ArcGIS software-based forest monitoring system developed

The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is developing a dashboard created with ArcGIS Dashboards that will generate reports about deforestation in the South American nation, which is renowned for its lush rain forests and exotic wildlife such as jaguars, capuchin monkeys, and giant armadillos.

Esri mobile apps such as ArcGIS Field Maps and ArcGIS Survey123 also will be used by staff at GFC field stations to collect location data and other information on mining and forestry operations, wildfires, agricultural activities, and other drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The information gathered will provide the GFC with situational awareness and a means of compliance monitoring.

“Mining operations are the main cause of deforestation in Guyana over the last decade, as shown by a monitoring system the country put into place to track such activity,” said Pete Watt, team leader of the Resource Monitoring Group at Indufor, an international consulting firm that provides services to the forestry sector.

Watt works as an adviser to the GFC and is responsible for developing and maintaining the country’s national Monitoring Reporting and Verification System (MRVS), which was created to monitor its forest areas and carbon loss.

Guyana is recognized as a low deforestation country and signed the Guyana Norway Agreement in 2009 as part of the United Nations’ initiative called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, plus the sustainable management of forests, and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+).

It’s an effort to mitigate climate change. Guyana agreed to monitor, report, and verify changes in its forest cover and the related carbon loss. In return, Norway would provide performance-based payments for carbon stocks on an annual basis.

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Source: Esri