Position: Global Forest Watch – Research Analyst

Type of Employment : Consultant

Duration of Work : August 2017 – March 2018

Deadline of application : July 21, 2017

About WRI Indonesia

WRI Indonesia is a national entity (yayasan) associated with the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global environmental research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. WRI work with various stakeholders in the natural resources sector to support policy and management that are both profitable and sustainable. WRI work with leaders in more than 50 countries for more than 30 years, with offices in Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Ethiopia, and the United States.

Launched in early 2014, WRI Indonesia (or Yayasan Institut Sumberdaya Dunia) builds on WRI’s 20-year history in the country, and strengthens our impact on the ground. Most of the works were on forest and land use, and in the short-to-medium term WRI Indonesia aims to expand its presence and portfolio to include projects in the climate, energy, as well as city and transportation programs.

Overview

Indonesia is world’s fourth most populous country as well as Southeast Asia’s biggest democracy and economy. It hosts the planet’s third largest tropical rainforests and one of its most expansive peat lands, making it home to a wealth of biodiversity and a significant carbon storage. On top of this, the country possesses one of the biggest geothermal, solar, as well as hydropower potentials in the world, while posed with the issue of dramatically increasing energy demand. Over half of its 250 million people reside in urban areas, and more than 60 million others depend their livelihoods on forests. Yet 11% of Indonesia’s population still live under the poverty line, and the archipelago still ranks as the 6th largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, mostly coming from forest conversion and peat degradation.

Meanwhile, new technology is enabling decision-makers to create evidence-based policies to address environmental management challenges. In particular, WRI seeks to encourage better governance and management of the world’s forests and degraded land to enhance socio-economic growth and opportunity, improve ecosystem services, and mitigate the drivers and effects of climate change. The Global Forest Watch initiative is a key part of this approach. Global Forest Watch (GFW) contributes to this mission by increasing transparency of forest management information to support better forest governance. GFW is an online forest monitoring and alert system that unites satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing to guarantee access to timely and reliable information about forests. The platform contains a trove of forest data, including the most frequently updated information currently available about forest change. This data can be viewed, analyzed and downloaded for free. For more information please visit www.globalforestwatch.org

This position will be responsible to implement Forest Watcher Initiative and training about GLAD and fires alerts, as part of GFW activities in Indonesia. Global Forest Watch provides real-time information on forest loss and land fires. However, many actors on the frontlines of forest change – park managers, local communities – may not yet know about GFW, or do not have access to reliable internet technology. GFW is in the process of tailoring our tools, data, and training to better support on-the-ground forest management, and piloting these approaches in Indonesia. In addition, GFW seeks to systematically understand the enabling conditions and barriers that allow or prevent key stakeholders from civil society and law enforcement from adopting real-time data and technology for decision-making. To achieve this goal, we are currently scoping activities for on-the-ground training, testing and evaluation with local forest managers in Indonesia for the year 2017. This position will be responsible for coordinating on-the-ground activities with partners in Indonesia, including facilitating trainings, conducting research and evaluations, collecting lessons learned, and synthesizing experiences in order to inform GFW’s strategy moving forward.

Responsibilities

Coordination (40%)

1. Collaborate and coordinate with staff across WRI Indonesia’s programs, as well as WRI DC, and external partners to advance the interests of GFW and of WRI Indonesia as a whole
2. To communicate with current and future GFW field partners, including existing partners in the Leuser Ecosystem, Tesso Nilo National Park, Forest Watch Indonesia, Greenpeace, and other CSO’s partners
3. Convening and facilitation of field trainings and workshops with in-country partners to teach local forest managers, law enforcement and community members how to use GFW to better monitor their lands.
4. Assist the efforts to expand GFW’s improve uptake and build capacity by civil society, local communities and law enforcement in the country
5. Train local stakeholders on GFW and associated tools, such as MapBuilder and Forest Watcher, a new mobile application that allows offline access to GFW data. Synthesize and communicate feedback to app developers in order to make the application most useful for the Indonesian context.

Research and evaluation (40%)

1. Collaborate in developing GFW training modules for relevant stakeholders in Indonesia (in Bahasa), including modules on Forest Watcher and utilizing real-time forest loss and fire alerts
2. Together with GFW Coordinator, as well as colleagues from Governance Center and Forest Legality Initiative to contribute to a research framework to assess the value of real-time forest information for advocacy, management, and law enforcement in Indonesia, as well as barriers or constraints to its use.
3. Together with other colleagues to carry out baseline study, interviews, surveys and data collection, to understand the effectiveness of real-time information to improve forest management
4. To synthesize lessons learned and experiences; publishing findings in reports, issue brief, and
5. Review existing literature, studies, news, and events related to WRI’s work related to palm oil, degraded land and landscape restoration, and prepare short summaries for the team

Outreach (10%)

1. Contribute to briefs writing, and blogs publishing to raise the profile of GFW’s ongoing activities in Indonesia.

Qualifications

-       Minimum 2-3 years of progressive professional work experience related to land, environmental or natural resource management, sustainable development with relevant program implementation and project management experience.
-       Degree in environmental policy/law, natural resource study, sustainable development, development study or similar is required. Higher degree (such as Master’s degree preferred).
-       Previous experience designing and implementing field trainings and capacity-building workshops
-       A good understanding of geospatial and remote sensing will be an advantage.
-       Experience in building network of relationships and partnerships with governments, civil society, and other stakeholders engaged in forest management
-       Significant field work or experience building capacity among civil society groups, law enforcement, and other stakeholders
-       Strong team player with ability to work across institutional departments/programs.
-       Fluency in Bahasa Indonesia and English.
-       Strong communication and writing and research skills
-       Candidate must be self-motivated, detail-oriented and organized thinker with an ability to juggle multiple priorities, handle assignments independently, and work under tight deadlines.
-       Flexibility, sense of humor, breadth of interests, and willingness to explore unfamiliar issues all are qualities that will be looked for during the hiring process.

How to Apply

Please submit application to Indonesiaoffice@wri.org by July 21, 2017.

Please indicate “GFW Research Analyst” on the email’s subject.

Should you have further questions on the position, please contact Hidayah Hamzah at hidayah.hamzah@wri.org. Please do not send application to this email.