Project Officer job at Uganda Conservation Foundation | Apply Now

Job Title: UCF Project Officer (1 position)

Reports To: UCF Project Manager

Working Hours: Full-time

Workstation: UCF Field Office, Kidepo Valley National Park

Salary: To be disclosed to shortlisted candidates

Employment Duration: 20th January 2025 to 4th November 2027

Overview:

The UCF Project Officer role is a full-time position based in the Kidepo Valley Conservation Area Landscape for the project entitled "Supporting New and Existing Community Conservancies, Adjacent Parks and Forests in the Kidepo Turkana Landscape of Uganda and Kenya.” This three-year project is funded by the EU’s NaturAfrica programme for biodiversity and livelihoods in Africa, which was launched in 2021 to support large-scale, inter-regional conservation approaches focusing on Key Landscapes for Conservation and Development (KLCD). The project concentrates on the Karamoja and Turkana transboundary meta-landscape, and is implemented by the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) of Kenya, the Lead Agency, in partnership with the Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF), the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), and the National Forest Authority (NFA) of Uganda.

The project aims to:

• Strengthen capacity for inclusive conservation management, planning, and implementation by improving the capability of state agencies responsible for managing wildlife and forests in protected areas, and establishing strategically important community conservancies to sustain and restore ecological connectivity across the landscape.

• Enhance access to equitable and sustainable green economy livelihood opportunities for all community members through the development of community-driven enterprises governed by the community conservancy process.

• Strengthen capacity for land-use governance and natural resource management by protecting human rights and enabling structured forums for communication and dispute resolution between adjoining community conservancies, helping to mitigate and solve land-use and natural resource management conflicts.

In this role, the UCF Project Officer will support on-the-ground project activities for UCF’s project implementation in the Kidepo Valley Conservation Area Landscape, surrounding NFA CFRs, and the community conservancy programmes.

UCF and Partner Organizations:

• NRT is a membership organization owned and led by 46 Community Conservancies across northern and coastal Kenya, and now north-eastern Uganda. Community Conservancies support the management of community-owned land for improving livelihoods.

• UCF is a not-for-profit organization in the UK and Uganda, supporting the Uganda Wildlife Authority in safeguarding Uganda's natural heritage through wildlife conservation, park recovery, and community development initiatives. UCF has led recovery programmes in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, and Kidepo Valley National Parks.

• UWA is a semi-autonomous government agency responsible for conserving and managing Uganda’s wildlife, overseeing 10 national parks, 12 wildlife reserves, 5 community wildlife management areas, and 13 wildlife sanctuaries.

• NFA manages Uganda’s central forest reserves on a sustainable basis and supplies forestry-related products and services to the government, local communities, and the private sector. NFA manages 506 central forest reserves to sustainably improve management and provide quality forestry products and services for socio-economic development in Uganda.

Purpose & Scope of the Role:

The Project Officer will be stationed at the field office in Kidepo Valley Conservation Area Landscape, working closely with the Project Manager, technical staff, and stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of project activities.