By Susan Minnemeyer, GIS Manager
In many of the countries with the richest forest resources, the public does not have access to basic information on forests, specifically, how they are allocated and for what purpose, how logging rights are granted and to whom, and how they are subsequently managed. This lack of information allows the conditions that foster general mismanagement, inappropriate or illegal allocation of forest resources, and unsustainable forestry practices, along with poor forest sector investment and wood purchasing decisions.Forest-dependent communities and consumers need better information about what is happening in our forests to encourage better long term management and sustainability.
To address the information gap, the World Resources Institute (WRI) began to develop Global Forest Watch (GFW) in 1997, with the objective of promoting transparency and accountability in the forest sector, through independent monitoring of forests and forest management practices.
GFW is a unique international partnership of 75 non-governmental, academic and scientific institutions in ten countriesIndonesia, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon,Democratic Republic of Congo, Chile, Venezuela, the United States, Canada, Russia, and Brazil (launched this year). Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing are important tools for GFW partners as they track information that provides answers to four key questions:
In what condition are the world's remaining forests?
Are they a priority for conservation and to what extent are they protected?
What current and potential threats do they face?
What laws regulate forest resource use and are they being followed?
These reports provide an initial assessment of forest condition and development indicators in GFW chapter countries, and provide a compilation and analysis of the best available datasets.State of the Forest reports provide a picture of where more focused attention and resources are needed in a particular country, while providing an information base on which to develop natural resource policies or strategies for conservation. GIS datasets developed and compiled during report development are made publicly available for free download on the Global Forest Watch website (http://www.globalforestwatch.org/). We have published State of the reports for Canada, Venezuela, Chile, Gabon, Cameroon, and Indonesia.
GFWs coarse-scale mapping is performed to identify low-access forest, meaning large tracts of forest undivided by most roads and other access routes. Coarse-scale mapping projects are done using the best-available existing data, collected by our in-country partners. These are widely-accepted datasets that represent a comprehensive collection of the data available. We often update publicly available datasetsfor example, by digitizing new roads from paper maps or updating parks datasets to reflect changing boundaries and newly designated protected areas. We are also working to develop new datasets to make data available at finer scales, especially in developing countries where large data gaps exist.
Low-access forest is characterized by an absence of human disturbance. Peer-reviewed forest cover data, along with road and other transportation datasets are used to identify low-access forest. Roads and other access routes are buffered to estimate the impact of transportation routes on forests. Buffer size and other decision rules are determined by evidence in scientific literature and by the opinion of local experts. Roadless forest areas are grouped by size and only those of sufficient size to support relatively intact ecosystems are considered low-access forest.
Coarse-scale mapping is not detailed enough to support on-the-ground management, but is sufficient to identify regional or national priorities, to highlight potential problem areas, and to guide the planning of detailed mapping efforts. GFW has performed regional coarse-scale mapping for North America and Central Africa, and on a national basis for Canada and Indonesia.
GFW Fine scale mapping identifies intact forests free of human disturbance that can be detected on satellite imagery. We use medium- and high-resolution satellite imagery to identify areas of human disturbance rather than estimating disturbance from existing data as we do in coarse-scale mapping. Satellite imagery makes it possible to identify disturbances including logging roads, mining exploration, clearcuts, fire scars, and other forms of disturbance that are not typically included in publicly available GIS datasets. Groundtruthing is performed to verify disturbances observed on satellite imagery. As in low-access forest mapping, disturbed areas such as road and access routes are buffered to divide forest into blocks, and only areas that exceed a minimum size requirement are called intact forest.
The use of satellite imagery makes possible a final product at finer scales and at better accuracy than coarse scale mapping, making intact forest datasets usable for on-the-ground management planning. GFWs first product of this type is the Atlas of Russias Intact Forest Landscapes, which is being used by the furniture company IKEA as part of their environmental commitment to ensure that their suppliers do not provide them with timber from these intact areas.
Beyond the Russia atlas, work is underway to produce a Pan-Boreal map of intact forests of the far north, including Alaska, Canada, Russia, and Scandinavia. A draft map is being prepared for presentation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
GFW has begun to monitor compliance with forest legislation. In June 2002, GFW signed an agreement with the government of Cameroon to share maps and data in an effort to curb illegal logging. GFW is mapping logging roads from Landsat satellite imagery to monitor the development of commercial forestry. This agreement marks the first map-based monitoring effort of its kind in Africa. In addition to our work in Cameroon, GFW is initiating compliance monitoring efforts in Canada, Indonesia, and the Republic of Congo.
GFW provides networking opportunities for NGOs to share information and resources, while coordinating their activities on the national and international level. As part of GFW,partners build national monitoring networks, some with over 15 participating organizations. In-country activities involve data review and methodology planning workshops, where partners exchange expertise while helping to build a national constituency for GFW's work.
As part of GFWs efforts to promote openness and access to data, we make our data available for free download on the GFW website, (http://www.globalforestwatch.org/). We make our satellite imagery available over the internet through a number of organizations, including the Tropical Rainforest Information Center at Michigan State University (www.bsrsi.msu.edu/trfic/), the University of Marylands Global Land Cover Facility (http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu), and the Russian NGO Transparent World (www.transparentworld.ru).
In addition to providing data for free download, the GFW website features an interactive map server that allows visitors to create their own maps and query GFW data. Users can use the map server to query for more information on specific map elements, such as protected area or concession status and ownership. We encourage others to use our data for new and innovative analyses and maps. Our website receives approximately 60,000-70,000 user hits a month.
A chronological list of GFW publications:
Atlas of Russias Intact Forest Landscapes (April 2002)
An Analysis of Access to Central Africa's Rainforests (April 2002)
Chile's Frontier Forests: Conserving a Global Treasure (April 2002)
Low-Access Forests and their Level of Protection in North America (April 2002)
The State of the Forest: Indonesia (April 2002)
Venezuela's Forests: A Case Study of the Guayana Region (April 2002)
The Last Intact Forest Landscapes of Northern European Russia (October 2001)
1999-2000 Allocation of Logging Permits in Cameroon: Fine-Tuning Central Africa's First Auction System (February 2001)
An Overview of Logging in Cameroon (February 2000)
A First Look at Logging in Gabon (February 2000)
Canada's Forests at a Crossroads: An Assessment in the Year 2000 (February 2001)
All publications are available on the GFW website in PDF format.