USAID Climate Resilient Agriculture in the Mekong Delta Project (CRM) works with the government of Vietnam to enhance the resilience of the Mekong Delta’s communities, ecosystems, and livelihoods. The overall goal of CRM is to advance low-emissions, climate-resilient, agricultural livelihoods combined with biodiversity conservation to support carbon sequestration, healthy ecosystems, and resilience of vulnerable communities in the delta.
CRM will be implemented in 2023-2028 by a consortium led by Winrock International with partners IUCN, SNV, and IRRI. Government counterparts are the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Management Board of Forest Projects (MBFP).
CRM works across five provinces of Dong Thap, Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Soc Trang, and Tra Vinh on three inter-connected objectives and one cross-cutting theme:
• Objective 1: Strengthen climate change resilience of the most vulnerable populations. CRM will engage stakeholders to assess and address vulnerability through enhanced climate information services, resilient livelihood, and safety net models, improved provincial plans, and increased access to finance.
• Objective 2: Strengthen management and restoration of natural ecosystems to provide ecosystem goods and services. CRM will take an inclusive participatory approach to identify entry points to support evidence-based transformation of legal and governance frameworks, improve management capacity, and incentivize natural resource conservation.
• Objective 3: Reduce methane emissions through low-emission and sustainable agriculture practices. CRM will work with stakeholders across value chains to assess gaps and opportunities and harness payment for environmental services schemes and other results-based finance mechanisms to reduce intensive rice farming and GHG emissions and drive transformation through a market systems approach.
• Cross-cutting: Develop and implement policies to advance climate actions and biodiversity conservation. CRM will also work with stakeholders to enhance development, harmonization, and implementation of policies, as well as to strengthen national and sub-national coordination. CRM will engage key stakeholders to influence and incentivize policy, practice, and behavior in favor of transformation.
IUCN will play a technical leadership role for Objective 2. Under Objective 2, CRM works with provincial government departments to enhance protected area (PA) management and coverage and to improve ecosystem management outside PAs. Since PAs cover only 7% of the Vietnam’s land area (and only 3% of the delta), improving conservation outside of PAs is essential to achieving the effective protection and management, and to contribute to the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 3 of protecting 30% of its terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030.
Objective 2 indicators include:
• 250,000 hectares of natural ecosystems in the delta are conserved, restored, and managed
• 100,000 people receiving livelihood co-benefits (monetary or non-monetary)
• 10,000 people trained in sustainable natural resource management and/or biodiversity conservation
• 2,100,00 tons of CO2 reduced, sequestered, and stored
IUCN will recruit a biodiversity conservation specialist to lead and coordinate all IUCN activities under Objective 2.

The Biodiversity Conservation Specialist (BCS), under the guidance of Deputy Head of Lower, will be responsible for the design and implementation of activities to improve biodiversity and natural resource management inside and outside PAs. These include existing and planned PAs, future OECMs, the transition of the second or third rice crops in flood-based crops in the upper delta and the restoration of mangroves in coastal provinces. This will require data collection and analysis, government engagement, and working with farmers to test and scale up solutions.
The position will be based at the CRM office in Can Tho with frequent travel to the five focal provinces. CRM applies a “One Team” approach, where staff hired by different consortium members are fully embedded within the CRM office and staffing structure.

The position’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

– In close coordination with consortium partners, oversee Objective 2 field implementation on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration.
– Contribute to the design of Objective 2 activities, annual and quarterly work planning, and reporting.
– Provide technical assistance to consortium partners, provincial governments, and other stakeholders on the application of methods and tools.
– Write terms of reference and assist recruitment of consultants as needed to implement project activities.
– Work closely with other CRM technical specialists, e.g., climate vulnerability and adaptation, to strengthen CRM coherence and impact.
– Based on pilots, scale up interventions to be delivered through CRM or other projects and programs to achieve CRM indicators.
– Facilitate training workshops, farmer-to-farmer learning, and business engagement to scale up and sustain improved biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration.
– Work as a proactive team member on CRM’s cross-cutting activities, including policy advocacy, public communications, gender equity and social inclusion (GESI).
– Contribute to CRM monitoring, evaluating and reporting and ensure that good practices and lessons learned are widely distributed. Ensure data can be easily disaggregated by gender and ethnicity.
– Contribute to the development of CRM knowledge and communications products, including success stories, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and factsheets.
– Carry out other relevant tasks assigned by, and mutually agreed with, the line manager.