Six Monthly Technical Progress Report July 2011December ... - WWF

equired
 to
 realise
 our
 specific
 targets
 on
 the
 Laos
 side.
 This
 necessitated
 the
deployment
of
some
of
the
PA:TA
and
Project
Director’s
capacity
in
Laos,
the
latter
at
a
more
strategic
level,
to
ensure
that
some
momentum
are
built
and
maintained.
Active
head
hunting
has
now
resulted
in
offers
to
highly
experienced
and
competent
individuals
for
both
these
positions
and
we
are
confident
that
appointments
will
be
made
 by
 the
 end
 of
 January
 2012.
 This
 additional
 capacity
 bodes
 well
 for
 the
intensification
 of
 our
 current
 project
 implementation
 trajectory,
 at
 both
 technical,
administrative
and
operational
levels.
We
unfortunately
also
had
two
resignations.
The
Forest
Carbon
Officer
for
Laos
as
well
 as
 our
 Timber
 Trade
 Component
 Leader,
 who
 are
 both
 pursuing
 new
 career
opportunities.
We
should
be
able
to
replace
the
Carbon
Officer
fairly
easily,
but
it
will
be
quite
a
challenge
to
replace
the
Component
Leader
in
the
immediate
future.
A
 strategic
 decision
 was
 made
 to
 split
 the
 current
 GMP
 Regional
 Timber
 Trade
position
 (only
 50%
 CarBi
 commitment),
 into
 two
 positions,
 thus
 facilitating
 the
recruitment
of
a
100%
CarBi
Timber
trade
Component
Leader.
The
same
strategy
will
 also
 be
 pursued
 in
 the
 case
 of
 the
 REDD
 Carbon
 Officer,
 whom
 will,
 after
 the
closure
 of
 WWF
 Laos’
 commitment
 to
 the
 Xe
 Sap
 project,
 also
 be
 100%
 CarBi
(compared
to
the
current
50%).
The
recruitment
processes
for
both
positions
have
already
been
activated.
Despite
the
fact
that
the
current
matrix
staff
structure
and
dual
roles
of
some
CarBi
key
staff
members
are
quite
taxing
on
both
the
individuals
and
the
team,
there
has
been
 consistent
 growth
 towards
 a
 strong,
 passionate
 and
 energetic
 unit.
 The
Regional
 and
 Country
 Financial,
 Human
 Resource
 and
 Administrative
 Support
Services
staff,
including
our
WWF
Germany
Colleagues,
are
also
an
integral
part
of
the
 extended
 CarBi
 Family,
 and
 contribute
 significantly
 to
 the
 strengths
 of
 the
collective
which
will
be
key
in
our
implementation
intensification
phase.
4.
Communications
The
Inception
Workshops
in
Vietnam
(Quang
Nam)
and
Laos
(Salavanh),
as
well
as
the
Technical
Trans
Boundary
Protected
Area
and
Timber
Trade
Workshop
in
Vietnam
(Hue),
received
extensive
media
coverage,
in
both
printed
and
television
formats.
The
REDD+
CarBi
and
Xe
Pian
PA
Workshop
in
Laos
(Pakse),
also
attracted
some
media
attention
from
the
National
Laos
newspaper.
Please
see
the
list
of
publications
in

Annex
1.
Besides
the
positive
media
exposure
to
our
donor
and
the
project,
we
were
also
able
to
attract
high‐level
government
officials
at
both
political
and
Departmental
level,
to
these
workshops,
which
provided
us
with
an
ideal
platform
to
engage
the
decision
makers
regarding
strategic
project
related
matters.
The
KFW
prescribed
protocols
have
been
applied
in
all
these
cases.
There
were
also
several
related
(regarding
themes)
articles
in
the
Vietnam
and
Laos
media,
which
highlighted
the
potential
of
CarBi
to
link
strategically
to
current
media
streams
and
themes,
and
also
to
synchronise
with
the
respective
countries’
main
focal
areas.
The
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