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| Satellite technology can pinpoint at risk areas in remote regions |
Brazil has
been monitoring illegal logging in the Amazon with satellite technology for 23
years. Now, interest in this pioneering know-how is growing in other countries
that are struggling to deal with deforestation.
For more
than two decades, Brazil has been using satellite images to monitor the
rainforest. An important task, since deforestation releases more than a fifth
of greenhouse gases worldwide, making it a significant contributor to climate
change.
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| Illegal logging is a rampant problem in Indonesia |
Pressure to
better protect forests is growing especially in developing countries with large
swaths of tropical rainforest, such as Brazil, Indonesia or the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Brazil has
plenty of experience with such digital monitoring, since the National Institute
for Space Research (INPE) established the world's first rainforest surveillance
system, called "Terra Amazon," in 1988.
"We
have a method that's established, mature and sufficient for export," said
Alessandra Gomes, who works with INPE on the Amazon. "Our goal is to
enable other countries in need of a strong system to watch over their forest
cover," Gomes told Deutsche Welle.
Several
international partners are involved in the initiative, including the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Amazon Cooperation
Treaty Organization and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Together
with the Brazilian government, they've developed training programs that are
allowing countries such as Mexico, Gabon, Guiana, Congo, Papua New Guinea and
Vietnam to adopt Brazil's monitoring system.
Inge
Jonckheere of the FAO described the system as fully operational, scientifically
solid and backed internationally.
"Many
countries see it as an example, and would like to adopt it in their own
contexts," Jonckheere said, adding that the system is being tailored to
the specific needs of interested countries.
Out of the
Amazon
Six
international delegations have already been trained. Representatives from
Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador participated in a training this
month in Belem, on the mouth of the Amazon River in northeast Brazil.
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| Slash-and-burn continues to be a common method of clearing tropical forest |
African
countries are also involved. Apart from the Democratic Republic of Congo – the
country with the second-largest rainforest in the world, and which suffers
greatly from illegal timber extraction – Mozambique and Angola also sent representatives
to Brazil.
Participants
learned how to download satellite photos, and transform these into hard figures
that indicate where logging is taking place.
"The
goal is to get other countries working to detect deforestation, degradation and
destruction of carbon storage in their own territories," Jonckheere told
Deutsche Welle.
Carbon
credits
The
technique is particularly attractive, Jonckheere said, because the countries
stand a better chance of promoting their interests at UN climate negotiations.
As decided
at the 2010 climate conference in Mexico, nations can profit by reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from logging through a program known as REDD -
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.
But in
order to receive credit for saving forests, participating countries must
present verifiable data.
"There
are two ways nations can guard their forests: They can start from zero and
invent their own system, or use existing know-how. That's where Brazil can
help," Jonckheere said.
Long- and
short-term
Terra
Amazon collects and processes photos from the North American satellite Landsat.
Out of this, scientists get maps and data on rainforest regions where logging
occurs.
In the
digital age, the system is made up of various elements: the "prodes"
module checks the yearly clear-cutting patterns, while "deter" takes
quick measurements and sends distress signals to the main station.
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| Felled trees along a stretch of ancient forest in the Amazon region of Brazil |
The data is
made available to the Brazilian environmental agency Ibama "within 15
days," Gomes explained, triggering on-site visits to see what has
happening.
André
Muggiati of Greenpeace sees the system as pioneering.
"It's
a base for measuring the progress or regression in public policy of the Amazon
region," Muggiati told Deutsche Welle.
"Without
the satellite monitoring, it wouldn't be possible to assess what's
happening."
Muggiati
said the Brazilian government had so far acted to contain logging based on
observations conducted by the satellite technology.
"We're
seeing how logging has decreased. And what's interesting, is how the data are
publicly accessible to all, how society is being alerted and can pressure the
government to react," Muggiati said.
Author: Nadia Pontes / sad
Editor: Nathan Witkop
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