Saturday, January 31, 2015

Invited applications for post of Associate Director - Wetlands Conservation at WWF India

World Wide Fund for Nature – India

invites applications for the post of

                                                                                           Associate Director – Wetlands Conservation 

WWF-India, one of the largest conservation organizations, engaged in wildlife and nature conservation in the country, invites applications from self-motivated and dynamic individual individuals with an inherent sensitivity towards the conservation of nature to coordinate and manage the Wetlands conservation programme of WWF-India. 

Given the huge range, spread and diversity of wetlands across the country, and the myriad site-specific threats they face, we are looking for a relatively senior person with a demonstrated experience to provide leadership, technical support and strategic guidance to the emerging Wetlands Conservation programme which has pan India presence ranging from wetlands in pristine, ecologically fragile, biodiversity rich areas to populated cities. The incumbent shall be responsible for the management of and coordination of the programme and for raising the profile of this important conservation programme. 

Location: New Delhi, with frequent travel to field sites.

The Job Profile:

1.        Lead the Wetlands Conservation programme of WWF-India. This will include planning, designing, implementation and management of research, field activities and policy advocacy required to enable multiple stakeholders to take positive action towards conservation. Also responsible for fund raising. 
2.        Develop and disseminate tools for threat assessments, biodiversity assessments & monitoring, social and economic valuation and management planning that can be applied by stakeholder groups
3.        Establish strategic partnerships and collaborations with organizations, implementation partners, international organizations, NGOs, Government institutions, multi lateral agencies, businesses and other stakeholders to promote conservation of wetlands 
4.        Undertake standard project management tasks as required including team and performance management, drafting project concepts, preparation of budgets and work plans, managing contracts with consultants and partners, and completing timely reports to donors and WWF senior management
5.        Represent WWF –India in a policy forums including conferences, meetings 
 
Qualifications, Experience and competencies required:
·        Advanced degree in Ecology / Biology / Environmental sciences/ Natural resources management, or related field 
·        Minimum of 10 years relevant experience in freshwater conservation including wetlands.
·        Demonstrated experience in managing complex inter-disciplinary teams and programmes. 
·        Excellent leadership and team management skills

Desired Skills and Abilities:
·        Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural team
·        Knowledge and appreciation of the participatory approaches to conservation
·        Excellent written and verbal communications skills in English.

·        Excellent report writing abilities and documentation skills.
·        Excellent interpersonal skills - ability to motivate people to action

Apply Via Email to: recruitments@wwfindia.net

Submission Details:
Please submit an up-to-date CV (mentioning your full name in the resume attachment), giving details regarding compensation received in the present assignment, expected salary, and three references.

Last Date for sending applications: 25th February, 2015

In order to ensure that your application is sorted correctly, please mention “Associate Director – Wetlands Conservation”, in the subject line. The vacancy is open to Indian Nationals only. Applications of only short listed candidates will be acknowledged.

WWF-India is an equal opportunities employer. Applications from qualified women are encouraged.


Remuneration will be competitive with Indian NGO pay scales and will depend upon candidate’s experience levels and the overall WWF-India salary structure. WWF-India does not provide housing, telephone or vehicle facilities.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Thought of the Day - 31st January 2015!

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it - always.' (Mahatma Gandhi)

Good Morning!

Have a Peaceful Weekend!!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 30th January 2015!

Exercising necessary restraint in a consumerism driven lifestyle is vital for a prosperous life and peaceful society...

Good Morning!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 28th January 2015!

Attires don't make a person, deeds do. Remember Buddha and realise...


Good Morning!

Media workshop on climate change adaptation in Srinagar March 2-4 – invitation to apply

The Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and The Third Pole (TTP) – under the Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) – are jointly organizing four media workshops on adaptation to climate change in the Indian Himalayan Region.

The third workshop will be held in Srinagar March 2-4, 2015.

Senior thematic experts and policymakers will make presentations to journalists and interact with them. The workshop will include a field trip to facilitate ground-level reportage of adaptation to climate change. This workshop will focus on climate change effects and adaptation in the western Himalayas, with a special focus on the floods in Jammu and Kashmir last autumn.

