Project Description
The six-year Forest Sector Development Project (FSDP) supports sustainable forest plantation management and conservation of biodiversity in special use forests. FSDP provides credit and technical advice to households to establish some 66,000 ha of financially viable plantations in the four project provinces (Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and Thua Thien Hue), with the aim of increasing income for poor households. It provides grants through the Vietnam Conservation Fund to initiate and improve management of special use forests of high biodiversity value on a competitive basis.
The project is divided into four components : 1) Institutional Development 2) Smallholder Plantation Forests 3) Special Use Forests 4) Project Management, and Monitoring and Evaluation
This position relates to the second component, Smallholder Plantation Forests.
The Smallholder Plantation Forests component is piloting the development of a small-holder commercial forest plantation sub-sector in 4 central provinces of Vietnam. The component offers an attractive credit line for smallholders for the purpose of commercial tree plantation establishment using a range of tree planting and agro-forestry models. The available credit financing is combined with assistance in forest land allocation, extension and technical advice. The component also supports building capacity in the Forest Development Sub-Departments and Forest Sections under the Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, credit institutions, districts and households to plan, implement and monitor a commercial forest plantation program based on a credit line to smallholders.
Participation and borrowing from the credit line is voluntary. The credit and other services to be provided are demand-driven. This basic principle requires flexibility in implementation since the component must be responsive to the demand for land, financing and support services by the households. The component includes the following five sub-components: (i) Participatory Site Selection; (ii) Land Allocation/LUC (Land Use Right Certificates) Issuance; (iii) Extension and Service Delivery; (iv) Plantation Design and Management; and (v) Plantation Investment.
Position Description
The land allocation under the FSDP will be a demand-driven approach in response to applications by individual households in project areas. This approach accords with the current practice in project districts. Project activity will be focused on areas where interest is high and comprehensive community consultation is planned. A participatory process has been planned that integrates the community consultation, land allocation, forest plantation extension services and the provision of credit.
Land allocation under the FSDP will be undertaken by the District Land Offices. Land allocation of forest land in project areas has been slow. There are many reasons for the delay in the issuance of LUCs for forestry, including: limited resources; limited budget; lack of cadastral maps in forest areas; priority to other land uses, particularly urban, rural residential, and agricultural land; and difficulties arising from the transfer in 1999 of responsibility for allocating forest land from the Forest Development Department to the cadastral offices.
In most project areas there will be no cadastral maps. Survey and mapping has traditionally been undertaken with tape and compass surveys without connection to the national geodetic network. A range of options are available for the project survey and mapping activity, including:
• the existing isolated tape and compass surveys and the manual drafting of parcel maps for the LUCs; • the use of compass and tape surveys, supported by GPS measurements (either at the same time as the compass/tape surveys, or some time later) with manual drafting of parcel maps for the LUCs; • the use of total-stations and GPS equipment and the computer plotting of parcel maps for the LUCs; and • the survey of boundaries using GPS equipment and the computer plotting of parcel maps for the LUCs.
A range of factors influence the choice of the survey and mapping method, including the availability of staff and equipment. The project is purchasing two differential GPS systems per province and a desktop computer and A3 laser printer for each project district. Some software support is to be provided by DLA from Hanoi. Most provincial cadastral offices or technical institutes have total-stations and computer plotting equipment. The district DLA office is to decide what methodology is to be used in the village and who is to undertake the survey and mapping. If the provincial cadastral office or technical institute is to undertake the survey and mapping, this is to be under contract from the PPMU, under the supervision of the district cadastral staff.
Objectives Ensure that survey and mapping and land allocation is undertaken efficiently and effectively and that these activities do not delay the FSDP plantation component.
Scope of Work and Main Responsibilities: • Prepare technical specifications for the DGPS and computer equipment and assist in the procurement of this equipment; • Plan and organize a workshop on standardized cadastral surveying and mapping techniques; • Based on outcome of initial workshop, elaborate standardized guidelines and procedures for cadastral surveying and mapping; • Liaise with DLA staff in Hanoi and facilitate their support of DLOs in project areas; • Develop training modules for usage of DGPS equipment and conduct training courses; • Develop is association with district land office (DLO) staff in project areas, standards and instructions for the preparation of technical and financial proposals for survey and mapping and land allocation in project areas, test these standards and instructions and document them in operational manuals; • With support from the PPMU staff, prepare standard contracts for the land allocation services that address GoV, Bank and project requirements; • Support the DIUs and DLOs in the management of the FSDP land allocation process; • Support the Land Management/Use Specialists in capturing the lessons from the FSDP land allocation activities; • Mentor the Survey/Mapping Specialist and prepare a work program for this Specialist.
Duration: 7 person-months.
Duty station: The four provincial capitals, with most time spent in the project districts and communes.
Qualifications: . in cadastral surveying or related field, with a minimum of five years of international experience in land administration projects in developing countries, preferably in South East Asia. A strong background is required in the introduction of differential GPS field techniques to support land administration. Previous experience in forestry projects and previous experience in Vietnam are an advantage.
Email your CV (preferably in World Bank format), writing the project, name and position in the subject box to Andrew Counihan at
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
