WWF, Environmental Defense, COBI, Niparaja, CEDO, Pro Peninsula, CONAPESCA, INAPESCA, CONANP plus any other relevant programs. RARE will provide these work-plans to the consultants. Consultants will also identify where Pride + FF would best fit in those programs and identify key people to engage with.

9. After reviewing the plans of the major stakeholders, and considering the pace at which government policy reform is progressing, estimate whether the timing of a cohort of campaigns is appropriate for 2010, or for some other time.

10. Identify other partners who could join Rare and its local lead agencies to assist the FF in barrier removal for behavior change, with a brief description of the role these partners could play, including monitoring partners.

11. Identify experts with local (site-specific and regional generic knowledge) to help produce written content for the teaching, and to sit on expert panels both during university sessions and as mentors during campaign implementation.