1. Woods Hole
Research Center
In the Field
Pantropical Scholars Newsletter
November 2012
Pantropical Visiting Scholars Program
A letter from the President ...
T ropical deforestation and forest degradation account for
an estimated 17% of the world’s annual anthropogenic
emissions of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas
advances specific research project objectives, but also includes
training in remote sensing, laboratory analyses, modeling,
data analyses, and writing. The motivation for these efforts
contributor. Despite the important ecosystem services that is the realization that solutions to national challenges in
tropical forests provide, basic information on these forests environmental resource management will require in-country
is often lacking, making it difficult to monitor deforestation human resources for science and policy.
and changes in forest-cover and associated carbon stock at
global scales. Forest monitoring is becoming increasingly An excellent example of this approach of integrating research
important to international policy efforts to slow the rates of and capacity building is the Pantropical Visiting Scholars
tropical forest loss. Understanding mapping methods is critical Program. A select group of scholars from across the tropics
to governments, forest communities, and indigenous groups including Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia visited the
engaged in the political process. There is an urgent and Woods Hole campus during a three-year program to train with
growing need to transfer the knowledge and skills required WHRC scientists to expand their skills in forest measurement
for forest monitoring, thus building the technical capacity of and monitoring techniques for the purposes of advancing
countries and communities to map and monitor their own knowledge-transfer within their home regions. The program
forest resources. explored the technical aspects and approaches of tropical
forest mapping, including field and remote sensing data
These research and policy topics will be with society for acquisition, image processing, and statistical analyses, as well
generations. While there is urgency for the current generation as the use of satellite imagery together with ground-based
of policy makers to carry out climate change mitigation and measurement techniques in the development of forest cover
forest conservation efforts, the next generation will inevitably and carbon-stock maps. The group has remained in contact,
continue to deal with these issues, perhaps under even and they continue to produce this bi-annual newsletter as a
more challenging circumstances than at present. Therefore, follow-up to the pantropical WHRC scholar network.
integration of our research with training and education is
strategically important for our mission and vision of advancing It is heartening to see the lasting impact of this group’s work,
science to achieve sustainability goals. including new in-country applications and the multiplying
effect of their efforts to train others. I congratulate these
The WHRC has had a long history of hosting visiting scholars dedicated scholars as they provide us with examples of their
from many countries, including graduate students, early ongoing impact in the following pages.
and mid-career scientists, and technicians. This work often Eric Davidson, PhD
donesia,
ia, Gabon, India, In
Reports from Boliv
In th is Is su e: Mexico, Uganda, Vi
etnam and Zambia!

2. The Challenge of Conserving Forest While Achieving Development Goals
Nadine Laporte, Woods Hole Research Center
Dear Scholars,
Ihave some good news from the NASA Earth Science Division! Our project, Forest Carbon Assessment for REDD in the East Africa SERVIR
Region, has been funded by the Applied Sciences Program and will run from October 2012 to September 2016.
In most of Africa, carbon stocks have been highly depleted due to the high demand for agricultural land and fuel wood consumption from
the growing population. With this new project, we hope to provide improved estimates of standing carbon for this region and develop
different scenarios of land cover change to help decision makers realize the potential impact of their forest policies. This information is
crucial to the development of REDD+ programs in Africa since more than 90% of energy is derived from wood resources, which makes it
very challenging to conserve forest and enhance carbon stocks. The forests of this region are very fragmented. In Kenya, near Nairobi (see
map below) most of the remaining forest and associated standing carbon is located in the protected mountain ranges, also called the “water
towers.” These five major forested mountains-Mt. Kenya, Aberdares, Mau forest, Mount Elgon, and Cherangani Hills - jointly supply most of
the fresh water resources for the entire country and are also critical reservoirs of biodiversity.
With the assistance of the NASA SERVIR East Africa hub and our collaborators in the region, we plan to update and improve our estimates of
standing carbon, and assist forest communities and managers with their REDD projects. We hope that the information we provide will also
allow the development of innovative energy and forest strategies, with the goal of conserving forests while achieving development goals.
SERVIR focuses on specific geographic regions and uses Earth
observations to support environmental management, climate
adaptation, and disaster response in developing countries. Funding A Request From
of this SERVIR project includes hosting of the first technical workshop Ned Horning, American Museum of Natural History
to be held in the region, from November 26-30 in Tanzania. The
workshop is co-funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and is being Dear Scholars:
organized by WHRC, the Jane Goodall Institute, AMNH, and Google.
com.
I have been busy with different projects, but one that you may be
interested in is the packaging of some of the outreach material
that was presented at the last scholar meeting. I added notes for the
presentation slides and also described in more detail the steps for
each exercise. The idea is to share with you, the scholars, this draft
material and to receive your feedback so as to make it easier for you
and others to share this information, to teach others, and also to
incorporate your ideas and material.
Please take a look at the documents I posted for you on our FTP
site and send me your comments. If there are other topics for
presentations or exercises that you would like to see added to this
list, let me know and I’ll try to add it. Also, if you have content that
you would like to add please let me know. You can feel free to use
any of these materials, but keep in mind that it is not a final product
yet.
WHRC biomass map 2007
Wood s Hole

