Project consultant: Chronicling “co-existence cultures” in Terai Arc Landscape – WWF-India

WWF-India We, at WWF, believe that humans can live in harmony with nature. In India, we’re studying snow leopards in the Himalayas, tracking tigers in the Terai and Kanha Pench corridor, working with businesses to develop green modules and with communities to find ways to reduce their dependence on forests, among many other projects. There’s a lot more that we do – and we need people with heart to help us do it.

Work Experience 1-3 years

Industry Nonprofit Charitable Organizations

Job Description
WWF-India invites applications from consultants and interns to contribute to designing, and implementing field surveys to document stories and narratives of conflict and coexistence across the Terai Arc landscape, spanning forests in the floodplains of the Ganga and its tributaries and proximately located Shivalik and Lower Himalaya.

Overview & Scope: Chronicling “co-existence cultures” in the Terai Arc Landscape

Coexistence with large carnivores and other wildlife is woven into the fabric of the lives of communities that share space with wildlife across the Terai.

While conflict is more visible and increasingly being documented, our understanding of coexistence, with all its complexities, remains opaque. That the terai has as many tigers, leopards, elephants and bears as it does is inevitable an outcome of coexistence, and upwards and downward shifts in the status of wildlife will likely mirror the dynamic and sometimes brittle processes and mechanisms of coexistence.

Documenting human-wildlife interactions, through stories and verbal recollections can provide profound insights about how humans negotiate and navigate their interactions with wildlife, and potentially be informative of how lore, memory and lived experiences shape human – wildlife interactions. Such information can also provide vital insights about the mechanisms and limits of conflict and coexistence, and about coping mechanisms of people who share space with wildlife.

Key Responsibilities

Contributing tools, methods, approaches, and ethical protocols for surveys, meticulously planning fieldwork and field-logistics, travelling within the Terai Arc Landscape to engage in conversations and co-create narratives about conflict and coexistence with forest dwelling and forest-edge communities.

Carry out written and audio-visual documentation of these narratives within the context of the local geography.

Working with a team to curate, analyse, chronicle and present information on conflict and coexistence in the landscape through written and audio-visual media.

Requirements

• Background in ecology (Master/Ph.D.), familiarity/ training in the social sciences, and programming to integrate information from these surveys with other relevant data.
• Prior training in the social science and humanities and should ideally have experience in fieldwork in remote settings and intersections between culture and the environment.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English and Hindi.
• Prior experience engagement in the Terai region will be desirable.
• Remuneration will be commensurate to the experience of the candidate.