According to the Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia emitted approximately 800 million-1,1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2eq) emissions due to huge forests and land fires in 2015. These fires are largely caused by extensive peat soil drainage and excessive peat conversion to other land uses, mainly to palm oil plantations.
As a preventive measure of fires and haze, President Joko Widodo mentioned in his official speech at the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 Paris the establishment of the Peat Restoration Agency (Badan Restorasi Gambut/BRG), an agency that is mandated to restore 2 million hectares of peat by 2020. This work entails, for example, mapping fire-prone provinces, raising peatland water tables, revegetating degraded peatland, creating alternative livelihoods for local communities, and investigating alternative crops for peatland.
WRI Indonesia supports the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG) to achieve its restoration targets to significantly reduce carbon emissions by developing a transparent and effective monitoring and reporting system for peatland restoration activities and peat emission. The development of the platform will involve coordination with BRG, sub-national government in 7 provinces, research institutions, and international organizations. The platform will host several capabilities:
- Monitor restoration planning and implementation from national and sub-national government, local CSOs, private sectors, and other local restoration implementers
- Monitor the impact of restoration implementation to biophysical as well as socio economic factors
- Monitor the degradation of peatland, including fires, draining of peatland, and deforestation
- Monitor the abated emission due to restoration implementation and peat protection
The PRIMS Research Assistant will assist on the research aspect of peatland restoration impact studies and peatland degradation, as part of PRIMS activities. Part of the activities is to understand the effectiveness of restoration implementation and effort, including identifying criteria and indicators to assess the restoration intervention to the surrounding peatland areas.
Job Responsibilities
Research (50%)
- Together with Peatland Restoration Monitoring team and partners, assist in developing a research framework to assess the effectiveness of restoration implementation strategies (rewetting, revegetation, and revitalization) for sustainable peatland management
- Collaborate in developing research products on restoration impacts, including PRIMS’ training modules on restoration impacts and peatland degradation
- Together with other colleagues and partners, carry out baseline study, interviews, surveys and data collection, to understand restoration impacts towards sustainable peatland management
- Assist in synthesizing lessons learned and experiences and further publishing the findings in reports and issue briefs
- Review existing literature, studies, news, and events related to WRI’s work related to peatland, restoration, emission, and prepare short summaries for the team.
Publications (30%)
- Contribute to the writing and publication of research products to raise the profile of PRIMS activities
- Assist in developing research pipeline related to peatland restoration
- Produce communications products, such as blogpost, on peatland management and restoration
Coordination (20%)
- Support coordination with research partners to develop studies on impact of restoration implementation as well as with BRG and other technical partners to frequently update research activities
- Assist in the capacity building of government, civil society, and restoration implementers on the use of PRIMS
Deliverables
- Data resulted from PRIMS research analyzed
- Research pipeline on peat restoration developed
- Knowledge product/s on method to assess peat restoration impact produced
- Communication product/s on peatland management and restoration published
Job Qualifications
- Bachelor degree in hydrological sciences, water resources, geological sciences, earth sciences, forestry, or any other related fields.
- Legally able to work in Indonesia.
- Professional experience of 1 – 3 years in forestry, hydrology, wetland management and/or peatland management.
- Excellent writing and research skills, as well as high level of organization and attention to detail.
- Strong team player with ability to work across institutional departments/programs.
- 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.
- High integrity, passion for sustainable development, and good sense of humor preferred.
- Familiarity using GIS software is a plus.
- Professional fluency in Bahasa Indonesia and English.
- Willingness and ability to travel to remote parts of Indonesia
Period of Work
8 (eight) months from May to December 2020
Must have authorization to work in Indonesia to be eligible for this position.
Final candidates might be required to take a writing test and to produce two writing samples when needed.
Consultant rate: Consultant rate is commensurate with experience and skills.
Qualified applicants should apply online through WRI career portal in order to be formally considered.
Application close: 1700 (Jakarta Time), 30 April 2020. We will close the advert earlier when the best candidates are identified at earlier dates.
This is a locally engaged position; Indonesian nationals are encouraged to apply.
