Term of references:
Papua New Guinea Community Ranger Guide illustrations
Supervised by
WCS PNG Conservation Director and WCS EU Science Project Officer.
Location
Remote.
Context
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity.
The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme aims to improve wildlife conservation and food security. The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme is a major international initiative funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD) to improve the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in forest, savannah, and wetland environments. The initiative is coordinated by a dynamic consortium of four partners, namely the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Landscape Alliance (formerly CIFOR-ICRAF), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the SWM Programme is implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and has a multi-faceted approach to reduce the pressure on the rare and endangered wildlife species while improving economic and cultural well-being. This requires a robust natural resources governance system. In PNG, the project supported 4 communities in the Highlands in land-use planning and creation and management of community-led conserved areas. Part of this support consists in training community rangers (wasman) and supporting the organization of patrols to monitor wildlife and human activities. To provide support for Wasman during and after their training, WCS is now creating a Wasman Guide including information on patrolling activities and refreshers from their training. To ease targeted audience (wasman) comprehension, the guide will incorporate figures and illustrations to visually emphasize the most important points of the document.
Objectives
The purpose of this assignment is to produce high-quality, culturally appropriate, and easily understandable illustrations that:
- Translate written guidance into visual instructions adapted to rural Papua New Guinea community ranger capacity.
- Reflect the context of rural Papua New Guinea (people, dress, environment, tools, terrain, flora and fauna).
- Support learning outcomes across ranger audience regardless of their reading ability.
- Maintain a consistent visual style, tone, and level of detail throughout the guide.
Scope of work
The illustrator will:
- Review the content brief, draft text, and figure/illustration needs list provided and propose a visual style (e.g., line art, flat color, semi-realistic) for approval before production begins.
- Engage with WCS PNG Conservation Director and WCS Science project officer for details on the requirements for each of the illustrations mentioned in Annex A.
- Produce all required illustrations and figures according to the approved style guide. Illustration should prioritize the following points :
- Clarity and accessibility: Each illustration should be easily understandable, if required, without the need of an accompanying text. Multi-step figures should show a clear numbered/sequential panel with directional cues (arrows, numbering). The illustrator should avoid abstract symbolism, or ambiguous imagery.
- Cultural relevance and accuracy: Characters, clothing, vegetation, terrain, and tools should be recognizable and appropriate to rural community of central Papua New Guinea.
- Consistency: Consistent design, color palette, line weight, and symbol use throughout the guide.
- Inclusivity: Reasonable representation of gender and age among should be depicted in the illustration of rangers/community members.
- Revise illustrations based on feedback (with a predefined maximum number of revision rounds).
- Deliver final files in the required formats and resolutions for both print and digital use
Deliverables
Draft and revised versions of the 17 illustrations and figures (see annex A for breakdown of the illustration themes and needs).
Timing
The draft version of the illustrations are expected to be finalized 2 months after the signature of the contract. The revised version are expected to be finalized 0.5 month after receiving the comments. The finalization of the illustrations might include several rounds of comments until the illustrations fully meet WCS expectations.
Qualifications and Experience
The selected illustrator should have:
- A demonstrated portfolio of illustration work for environmental education, training, or instructional materials.
- Ability to work iteratively with feedback from field practitioners and translate written briefs into visual instructions.
- Experience with, or willingness to research and accurately depict, Papua New Guinea or broader Melanesian/Pacific cultural and environmental context.
- Experience working with NGOs, conservation programs, or community-based training materials is an advantage.
Content of the offer
Interested candidates should submit the following to gbaralle@wcs.org before 4 October 2026:
- Resume detailing experience with similar tasks;
- Examples of similar work produced;
- A total price for the contract in USD or PGK.
General conditions of submission
The following general conditions apply to all proposals submitted in response to any Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by WCS.
- Non-Binding: WCS’s solicitation of proposals in response to any RFP does not commit WCS to award a contract, and this RFP is not an offer to enter into a contract for the services to be provided as described herein.
- Proposal Materials and Costs: WCS is not liable for any costs incurred in the preparation, submission or negotiation of a response to its RFP or incurred for any other purpose or reason in connection with the RFP. No materials submitted with this RFP will be returned.
- Confidentiality: All information and material contained in any WCS RFP or issued by WCS or any of its agents as part of any WCS RFP process is confidential and is the exclusive property of WCS.
- Modifications: As a condition of award, WCS may request any proposer to make revisions, additions, or deletions to its proposal.
- Subcontractors: After award of contract, WCS will have no obligation, financial or otherwise, to any subcontractor of the awardee. Nevertheless, any subcontract will be required to be subject to and consistent with the prime contract between WCS and the awardee, and WCS may require any subcontract to include specific terms and conditions.
- Reserved Rights: WCS at any time in its sole discretion may, without notice and without liability to any candidate or any other party for their expenses incurred in the preparation of the responses hereto or otherwise, do any and all of the following:
Amend or withdraw this RFP;
Accept or reject any and all proposals received in response to this RFP;
Award the contract to a proposer other than the candidate offering the lowest rate;
Request additional materials and clarification or modification of any submitted proposal;
Extend the time for submission of all proposals after notification to all prospective candidates;
Terminate negotiations with a selected candidate and select another candidate;
Take such action as WCS deems appropriate if negotiations fail to result in a signed agreement within a reasonable amount of time;
Terminate or modify the solicitation and selection process at any time and re-issue the solicitation to whomever WCS deems appropriate.
The selected candidate will be required to execute a written agreement with WCS, generally consistent with the terms set forth herein, effective upon the date the written agreement is executed by both WCS and the selected candidate.
Annex A: Illustration and figure list
- Landscape overview showing a community conservation area with a forest, a trail, wildlife and human activities
- A Wasman patrol illustration
- Wasman roles checklist
- Ethical conduct of a Wasman
- Most common patrol objective
- Patrol planning checklist
- Common patrol planning and duration
- Role distribution in a Wasman patrol
- Wasman required personal gears
- First aid kit content
- Required camping equipment
- Proposed patrol Equipment
- Before the patrol risk assessment checklist
- Wildlife signs
- Human activity signs
- How to report checklist
- Illustration for the guide cover
Note: The programme aims to use original work and support artists by not using AI for illustrations. The artist contracted for this work shall agree to not use AI in any way for the creation of these illustrations. In line with this, illustrations generated under this agreement may not be uploaded to AI in any form.