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SilvaCarbon Newsletter: August 2017  
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RECENT ACTIVITIES



Central Africa

 

Cameroon – Mapping Workshop and Map Production

Yaoundé, Cameroon / July 19-August 15, 2017


As part of ongoing efforts to map forest cover loss in Cameroon, SilvaCarbon supported a mapping workshop at the headquarters of Cameroon’s REDD+ Technical Secretariat that brought together representatives from government and other institutions involved in the country’s REDD+ process and technical experts from the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) group of the University of Maryland (UMD) and the Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale (OSFAC). The workshop provided a space for stakeholders to advance the generation of thematic forest change maps for the period of 2000 to 2015 following the 2016 validation of Cameroon’s forest definition, and review the mapping methodology and statistical results obtained during the first phase of mapping, which took place at UMD. Contact: Valery-Olivier Sene, olivier.sene@fs-ip.us.


Cameroon – MRV System Development 

Cameroon / July 25-27, 2017

Cameroon is making steady progress in overcoming challenges on the path to operationalizing its REDD+ Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system, which requires forest resource data produced by different institutions and partners. Following the recent revision of the roadmap for a new national forest inventory and related discussions on data sharing mechanisms, it was decided that all the data will be centralized at the National Technical Operational Units and the National Office for Climate Change. Contact: Valery-Olivier Sene, olivier.sene@fs-ip.us.
 

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Latin America and the Caribbean

 

Honduras – Forest Degradation Training Course

Tegucigalpa, Honduras / June 26-29, 2017


SilvaCarbon, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), supported a training course on forest degradation for partners in Honduras. The course reviewed potential definitions of degradation and different methodologies to measure degradation, expanding on previous regional workshops to provide a pathway for Honduras to incorporate forest degradation into its national forest inventory. SilvaCarbon technical advisor Craig Wayson helped facilitate the training. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
 

Regional – National Forest Monitoring Knowledge Exchange 

Roatan, Honduras / June 24-26, 2017

SilvaCarbon and the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) organized an exchange of experiences for countries in Central America on the implementation of different mapping methodologies and the assessment of uncertainty in forest cover change estimations. The objective was to develop a "lessons learned" document to guide countries that are now starting the work of implementing a monitoring system, and provide a needed forum for discussion and review of past efforts. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov.
 

Costa Rica – Development of National Monitoring System 

San Jose, Costa Rica / June 2017     


The Costa Rica Climate Fellow, Dr. Randy Hamilton, has provided technical guidance on the design of Costa Rica’s National Land Use, Land Cover, and Ecosystems Monitoring System (SIMOCUTE) for more than two years. Several technical workgroups have been organized to develop the different components of SIMOCUTE. The most advanced component is a national land use and land cover inventory that will consistently track landscape change through time at a national scale for the first time in history. It will be implemented by interpreting land use and land cover from a fixed network of plots overlaid on high-resolution imagery every two years. During recent working sessions, the Climate Fellow, FAO, and national counterparts established the governance of the workgroup, presented the results of two pilot studies coordinated by the Climate Fellow, and delivered technical presentations on image sources, the classification systems for the monitoring system, and other related topics. Contact: Randy Hamilton, rhamilton.usfs@gmail.com. 
 

Guatemala – Mapping Training and Map Production

Guatemala City, Guatemala / July 10-14, 2017


The UMD GLAD group will work with partners from Guatemala's inter-agency land cover mapping group (GIMBUT) on enhancing land cover and forest monitoring in support of national carbon accounting programs. This work includes the development of forest extent and change maps from 2010-2015 to present, and capacity transfer focused on mapping product derivation and validation. The main purpose of the training is to transfer the GLAD mapping methodology to the country. A first training was organized by SilvaCarbon at the Landivar Univesity in Guatemala, and was followed by a training held in July to initiate the implementation of the GLAD system and begin the process of generating country-level map products. The next step is a two week long technical training at UMD in September. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov. 
 

Regional – Belowground Carbon Measurement Training Course

Pellston, Michigan / July 27-August 3, 2017

SilvaCarbon supported five participants from Central and South America to attend the 5th Annual Belowground Carbon Measurement Course, held at the University of Michigan Biological Station. Participants received a comprehensive overview of processes for conducting soil inventories and estimating belowground carbon, including a review of inventory and research designs, field sampling methods for both dry and wetland sites, lab processing, data analysis, scaling, reporting, and mapping. Contact: Rachel Sheridan, rachelsheridan@fs.fed.us. 
 

