Forestry Expert

Background information The Viet Nam Rubber Association (VRA) is implementing the project "Leveraging VNTLAS compliance within the Viet Nam rubber industry" funded by the EU-FAO FLEGT Program via the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The project has been implemented for 12 months since July 22^nd, 2020. It covers 02 provinces: Tay Ninh and Binh Duong. The project aims at building the capacity of the Viet Nam Rubber Wood Industry, and in particular, smallholders' supply chains to meet VNTLAS requirements. The project is expected to achieve four outcomes: (1) Build the capacity for smallholders supplying rubberwood to VRA members to comply with the VNTLAS requirements; (2) Develop a standardized Legal Timber Dossier for the Viet Nam rubberwood sector; (3) Increase VRA's capacity to support members with smallholder-based supply chains to meet VNTLAS; and (4) Ensure communication and visibility throughout the project. In the framework of the project, VRA is looking for one forestry expert with professional knowledge and good experience to conduct the reports on rubberwood supply chain and compliance against the VNTLAS requirements in the rubberwood industry for this project. The detailed activities Conduct an assessment of compliance against the VNTLAS requirements along the two selected rubberwood supply chains in Tay Ninh and Binh Duong provinces. - The forestry expert will review VNTLAS requirements for smallholder rubber producers as well as describe the various documents, records, receipts, certificates that will be required to prove the legal origin of timber by rubber-wood producers. - The expert will assess all actors along the two supply chain (suppliers up to the mills) against the VNTLAS requirements to identify compliance, gaps in non-compliance, and critical points for non-compliance along these two supply chains. The expert will also explore options to facilitate VNTLAS uptake by smallholders and provide clear recommendations in the report. Field surveys will also be conducted along these two selected supply chains to verify the desk review's findings to obtain feedback and consultation with relevant stakeholders. Develop and pilot the Legal Timber Dossier for the rubberwood sector - The development of the Legal Timber Dossier will first involve extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders who have experience in the development of Legal Timber Dossier for the wood sector. A 1-day technical workshop will be organized in HCMC to obtain feedback from wider stakeholders on the draft Legal Timber Dossier for the Rubber Sector. Feedback from the workshop will guide the planning and roll-out of the piloting of the legal timber dossiers and verification procedures. - VNTLAS compliance challenges will be documented and analyzed to identify remedy interventions potentially leading to compliance of the two selected companies with the requirements for Class 1 operators under the OCS. The expert will also carry out an economic analysis to assess the costs of additional legality compliance requirements according to the VNTLAS along the supply chains and model how these costs could be reduced following recommendations made in this project. Develop a Guidebook on VNTLAS requirements for smallholder rubberwood producers with guidance for VRA. - The Guidebook will also contain a chapter for rubberwood companies with smallholder-based supply chains. This chapter will cover the guidance for such members on how to support smallholder rubber-wood producers to meet the legal requirements of the VNTLAS to encourage trade with smallholder producers. Tasks and duties - Conducting desk study, developing technical proposal and recommendations; - Participating in the field surveys for data collection; - Synthesizing information, processing data, writing and finalizing reports; - Presenting results/findings of the activities at the project workshops; Deliverables (English and Vietnamese) - 01 assessment report of compliance against the VNTLAS requirements along the two selected rubberwood supply chains; - 01 the Legal Timber Dossier for the rubberwood sector; - 01 report on result of Piloting the Legal Timber Dossier for the Rubber Sector (including description of VNTLAS compliance challenges and costs associated with additional requirements needed for compliance); - 01 Guidebook on VNTLAS requirements for smallholder rubberwood producers. Qualifications - At least a Master's degree in forestry, agriculture, development studies, and other related fields; - Good understanding of Viet Nam rubberwood industry, VPA-FLEGT, VNTLAS, etc.; - Having at least 05 years of experience in the wood or rubber industry, experience in working with wood enterprises and smallholders is preferred; - Having good skills in analyzing, synthesizing information, and writing reports; - Excellent written and spoken ability in Vietnamese and English Time to start: ASAP Interested candidates are invited to send CVs and application letter via email no later than September 13^th, 2020: office@vra.com.vn with cc hongvan@vra.com.vn