The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with the SilvaCarbon program to support CEOS in global forest monitoring. The SilvaCarbon program provides technical assistance to developing countries that have joined the REDD+ initiative to build National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS) using remote sensing and on-the-ground methods. This will help to better manage and protect forests and mangroves according to the REDD+ guidelines. Together, SilvaCarbon and CEOS organized a regional workshop to showcase the latest methods for mangrove mapping and carbon estimation.

The U.S. Geological Survey relying on the expertise of the SilvaCarbon program coordinated and supported CEOS by assisting with the uptake of global datasets in forested developing countries.

SilvaCarbon's objective was to offer technical support for countries that have joined the REDD+ initiative and are developing their National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS) by utilizing both remote sensing and on-the-ground techniques. This capability will result in improved forest and mangrove management and protection that align with the REDD+ framework and guidelines. SilvaCarbon and CEOS jointly conducted a regional workshop that focused on two major aspects of a NFMS: (i) Implementation of Early Warning Systems (EWS) based on deforestation alerts, and (ii) Demonstration of the latest methods in mangrove mapping and carbon estimation.

SilvaCarbon organized a regional workshop focused on land cover mapping for estimating carbon emissions. Participants were trained in developing tools for mapping IPCC land use categories, dividing forest land into subcategories, using cloud-computing platforms, and integrating mapping into national carbon emission estimates.

National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS) rely on satellite imagery, ground-based measurements, and computer models to provide accurate data on forest cover, forest cover change, and forest carbon stocks. This data is critical for monitoring progress toward international commitments to reduce deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

Deforestation alerts use satellite imagery to detect changes in forest cover in near real-time. These alerts identify areas where deforestation occurs and can inform authorities and local communities so that appropriate action can be taken to prevent further deforestation.

Both NFMS and deforestation alerts are essential tools for implementing REDD+ activities. Countries can measure and report their progress towards reducing deforestation and forest degradation with a reliable NFMS and take proactive steps to prevent further deforestation using deforestation alerts.

The event on deforestation alerts was a discussion forum focused on the issue of deforestation and the use of remote sensed technologies and data to alert stakeholders about deforestation activities. This event brought together experts from the field of technology, end users such countries implementing alert systems to discuss challenges and best practices in the use of alerts. The GFOI Early Warning Working Group is already bringing together relevant stakeholders who were invited to the event.

The event includes short presentations and a panel discussion. One of the desired outcomes was to highlight existing solutions and explore opportunities for further innovation and collaboration among developers, and countries.

The event focused on the changing role of women in climate action and forest carbon monitoring. Participants explored historical barriers to engagement, United States Government efforts to address these barriers through the Central Africa Women’s Initiative for Climate Action (WICA) Program, Women's Forest Carbon Initiative (WFCI) Program, and U.S. Geological Survey Gender Research Program (USGS-GRP), specific examples of work under WICA and WFCI, and USGS-GRP research findings. The conversation culminated with an interactive discussion about opportunities for future collaboration. The intention of this event was to share and further discuss engagement of women in technical climate spaces to contribute to national climate action including engaging in four themes of the GFOI plenary.

In April 2022, representatives from Guatemala participated in a technical workshop on Methods and Tools for Forest Carbon Accounting and Monitoring, convened by SilvaCarbon in the state of Oregon. To follow up on several areas of work identified by Guatemala in this workshop, SilvaCarbon in collaboration with the NASA-USAID program, SERVIR, provided training on three tools designed to distinguish disturbances and changes in forest areas: LandTrendr and CCDC-SMA, and BULC-D. The workshop covered the fundamental concepts of each of the algorithms and an interactive part to run each of the methods and obtain maps of forest cover change. The general objective is that the participants became familiar with new remote sensing methods to identify changes in long satellite time series and apply this knowledge according to their work and needs.

Under the banner of its CEOS Chair year in 2023, GISTDA will hold a workshop in collaboration with SilvaCarbon on incorporating global AFOLU datasets into national inventory and reporting processes. The SilvaCarbon program goal is to increase capacity to monitor changes in critical ecosystems, leading to better management and protection of forests. The workshop had the broad objective of better connecting Southeast Asian national forest inventory agencies with CEOS space agencies to improve the uptake of EO datasets. Country-level calibration, validation, and assessment of global products are critical steps on the pathway to uptake of global EO datasets. This workshop used two forest sites, a montane rain forest and a mangrove forest, as a means of exploring the relationships and synergies between ground-based and spaceborne datasets. Additional goals of the workshop include capacity building for conducting mangrove forest inventories and exploring opportunities to improve emission factors using space-based LiDAR data.

Led by the US SilvaCarbon Program, the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) convenes a Capacity Building Summit every few years to bring together countries and development partners to discuss, plan, and refine international collaboration on capacity-building support to countries on forest monitoring and MRV issues. The last Summit was convened at The University of Maryland, College Park, during this week and provided an opportunity to refresh these principles and the broader collaborative approach to capacity building under GFOI. To learn more about this past Capacity Building Summit, please click on the link below.