Topic: mali

Coming Soon: Global Forest Watch 2.0

James Anderson — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:03:32 -0500

Welcome to the home of Global Forest Watch 2.0, a powerful near real-time forest monitoring system that unites satellite technology, data sharing, and human networks around the world to fight deforestation.

GFW 2.0 is currently under development, and will launch in late 2013.

Read more below, and email gfw2@wri.org to participate in the pilot testing period or be notified when GFW 2.0 launches. Please note that as we prepare for the launch, the original Global Forest Watch website has been redirected to this page.

Watch a Short Preview of Global Forest Watch 2.0 at the UN Forum on Forests 10, in Istanbul.

Watch the full version here

Speakers:

Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Forestry, Indonesia
Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations
Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
Tim Christophersen, Senior Program Officer, Forests and Climate Change, UNEP
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forests Initiative, World Resources Institute

Photo by David Gilbert

WHY FORESTS, WHY NOW?

Forests provide food jobs, raw materials, climate benefits and more. But without clear, up-to-date information, governments, companies and communities lack the tools to monitor and manage these resources.

We can track a company’s financial information daily, but information about forests is often years out of date.

Deforestation continues today in part because by the time satellite images are available, analyzed, and shared, the forest clearing is long done. The illegal loggers have moved on; cattle are already grazing amidst stumps; the oil palm plantation has been established. We simply find out too late.

New technologies can overcome these challenges

Fortunately, a convergence of technologies and human networks offers the ability to address these challenges for the first time:

Advances in satellite and remote sensing technology, including the launch of NASA’s Landsat 8 in early 2013, and new private systems, enable higher spatial resolution analysis and much more rapid updates of information. This has enabled the development of near-real-time forest cover change detection.
Brazilian partner IMAZON, is making its Amazon Alert System available through GFW 2.0, and also the DETER system which is innovating in detection of forest degradation. Brazil has seen a remarkable drop in deforestation in the Amazon of almost 80 percent partly due to improved linked to more effective use of satellite imagery.
Cloud computing and open source software can now be used to rapidly process and interpret large volumes of satellite data at low cost by utilizing clusters of servers scattered around the world. Google Earth Engine’s team is partnered with Global Forest Watch 2.0 to optimize easy access to cloud computing-based forest cover information.
High speed internet connectivity enables sending data and forest maps processed in North America, Europe, or Singapore to laptops and mobile phones in Jakarta, Kinshasa, Lima, Vladivostok, and other corners of the globe.
Smartphones are more common than ever and can be used by anyone in the field to download maps and satellite images, as well as upload GPS coordinates and photographs from the ground.
Crowdsourcing using simple web interfaces can empower thousands if not millions of people to gather and share information, participate in forest monitoring, and hold decision-makers accountable. • Social media outlets are creating a flat, networked world in which information travels fast, communities self-organize, and people get mobilized.

ABOUT GLOBAL FOREST WATCH 2.0

These enhanced technologies and social movements are the foundation for Global Forest Watch 2.0. GFW 2.0 will unite a near-real-time deforestation alert system, complementary satellite imagery and monitoring systems, WRI’s data-rich collection of maps, mobile technology, and a networked world to create never-before-possible transparency for faraway forests.

The platform is currently under development, and will be launched in late 2013.

This powerful new platform will enable responsible companies, NGOs, the media, and progressive government leaders to hold those responsible accountable for forest management.

GFW 2.0 can be useful to multiple groups of users involved with the sustainable management of forests:

Buyers of sustainable commodities. GFW 2.0 will enable buyers of sustainably sourced commodities―such as certified timber, palm oil, soya, and beef―to confirm adherence to or violations of supplier commitments to “no deforestation,” “no clearing of high conservation value forest,” and related criteria.
Suppliers of sustainable commodities. GFW 2.0 will help suppliers of sustainable commodities prove to buyers, investors, governments, and NGOs that their commodities are adhering to best forest management practices, national laws, criteria of the relevant commodity roundtables, or investor lending conditions.
Governments. GFW 2.0 is designed to help progressive elements in governments better enforce sustainable forest management and forest protection laws. GFW 2.0 is also designed to be a trusted, independent, and user-friendly way to help investors in REDD+ and other forest conservation projects monitor performance and hold countries accountable to their commitments on greenhouse gas emission reductions and forest conservation.
Conservation and community organizations. GFW 2.0 will enable NGOs dedicated to forest conservation, indigenous rights, and forest communities to identify deforestation hotspots as they arise and quickly mobilize action to curtail further clearing.
The media. GFW 2.0 will enable local, national, and international media to ring the alarm bell on deforestation hotspots around the globe at a pace never-before-possible, and thereby put pressure on governments, companies, and others to curtail forest conversion and illegal logging in time

Applying new technology

GFW 2.0 combines satellites, new algorithms, cloud computing, mobile phone technologies, and WRI databases to connect images, maps, photos, and data with forest clearing alerts ultimately within two weeks of significant deforestation occurring.

