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Payment for Ecosystems Service Unit Lead

Tetra Tech ARD is seeking qualified candidates to lead a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Unit in the upcoming USAID-funded India Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest PLUS II) Project. The activity focuses on technical cooperation between the Government of India and the United States to build capacity to manage forest landscapes in India for improved delivery of ecosystem services and inclusive sustainable economic opportunities. The primary agency for cooperation is the Indian Forest Service. Direct beneficiaries will be citizens of communities near to forested areas.

 

The payment for ecosystem services unit will incorporate ecosystem services as a management objective into forest management (working) plans. This will include assessment of the stocks, flows, and potential beneficiaries of ecosystem services – particularly water, carbon, and biodiversity – and cost benefit analysis of active management to improve provision of those services. The unit will then design and potentially implement pilot activities for these services in multiple locations in India. The pilots will include a financing mechanism.

 

Responsibilities:

  • Manage all aspects of the development and implementation of the PES component for Forest PLUS II.
  • Manage long- term staff, subcontractors and consultants in support of the PES unit’s mandate.
  • Conduct baselines of existing ecosystem services from forests and identify valuation methods for specific ecosystem services.
  • Assess and quantify ecosystem services, their flows, beneficiaries, and economic values. Use information to work with stakeholders to incorporate ecosystems services into management plans.
  • Participate in cost benefit analyses of management and land use alternatives.
  • Design and pilot PES incentive mechanisms, building on previous work done in this domain and facilitating MOUs between buyers and forest dependent communities, to provide enhanced delivery of ecosystem services.
  • Provide technical assistance to GOI in developing a system for periodic monitoring the flow of ecosystem services.

Qualifications:

  • At least a masters’ degree in environmental economics, forest economics, or related field.
  • Experience managing staff and subcontractors
    Minimum of 10 years of experience in the field of environmental economics, payment for ecosystem services mechanism development and/or ecosystem service valuation, and experience working in forestry management;
  • Extensive experience in and knowledge of various methodologies of ecosystem valuation and economic valuation of forests, as well as economic valuation tools;
  • Demonstrated experience in leading PES programs and projects from multiple funding sources and with details reporting requirements.
  • Demonstrated ability to work with a variety of stakeholders including local communities, private businesses, civil society and government
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and prioritization;
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills; fluency in written and verbal English is required. Additional fluency in a major Indian language is preferred.

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