RREVISION OF MEDITERRANEAN MONK SEAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY

MOm, the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk seal, a Greek non-governmental environmental organisation, is seeking to contract, through a competitive tender, an independent Conservation Specialist to evaluate and revise the National Strategy for the Conservation of the Mediterranean Monk Seal in Greece.

With a worldwide population of fewer than 600 individuals, the Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus is considered by IUCN to be critically endangered. During the last decades numerous conservation activities have concentrated in Greece, since it hosts approximately half of the species’ population. The Conservation Specialist’s tasks will be:

Ø      to evaluate the existing Strategy, originally drafted in 1996, in terms of its effectiveness to address the species’ threats

Ø      to revise the Strategy, so as to address all current conservation requirements of the species and its habitat, identify priorities and suggest cost effective future actions covering the period up until 2015.

The project’s duration is 9 months.

MOm will provide to the selected conservation specialist all background documentation and information required, and will assist in setting up working meetings with key stakeholders, experts, and the relevant national and European Commission authorities. The revised Strategy will be widely distributed to scientists, conservationists, stakeholders, and policy makers internationally. Upon its adoption by the National authorities it will constitute a seminal policy tool guiding all activities conducted for the conservation of the species.

Applicants should have extended experience in similar projects and significant knowledge of the conservation requirements of critically endangered species. For a detailed description and the terms of reference of the project, applicants should contact Dr. Spyros Kotomatas, MOm’s Scientific Coordinator at the address below. Applications should be forwarded with the indication (IC07-NCS) to info@mom.gr no later than the 15^th of September 2007.