Because GFW 2.0 will be powered by Google Earth Engine and Earth Builder, it will bring to target users a seamless experience of the best technology offered by WRI, Google, and their partners, as Bloomberg does for the world’s vast, complex array of financial information.

Mobilizing human networks

GFW 2.0 will mobilize networks of people to ensure sustainable management of forests and greater forest conservation. Global Forest Watch “anchor” NGOs in each priority country or region, will actively use and contribute content in an open-source, network model.

These groups will include ScanEx and its non-profit affiliate Transparent World in Russia, Imazon in Brazil and their Amazon-wide network of partners across the seven neighboring countries, the Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (OSFAC) which covers the Central Africa region. More partners in Canada, China, Europe, and the United States are joining every day.

Watch a Sneak Peek of GFW 2.0 presented at Rio+20

Video streaming by Ustream

Speakers:

Carlos Souza Jr., Senior Researcher, IMAZON
Charles Barber, Forest Division Chief, Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science, U.S. Department of State
Rebecca Moore, Google
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forest Initiative, World Resources Institute

Watch UNEP’s press conference featuring GFW 2.0 at COP18 in Doha

Speakers:

Mr. Heru Prasetyo, Deputy I, Presidential Delivery Unit on Development Monitoring and Oversight, Government of Indonesia
Tim Christophersen, Senior Programme Officer, Forests and Climate Change, UNEP
Jane Feehan, Natural Resources Specialist, European Investment Bank
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forest Initiative, World Resources Institute

Watch a Sneak Peek of Global Forest Watch 2.0 at the U.S. Pavilion, COP18 in Doha

Video streaming by Ustream

Speakers:

Nigel Sizer, Director, Forests Initiative, World Resources Institute
Nirarta “Koni” Samadhi, Head of REDD+ Task Force Working Group on Moratorium Monitoring, Presidential Work Unit on Monitoring and Development Oversight (UKP4), Government of Indonesia
Per Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo, Director, International Climate and Forest Initiative, Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, Government of Norway
Tim Christophersen, Senior Program Officer, Forests and Climate Change, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Read more about WRI’s forest work here.

Commission Proposes Plan to Battle Climate Change on the Ground

Paul Mackie — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:07:31 -0400

A path for financing smart economic development through strong institutions was announced today by a 14-person commission appointed to advise political leaders on climate change.

The Commission on Climate Change and Development reported on its progress today at the United Nations in New York and will also present its findings tomorrow at the Swedish Embassy in Washington D.C.

“The way that nations respond to the global recession can provide the basis for a path of sustainable development that eases the planet’s interlocked emergencies, where ecosystems are valued as much as other forms of capital,” said Gunilla Carlsson, chair of the commission and the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation.

The Commission is addressing climate change adaptation and its links with disaster risk reduction. Since its launch by the Swedish government in late 2007, the group has met with governments and citizens struggling with the effects of climate change in Cambodia, Mali, and Bolivia. It will issue policy recommendations on how to strengthen resilience of vulnerable communities and countries, establish appropriate institutional and financial architecture for adaptation, and mobilize new financial resources.

Developing countries are particularly exposed to the impacts of droughts, floods and wind storms as well as longer term changes in ecosystems. International negotiations have focused on reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere - with little success. Although all efforts must continue to reach agreement on implementing GHG limits, this work cannot blind governments to the need to begin to adapt to changing climate systems right now.

“Adaptation is more than ‘climate proofing,’” said Jonathan Lash, a member of the commission and president of the World Resources Institute. “It will require resources far beyond existing official development assistance, but it is a moral and strategic necessity.”

One of the many recommendations within the Commission’s Progress Report is that funding for adaptation must go far beyond current official development assistance and that all donors honor their commitments of 0.7 percent of gross domestic product. The recent Bangladesh Adaptation Strategy for responding to natural disasters sets an interesting example.

“People at risk need democratic and political institutions to listen to their needs and concerns,” Carlsson added. “In the age of climate change, the institutions of accountable and responsible government are more important than ever.”

The Commission determined that knowledge of local impacts is still largely in the form of hypotheses and scenarios. While greenhouse gas reductions are measurable, it is more difficult to determine the success of adaptation and requires much more cooperation between institutions in different fields. These institutions can no longer be reactionary, as was the case after the food and financial crises of 2008. Also, existing institutions must be made as effective as possible rather than adding to the already proliferating array of institutions.

The full findings are available in a report called Closing the Gaps: Exploring the Links Between Adaptation to Climate Change and Development.