Any journalist who wishes to take part should send a mail to joydeep.gupta@thethirdpole.net definitely before February 6, 2015, accompanied by two relevant clips or links to the stories.

Journalists from print, TV, online & radio are all welcome to apply.

Participants reporting on ecological and climate change issues in the western Himalayas from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi will be given preference.


The organizers will arrange travel, accommodation and food for the selected journalists

Monday, January 26, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 27th January 2015!

Stay tuned to the channels of Mother Nature and you will never miss listening the music of love, harmony and generosity...


Good Morning!

Thought on India's Republic Day - 26th January 2015!

True humans respect the freedom of voiceless species as much as they respect theirs...

Happy Republic Day, Fellow Indians!

Friday, January 23, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 24th January 2015!

Education doesn't teach one to appease the chair or power, but to apply reason to attain knowledge. Those who don't reason are as good as slaves...

Good Morning!

Happy Basant Panchami!!

Monday, January 19, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 20th January 2015!

When we say truth is harsh & bitter, we admit it ourselves that we are not prepared for it. Dangerous still, when truth is considered an allegation...


Good Morning!

Called upon students to be Mahanadi's soldiers!

Today @ Sambalpur Book Fair, got an opportunity to interact with hundreds of school children who talked to me in the 'Meet Famous Personalities' programme. Called upon all the students to imbibe green values in their lives. Also, asked them to be Mahanadi's soldiers...


Thanks District Education Office, Sambalpur for the invite to this wonderful programme.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 19th January 2015!

Good if you start talking about water, very good if you try to listen to water; still better if you become voice of water. We have reached a point in time when water needs us as much as we need it...


Good Morning!

Good Morning Thought - 18th January 2015!

Knowledge is not confined to the ability of your money purse. If you are confusing it with a Degree or Diploma, then it certainly does...

Good Morning!

Have a Great Sunday!!

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Just spoke at Seminar celebrating 'India Water Week'!

'Respect, rejuvenate and protect water bodies to stay water secured' was my theme of the guest lecture I just gave, on invitation from Sambalpur District Administration, at the Seminar organized as part of the India Water Week celebrations. It was good to interact with water officials, engineers, farmers and NGO representatives at the seminar.


Friday, January 16, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 17th January 2015!

Participation in the process of change is not necessarily in agreeing to the change but also in disagreeing to it. Being just a mute spectator is non-participation...


Good Morning!

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 16th January 2015!

We are accountable not only for our actions but also for our inaction and indifference...


Good Morning!

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

From smart cities to climate smart cities: My opinion piece published in Hindu Business Line!

From smart cities to climate smart cities

RANJAN K PANDA

Urban spaces are responsible for global warming and bear the brunt of it as well. They must evolve in sustainable ways
Bright future? Only if planners start thinking out of the box Ailisa/shutterstock.com
Bright future? Only if planners start thinking out of the box Ailisa/shutterstock.com
India is still unclear what its Prime Minister means when he talks about smart cities.

However, what everyone seems to be clear about is the fact that cities are defining the world’s fate at the moment.

Increasingly being recognised as the only place for ‘opportunities’, cities invite more and more people to their fold, consume huge amount of energy, have heavy transport use, create more unnatural space by destroying natural ecosystems, and emit a lot of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Cities claimed a good amount of time during the COP 20 (conference of the parties 20) debates in Lima. It is now evident that no climate action would be possible without taking cities on board.

At the receiving end

Lima saw one of the biggest gatherings of mayors and climate action experts so far.

This gathering stressed on strong local actions with participatory governance for building climate resilient cities. Mitigation and adaptation should be addressed with equal focus, it was felt, and initiatives that are under way were highlighted.

Cities, it is already evident, would be at the receiving end of climate impacts too.

They would face major impacts, more so because of the growing population camping in unplanned settlements.

Every week, the urban population increases by about one million inhabitants. More than half of them live in slums with inadequate facilities making them more vulnerable to problems caused by climate change.

