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Wildlife Conservation Society Job Vacancy: Agronomist - Sustainable Commodities Team, Bukit Barisan Selatan

The Wildlife Conservation Society Indonesia Program (WCS-IP) supports the conservation of biodiversity in Indonesia through landscape-level conservation, support for protected areas (PAs), species conservation, and local community engagement.

One of WCS’s priority landscapes is the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) and its surrounding buffer zone in southern Sumatra. This region is also one of Indonesia’s principal coffee producing areas, as well as being important for the production of other agricultural commodities. An assessment by WCS in 2016 found that the expansion of agriculture, in particular for the production of Robusta coffee, is the main cause of encroachment/deforestation inside the BBSNP. This threatens the integrity of the park’s ecosystem and endangers important habitat for key wildlife species. In addition, farmers in the region tend to have poor organisation/institutional capacity and limited access to finance, agricultural inputs, extension services and markets. Farmers therefore have low productivity and profitability, which not only threatens their livelihoods but is a further driver of agricultural expansion into the BBSNP.

WCS-IP is pioneering an innovative integrated landscape programme, supporting farmers in the communities surrounding the National Park to improve their livelihoods (including through improved coffee productivity and profitability) while reducing the threat of encroachment to the National Park. This builds on WCS’s existing engagement with the government, private sector and communities. WCS has secured support from the National Park Authority, provincial and district government representatives, eight coffee companies (including exporters, traders and roasters) and a number of civil society organisations for a shared vision for addressing deforestation and supporting farmer livelihoods in the landscape. WCS is convening this partnership to translate this ambition into action.

WCS-IP is seeking an Agronomist to support field-level implementation of the Bukit Barisan Selatan sustainable coffee partnership to tackle deforestation and forest conversion pressure associated with commodity production in the BBS landscape.

Position: Agronomist
Based in: Bukit Barisan Selatan
Reports to: Area Manager

For more detailed information about Wildlife Conservation Society – Indonesia Program, the position and how to apply, please visit our website at: Agronomist - Sustainable Commodities Team