Nova Scotia Environment & Climate Change looking for HWA-OGF Coordinator 9May2023

Graphic on the Protected Areas page for the Margaree River Wilderness Area.
Click on image for source.

Extracts from the Advert on ca.indeed.com

Competition # : 39024
Department: Environment and Climate Change
Location: HALIFAX
Type of Employment: Term
Union Status: NSGEU – NSPG
Closing Date: 5/17/2023
Salary Range: $2,074.62 – $3,215.50 Bi-Weekly

About Our Opportunity
Reporting to the Manager, Protected Areas & Ecosystems, you will be responsible for overseeing key elements of a three-year, multi-million-dollar, partner-based conservation project. This a collaborative project supported by Environment & Climate Change Canada (ECCC) through the Federal Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund. The primary purpose of this funding stream is carbon accumulation and averting carbon emissions, with biodiversity conservation as a co-benefit.

Primary Accountabilities
As Project Coordinator, you will be responsible for coordinating efforts to purchase and designate old-growth forests for protection, as well as prioritise areas for treatment against Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). This will include tracking movement of the pest and prioritising areas to be treated. You will work with others to coordinate the efforts of staff and contractors who are directly undertaking chemical treatment of high priority hemlock stands against HWA. You will be working closely with partners to also oversee private land securement and HWA treatment under carbon agreements and working forest easements. Part of the role will also be to ensure key research is undertaken to support these efforts…You may also be involved in stakeholder and public partnerships and consultations and will develop public communication materials.

Qualifications and Experience
To be successful in this role, you will have a bachelor’s degree such as Environmental Management, Ecology, Land Conservation or a related natural resource management-based science an equivalent combination of training and experience…You will have demonstrated competency and experience in land conservation or protected areas planning and have a practical understanding of current issues and best practice approaches in protected areas establishment and management…This position will require knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and competency in creating interactive maps and related features using ArcGIS Online.

Comment: This is a  welcome initiative. The province – but not some NGOs – has been slow to move on HWA. I only recently learned from Peter Bush (Old Growth Coordinator at NRR) that areas of Old Growth in Protected Areas have not been formally catalogued. Presence of Old Forest or Climax Forest Forest is cited in many of the descriptions of existing PAs, but the term “Old Growth” seems not be much used. An interesting exception: Sporting Lake, also the site of a non-governmental initiative to “save old growth hemlocks from certain death from Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) infestations”.

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