Research Support for SE Asia Region - Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Host entity: UNDP

Areas of expertise: Climate change, environment, Knowledge management, research, reporting, Natural resources management

Application deadline: 30/10/2026

Mission and objectives

Our natural world is interconnected, intertwined, and integral to human life. It is the global life support system that underpins our societies and our economies. Yet our natural world continues to be plundered and polluted.

However, the wonder and beauty of nature - and its potential for resilience and recovery – gives us hope for the future.

UNDP is responding in a way that is more bold, more imaginative, and more ambitious than ever before. Putting nature at the heart of development, we are working with governments and people around the world to secure a better, more sustainable, more equitable future.

Our core work areas, from increasing biodiversity finance to strengthening environmental governance, are responding to the current crisis of global nature loss. Leveraging our convening power, thought leadership, multi-sectoral expertise, and the UN’s largest portfolio of on-the-ground sustainable development programming and policy solutions, we’re supporting solutions that work for people and for planet.

Assignment context

The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net), hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is preparing a Regional Trialogue for Southeast Asia, tentatively planned for the first half of 2027.

The Trialogue will bring together representatives from science, policy and practice communities from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam to explore how biodiversity knowledge can support practical action and implementation.

The Trialogue will be informed primarily by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Nexus Assessment and supported by insights from the Business and Biodiversity Assessment and the Transformative Change Assessment.

The Trialogue preparation process will be supported by a suite of interconnected knowledge products designed to progressively explore development challenges and national priorities, Nexus response options, economic sectors and business engagement, implementation barriers, transformative change, and practical implementation pathways.

To support this process, BES-Net is seeking online volunteers from each participating country. Their contributions will help ensure that Trialogue discussions are grounded in country realities, informed by existing initiatives and aligned with national biodiversity and sustainable development priorities.

Task description

We are seeking 12 motivated Online Volunteers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam to support preparatory research and information gathering for the Southeast Asia Regional Trialogue.

Online Volunteers will work closely with the BES-Net team to collect, synthesize and organize country-level information that will feed into the Trialogue knowledge package, background materials, factsheets, case studies and participant preparation resources.


- Conduct a targeted review of national biodiversity and sustainable development priorities, including National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), latest National Reports submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other relevant policies and initiatives.
- Identify and summarize country-relevant examples related to ecosystem restoration, biodiversity finance, sustainable production systems, community stewardship and other integrated biodiversity and sustainable development responses.
- Map key stakeholders, including government institutions, research organizations, civil society organizations, private-sector actors, financial institutions and other relevant partners.
- Compile information on economic sectors particularly relevant to biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable development in the country (e.g. agriculture, fisheries, tourism, manufacturing or finance).

- Identify examples of good practices, innovations and "bright spots" that could inform regional exchange and learning.

- Identify key implementation challenges, barriers and opportunities related to implementation of biodiversity, climate and sustainable development priorities.

- Support identification of country-specific "bright spots", case studies and examples of business, finance, community-led or government-led action that may inform regional exchange and learning

- Contribute relevant references, resources and contacts that can help contextualize IPBES assessment findings to national realities and priorities.

These tasks will build up to a single deliverable, a concise country summary note, following a Word document template with specific questions provided by BES-Net to each volunteer at the beginning of the assignment.

A virtual briefing and orientation session will be organized with all volunteers at the beginning of their assignment, and then optional catch-up meetings will be organized every two weeks, which volunteers can join according to their schedule, where the BES-Net team members will be available to answer questions and provide feedback, as requested for volunteers. Over the course of the assignment, individual guidance will be available constantly via e-mail, as requested by volunteers. The time allocated by volunteers for the assignment tasks can be scheduled entirely flexibly, based on the availability and convenience of each volunteer, and no volunteer will be expected to follow a set daily or weekly schedule.

Skills and experience

Experience in research, policy analysis, or information gathering related to biodiversity, ecosystems, climate change, or sustainable development.

Familiarity with national biodiversity and/or climate institutions, policies, or projects in the volunteer’s country.

Basic knowledge of IPBES processes and assessments (or strong interest in learning).

Strong analytical and synthesis skills.

Ability to work independently and communicate clearly in writing.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.