The Science and Strategy Group (SSG) is considered one administrative entity, and has evolved from the previous Ecosystems and Livelihoods Group, Asia construct. It brings under one umbrella all component thematic programmes in IUCN.

IUCN aims to support the role of trees and forests in building resilience to climate change, regulating ecosystems, protecting biodiversity, playing an integral part in the carbon cycle, supporting livelihoods, and supplying goods and services that can drive sustainable growth.

Framed by IUCN’s global agenda on forests, the Asia regional programme seeks to:

1. Combat deforestation and forest degradation in areas of high biodiversity and cultural significance through the application of methods such as Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), as well as Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs) approaches.
2. Restore forest landscapes to help enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation, particularly under the Bonn Challenge – a global effort to bring 350 million hectares of deforested and degraded land under restoration by 2030.
3. Enable rights-based land use to ensure community involvement in land-use outcomes, in contributing to more inclusive governance and sustainable management of forests.
4. Unlock forest benefits for sustainable and equitable supply of forest goods and services, engaging the private sector, and striving those benefits – such as those from Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) – are equitably shared

To ensure the effective coordination, implementation and continued growth of IUCN’s global agenda on forests, SSG is now looking for a dynamic, results-driven person to take on the role of Programme Officer, Forests for IUCN Asia.

The Programme Officer, Forest serves as the lead technical specialist for IUCN Asia’s Forests sub-programme area in seeking to address biodiversity, climate change, economic, area-based conservation and other societal challenges. As member of SSG team, he/she drives the regional agenda for integrated forest landscape and land-use management through generating knowledge on and scaling the use of innovative approaches, tools and standards.

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

The position is primarily responsible to:

1. Provide strategic, methodological and operational expertise on FLR design including the governance and institutional arrangements, as well as forest carbon credits for delivering biodiversity, livelihood and climate change benefits.

2 Coordinate and support a portfolio of country, sub-regional and regional projects, manage an integrated programme agenda and strategy for Asia, and contribute to forests-related results of the IUCN global programme.

3 Serve as technical resource person and member of the regional task management team for IUCN’s implementing agency role in the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other multi-lateral financing schemes.

4 Lead project development and resource mobilisation by working closely with SSG and ARO teams, directly supporting country/sub-regional units, and liaising with global teams to grow the Forests regional project portfolio.

5 Facilitate partnership building, enhance external engagement, and perform representational functions -- with IUCN constituents, policy and advocacy platforms, knowledge-sharing networks, and public communications outlets.

6 Train, build capacity of and provide technical assistance to regional team and partners for them to effectively deliver projects and achieve target results.

Others:

Carry out other relevant tasks assigned by, and mutually agreed with, the line manager/ senior management team.