3. Sharing and Acquiring Technical Structural Characterization of Forest
Expertise in Gabon Diversity with Remote Sensing in Mexico
Andreana Paola Mekui Biyogo, Ministry of Water and Forests Isabel Trejo, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use
of Biodiversity (CONABIO)
I have been busy training the staffs of the Ministry of Water and Forests,
the National Agency of National Parks (ANPN), the National School of
Waters and Forest, and the Directorate General for Environment. In the
I am currently developing the protocol for my dissertation, which
is called “Structural characterization of forest diversity in Mexico
through remote sensing: An Approach to Biodiversity.” The training
training sessions, I was able to share with my colleagues some of the I received at WHRC motivated me and gave me the skills and tools
new Remote Sensing techniques and GIS tools I acquired during the necessary to undertake such an analysis.
WHRC training.
My thesis aims to generate information about the structural diversity
I also organized and facilitated a national validation workshop to of forests using remote sensing. In Mexico, we now have a National
discuss the National Strategy for Sustainable Development in Libreville Forest Inventory (NFI) that contains structural information; however,
from 29 to 30 May 2012. information gaps remain. My goal is to provide complete structural
information for these data gaps using remote sensing. I will use a
In the framework of the project “Development of a System of National combination of Landsat optical images and lidar. The forest inventory
Forest Resources Inventory,” I participated in training organized by the plots will serve as training data and help me to analyze associations
Japan Forest Technology Association (JAFTA). The goal of the project between forest structure as observed on the ground and in the remote
is to provide information for REDD+ and forest management in the sensing data.
context of the international climate change negotiations.
The map below shows the average heights of trees that were measured
In addition, I worked with Nadine Laporte assisting an Italian University during the NFI. This information will be integral to the development of
involved with a GHG-Project in Africa. This included help with models that link field and remote sensing data in order to characterize
complicated administrative procedures for obtaining research permits, forest structure throughout Mexico.
and planning lidar’s overflight authorization.
For more information on the JAFTA project check:
http://infosgabon.com/?p=19703
2012 remote sensing training workshop where one of the trainers was Scholar Paola
Mekui
Gabon Mexico

4. Declining Deforestation Rates in the Bolivian Legal Amazon
Eric Armijo, Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN)
A fter several months of satellite imagery processing, a report
is now available on our recent (2008-2010) deforestation
analysis in the Bolivian Legal Amazon. This area comprises 16
million hectares (39 million acres) of mostly dense, humid forest
in the northern part of the country.
The main finding is a decrease in the average rate of deforestation,
which is now 12,900 hectares per year (2008-2010), and less than
half the conversion rate of the previous period (2005-2008). This
observation confirms an overall decline of forest conversion rate
compared to a peak in the early 2000s.
This new information on forest extent and conversion rate
is being used to address the monitoring needs of a climate
mitigation project in the area, led by Fundacion Amigos de
la Naturaleza (Friends of Nature Foundation) and involving
indigenous communities. The next step is a follow-up project to
address local communities’ needs on sustainable development
while including a climate change adaptation approach.
Bolivia

