Biodiversity Conservation Intern

Contract

This is a Internship contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about Internship contracts.

Background

UNDP has been supporting the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change in meeting its national and international environmental priorities and commitments. These include close to 40 projects in the area of biodiversity conservation, sustainable resource management, climate change and chemical management. UNDP’s support focuses on technical and policy advisory, institutional strengthening and building capacities of various stakeholders to utilize natural resources in a sustainable way, while increasing resilience to climate variability and associated risks and impacts. UNDP also supports India’s engagement with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and works with Central Ministries and state governments to implement GEF financed projects. UNDP India is developing a GEF-supported project entitled, “Strengthening institutional capacities for securing biodiversity conservation commitments”. The project would be led by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, in partnership with National Biodiversity Authority and UNDP. The project aims to mainstream biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use and management into local level self-governance institutional planning and budgeting systems in two high biodiversity landscapes in India. UNDP seeks to engage a Biodiversity Conservation Intern for supporting the design and development of project interventions related to mainstreaming biodiversity and natural resources management in local level planning and budgeting systems. The intern will report to the Senior Programme Officer, Biodiversity Finance and Sustainable Land Management, UNDP India

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of Senior Programme Officer, Biodiversity Finance and Sustainable Land Management, UNDP India., the intern is expected to:

• Support the project team in undertaking research, developing concept notes and communication materials towards the development of the project.
• Participate in and contribute to preparation, conduct and follow-up of meetings, workshops and consultations as needed by engaging with relevant stakeholders including governments. communities and donors.
• Ensure documentation of agendas and minutes of key workshops and consultation meetings.
• Assist in the collection and review of baseline data and relevant information required towards developing the project document.
• Support the collating of best practices and lessons learned during the project development phase.
• Provide support towards implementation of events and campaigns and contribute to the tasks under the upcoming CBD COP.
• Contribute towards furthering the priorities of UNDP and Government of India towards international commitments such as UNFCCC, UNCCD and CBD within the purview of the project
• Any other tasks and responsibilities related to the project assigned by Senior Programme Officer, Biodiversity Finance and Sustainable Land Management, UNDP India

Competencies

• Experience in developing proposals, research papers and articles on conservation issues.
• Experience in review of policies and legal frameworks related to environmental conservation.
• Basic understanding of issues pertaining to climate change, natural resource management and biodiversity conservation
• Good team player and ability to adapt to change in work environment
• Strong sense of collaborative work, excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Keen attention to detail;
• Excellent designing skills;
• Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise;
• Is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda

Required Skills and Experience

Applicants to the UNDP internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

(a) Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme in environment science, natural resources management or a related field;

(b) Be enrolled in the final academic year of a relevant first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);

(c) Have recently graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.

Candidates who are selected must submit the following documents, upon selection:

• Official letter from the University confirming enrollment in their undergraduate or graduate-level degree programme;
• Proof of medical and life/accident insurance valid for the location in which the internship will be carried out. Selected intern must have medical and life insurance.

Kindly note, UNDP only accepts interns for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 6 months