Project Delivery Officer - Upper Irthing PRISM Landscape Recovery Project
| Posting date: | 17 April 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £29,863 to £31,526 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 12 May 2024 |
| Location: | ne48 2hp |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: | 349785/1 |
Summary
North England Forest District has a complement of 132 staff who care for 61,000 hectares of forest and 25,000 hectares of open land. Annual timber production is 550,000 m3 and there is a planting programme of more than 3 million trees a year.
Kielder Forest is a hub of nature recovery, home to breeding populations of hen harrier, osprey, pine marten and red squirrel, all monitored and supported in their recovery as part of a diverse, multi-purpose forest. Projects such as the restoration of the Border Mires, native woodland restoration at Kielder Wildwood, reintroduction of the water vole and others are helping to make this landscape, in conjunction with our partners, a leading location for wildlife to thrive.
The post will be embedded within the Kielder forest team for management purposes but will have a strong partnership.
Upper Irthing PRISM Project
As part of a partnership of landowners, Forestry England have secured development funding through DEFRA’s Landscape Recovery scheme to develop a new landscape scale project, creating a new model for integrated land management in the Upper Irthing Catchment. Over 2 years (to end March 2026) the Upper Irthing PRISM Project will undertake the necessary survey, data collection, partner liaison and stakeholder engagement required to put forward a long term (20 year minimum) proposal for the management of 9,500 ha of land spanning the Northumberland/Cumbria border. Encompassing the south-west corner of Kielder Forest, as well as several thousand hectares of neighbouring privately owned and managed land, the project will look at a holistic, catchment wide approach to the management of natural habitats, species and resources as well as the rural economy and enterprise to provide a plan that works for nature, landowners and local communities.
PRISM is an acronym for Peatlands, Rivers, Invasives, Species Recovery and Meadows, which gives some idea of just how wide ranging the project will be. This breadth has been guided by the key criteria of this round of Landscape Recovery funding:
- Net Zero (peatland restoration and woodland creation).
- Protected Sites (designated habitats such as SSSI’s, NNR’s and SAC’s – the project area has more than 20 designated parcels of land).
- Wildlife rich habitats (riparian corridors, species rich grasslands, transitional habitats; Invasive species control and species recovery within these areas).
- Food/timber production (working with project partners to better understand how working land can support both thriving habitats and species, and commercial enterprise).
At this stage, the project has received 2 years funding for a development phase. If the developed plans are accepted, there is the possibility for extended involvement with the project beyond the 2-year period (April 2024 – March 2026), but this cannot be guaranteed at this time. If a further funding period is approved, the Project Team and host organisation are likely to change in accordance with the business and funding model developed during the initial phase. The best systems for future delivery, and the required changes, will be considered and developed during the initial two years.
Forestry England have a successful heritage of nature recovery and habitat restoration in Kielder Forest, supported by our National leads, local partnerships, long-term monitoring, and academic research. This project will build on this established heritage in a new, targeted, partnership approach through the Landscape Recovery funding scheme. This new approach to landscape scale land management allows partnerships to work cross boundary and overcome barriers associated with fragmented land ownership. It also supports private landowners and managers to facilitate positive environmental improvements on their land, while allowing for food, fuel and fibre production activities to continue.
The Delivery Officer will work closely with the Project Team during the initial 2-year funding development period to develop detailed delivery plans for long term management of the project area. The successful candidate will report back to the Project manager and the project partnership (comprised of landowners and other key stakeholders) on their own key areas of work. These plans will encompass all aspects of the future land management of the project area, but of most relevance to this role will be developing or supporting the development of:
- long term monitoring systems and programmes,
- delivery plans for habitat restoration, creation and enhancement work,
- species recovery plans,
- landscape resilience (e.g. wildfire, flood, drought, biosecurity) plans,
- access and community engagement plans.
In all this the officer will be supported by other team members, especially the Project Manager, and in turn will support other team members with their areas of responsibilities as required. All project team members will liaise closely with project partners, especially with landowners where plans affect their land holding directly or indirectly.
The successful candidate will:
- Coordinate a suite of habitat and species surveys required to gather baselines and establish current condition or status. Some of these surveys can be conducted by the post holder and other project team members; some will require specialist surveyors or additional surveyor capacity to complete. In these cases, the role holder will produce specifications for the required surveys, procure the necessary expertise in accordance with project financial rules, and then supervise the successful contractors through the work programme.
- Produce a series of proposed habitat restoration, creation or enhancement plans, based on the data gathered through the surveys described above. These plans will cover work proposals spanning over 20 years’ worth of landscape enhancement, so will range from detailed plans ready for delivery, to broad recommendations for future work. The successful candidate will also work alongside the Financial Officer to develop the budgetary requirements of the proposals ensuring that appropriate sources and quantities of funding are identified.
- Liaise with project partners throughout the above activities, especially landowners and managers.
- Support in the creation of other project outputs including, but not limited to, access plans, resilience plans, funding and business plans and impact assessments.
- Work as part of the project team in efforts to engage stakeholders and local communities, undertake project communication and publicity, and otherwise to publicly represent the project as required.
- Maintain and produce project documentation and reporting, including managing and reporting on budgeting and expenditure.
- Undertake other project related duties as assigned.