Such pockets in cities are less resilient than parts which have better infrastructure and facilities.

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report rightly points out: “Many global risks of climate change are concentrated in urban areas.”

Cities face the double challenge of keeping pace with urbanisation and adapting to climate change. They have to act fast.

New targets

In less than a year, in December 2015, a new international climate change agreement should be agreed upon in Paris at COP 21. Cities across the world should gear up to show that they can take the necessary steps to become climate smart.

Some examples are there to pave them the way.

Earlier this year, the Climate Alliance advocates in Europe resolved to take up three binding targets: 50 per cent less Co2, 40 per cent more energy efficiency and a 40 per cent share of renewable energy by 2020 with the objective of halving per capita Co2 emissions by 2030.

Many such local actions on energy savings, energy efficiency and renewable energy promotion would be helpful as examples for all cities.

A report shared during COP 20 points out that the Covenant of Mayors initiative, officially launched by the European Commission in 2008, has today exceeded all the initial expectations and has expanded far beyond the borders of the European Union. This initiative today includes more than 6,000 local authorities spread across 52 countries.

Covenant signatories have formally committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 20 per cent by 2020.

What is remarkable about this initiative is the fact that each city is reported to have devised its own method.

Cities in India are growing mostly as concrete infrastructures at the cost of local biodiversity including rivers, water bodies and forests. They have to look within and find their indigenous solutions.

In designing our smart cities we should take cues from some of the global actions and most of our local knowledge and realities.

In the name of growth and modernity, ironically, many governments are adopting city plans from environmentally unsustainable cities.

This has to stop. Locally adapted plans that the local people can sustain should be adopted to make our cities climate smart.

The writer is the convenor of Combat Climate Change Network, India

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated January 5, 2015)

Good Morning Thought - 15th January 2015!

Time is not very far when it will be considered a crime and anti-national activity even to dream about environmental conservation, let alone talk about or work towards it. The greedy human societies and their nation states are moving alarmingly fast in this direction...


Good Morning!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Monday, January 12, 2015

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 12th January 2015!

Meditating, when you connect to your real self, you reach to the divine being you are. There you realise, you didn't belong to any caste, creed or religion but to the divine almighty...


Good Morning!

Sunday Morning Thought - 11th January 2015!

Among all friends we have, two categories play a very important role in our life. One, whom we reach out in times of a crisis; another, who understand our problems even when not told...

Good Morning!

Have a Happy Sunday!!

Friday, January 9, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 10th January 2015!

Religious fanatics and fundamentalists have only one religion: to spread hatred and eke out of it. Some use their speeches, some their guns; all of them are terrorists, anti-peace and anti-humanity. Reject and defeat these forces to live in a humane world...

Good Morning!

Have a Peaceful Weekend!!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 9th January 2015!

In a society where money decides power, the poor is the most distrusted person...


Good Morning!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 8th January 2015!

Each being is unique, yet inter-connected to the others. That's the design of co-existence where each one is equally important & indispensable...


Good Morning!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 7th January 2015!

The current form of economic growth brings with it a society that is increasingly developing immunity to truth and antibiotics...


Good Morning!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 6th January 2015!

Reading print edition of a book is like talking to it. An ebook may still give you the knowledge but not the feel of holding it. And you certainly miss the smell of the print, the freshness and sense of belonging...


Good Morning!

Live at Zee Kalinga TV tonite @ 9 pm: Issue - Regional Disparity...

@ 9 pm tonite (5th Jan) please watch Zee Kalinga TV for my live discussion on regional disparity issues. Thanks!

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Sunday Morning Thought - 4th January 2015!

The obsession for winning, or that of reaching the destination by any ways & means, is the greatest obstruction we face in way of attaining a humane society...

Good Morning!

Have a Happy Sunday!!

Friday, January 2, 2015

Good Morning Thought - 3rd January 2015!

It is never wise to give up your conscience for the majority opinion...

Good Morning!
Have a Great Weekend!!

Thursday, January 1, 2015