Organizational Setting

The Forestry Division (NFO) leads FAO’s work in promoting sustainable forest management and providing leadership on the
environmental, social and economic dimensions of forestry, including its contributions to poverty reduction and food security and
nutrition. It liaises with Member Nations, civil society and the private sector in aspects ranging from development of effective forest policies to forest conservation and management issues, and strengthens the role of forests in climate change mitigation and
adaptation.

The Division also collects analyses and disseminates information on the world’s forest resources and on the production, trade and consumption of wood and non-wood forest products.

FAO collaborates with countries and the global agenda on REDD through the UN-REDD Programme (a joint initiative of FAO, UNDP, UNEP) as well as through other initiatives and projects with multilateral and bilateral donors. It works to strengthen capacities ensuring positive social and environmental impacts, and to promote climate finance and public-private partnerships to scale up investments for REDD implementation. Through capacity strengthening efforts and deployment of technical expertise, the activities under the UN-REDD work plan for Indonesia aim to support the country to use REDD work as a catalyst to deliver on their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) towards climate change mitigation and adaptation in line with UNFCCC commitments

The position is located in the Halting Deforestation, Degradation and Emissions Team (HDDE), which supports countries to strengthen and align actions and policies, incentives and investments to halt deforestation, degradation and emissions while contributing to ensure sustainable agrifood systems and meeting international commitments on REDD and other forests and climate-related frameworks.

Reporting Lines

The consultant (s) will work under the overall guidance of the NFO Deputy Director, the direct supervision of the HDDE Team Leader, in close coordination with Forest Monitoring and Data Platforms (FMDP) Team Leader, FAO Indonesia Country Office representative, decentralized team in FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and in collaboration with other FAO colleagues as needed. Technical collaboration and partnership as needed will be ensured with the FAO Forests and Climate team, especially on the aspects of peatlands. The consultant will work in close coordination and continuous dialogue with the Government of Indonesia (technical staff of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, MoEF and other relevant actors and agencies as appropriated) and in close collaboration with UNEP and UNDP as UN-REDD counterparts and related Indonesia Country focal points.

Technical Focus

The Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed that countries should collectively aim to slow, halt and reverse forest cover and carbon loss. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the sustainable management of forests, and the conservation and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD ) offer incentives to developing countries to reduce emissions from forestlands, restore forests and invest in low-carbon pathways to
sustainable development.

The incumbent(s) will have a dual technical focus on the technical cooperation with the Government of Indonesia: efforts to advance Indonesia’s efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation (REDD ) and ensure appropriate assistance is provided to strengthen Indonesia’s forest monitoring system(s).

Technical assistance and support to Indonesia is focused on:

•    REDD , climate and results-based finance;
•    REDD MRV aspects at national and jurisdictional level;
•    Forest and land cover monitoring (including national forest inventory planning and implementation, technologies for data management, improvements on Indonesia GHG inventory and activity data through state-of-the-art technology for satellite monitoring system, and emission factors, for fires, peatlands and mangroves);
•    Mangroves and peatlands management and monitoring, connecting to REDD and Indonesia FOLU Net sink 2030;
•    Sustainable commodities supply chains and increased access to markets, including through geospatial datasets in support of responsible commodity production;
•    Social forestry contributions to REDD and NDCs targets;
•    Tools and methodologies to help identify and prioritise areas for forest restoration planning.

This support is delivered through the UN-REDD programme, under its Technical Assistance, core initiatives (ASEAN Social Forestry Initiative, Climate Action and Reduction of Emissions for Green Economy in Riau Province – CARE for Green Riau),  affiliated initiatives, such as the UK Funded AIM4Forests. The collaboration will also expand to other projects and programmes related to REDD /Halting deforestation, degradation, emissions / monitoring in the FAO portfolio/pipeline as appropriated.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Act as focal point for the activities of the FAO’s HDDE and FMDP teams regarding activities in Indonesia and serve as FAO member of the UN-REDD Indonesia interagency team.
•    Act as principal day-to-day interlocutor for the partners in the Government of Indonesia and relevant stakeholders;
•    Lead the identification, technical and budgetary planning, coordination, implementation of and reporting on FAO tasks and responsibility to support the government of Indonesia and relevant stakeholders in the planning and implementation of Forest Monitoring and REDD initiatives in Indonesia, in so far as conducted in the FAO’s HDDE and FMDP teams;
•    Lead and contribute technical delivery on REDD and forest monitoring technical assistance activities in collaboration with international and national experts as appropriate;
•    Support (and take the lead on if requested) the organization and delivery of technical and planning sessions with the Government of Indonesia and other stakeholders as appropriate supporting progress of the UN-REDD TA 2025 and initiatives;
•    Technically lead and provide day-to-day coordination of teams of specialist delivering technical assistance and implementing initiatives, including facilitating in-person and remote technical backstopping and duty travel from other REDD / FAO experts as needed ;
•    Participate in UN-REDD in-country team meetings and coordination efforts, bringing in the perspectives from FAO; participate to FAO HDDE/FMDP coordination meeting (with Headquarter and the regional team), report on progress, challenges (including potential way to overcome those), and ways forward;
•    Perform other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in forestry, natural resource management, or a related field;
•    Five years of relevant experience in forest and/or land management and on REDD / halting deforestation including solid knowledge on REDD process and at least one (or more) among: implementation of emission reductions actions (including through social forestry, sustainable supply chains, peatlands/mangroves management), MRV and forest and land monitoring;
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable;
•    Technical skills on either national forest inventories or on forest remote sensing are desirable;
•    Extent and relevance of work experience on forest monitoring and social forestry/community based forestry in the context of national and sub-national REDD implementation;
•    Experience and knowledge on forests climate / results-based finance opportunities is desirable;
•    Experience on sustainable forest and agriculture commodities production and markets would be considered an additional asset;
•    Extent and relevance of experience in working with intergovernmental bodies and multidisciplinary teams;
•    Demonstrated ability to formulate, draft and finalize clear technical and policy documents, guidelines and manuals, in English;
▪    Demonstrated experience in establishing and maintaining partnerships, including government institutions and agencies;
Excellent communication skills and ability to present complex topics to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences.
•    A limited knowledge (level B) of another FAO language (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, or Russian) is desirable.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements