6th Meeting of the Ad Hoc Space Data Coordination Group for the Global Forest Observations Initiative

UN-REDD Regional Lessons Learned Workshop on Monitoring and Reference Emission Levels for REDD+, organized jointly by UN-REDD, USAID LEAF and SilvaCarbon programs, as part of a series of regional events and serves as a platform for UN-REDD partner countries in Asia and the Pacific to build consistency in their approaches, to share successes and to learn how to handle challenges in preparing for REDD+. The workshop provided an opportunity for information exchange and joint learning across countries in the region. More than 60 participants, including national experts, FAO, LEAF, USFS, JICA and others, discussed the latest international guidance and technological advice on NFMS and RELs.

During the days of October 20th – October 31st, 2014 a team of three representatives from the Ministry of Environment from Peru participated in hands on training in Ecognition software in Salt Lake City, Utah at the RSAC facilities of the US Forest Service. The team composed of Eduardo Baez, Christian Vargas and Ronald Mendoza conducted a series of exercises where not only learned how to use Ecognition, but also discussed important steps and considerations in developing a National land use map for Peru. During the course of the two week training, the participants, using data from 3 different areas in the Amazon in Peru, conducted object based image classification and pixel based classification using Ecognition Software. The participants also discussed the validation process and different methods to solve discrepancies of the resulting maps.

Other topics discussed included the development of rules to identify classes that will result in consistent interpretation and selection of training points. The participants requested discussions on the normalization of images (advantages and disadvantages) and methods for the normalization. These discussions lead to an introduction to Google Earth Engine (https://earthengine.google.org/#intro). Participants from Peru requested additional assistance from RSAC technical experts for additional training and assistance from RSAC to improve their land use map once is developed. There is interest from the participants to receive training in computer programming and script development.

SilvaCarbon sponsored two specialists from each country, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to present at the IUFRO Congress at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Coordinator for the MRV system in Minam, Peru traveled to Wageningen University to attend the Biomass Estimation Workshop of the research and development group from GFOI.

SilvaCarbon sponsored MAE (Ecuador) technician, Janeth Patricia Santiana, to attend the course in Coatepec, Veracruz, México.

Experts from RSAC traveled to Peru to introduce students to the software, communicate key elements for creating segments and performing classifications in an object-based environment, and work with local Peru data (e.g. RapidEye) to understand the key considerations for generating meaningful segments and other information. SilvaCarbon sponsored two Ecuadorians and two Colombians to participate in this workshop.

Meeting Objectives:

• Exchange of MRV development experiences between GFOI countries, with a focus on the necessary technical skills they have developed. The countries will also present their capacity building priorities and needs in the near future.
• The participant countries will have the opportunity to provide a critical analysis of the different methodologies they have adopted and gained through different capacity building programs. The outcomes are expected to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of different methodologies, and facilitate the evaluation of the practicality of the methods for their MRV systems.
• Colombia will highlight the GFOI assistance that has been critical for building their monitoring system.
• Coordination with donors on the implementation of the work plan and vision of the GFOI Capacity Building component in order to avoid duplication of efforts and increase their impact.
• Discussion around and adoption of a capacity building work plan for every region which involves the participation of the 'major players' of international cooperation.
• Adoption of a coordinated capacity building plan between Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico.

Workshop Objectives: