1. OSFAC Presentation Dr. Landing Mane, OSFAC

2. As the Central Africa regional GOFC-GOLD (Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics) network, OSFAC works to improve the quality and availability of satellite observations of forest and land cover in the Congo Basin and to produce useful and timely information products for a wide variety of users. It is a legally recognized NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo that operates with a regional mandate to promote the use of satellite data and products for the management of natural resources and sustainable development. http://osfac.net OSFAC operates out of a head office in Kinshasa and maintains a GIS/Remote Sensing lab at the School of Agronomy at the University of Kinshasa. OSFAC works in close partnership with local and international NGO’s, academic and research institutions and builds regional capacity through technical training in GIS and RS. OSFAC collaborators Patrick, Eddy, Andre, Confiance, Florence, etc (last names) - OSFAC Alice Altstatt, Chris Justice, Matt Hansen, Peter Potapov, Minnie Wong, Janet Nackoney, Giuseppe Molinario, Brian Barker, Diane Davies - University of Maryland Paya De Marcken,, WWF John Flynn, USAID Fly through to DRC, Kinshasa and OSFAC Title: Dr. Landing Mane, OSFAC

3. Constraints to establishing operational satellite based forest monitoring and mapping in Central Africa: 1.Lack of data acquisition due to a.Persistent cloud cover b.No permanent ground receiving station c.Inadequate data acquisition as few projects requested data 2.Lack of financial resources Central Africa contains the second largest are of tropical forest in the world but lacks reliable and updated information on the state and changes being made to forest cover. The Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale, OSFAC, was established as the Central Africa GOFC-GOLD (Global Ovservation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics) network at the 2000 Libreville workshop. Establishment of OSFAC at the GOFC-GOLD Regional workshop Libreville, Gabon 2000 Remote sensing is an essential tool for monitoring and mapping these vast and often inaccessible forests at a national and local scale. Remote sensing monitoring must be supported with ground based monitoring and in-situ forest inventory data. 3. Prohibitive cost and lack of availability of satellite data 4. Lack of internet capacity to receive and disseminate satellite data 5. Lack of personnel trained in satellite data use and applications and lack of institutional training structures Operational forest monitoring is required for sustainable forest resource management, biodiversity conservation and carbon monitoring.

4. OSFAC Implementation Training Data Dissemination Forest Cover Monitoring OSFAC Background

5. Establishing Operational Satellite Forest Cover Monitoring through CARPE Challenges: An Operational Monitoring System …. Must provide products that are comparable across the Congo Basin and which can be applied at a range of scales and for a variety of purposes. Should provide products that are easy to use and interpret Requires a method that produces consistent results through time and that generates monitoring products at useful intervals. Requires a reliable, affordable satellite data stream and low data processing costs Must accommodate the intensive data needs over Central Africa to overcome persistent cloud cover Achievements: Development of an automated forest monitoring and mapping methodology Synoptic regional forest cover and change mapping that is consistent and repeatable Products and maps that are immediately publicly available. Incorporates freely available MODIS and Landsat data - both long standing, continuous US Earth Observation missions Fully exploits the 2008 Landsat Data Distribution Policy by exhaustively mining the Landsat data archive to capture the best cloud free observations in any scene or partial scene Republic of Congo Forest Cover and Forest Loss 2000 -2010 Applications Land Use Planning Habitat Mapping REDD – Activity Data a. Cloud cover and anisotropy are a major issue b. A composite made of hundreds of images, and atmospheric and anisotropy correction give us usable data c. The map on the left shows data density (number of overlapping images) for the ROC – The more, the better. d. UMD/SDSU/OSFAC has recently produced the ROC forest cover loss map 2000-2010 a. b. c.. d.

6. Land Use Planning and Participatory Zoning in the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape on the Macro and Micro Levels African Wildlife Foundation Janet Nackoney, AWF MLW Project SOIL site Why do we need Land Use Planning in the MLW landscape? 1. Maintain a network of protected areas and corridors for continued species viability 2. Provide enough land for future land use conversion to satisfy the agricultural livelihood needs of local communities; 3. Conserve enough forested land to maintain biodiversity and sustainable community harvest of non‐timber forest products (NTFP) 4. Maintain a landscape which provides sustainable livelihoods for the local people and important ecosystem services such as clean water and carbon sequestration. Land Use Planning Process 1. Use satellite derived land cover maps and GIS to map current land use. 2. Geospatial modeling of high priority conservation areas and areas of high human presence. 4. Engagement with local community to describe and prioritize activities in permanent and non-permanent forest areas according to livelihood and conservation needs. 5. Participatory mapping to delineate agricultural boundaries and micro‐zones according to livelihood. 6. Community adoption of local land use planning map The flow of information in images, from left to right: The development of Land Use plans as envisioned by the CARPE philosophy. Satellite Remote Sensing maps and participatory mapping are fused using GIS, and models, to arrive at a consensual land use map that satisfies the local community, development and conservation objectives.

11. Activities on the ground: participating in field work and training staff employed on field work activities. - Validation of remote sensing based maps -Participatory mapping, data collection with GPS and household surveys -REDD related, carbon/biomass field data collection -GIS, Remote Sensing, GIS and field data collection techniques training of field teams Bas congo fieldwork pictures