Colombia – Implementation of moja Global framework 

Vancouver, Canada and Bogota, Colombia / July 24-28 and August 12-18, 2017

SilvaCarbon technical advisor Craig Wayson and GHG modeling consultant Marcela Olguín participated in the first two of a four-part workshop series involving Colombia’s Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), the moja Global organization, and the Canadian Forest Service. The objective of the work is to assist Colombia to implement the moja Global software framework for quantifying forest carbon dynamics. In the first session, Wayson and Olguín facilitated a remote scientific training on the use of the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM) and Full Lands Integration Tool (FLINT) platform. In the second session in August, held in Bogota, hands-on work continued on the implementation of the moja system for selected pilot areas. Wayson and Olguín will share more results with IDEAM and work towards setting up the framework on IDEAM systems, and provide IDEAM with additional training on framework implementation. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com. 
 

Colombia – LiDAR Training

Bogota, Colombia / July 31-August 4, 2017

SilvaCarbon, in collaboration with the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) and in partnership with the IDEAM, organized a technical training on the use of LiDAR for Forest Monitoring. Trainers from WHRC developed an agenda that includes the fundamental concepts of the use of LiDAR sensors, calibration, application into existing mapping systems, and modeling of LiDAR data using R language. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov.
 

Ecuador – National Forest Inventory Workshop

Quito, Ecuador / August 8-10, 2017

SilvaCarbon experts Andy Lister and Chip Scott traveled to Ecuador to work with partners at the Environmental Ministry (MAE) on forest inventory methods and design. Specifically, they reviewed stratification using GIS and discussed how to measure forest use impacts as it relates to MRV reporting, sampling design, and implementation considerations. Contact: Rachel Sheridan, rachelsheridan@fs.fed.us.
 

Colombia – Eddy Covariance Flux Tower Maintenance, Training, and Planning

Amacayacu National Park, Colombia / August 19-21, 2017


SilvaCarbon technical advisor Craig Wayson traveled with partners at IDEAM to the eddy covariance flux tower at the intensive monitoring site in the Amacayacu National Park to help provide routine maintenance and additional training support for tower users, and facilitate a planning session on future use of the tower. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
 

Peru – REDD+ Capacity-Building Workshop Course

Iquitos, Peru / August 14-23, 2017

SilvaCarbon and GFOI launched a new workshop course for REDD+ capacity-building in collaboration with the National University of the Peruvian Amazon's Faculty of Forestry Sciences (UNAP-FCF). The initiative is focused on national forest monitoring systems and MRV, and is based on technical guides developed by GFOI (i.e., the Methods and Guidance Documentation and REDDcompass portal), as well as experience from technical partners. This intensive workshop course will be part of a Master of Science in Forestry at the University. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov.
 
 

 

South and Southeast Asia

 

Vietnam – GHG Inventory Training

Fort Collins, Colorado / June 12-17, 2017


The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) facilitated a 5th SilvaCarbon-supported working session to continue building the capacity of Vietnamese government technicians to use the Agriculture and Land Use (ALU) software platform to develop the national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector. This training focused on generating projections of GHG emission for 2020 and 2030 based on 2014 inventory results, conducting quality control for the 2013 inventory results, and applying IPCC 2006 Guidelines for the AFOLU inventory using the 2013 dataset. Contacts: Vo Viet Cuong, cuong.silvacarbon@gmail.com; Sarah Banks, scbanks@fs.fed.us; Mausami Desai, desai.mausami@epa.gov.
 

Bangladesh – Mapping Training and Map Production 

College Park, Maryland / July 10-28, 2017

Two technicians from the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) completed a three-week SilvaCarbon training course focused on sample-based area mapping at UMD's GLAD facility in College Park, Maryland. The training was designed to strengthen BFD’s capacity to replicate a national-scale methodology for mapping forest cover extent and change, and reinforce concepts and capabilities for routine work required for operational forest monitoring. The trainees worked under the supervision of Professor Matt Hansen of UMD to begin developing a map of forest cover change for the period of 2015-2016, and have since returned to Bangladesh to continue processing the samples and finalize the map. Contact: Elise Deriel, elisederiel@fs.fed.us.
 

