The Tour du Valat is a private foundation working for the research and conservation of Mediterranean wetlands. Founded in 1954 by Dr Luc Hoffmann and based in the Camargue, it is at the cutting edge of multidisciplinary fields of research, building bridges between science, management and public policies, and drawing up management plans. The Tour du Valat has internationally recognized scientific expertise, and provides practical responses to problems regarding the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. The Tour du Valat’s projects are carried out in the Camargue and around the Mediterranean Basin. The Tour du Valat employs 60 people, including 10 researchers and about ten Ph.D. or other students.
Wetlands International – European Association (WIEA [1]) is a coalition of 8 NGOs from 6 European countries working to raise awareness for wetlands conservation and advocate for a more sustainable management of these ecosystems for the benefit of people and nature. As part of a European project, WIEA is currently running an assessment of the wide diversity of wetland contributions to human well-being (ecosystem services). In this context, one of the key activities in 2019 will be to disseminate the results of wetlands Land Use/Land Cover trends in the Mediterranean region, in collaboration with the Tour du Valat.
WIEA is seeking for a consultant in GIS to implement a management system for a certain number of geo-databases at the scale of the Mediterranean Basin. He/she will have a contract with WIEA and will be based at the Tour du Valat (Arles, France).
General context and job description
Mediterranean wetlands are among the richest ecosystems in the world but also the most threatened by global changes and these anthropogenic pressures will continue to increase in the coming decades. In this context, the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory (MWO) was created in 2008 as a scientific and technical instrument for the monitoring of wetland status and trends in this region. Among all the used tools to achieve this objective, GIS and EO-based ones are mainly implemented by the MWO in order to develop all its georeferenced datasets.
In this frame, the consultant will support all MWO’s project leaders in charge of the implementation of these spatial monitoring tools across the Mediterranean basin.
Until now, many georeferenced datasets have been collected and/or produced by the MWO, like for instance those on: the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) trends in the Mediterranean wetlands, the location and the delimitation of all Protected Areas (PAs) within all Mediterranean countries, the spatial-temporal dynamics of surface water, the delineation of potential wetland areas at the Basin scale as well as those on dams, reservoirs and other human-made wetlands. The development of all these datasets is not totally finalised and the consultant will have as main responsibilities and tasks to complement and/or to “clean up” them and to harmonise them the scale of the Mediterranean Basin. He/she should also structure them into a GIS adapted to the needs of the MWO, in order to facilitate their management, updates and access to raw data.
- Taks and deliverableA rapid uptake of all the georeferenced datasets acquired and/or produced by the MWO and complement those which are not yet finalised by existing and/or newly produced data;
- Deliver comprehensive, clean and harmonised georeferenced datasets at the scale of the Mediterranean Basin;
- Implement GIS’s adapted to the needs of the MWO in order to facilitate the access, the management and the update of the developed geo-databases;
- Deliver communication products for the MWO (maps, synthetic reports, communication and dissemination articles, web-mapping…), in particular for the valorisation of the new monitoring results of LULC trends in the Euro-Mediterranean wetlands between 1975 and 2018;
- Contribute to the development and the update of the MWO’s monitoring indicators;
- Participate to the MWO’s activities (meetings, workshops, conferences…).
Required skills and desirable experience
Essential
- Engineer or master degree in geomatics with preferably a background in environment and ecology;
- Excellent ability to work with GIS and geo-databases management software (ArcGIS and/or Q-GIS, PostgreSQL/Postgis);
- Ability to work in autonomy, good analytical and synthesis skills;
- Ability to work in French AND English;
- Ability to work within a team.
Desirable
- Good knowledge on issues related to biodiversity and conservation (in particular in the Mediterranean region);
- Ability to disseminate and transfer scientific and technical results to a non-specialist audience.
Work conditions
- Monthly payments: €3,400 (All Taxes Included)
- Duration of the contract: 6 months (starting from July 2019)
- Desired status: Independent Consultant
- Location: Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc 13200 Arles (France)
The role will be recruited through and be managed by the Wetlands International – European Association. The successful candidate will work with the MWO team under the supervision of Mr. Anis Guelmami, project leader at the Tour du Valat.
How to apply:
Send the application file to Mrs. Florence Daubigney (e-mail [2]) (reference TdV-2019-MWO) before the 31st of May 2019, with:
- A cover letter;
- A resume/CV;
- Names and contact details of three references (with phone numbers and e-mail addresses).
The shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview between by the between the 3rd and the 7th of Jun 2019.
For any question concerning the application procedure, please contact Mrs. Florence Daubigney (e-mail [2]).