AfriMAB GRÓ LRT Land Restoration Fellowships 2025 (Funded) Deadline: 30 September, 2024

Applications are open for the AfriMAB GRÓ LRT Land Restoration Fellowships 2025. The programme offers annual six-month training in Iceland focused on land restoration and sustainable land management, hosted at the Agricultural University of Iceland.

Ecosystem restoration served as the overarching theme of the 7th General Assembly of African Biosphere Reserves Network (AfriMAB) last year, reflecting its critical importance across the region at the outset of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). As the Man and the Biosphere programme approaches the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves – to be held in Hangzhou, China, in September 2025 – restoration stands to be a crucial element in the programme’s new Strategy and Action Plan. It has the potential to help end poverty, combat climate change and prevent the loss of critical biodiversity.

Fellowship Details

The first 12 weeks of the training focus on course work (both introductory courses and specialized training), practical training and field trips. In the latter 12 weeks of the programme, each Fellow works on an individual project, which provides specialization with reference to the academic and practical background and needs of the individual Fellow and their workplace. Fellows completing the training successfully receive a Postgraduate Diploma in Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Land Management (30 ECTS) from the Agricultural University of Iceland. 

Benefits

• The GRÓ LRT Fellowship covers tuition and other academic expenses for the fellows, travel and health insurance costs, and a stipend that covers all their living expenses during the six months stay in Iceland.  The next training will start in the beginning of March 2025.

Eligibility

• The candidate should be working and having a prominent role in biosphere reserve ecosystem restoration activity 
• The candidate should have at least one university degree in an area relevant to GRÓ LRT’s field of work (i.e. ecology, natural science studies, environmental management/studies, etc.)  
• The candidate should have at least one year of experience working in a biosphere reserve in an area relevant to GRÓ LRT  
• The candidate must be able to communicate in English (speak, read, and write) as it is the working language of GRÓ LRT; 
• The candidate should be under the age of 40. 

Deadline: 30 September, 2024

Application

To apply, interested candidates should send a letter of motivation and a CV, along with a letter of endorsement from the biosphere reserve in which they are working and from the national MAB Focal Point or Committee in their country to the following email address: grolrt@grolrt.is. Applications will be evaluated by GRÓ LTR and MAB Secretariat.

For more information, visit AfriMAB GRÓ LRT Land Restoration Fellowships.