Regional – REDDcompass Training

Kathmandu, Nepal / July 24-26, 2017 


To facilitate further South-South learning cooperation, GFOI built on its broader GFOI ‘train-the-trainer’ workshop series by conducting an in-depth, hands-on capacity-building session for regional REDD+ experts using the REDDcompass portal. The aim of the workshop was to introduce the REDDcompass MRV checklist to develop a priority work plan and training program in REDD+ for member countries of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), which serves the Hindu Kush Himalayas region. The REDDcompass portal can subsequently be utilized by ICIMOD participants to prioritize work and discuss technical, data, guidance and training needs with REDD+ countries. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov. 
 

Regional Partner Activity – SERVIR-Mekong Regional Land Cover Monitoring System Workshop

Bangkok, Thailand / August 1-3, 2017

SERVIR-Mekong has been working with partners in the Mekong region since early 2016 to develop a Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS) that meets the needs of diverse users. Three previous workshops helped to identify monitoring needs, build consensus on structural and methodological issues, and define roles and responsibilities related to the RLCMS. In August, a fourth workshop was held to launch the RLCMS tool and products, allow stakeholders to learn the process for customizing the system to meet their specific needs, and provide a space for users to develop plans for implementing the system within their current work. The Geospatial Service and Technology Center (GTAC) of the US Forest Service (USFS) is providing continuous support to the RLCMS development process with funding from USFS and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) regional mission for Asia. Contacts: Nguyen Quyen (SERVIR-Mekong), nguyen.quyen@adpc.net; Marija Kono (SilvaCarbon), mkono.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
 

Regional – Forest Cover Mapping System Training and Implementation

Chonburi, Thailand / August 7-9, 2017

Through SilvaCarbon, the UMD GLAD group is working with forestry agencies from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Thailand to transfer capacity to implement the GLAD forest mapping system at the national level. In parallel, SERVIR-Mekong is collaborating with GLAD to calibrate global-level forest cover change products for the Mekong region. A training held in August initiated the implementation of the GLAD system in the Mekong region and began the process of generating country-level map products. Starting in September, GLAD will work to strengthen skills of SERVIR-Mekong technical staff and facilitate country-level trainings for Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand. Contact: Nguyen Quyen (SERVIR-Mekong), nguyen.quyen@adpc.net; Marija Kono (SilvaCarbon), mkono.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
 

Vietnam – Training on Accuracy Assessment and Activity Data Validation

Hanoi, Vietnam / August 7-11, 2017


SilvaCarbon organized a training workshop with Boston University on Accuracy Assessment and Understanding Validation of Activity Data for two Vietnamese institutions: the National Remote Sensing Department (NRSD) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The primary goals of the workshop were to bring the two agencies together to (1) increase understanding of the many components to be considered when developing a validation activity, and (2) facilitate the implementation of an inference framework for reporting activity data in compliance with IPCC 2006 Guidelines. The workshop covered underlying statistical theory and current international reporting requirements, and provided hands-on technical training on the validation of existing map products used for REDD+ reporting. Contacts: Vo Viet Cuong, cuong.silvacarbon@gmail.com; Sarah Banks, scbanks@fs.fed.us; Chelsea Cook, cjcook@usgs.gov.
 
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Global


Assessing the Cost-Efficiency of LiDAR for Forest Carbon Estimation

Colombia / June-July 2017


SilvaCarbon-supported expert Kristofer Johnson traveled to Colombia to work with IDEAM to assess different options for using LiDAR in combination with national forest inventory data to enhance forest carbon estimates. This exploratory study compared the relative costs associated with model-assisted LiDAR estimations and model-based hybrid estimations that use LiDAR across Colombia’s five main geographic regions. See below for a technical report with a summary of key findings. Contact: Sasha Beth Gottlieb, sbgottlieb@fs.fed.us
 

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES



Central Africa


Cameroon – Organization of Land-Use Management Plan

Ebolowa, Cameroon / September 2017

Discussions were held between USFS, the World Resources Institute (WRI), and Cameroon’s REDD+ Steering Committee and Ministry of Planning to design a technical workshop which will launch the land-use data sharing and management process in Cameroon. Contact: Valery-Olivier Sene, olivier.sene@fs-ip.us.
 

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – Training on Forest Cover Change Detection and LiDAR

Kinshasa, DRC / September 2017

A training will be held for DRC’s Forest Inventory Department (DIAF) and the regional institution Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale (OSFAC) on tools and methodologies for detecting forest cover change and processing LiDAR data. Two experts from the USFS GTAC will deliver the training in Kinshasa. Contact: Olivia Freeman, olivia.freeman@fs-ip.us. 
 

