Maps and data can take reporting to the next level and bring stories to life. Are you new to environmental journalism or looking to expand your data toolbox? Want to learn more ways to incorporate Global Forest Watch into your current reporting work? Looking for inspiration to kickstart your next story?
Global Forest Watch visualizes forest data and equips journalists with evidence and tools to research and communicate the state of deforestation around the world. Whether you’re reporting on forest trends and commitments, completing a deforestation investigation, or searching for story ideas, Global Forest Watch can help. During this webinar, we shared the different ways that Global Forest Watch can inspire and strengthen your reporting and how you can work directly with our team.
Journalists at Mongabay and the Pulitzer Center shared how they use data on Global Forest Watch and other geospatial monitoring tools in their reporting, before a discussion with the GFW team, with input from attendees, on data journalism experiences, lessons and reflections. The webinar was hosted in English.
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Developing Data Stories Using GFW for Journalism_September 14 2023
1.
2. AGENDA
• Introduction
• How to Use Global
Forest Watch
• Speaker
Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: Reporter Brasil
3. GOAL:
• Learn how Global Forest Watch
can inspire and strengthen your
reporting
• Hear how you can work directly
with our team!
Photo: AMPA
4. GLOBAL FOREST WATCH
• GFW offers a suite of forest
monitoring tools designed to:
• Increase knowledge and
transparency about forest
landscapes
• Advance private sector action
to stop commodity-driven
deforestation and manage
forests sustainably
• Harness information to
mobilize local action by
governments and civil society
5. SPEAKERS
Kaitlyn Thayer
Communications
Manager
Global Forest Watch
Willie Shubert
Global Program Director
Mongabay
Isabela Barriga
Engagement Specialist
Global Forest Watch
MODERATOR
Kuek Ser Kuang Keng
Data Editor, Environmental
Investigations Unit
Pulitzer Center
Madeleine Ngeunga
Africa Editor,
Pulitzer Center;
Rainforest Investigations
Fellow, InfoCongo
6. AGENDA
• Introduction
• How to Use Global
Forest Watch
• Speaker
Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: Reporter Brasil
7. Using Global Forest Watch to
Report on Forest Change
Kaitlyn Thayer
Global Forest Watch Communications Manager
GFW media inquiries? → kaitlyn.thayer@wri.org
8. Topics
• Talking about tree cover
• Data for an ongoing story
• Generating story ideas
• Working with the team at Global Forest Watch (GFW)
9. Tree cover loss is not always deforestation
Tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover for any reason. It
includes both human-caused loss and natural disturbances, and loss that is
permanent or temporary.
Deforestation typically refers to human-caused, permanent removal of
natural forest cover.
Global Forest Watch has data on tree cover loss. Tree cover is a convenient metric
for monitoring forest change because it is easily measurable from space and
satellite imagery. It is difficult to monitor deforestation with satellite imagery
alone.
More info at research.wri.org/gfr/key-terms-definitions
Talking about tree cover:
10. Why the focus on tropical primary forests?
Primary forest are mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity,
carbon storage and regulating regional and local climate effects.
More than 96% of deforestation, or human-caused, permanent removal of
forest cover occurs, in the tropics.
Talking about tree cover:
More info at research.wri.org/gfr/key-terms-definitions
11. Data for an ongoing story
• Dashboard statistics
• Map
• Expert data analysis
• GFW Blog
• Global Forest Review
• WRI Insights
www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards
12. Data for an ongoing story
• Dashboard statistics
• Map
• Expert data analysis
• GFW Blog
• Global Forest Review
• WRI Insights
www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards
13. Data for an ongoing story
• Dashboard statistics
• Map
• Expert data analysis
• GFW Blog
• Global Forest Review
• WRI Insights
www.globalforestwatch.org/map
14. Data for an ongoing story
• Dashboard statistics
• Map
• Expert data analysis
• GFW Blog → globalforestwatch.org/blog
• Global Forest Review → research.wri.org/gfr
• WRI Insights → wri.org/insights
15. Generating story ideas
• Tree cover loss data
• Deforestationalerts
• Fire alerts
• Contextual data
• Key biodiversity areas
• Alliance for Zero Extinction
• Protected areas
• Concessions
• Indigenous and Community
Lands
• Places to Watch
16. Generating story ideas
• Tree cover loss data
• Deforestationalerts
• Fire alerts
• Contextual data
• Key biodiversity areas
• Alliance for Zero Extinction
• Protected areas
• Concessions
• Indigenous and Community
Lands
• Places to Watch
17. Generating story ideas
• Tree cover loss data
• Deforestationalerts
• Fire alerts
• Contextual data
• Key biodiversity areas
• Alliance for Zero Extinction
• Protected areas
• Concessions
• Indigenous and Community
Lands
• Places to Watch
18. Generating story ideas
• Tree cover loss data
• Deforestationalerts
• Fire alerts
• Contextual data
• Key biodiversity areas
• Alliance for Zero Extinction
• Protected areas
• Concessions
• Indigenous and Community
Lands
• Places to Watch
19. Generating story ideas
• Tree cover loss data
• Deforestationalerts
• Fire alerts
• Contextual data
• Key biodiversity areas
• Alliance for Zero Extinction
• Protected areas
• Concessions
• Indigenous and Community
Lands
• Places to Watch
20. Working with the team at GFW
• Interview a GFW expert
• Request raw data (also on GFW!)
