Bird Watching Specialist Consultancy - ARE Activity
Qualified applicants must submit their resume to LebanonAre Recruitment on [email protected] and write in the subject line: "Bird Watching Specialist Consultancy". Applications that do not follow this naming methodology in the subject line will not be considered. Following screening of eligible candidates who meet the needs of ARE activity, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for further screening and interviewing. Phone calls will not be accepted. Cover letter is not required. Applications must be submitted by June 15, 2023, any applications after the submission deadline will not be considered.
Applicants must submit the below deliverables to [email protected] to be eligible for screening:
- Resume
- Copy of national ID or passport
- Copy of higher education degrees
- Daily consulting rate
- Three references contact details; references that do not include name, title, phone, and email will not be accepted
- Ministry of Finance registration “ تسجيل مؤسسة” or “ مهنة حرة”. If not provided, 7.5% tax will be deducted from invoice/daily rate
Project Background
The Lebanon Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) activity, funded by USAID and implemented by Chemonics International, supports Lebanese rural and peri-urban communities to obtain technical and financial resources in order to facilitate increased productivity, sales, and exports, improved business income, while also ensuring livelihood sustainability. To support this purpose, ARE will increase jobs; improve incomes; improve female participation and employment opportunities; increase domestic and export sales; increase private sector investment; improve access to finance; link value chain actors to domestic and international markets; and improve production through improved practices, technology, increased volume, and/or decreased cost. ARE supports two key expected results:
- Increased domestic and export sales at both firm and farm levels.
- Livelihoods improved, especially in rural areas and for women.
Summary of Position
The Lebanon Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) program is currently working on developing high-potential private sector-led tourism clusters in three geographic areas of Lebanon: (1) North, (2) Central, and (3) South, in addition to a national level cluster that would cater to all three geographic areas. This intervention aims at creating and/or enhancing new tourism-related products and services in the fields of eco-tourism, agro-tourism, adventure tourism, accommodation, wellness activities, food and beverages, and wine and gastronomy tourism, among others. In addition to the technical assistance that has been provided to selected partners in the four clusters mentioned above, in-kind assistance is being granted to provide the needed equipment and materials to implement their new products developed with ARE assistance to international standards. ARE intends to continue supporting these cluster members with additional technical assistance through the coming year. In addition, ARE will expand its product development and capacity building support to include selected local tour operators (LTOs), which are an integral part of the tourism value chain and are critical to ensuring that new products reach international buyers.
The Bird watching Specialist will support ARE partners (namely LMT Association team and the Shouf Biosphere Reserve team) who are seeking targeted technical support and training services including: 1) identification of bird watching spots/trails for ecotourism and recreational purposes in the following areas: Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve, Tannourine Cedars Forest Reserve, Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve, Shouf Biosphere Reserve, and the Lebanon Mountain Trail section between Falougha and Mtein; 2) design a training program on bird watching techniques and practices for national eco-tour operators and hiking guides in the target areas, the training should include theoretical lectures and practical exercises; 3) organization and delivery of the training program that should be followed by evaluation of the trainees. The trainer should ensure all technical tools and equipment needed to deliver the training such as Binoculars; they can also use the equipment and tools available in the targeted nature reserves and with the LMT Association, 4) provide the beneficiaries (eco-tour operators, LMT Association and selected nature reserves) with a digital copy of the training material and a simplified digital guidebook to be used by the bird watching guides, 5) Identify the best locations to install spotting scopes in the target areas. The Bird Watching Specialist will closely follow up on the training design and delivery with LMT Association team and the Shouf Biosphere Reserve team.
The objectives of this technical service is to:
- Introduce selected nature-based tourism and ecotourism stakeholders to bird watching principles and techniques.
- Improve the capacity of nature-based tourism and ecotourism stakeholders in terms of organizing and offering bird watching activities for educational and recreational purposes.
- Enable eco-tour operators and local guides to design and conduct bird watching tours for educational and recreational purposes as per the international standards.
- Support all project beneficiaries to properly use the bird watching equipment and tools provided by ARE project.
- Diversify the nature-based tourism and ecotourism offer in the target areas.
Deliverables and Timeline
Ref
Deliverables
Timeline
1
Identification of bird watching spots/trails for ecotourism and recreational purposes in the following areas: Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve, Tannourine Cedars Forest Reserve, Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve, Shouf Biosphere Reserve, and the Lebanon Mountain Trail section between Falougha and Mtein. Deliverable: detailed report on best spots and trails for bird watching in the target areas with geo-locations.
June-July
2
Design a training program on bird watching techniques and practices for national eco-tour operators and hiking guides adapted to the selected areas and bird watching spots, the training should include theoretical lectures and practical exercises. Deliverable: detailed training program, modules, content, and schedule/location(s) of training days/sessions.
August
3
Organize and deliver the training program that should be followed by evaluation of the trainees. Deliverable: Training materials and a simplified digital guidebook to be used by the bird watching guides
Mid-September to Mid-October
4
Identify the best locations to install spotting scopes in the target areas with a justification report.
End of October
5
Monitoring and follow-up visits (based on the needs)
September
6
Other related tasks/deliverables, as requested by ARE.
During the period of performance
7
Submit a final report on the whole intervention.
First week of November
Place of Assignment
The Bird Watching Specialist(s)/Trainer(s) are expected to travel to the areas of operation conduct field visits to the physical location mentioned in section II. He/she is welcome to work from ARE’s program office space in Beirut if needed.
Reporting
The Bird Watching Specialist will report directly to the ARE Deputy Chief of Party / Chief Technical Officer and/or Program Director and/or Program Manager
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in one or several of the following areas: Biology, Environmental Sciences, Tourism, or other relevant degrees.
- At least 10 years of relevant experience, especially in nature-based tourism, ecotourism, and Bird Watching in Lebanon or the region.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic required.
Ineligible Consultants:
Government employees: any person paid by the Lebanese Government, occupying an established position, either temporary or permanent, part-time or full-time, within a Lebanese Government institution.
Individual consultants or firms that appear on the List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Non-Procurement Programs. The list can be found at http://epls.gov.
NOTE:
Daleel Madani, the civil society network, serves as a platform for organisations to post their professional opportunities, but is not involved in the recruitment process. The hiring organisation is solely responsible for the job and candidate selection.
- Lebanon