Republic of Congo (ROC) – REDDcompass Training

Brazzaville, Republic of Congo / September 18-20, 2017 

A GFOI workshop will provide partners in ROC with an in-depth, hands on development session focused on using REDDcompass to assess MRV progress and needs and develop a priority work plan and training program. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov.
 
  

   

South and Southeast Asia

 


Nepal – Mapping Training

College Park, Maryland / September 4-15, 2017

The UMD GLAD group will provide hands-on mapping training for Nepalese officials at the UMD campus. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov.
 

Vietnam – QA/QC Support for National Forest Inventory

Hanoi, Vietnam / September 18-29, 2017

Through SilvaCarbon, USFS experts Jeremy Rogers and Kerry Dooley will travel to Hanoi to work with the Vietnamese partner agency FIPI to develop a protocol and provide field training for the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures for Vietnam’s fifth national forest inventory cycle. Contact: Sarah Banks, scbanks@fs.fed.us.


Bangladesh – NASA Fellow for 2017-2018

Greenbelt, Maryland / Dates TBD

A Bangladeshi scientist will be selected as a NASA Fellow who, with funding from USAID-Bangladesh, will conduct remote sensing research and generate a remote sensing data product at the NASA Goddard facility in Maryland. Contact: Elise Deriel, elisederiel@fs.fed.us.
 
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Latin America and the Caribbean

 
 

Colombia – Implementation of moja Global Framework

Vancouver, Canada and Bogota, Colombia / September and October, 2017

SilvaCarbon technical advisor Craig Wayson and GHG modeling consultant Marcela Olguín will finish the last two workshops in the four-part series of moja Global workshops with partners from IDEAM, the moja Global organization, and the Canadian Forest Service. In the third session, Wayson and Olguín will work with the team to train IDEAM on how to create their own calculation modules for inclusion in the overall framework. In the fourth session, Wayson and Olguín will work with IDEAM to finalize the first phase of the framework implementation. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
 

Regional – GlobBiomass User Workshop

Rome, Italy / September 11-13, 2017 

SilvaCarbon Latin America and Caribbean technical advisor Craig Wayson and a number of SilvaCarbon partners will convene at FAO headquarters in Rome for the 3rd Public User Workshop of the GlobBiomass project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). Participants will discuss the second phase of GlobBiomass deliverables and milestones, including the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document, Regional Mapping Products, and Global Mapping Approach. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
 

Guatemala – Mapping Training

College Park, Maryland / September 4-15, 2017

The UMD GLAD group will provide hands-on mapping training for Guatemalan officials at the UMD campus. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov.
 
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Global

 
 

GFOI Capacity-Building Summit

Kathmandu, Nepal / September 18-21, 2017

GFOI, with SilvaCarbon, will host its second Capacity-Building Summit. Based on outputs from the first such summit in 2014 and results from an evaluation conducted by GFOI partners including the World Bank, this initiative will engage key capacity-building providers to investigate the impact of various efforts focused on strengthening capabilities for national forest monitoring. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov. 

International Consultation on Monitoring Forest and Landscape Restoration

Washington, DC / December 5-7, 2017

The SilvaCarbon program will hold an expert consultative workshop on developing and implementing forest landscape restoration (FLR) monitoring systems in support of international, national, and subnational FLR activities. The workshop will examine processes for developing FLR monitoring systems as well as different tools and technologies that can be integrated in such systems. Existing project-level monitoring efforts will be considered, but the primary focus of the workshop will be on landscape-level monitoring systems that can support large-scale forest restoration programs. Contact: Sasha Beth Gottlieb, sbgottlieb@fs.fed.us.
 

PUBLICATIONS


 
Recent research publications coauthored by SilvaCarbon-supported scientists include: 

About SilvaCarbon 

 
SilvaCarbon is a multi-agency technical cooperation program of the US Government to build capacity worldwide in measuring, monitoring, and managing forest and terrestrial carbon. Agencies that have contributed to SilvaCarbon include the US Agency for International Development (USAID), US Department of State, US Forest Service (USFS), US Geological Survey (USGS), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Smithsonian Institution. Program funding is provided by USAID and the US Department of State. Program implementation is led by USFS, USGS, EPA, and NASA.

SilvaCarbon is also the primary US contribution to the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), a body of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO). SilvaCarbon co-leads the GFOI capacity-building component together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 


 
For more information: 
USAID, US Dept. of State, USFS, USGS, EPA, NASA, NOAA, Smithsonian

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