1. GLOBAL FOREST OBSERVATIONS INITIATIVE (GFOI) Per Erik Skrøvseth, CEOS-Plenary, Lucca, Italy

2. THE GFOI MISSION GFOI will: Foster sustained availability of satellite and ground observation in support of national forest information systems Support countries in the use of observations for their national forest information systems- respecting national choices of data and tools The 24 th CEOS Plenary – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 12-15 October, 20102

3. GFOI KEY COMPONENTS Key component 1: Observation supply and use – Observation and measurements – Support and capacity building for national governments Key component 2: Guidance and application development – Method and protocols for data collection – Continuing research and development

4. GEO FCT - GFOI GFOI is an offspring of GEO Forest Carbon Tracking task The GEO FCT has supported by CEOS, been assisting tropical forest countries since 2008 The GEO FCT focuses on coordination of yearly observations and R&D to develop methods and guidelines for the use of these observations in national forest monitoring systems The GEO FCT operates in 11 national demonstrator countries The GEO FCT has been resourced on a voluntary basis and work has been partly ad hoc GFOI builds on the GEO FCT and will gradually take over tasks as it gains strength, recognition and momentum GFOI will work closely with other international actors like CEOS, UNFCCC, IPCC, UNREDD, FAO, World Bank, etc

5. GFOI SCOPE GFOI will: Form a platform for the coordination of the world´s satellite data supply to meet country-specific demands based on needs assessments Not engage in the actual supply of data, but work with the space agencies and commercial providers to establish actual and potential supply of data, and their costs Carry out a needs assessment of initially 25 countries to establish their need for data and current/envisaged supply Work with data suppliers and national governments to consolidate and harmonize needs with supply in order to reach an optimal delivery Establish a space data coordination group in cooperation with CEOS, a linkages forum and a meta-database to facilitate such coordination of data Carry out capacity building, information dissemination, methods development and other R&D to support cost-effective use of data in the countries´ forest observations

6. Proposed FCT+GFOI Satellite Data Processing Linkages ND Government Agencies Responsible for Forest Mapping CEOS Agencies committing to FCT-specified data acquisition Optical/SAR Mid-resolution, wall-to-wall data for each ND GEO FCT Technical Product Development Team (R&D, Demos) ND Government Agencies Responsible for MRV Reporting to UNFCCC GEO FCT Countries High-Capacity Regional Intermediate Processing Centres GFOI

7. ACTIVITIES TO DATE A GFOI concept plan was prepared in 2010 and accepted by the GEO-VII plenary A GFOI implementation plan has been prepared this year and will be presented to the GEO-VIII plenary in November One professional has been hired and stationed in the GEO secretariat to assist in the implementation of GFOI Preparation for a country-specific needs assessment has been started

8. ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES GFOI will: Be a GEO institution following its administrative procedures and report to the GEO plenary Initially be co-located with the GEO secretariat, but hosting of it will be further assessed in 2012 Be funded by a trust fund established by selected donors Have a small management staff of 2-4 people with an estimated budget to range between 1-1.5 MUSD annually during the first four years Start implementation of activities in 2012 (needs assessment and linkages forum), and gradually build up operation in 2013 to reach a fully- fledged office in 2014