National RS/GIS and REDD+ Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO is currently implementing the project TCP/SAM/3804– Establishment of a National Forest Monitoring System and Forest Reference Level (for Samoa). This TCP project will utilize new information to establish a National Forest Monitoring System and Forest Reference Level (FRL), including essential capacity development of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) forestry staff in forest monitoring and remote sensing technologies. This will enable Samoa to access to REDD finance and other funding windows such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in support of the sustainable development of local communities and protect Samoa’s precious native forest environments.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator and the direct supervision of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), the Specialist on RS/GIS and REDD will provide input into three project objectives: viz. forest and land use assessment, NFMS Geo-portal and REDD Forest Reference Level. The Specialist will work in close consultation and coordination with the National Project Coordinator (NPC) and FAO SAP, Government of Samoa counterparts, in carrying out his/her tasks and duties.

Technical Focus

Geographic Information System, Forest type, land use land cover, forest mapping and area assessment, ground truth collection, global positioning system (GPS), satellite image processing, data analysis, forest monitoring systems, REDD , climate change, MS office tools, report writing.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Specialist will perform the following tasks:

Develop annual historical forest and land use change assessment (2000-2021) Build the capacity to conduct historical annual forest and land use change assessment • Support to design the assessment and customize the assessment tools (Open Foris: Collect Earth Online (CEO) etc) • Support to assess the required IT equipment for the assessment by MNRE and prepare specifications and procure them • Coordinate to conduct and facilitate stakeholder consultation workshop to inform the plan and design of assessment • Support to conduct the training of MNRE (and relevant organizations) officers for the assessment with the tool(s) Conduct the historical annual forest and land use change assessment in 2000-2021 • Support the Lead Technical Officer in conducting the assessment by MNRE at MNRE based on the technical supervision of the FAO technical-lead expert • Support to conduct Quality Assurance/Quality Control process (daily compiling data and quick analysis and feedback) Conduct the data analysis and produce the official report • Support to compile data (and to address the issued identified) and conduct data analysis based on data from 1.2 • Support the Lead Technical Officer in the preparations of the official report (refer to the example of PNG's LULUCF report and other countries AD reports) • Support the Lead Technical Officer in the launch of the official publication (e.g. organize launching event, publish through MNRE's web and SNS tools)

Establish National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) • Support to review the existing and past forest monitoring systems and planned projects/systems in future in Samoa • Support to develop design of the NFMS/MRV (e.g. utilized tools and the relevant activities) and describe it as a report • Draft the NFMS in the Forest Reference Level (FRL) document prepared and submitted to UNFCCC under the Output 3 • Support the Lead Technical Officer inreviewing the existing forest and land use data and identify the potential data to publish through Geo-Portal • Support the Lead Technical Officer in stakeholder consultation for designing Geo-portal (e.g. organize workshop(s) and one-on-one meeting(s)) • Support to develop Geo-portal (using GeoServer with support from FAO-HQ on Linux server (Ubuntu) hosted by FAO-HQ • Support to prepare an explanation and specification document of the Geo-Portal (refer to the example of PNG's portal) • Support the lead technical officer in the launch of the Geo-portal service (e.g. organize launching event, publish through MNRE's web and SNS tools) • Support to conduct training(s) (basic use of Geo-Portal: WMS and with GIS, administration: customization of contents)

Establish REDD Forest Reference Level (FRL) • Support the Lead Technical Officer in organizing and facilitating consultation workshops (e.g. methodology, results, reference period, and future projection) • Support to construct FRL based on the annual forest and land use change data under Output 1 and consultation results • Draft FRL document (refer to the examples of PNG and Solomon Islands (sampling approach) and mapping approach) • Assist the government endorsement of the FRL (in compliant with other relevant documents, such as BUR/GHG-i and NDC) • Assist to address the feedback from the UNFCCC’s technical assessment process and modify and improve the FRL documentPrepare an end-of-assignment report with a summary of activities undertaken, results, conclusions; • Carry out any other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum requirements

The Candidates will be assessed according to the following criteria: • University degree in the field of Forestry, Environment, natural resource, agriculture or related fields • Minimum five (5) years of practical working experience in GIS/RS in the Pacific Islands • Working knowledge of English. Limited knowledge of French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian would be an asset • Nationality of Samoa or resident in the country with a regular work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus; • Teamwork; • Communication; • Building Effective Relationships; and • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement.

Technical and functional skills

• Time series forest, land use land cover data and maps collection • Ground truth collection • Data processing and analysis • Preparation of review reports based on published peer reviewed scientific reports • Good communication and writing and presentation skills • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. • A positive attitude, work ethics and a demonstrated capacity to learn new technologies as well as take on additional responsibilities over time. • Self-motivated, enthusiastic and be able to work both independently and as part of a multi-disciplinary team. • Committed. Reliable and flexible to adjust to the working time zones of FAORAP and FAOHQ staffs, with good organizational skills and time management