Indonesia: Social Forestry Research Internship

Jun 27, 2021 | World Resources Institute
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World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade in order to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean. We are passionate. We value our diversity of interests, skills and backgrounds. We have a flexible work environment. And we share a common goal to catalyze change that will improve the lives of people. Our shared ideals are at the core of our approach. They include: integrity, innovation, urgency, independence and respect. The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges, and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.

We have been growing rapidly: our staff has doubled in size over the past 5 years and our operating budget is now $100 million. Founded in 1982, WRI has a global staff of 800+ people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions. 

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices.

WRI Indonesia is 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, and the United States.

Launched in early 2014, WRI Indonesia builds on WRI’s 10-year history in the country and strengthens our impact on the ground. 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.

Program Overview

One Map Initiative (OMI) aims to transform land use decision-making processes to be more open, accountable, and participatory through catalyzing a unified, accurate, transparent, and up-to-date geospatial database land use planning and monitoring system. In the process, WRI Indonesia has been partnering with national and local governments, universities, private sectors, civil societies, and local and indigenous communities to operationalize the acceleration of national One Map Policy from the provincial, district, to the village level. The work will span until the end of 2021, focusing on Riau, South Sumatra, Papua, and West Papua provinces.

To support the implementation of One Map Initiative in the very local level, WRI Indonesia also support the acceleration of Social Forestry implementation. Ministry of Environment and Forestry heralded social forestry or “hutan sosial” policy, one of its priority programs that provide legal access to indigenous people and local communities living inside and surrounding forest to improve their welfare and the environment by managing the state forest. The social forestry initiative exists as an approach to overcome poverty problem in villages inside and around forest area, while also ensuring that the forests will be managed sustainably. The policy marked the paradigm shift of forest management in Indonesia, from state-led management by the government apparatus or corporate concession to community-led management that promotes rights for local communities. The Government is committed to provide legal access to those dependent on forest resources in more than 12.7 million hectares of forest areas through various social forestry schemes, such as Hutan Desa (village forest) and Hutan Adat (Adat forest). By March 2021, Ministry of Environment and Forestry have issued approximately 4.5 million hectares of social forestry licenses to 6.892 units.

In Riau, WRI Indonesia works in collaboration with multi stakeholders as Riau Forestry Office to accelerate social forestry implementation, including recognition of the local and Adat communities and their lands and forest resources. By the end of 2018, in total 8 subjects of Adat community have been recognized by Regent through Bupati decrees. Moreover, by mid-February 2020, two Adat communities, namely Kenegerian Kampa and Kenegerian Petapahan have received decrees from Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) for Adat Forest recognition. Once their land is tenure-secure, communities are more likely to be able to invest in their forest resources to sustainably manage their land. The shift towards commercializing forest products is a major transition, with local/Adat communities moving from subsistence harvesting to producing a product for the market, to managing the post-harvest processing and marketing the product. The extent to which communities wish to move down the value chain of harvesting and processing products from their forests will vary depending on several factors, including their forest management plans and business plans as well as their interest in and capacity for managing different types of local enterprises. Therefore, WRI Indonesia is currently planning to develop the small-medium scale economy for the local and Adat communities through sustainable livelihood initiative.

General Internship Roles

The Social Forestry Research Intern is expected to work at WRI Indonesia regional office in Pekanbaru, Riau and intensely working with Riau Forestry Office. He/she will be involved into social forestry research and development included:

  • Determination of land use changes in or nearby social forestry areas
  • Support Riau Forestry Office on identification process of potential social forestry areas
  • Assess potential conflict and institutional development of communities with social forestry license
  • Assess potential livelihood and local economic development of communities with social forestry license

He/she will report directly to Riau Senior Program Lead while also working closely with Research and Forest Based Livelihood Analyst and other WRI regional Riau team also Jakarta team member.

Learning Outcomes

  • Learning experience on analysis of social forestry policy and implementation in Riau.
  • Learning experience and exposure to various forest-based livelihood development project in Riau
  • Learning experience from supporting cross-output implementation of projects in Riau.
  • Learning experience in engagement activities
  • Learning experience in rural development appraisal 
  • Opportunity to develop interpersonal skill and ability to work as a team 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: 

  • Freshly graduated student or senior undergraduate in bachelor’s degree preferably from forestry, biology, landscape architecture, agriculture, and natural resources management studies).
  • Willingness to learn on social forestry and forest-based livelihood related topics;
  • Familiarity on spatial data processing and analysis (ArcGIS, QGIS);
  • High attention to details, well organized, and strong analytical skills;
  • Strong inter-personal skills, working with people from a variety of backgrounds;
  • 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 and passion for sustainable development;

Preferred Qualifications: 

  • Local candidates are preferable (Riau as home based)
  • Pekanbaru, Riau is our office based, but we are open for working remotely due to Covid situation with further arrangement.
  • Familiarity on research around forestry, biodiversity, forest/tree carbon measurement, non-wood forest products, and ecotourism;
  • Familiarity on, or keen to learn the following technologies and libraries would be an asset: Leaflet, Google Earth Engine, PostgreSQL + PostGIS, python GIS modules, and others.

Internship Terms and Duration

This is a paid internship program for 3 months, with possibility of contract extension subject to project plan and performance. Detailed activity plan and arrangement will be discussed with WRI Indonesia team following signing of the internship contract.

Final candidates might be required to take a writing test and to produce two writing samples when needed.

Qualified applicants should apply online through WRI career portal in order to be formally considered. 

Application close: 1700 (Jakarta Time), 7 July 2021. 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.