5. Helping Forest Communities Adapt to Climate Change:
A Field Report from Indonesia
Virni Budi Arifanti, Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia
S ince my return from WHRC, I have been focusing on several research questions related to climate change in forest communities:
what is the effect of climate change on communities around the forest? How vulnerable are they and their living environment
to climate change? What are their adaptation strategies, and how much is the fund allocation for climate change adaptation at the
community level? These questions form the basis of the project I have been working on this year.
From May 10-16, 2012, I went to Apui village in Minyambouw district, West Papua Province, to conduct research about climate change
adaptation strategies of communities around the forest. The village lies in the Arfak mountains, where the majority of the population
are farmers. Most of the villagers make their living through shifting cultivation. The effect of climate change in this area has already
been observed through increasing temperatures; the first occurences of mosquitos in this mountainous area; the emergence of new,
historically lowland plants; and for the last 10 years, the planting season has altered significantly due to the inconsistent rainy season.
In this research, we investigate how the way of life in this village has changed due to climate change, how they adapt to the changing
planting season, how they conserve their lands to avoid increasing erosion and floods in their district, the fund allocation for
adaptation strategies, and the impact of local government policy on the development of this district. One of my tasks is to make a
map of the vulnerable area within the watershed of the Minyambouw district. The vulnerable area is defined through a combination
of socioeconomic data with thematic maps for biophysical parameters, such as a topography, elevation, erosion, land cover, land use,
river networks, and rainfall data.
We have observed an interesting phenomenon in the field: the people in the village are still not aware of climate change or the
importance of forest conservation; they just live life in the moment, with its ups and downs. We still have a lot of work to do here!
Apui village, a small forest community in the Arfak mountains in Indonesia. Virni and her team interview villagers and farmers about how the changing
climate has affected their way of life.
In donesia

6. Mapping Forest Cover Type and Forest Cover Change in Vietnam
Giang Nguyen Vu and Quyen Hanh Nguyen, Vietnam Space Technology Institute
S ince returning from WHRC, Quyen and I have been busy applying
a remote sensing technological approach to forest stratification
and conducting a field survey. The knowledge we gained while
At the Space Technology Institute, we are currently struggling
with how best to incorporate remote sensing and field techniques
into our plan for REDD+. There are two approaches to MRV under
at WHRC was definitely helpful in our work. During our mapping consideration for the REDD+ initiative in Vietnam: 1) application
projects, we combined image segmentation with a traditional of remote sensing techniques and 2) Participatory Carbon-
classifier to map the forest cover type and identify areas of forest stock Monitoring (PCM). Each approach has its own advantages
cover change. The overall accuracy of the original product was and disadvantages; the remote sensing approach seems to be
82% and showed further improvement after post classification appropriate for national scale modeling, while PCM is suitable for
processing. WHRC’s field guide was very helpful and facilitated the project level. There are many possible methods to apply remote
our fieldwork operation. The Vietnam REDD office is aiming to also sensing and GIS technology to classify forest cover and estimate
create a field manual to derive allometric equations from destructive forest biomass. Should we develop a new forest classification system
measurements; more detail can be found at Guidelines for forest to adapt with the practical limitations of using remote sensing data,
carbon estimation (http://vietnam-redd.org/Web/Default.aspx?tab= or apply a fractal cover approach, as WHRC has done? Do any of you
newsdetail&zoneid=107&subzone=157&itemid=426&lang=en-US). share the same concern?
Vietnam

7. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Modeling Forest Change in Uganda
Project Area Verification in Uganda Grace Nangendo , Wildlife Conservation Society
Edward Ssenyonjo, Uganda National Forest Authority
S ince February 2012, most of our time has been spent preparing
for the forthcoming visit of the World Bank and site validators
from Germany. The purpose of their visit is to verify four CDM
I spent the last months of 2011 and early 2012 modeling future
forest change for the Murchison-Semliki landscape. Forest cover
of 1995, 2005 and 2010 were used. Drivers used included a Digital
project areas in southwestern Uganda and all efforts have been Elevation Model, roads, distance to market, distance to village,
aimed at ensuring that this verification goes well so that we may protection status (protected or not protected) and distance to
receive the first carbon credits at the end of the year. With my rivers. The Land Change Modeling extension of the Idrisi software
colleagues at the National Forest Authority (NFA), we led several was used. During this analysis, the land change modeling training
staff trainings as well as a number of mapping activities, including: obtained at WHRC enabled me to make better informed decisions
and interpretation of obtained results. The outputs are being used
• Training all staff participating in the CDM projects in: in the Project Design Document (PDD) for this landscape for a REDD
project.
• Protocols to be followed when mapping
I am now preparing datasets for the modeling of species response
• Protocols to be followed in plot measurement
to climate change in the Albertine rift. The analysis will cover plants,
• Hands-on use of the GPS receivers birds, and mammals.
• Plot data entry in the field form and thereafter into the
computer
• Management of GPS data (e.g., upload, download,
cleaning and integration into GIS)
• Mapping and stratifying the tree crop
• Measurement of sample plots in the various strata
• Quality control of trees inventory data, and project area
boundaries
• Emissions reduction calculations
• Finalizing and submitting all required documents in April
• Final field and administrative preparations for the arrival of
the CDM validators on 29 May 2012
One of the major concerns of the validation exercise was the
physical demarcation of about 80km of project area boundaries
on the ground in five projects. Marking the entire 80km would
be too expensive for NFA, so I used my skills and open source
software (Spring and the Landsat gap filler) acquired from WHRC
The figure shows the transition potential of forest cover in the Murchison-Semliki land-
to generate maps that were used to explore the lowest cost
scape. The legend indicates the probability of any area changing from forest to another
options possible. Eventually the cheapest was selected and used land cover type. Higher values indicate higher probabilities of forest loss.
as part of the Corrective Action Requests for the CDM compliance.
Additionally, the Uganda National Forest Authority hosted
a training (21-19 May) on the use of ERDAS software. It was
conducted by Oaker Services of Nairobi, Kenya.
Uganda

8. Use of Geospatial Technology in Forest Survey and Forest Management in India
Mukund Srivastava, Indian Forest Service
S ince my last visit to WHRC, I have been working on applications of geospatial technology at the Forest Survey of India (FSI), which are
integral to our core mandate. A few of our most recent and exciting RS/GIS projects include a 2011 forest cover map of the country,
several early detection and monitoring systems, and a National Forest Information System.
Since 1986, FSI has completed 12 cycles of biennial, nation-wide forest cover maps using GIS and Remote Sensing. In 2001, we switched to
digital interpretation of satellite images for Forest Cover Mapping (FCM). To that end, we have completed 23.5 m resolution, wall-to-wall FCM
of the country using IRS LISS III data. In order to ascertain the accuracy of the generated output, we used high-resolution satellite data and
ground truth information.
Additionally, we have begun near real-time monitoring of forest fires (MODIS products) using “Direct Read Out”. Due to these initiatives,
the reaction time for forest fires has been reduced to 2-3 hours from the time of the incident capture by satellite image/satellite overpass.
Further, the interactive Geoportal of the FSI is also operational, providing information on the forests (e.g., density, class-wise forest cover,
forest types, vulnerable forest grids from climate change point of view etc.) up to the forest compartment level.
Finally, we are also working on a National Forest Information System. Our vision is to implement an information technology framework to
facilitate the acquisition, integration, processing, and dissemination of data/information involving the various departments in India that
have forest-related information. The NFIS portal will:
• interface with the distributed access control protocols,
• maintain jurisdictional/custodial identity of content,
• support navigation and search of forest resources content,
• support real time object annotation, and
• provide simple spatial and thematic analysis.
I should note that, thanks to my participation in the WHRC workshops, we are also investigating how we may better utilize open source
software for image processing. These analyses are still in their infancy, so I will post more at a later time.
Forest Types in India
Tropical Wet Evergreen-North East
Tropical Wet Evergreen-Western Ghats
Tropical Semi Evergreen-North East
Tropical Semi Evergreen-Eastern Deccan
Tropical Semi Evergreen-Western Ghats
Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests
Littoral & Swamp Forests
Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
Tropical Thorn Forest
Tropical & Subtropical Dry Evergreen Forests
Subtropical Pine Forests
Montane Moist Temperate Forest
Sub Alpine & Temperate Forest
Alpine Scrub
Plantation/TOF
Non Forest
In di a