The members of the Commission represent international and regional organizations as well as research, civil society and the private sector. Members participate in their personal capacities and include: Carlsson (Sweden); Angela Cropper (Trinidad and Tobago), deputy executive director for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Mohamed El-Ashry (Egypt), senior fellow, UN Foundation; Sun Honglie (China), professor and head of the China Climate Change Expert Committee at the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanna Hvidt (Denmark), director of the Danish Institute for International Studies; Ian Johnson (UK), chairman of IDEAcarbon; Lash (USA); Wangari Maathai (Kenya), professor and founder of the Green Belt Movement; Ivo Menzinger (Switzerland), Managing Director at Swiss Re; Sunita Narain (India), director of the Centre for Science and Environment; Youba Sokona (Mali), executive secretary of the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS); Bernard Petit (France), deputy director-general, Directorate-General for Development, European Commission; Margareta Wahlström (Sweden); UN assistant secretary-general for Disaster Risk Reduction and the secretary general’s special representative.

Poor in Senegal Denied Benefits of Forest Resources

Jesse Ribot — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:33:22 -0400

In many developing countries, forestry policies systematically exclude the poor from the wealth of the forests around them. Senegal provides an interesting example of how even good policies can fail to deliver the benefits they are intended to provide.

I wrote about this phenomenon as it occurs in both Senegal and Nicaragua (with reference to Mali, Honduras, Cameroon, Uganda, Brazil and India) in a study co-authored with Anne Larson of the Center for International Forestry (CIFOR), and published in the Journal of Sustainability Science.

Rural populations in Senegal lose out because they are denied access to forests and access to commercial trade. To be allowed to manage their own forests, rural communities must develop and use management plans approved by the National Forest Service (NFS). These plans are expensive to develop and require great labor to implement. It’s also not clear that they are ecologically necessary.

Meanwhile largely urban-based merchants hire migrant laborers to produce charcoal using traditional kilns, without having to present management plans. As a result, they can produce at lower cost, and without the responsibility for forest management.

Until 1998, the system of forest management in Senegal remained highly centralized, involving a system of licenses, permits, and quotas allocated by the NFS. The NFS fixed annual quotas for charcoal production, allocating them to their urban-based merchant allies. The 1998 forestry code eliminated the quotas as of February 2001, passing production decisions to local governments and rural councils. But despite the legal changes, the NFS continues to control forest access, issuing quotas and permits—as if no laws had changed.

NFS officials and agents claim that the quotas are based on national charcoal demand and available forest supply. But they do not really have sufficient data to know. The NFS has steadily lowered quotas as a “forest protection” measure, despite continued high demand, giving rise to illegal production to satisfy the shortages.

Meanwhile, rural communities continue to be excluded from forest management and policy development, not to mention being subject to double standards and arbitrary enforcement. As a result, their poverty continues, and they do not share in the benefits that the changes in law were nominally intended to provide.

Unfair Forestry Policies Abet Poverty, Finds New Study

Jon Talbot — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:41:00 -0400

Unfair government policies fail to benefit poor people who live in the forests of many developing countries. Those same policies fail even to protect forests, according to a new study.

Double standards and arbitrary enforcement are the main culprits. In Senegal, for example, rural communities must produce and follow detailed forestry management plans, while corporations need only a simple permit. In Honduras, authorities ensure that community groups follow certain regulations, while ignoring the activities of corporations bound by the same laws. Similar stories have played out in Mali, Honduras, Cameroon, Uganda, Brazil, Nicaragua and India, according to the study.

“People in poverty are not just left behind by government policy. They are excluded,” said Jesse Ribot of the Institutions and Governance Program of the World Resources Institute and co-author of the report. “Deliberate policy choices, including some environmental laws and decisions by environmental agencies, are a major cause of that exclusion.”

With an estimated 80 percent of the world’s forests on state-owned land, and 1.6 billion people dependent on forests for their livelihoods, government decisions about the use of forests are all-important to the effort to eradicate poverty.

“History shows us that the traditional model of ‘scientific forestry’ management focuses on maximizing profit for a few,” said Anne M. Larson of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the study’s other co-author. “Governments have the ability – and we would argue the obligation – to use these resources to combat poverty by first reexamining their forest policies.”

Forestry laws in many countries have changed very little since European colonists emphasized control of natural resources with no safeguards for the forest dwellers and few for the health of the environment. More participation in drafting forest policies by the people who live in the forested areas might help reduce poverty and the natural landscape, the study concludes.

“The poverty of forestry policy: Double standards on an uneven playing field” is published in Volume 2, Number 2 of the Journal of Sustainability Science, and is also available at www.wri.org.

Topic: mali

Coming Soon: Global Forest Watch 2.0

WHY FORESTS, WHY NOW?

ABOUT GLOBAL FOREST WATCH 2.0

Commission Proposes Plan to Battle Climate Change on the Ground

Poor in Senegal Denied Benefits of Forest Resources

Related Links

Unfair Forestry Policies Abet Poverty, Finds New Study