Pfes Programme Implementation Analyst

Job Posting: 22/Jul/2025

Closure Date: 05/Aug/2025, 4:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit: FAVIE

Job Type: Non-staff opportunities

Type of Requisition: PSA (Personal Services Agreement)

Grade Level: N/A

Primary Location: Viet Nam-Hanoi

Duration: 180 working days

Post Number: N/A

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**Organizational Setting**

Viet Nam maintains an ambitious forest monitoring system which has been instrumental in achieving forest transition, accessing climate finance, and meeting emerging environmental and social requirements. This system underpins critical national programs such as the LEAF, a jurisdictional REDD+ program operating under the framework of the LEAF Coalition and the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) through its TREES framework. The LEAF program is led by VNFOREST within the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), with a core objective of securing Results-Based Payments (RBPs) for emission reductions from the forestry sector.

This consultancy is part of a work plan to further strengthen the forest monitoring system, specifically focusing on its relevance to the Payments for Ecosystem Services (PFES) system and transparent commodity value chains, both of which are integral to the broader REDD+ and LEAF initiatives.
Viet Nam has been implementing a robust Payments for Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES) scheme, collecting fees from beneficiaries of forest ecosystem services (e.g., hydropower and water companies) and distributing these payments to forest owners. PFES is a strategic and comprehensive REDD+ Policy and Measure (PAM) in Viet Nam, which has already accessed significant results-based payments (RBPs) from the FCPF Carbon Fund and is considered a key mechanism for delivering on LEAF's RBP goals. There is an ongoing interest in exploring the full potential of the PFES mechanism to further enhance its design and ensure sustained REDD+ results that contribute to the LEAF program's overall objectives. This requires acquiring and analyzing data on PFES payment sources, distribution, forest management impacts, and ultimately, carbon impacts.

**Reporting Lines**

Under the overall supervision by the FAO Representative, technical supervision by the Forestry Officer, Forestry Division in FAO Rome, day-to-day management by Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) and in collaboration with the Project Coordinator at FAO in Vietnam and the international consultant for the project.

The specialist will report to the FAO Representative, in close collaboration with Forestry Officer NFO.

**Technical Focus**

This assignment will therefore support Viet Nam in reviewing and analyzing the implementation of its PFES program to better understand its contribution to REDD+ emission reduction targets and to design a robust monitoring system to systematically track PFES impacts on REDD+ within the context of the LEAF program's success and RBP achievement.

**Tasks and responsibilities**
- Identify relevant data sources related to PFES payments, distribution, and reinvestments at the national and sub-national levels.
- Acquire the identified data for LEAF’s provinces through engagement with relevant government agencies, PFES funds, and other stakeholders.
- Organize the collected data into a suitable database format (e.g., spreadsheet, database) to facilitate analysis.
- Prepare a comprehensive Data compilation report detailing the data collected, including raw data in digital format and a summary of key data elements and sources.
- Conduct a thorough analysis of the compiled PFES data for LEAF project province.
- Assess the contribution of the PFES program to forest management and REDD+ impacts, including potential emission reductions and carbon sequestration.
- Document the methodologies used for data analysis and impact assessment.
- Prepare a Data analysis and impact assessment report presenting the findings, quantifiable results (where possible), clear explanations of methodologies, and limitations of the data and analysis.
- Review the findings from the data analysis and impact assessment t