9. Developing a Forest Inventory Design for Zambia
Abel Siampale and Sitwala Wamunyime, Zambia Forestry Department
S ince November 2011, we have been extremely busy planning
and conducting pre-assessment forest inventories over some
unique ecosystem types throughout Zambia. Our goal is to help
Abel has trained 6 graduates to generate results from the GE tool. A
systematic grid of about 6,000 cells at a 10-kilometer interval was
created using GE for the entire country with each grid cell containing
planners to develop a suitable forest inventory design for the 25 points (plots). For each grid cell we assessed land cover and percent
country. A number of options have since been considered, with of tree cover for 35 locations. Field teams are now visiting the 6,000
a view to improve on the quantity and quality of the intended clusters, measuring main carbon pools (above ground, below ground,
outputs for UN-REDD+ in Zambia. For instance, in conjunction dead wood, litter including grass, and soils). In order to accomplish this
with foresters in Zambia and from FAO in Rome, we have used intensive effort, about 230 technical staff were assembled and included
the Google Earth (GE) tool for assessing land cover distribution 40 field teams of 5 people each. During August, an exhaustive 30-day
and the percent of tree cover. We intend to stratify Zambia based training session took place with various field crews: one land cover
on forest density classes ranging from 10% to 80+% tree cover. and land use mapping team of 10 experts, one data entry team of 10
people, and one quality control and assurance team of five people. Abel
and Sitwala have been the lead facilitators for these training sessions.
Systematic grid over Zambia for field sampling.
Zam bia

10. The Pantropi cal Scholars Team at Work
To learn more, please visit our Pantropical Education and Capacity Building page at http://www.whrc.org/education/capacitybldg.html

11. The Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) is a private, non-profit research organization
focussing on environmental sciences. Our scientists combine analysis of satellite images of the
Earth with field studies to measure, model, and map changes in the world’s ecosystems, from
the thawing permafrost in the Arctic to the expanding agriculture regions of the tropics. We work
locally and regionally, with in-depth expertise and collaborations in North and South America and
Africa; and we also work globally, focussing on how humans are changing global cycles of carbon,
nitrogen, and water. We merge natural science with economics to discover sustainable paths for
human prosperity and stewardship of the Earth’s natural resources.
Our mission is to advance scientific discovery and seek science-based solutions for the world’s
environmental and economic challenges through research and education on forests, soils, air,
and water.
Our vision is a world in which the insights of science guide management of the Earth’s natural
resources, so that we and future generations may sustain prosperous and fulfilling lives without
degrading the ecosystems that support humanity and a diverse abundance of life.
Program Director: Nadine Laporte, PhD Program Coordinator: Tina Cormier, MS Editors: Tina Cormier and Beth Bagley
Design: Ian Vorster, Director of Communications and Denise Kergo, Web Developer
www.whrc.org