Consultant Team for Carbon Measurement

Consultancy Announcement

Position: One consultant team (1 Leader and 1 Member) to conduct forest carbon stock and ecosystem assessment over the period from 2019 – 2021 in the target production forest areas under the “Production-driven Forest landscape restoration under REDD+ through private sector-community partnerships as Asian regional learning exchange” (FLOURISH) Project, RECOFTC Viet Nam Country Program.

Duration: August-September, 2022.

Application deadline: 12 Aug 2022, 5 p.m, GMT + 7.

At RECOFTC, we believe in a future where people live equitably and sustainably in and beside healthy, resilient forests. We take a long-term, landscape-based and inclusive approach to supporting local communities to secure their land and resource rights, stop deforestation, find alternative livelihoods, and foster gender equity. We are the only non-profit organization of our kind in Asia and the Pacific. We have more than 30 years of experience working with people and forests and have built trusting relationships with partners at all levels. Our influence and partnerships extend from multilateral institutions to governments, the private sector, and local communities. Our innovations, knowledge, and initiatives enable countries to foster good forest governance, mitigate and adapt to climate change, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

FLOURISH is an innovative four-year forest landscape restoration (FLR) initiative that uses market forces combined with community forestry to combat climate change, restore degraded forests, and improve the well-being of forest communities. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Energy (BMU) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) [1].

In Vietnam, FLOURISH works in four communes in two districts in Nghe An Province with focus on three main objectives:

1. Establish partnership agreements between communities and private sectors (PAP)
2. Increase the forest area legally managed by communities or smallholders or improved forest use agreement.
3. Increase forest carbon stocks in selected villages identified as pilot sites.

Background

In the 2019 baseline assessment, the carbon stock of production forests (natural and plantation stands) in four project communes in Nghe An province was calculated at 926,251 tCO2 eq. The data for natural forest and bamboo carbon stocks were inherited from the “Report of Vietnam’s modified submission on reference levels for REDD+ results-based payments under UNFCCC, 2016”. For acacia plantation, the carbon stocks were calculated based on the measurement of biomass of 3-7-year sample plots set up in 4 communes. The measurement and calculation are based on the method from report “Viet Nam’s modified submission on reference levels for REDD+ results-based payments under UNFCCC“ (MARD, 2016).

Thanks to the project interventions of forest protection and management, forest carbon stocks in the target production forests are estimated to increase by 61,455 tCO₂ eq. These interventions include i) setting up private sector-local community partnership agreements in sustainable Lùng production and management; ii) enhancing smallholders’ skills in applications for ownership certification on forest titling; iii) developing communal forest protection and development plans; iv) enhancing smallholders’ skills on forest management practices to improve forest productivity; v) developing and training local stakeholders on participatory forest and forest fire monitoring; vi) developing a community forestry management plan; vii) establishing a Lùng propagation model, etc.

For the endline assessment, in addition to carbon stock assessment, it is recommended to conduct an ecosystem improvement assessment as an additional measure of ecosystem health. This will analyse the existing ecosystems and their services. The result could also draw the link between ecosystem services and the Payment for forest environmental services (PFES) scheme and other payment schemes including carbon credit.

Objectives

The overall objective of this assignment is to conduct

1. Assessment of forest carbon stocks and forest ecosystem changes over the period from 2019 - 2021 in the target areas in 4 communes in Quy Chau and Que Phong districts, Nghe An province and
2. Recommendations for carbon emission reductions and any other potential markets for forest services including carbon

Scope of work, level of effort, and deliverables

A total of 29 working days for a consultant team is allocated for this assignment, starting from 15 August to 30 September, 2022. Deliverables will be in both English and Vietnamese as below:

The team leader and team member are expected to equally share tasks for this assignment. However, the team leader is expected to take full responsibility for the detailed work plan and quality check for all deliverables before submitting them to RECOFTC.

Qualifications and experience

The successful candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Vietnamese nationals
• Master’s degree in forestry, including forest protection, development, and management, forest use, etc.
• At least 7 years (Team leader) and 5 years (Team member) of experience in carbon measurement and ecosystem assessment in Viet Nam.
• Experience and skill GIS and remote sensing analysis on and ecosystem assessment.
• Good spoken and writing skills in Vietnamese with working knowledge of English.

Core values

At RECOFTC, our core values are the foundation of our culture and guide all our work. In addition to job-specific skills and experience, the applicant should possess the following characteristics, attitudes, and skills:

• Embrace innovation
• Adapt to, and learn from, challenges
• Collaborate with partners and stakeholders
• Nurture commitment, responsibility and ownership
• Prioritize sustainability
• Cultivate participation, social inclusion, and gender equity

How to apply

Interested candidates are requested to submit their CVs and a cover letter indicating why they are suitable for this consultancy along with the technical proposal and fee quotation, current contact details of three referees, including recent supervisors to [email protected] [2]. Please quote the consultancy title “Forest carbon stock and ecosystem assessment of FLOURISH Project" in the subject line of the email. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

For any further information you may need about the consultancy, please contact [email protected] [2].

To learn more about RECOFTC, please visit our website www.recoftc.org [3]

The Consultant will develop a flexible plan to conduct required tasks under the consultancy that considers the COVID-19 imposed travel restrictions.