• Fact checking and quote review
• Advanced notice helps us, help you
GFW media inquiries? Contact kaitlyn.thayer@wri.org
21. AGENDA
• Introduction
• How to Use Global
Forest Watch
• Speaker
Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: Reporter Brasil
22. Developing Data Stories:
Using Global Forest Watch for
Journalism
By Madeleine Ngeunga, Rainforest Investigations Fellow
23. A long story with Global Forest Watch tools
● Investigating forest management and
policy, agribusiness and land grabbing,
Indigenous rights, land-use conflict,
climate change, and environmental
justice issues in the Congo Basin
region and beyond.
● Using data-driven stories to highlight
the political, social, and environmental
factors causing forest loss across the
Congo basin region and beyond.
● Global Forest Watch fellow in 2019
● Pulitzer Center Rainforest
Investigations Network fellow in 2021-
2023.
● Part of the Pulitzer center team
supporting African journalists across
sub-saharan Africa to report on
rainforestrelated issues and conduct
investigative journalism.
● Also works as an editor with InfoCongo
24. Deforestation alertsbeyond the limitsof logging titlesand agricultural
plantation in Lokoudje/South Cameroon.
A series of 7 collaborative investigations produced &
co-publishedby Le Monde and InfoCongo, in
partnershipwith the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest
Investigations Network
The system behind the looting
of Cameroon’s forest
A troubling increase in illegal logging
cases, with legal logging companies
found to be the culprits.
26. Many companies use the logging
title just to launder timber from
other areas.
From the Forest Atlas
and data hidden into
public documents
Building a new database
Over the years, several of these
companies have been sanctioned for
illegal logging, including cutting
timber beyond the limits of the area
assigned to them.
27. An Opaque Agro-
industry Razes
Cameroon’s
Forests with
Impunity
Investigating Forest Loss: RADD alerts + Forest Atlas + PLANET imageries
28. Interpreting the data
InfoCongo in partnership with the Rainforest Investigation
Network/Pulitzer Center analyzed satellite images of the area
allocated to the agri-business company, from PLANET over
three major time periods.
A=Undisturbed Forest: In image A, December 2019, no
disturbance is visible on this plot of forest yet.
B=Cleared forest: As of December 2020, there is a significant
tree cover loss. This occurred 3 months after Camvert planted
its first oil palm plants, after the forest had been destroyed.
C=Oil palm plantation: A year later, we noticed the emergence
of well-marked oil palm plantation plots.
29. In South Cameroon, how a new palm
plantation led to vast clearing of forest,
triggering human and wildlife conflicts.
● The company started its activities on
the pathway of large mammals of the
Campo man national park
● We mapped fresh traces of elephant
dung and footprints a few steps from
the Bagyeli camp
● We combined and analysed the field
trip data with Forest Atlas/Global
Forest Watch and Planet imageries
● The endangered mammals of the
park are confused following the
destruction of the forest in which
they used to roam.
Interpreting the data
30. Impact
Following our series of stories on the The system behind the looting of Cameroon’s forest
the Cameroonian Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife reacted.
He sent an administrative letter to its regional representatives and the director of forest control
points ordering them to reinforce forest control, because he heard there was a lot of illegal timber
being transported across the country.
This is typically what we explained in our series + exposing case of illegal logging involving
companies owning logging titles.
It's one of the first times in Cameroon that the government has reacted to the publication of
an article and not denied the facts. On the contrary, for our series, the Ministry of Forests is
urging its representatives in the field to step up controls on timber transport, in order
to combat the transport of illegal timber.
32. AGENDA
• Introduction
• How to Use Global
Forest Watch
• Speaker
Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: Reporter Brasil
33. 33
Chasing Deforestation
Using near-real-time satellite alerts to track deforestation and inspire
journalism that reveals the stories within the data.
Willie Shubert, Global ProgramDirector,Mongabay
willie@mongabay.com
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
37. We’re using near-
real time data and
an algorithm that
identifies areas
with concerning
levels of tree
cover loss.
37
38. Using this data, journalists are responding
to alerts by investigating the causes of
recent deforestation
38
39. 39
Why do we need to use an algorithm?
Alerts provide a wealth of information,
but there are literally millions of alerts
each month – we need a way to filter.
Methodology
1. Divide world into grid cells
(10 km x 10 km)
2. Calculate an “importance score” for
each grid cell
1. Count alerts by grid cells
2. (a) Incorporate protected areas
2. (b) Plus intact forest landscapes
40. 40
Methodology (continued)
3. Multiply the score by the
number of alerts that month
4. Select the top 10 grid cells
per region (exclude
anything with too low of an
importance score)
3. The importance score is multiplied by the number of alerts
4. Locations outside the top 10
grid cells is filtered out
47. 47
Thank you
Contact me:
Willie Shubert, Global Program Director, Mongabay
willie@mongabay.com
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
48. AGENDA
• Introduction
• How to Use Global
Forest Watch
• Speaker
Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: Reporter Brasil
49. Kuang Keng Kuek Ser
Data Editor, EnvironmentalInvestigations Unit
Developing Data Stories:
Using Global Forest Watch for
Journalism
14 Sep 2023
61. By March 2023, the
Network had
➔ 46 projects supported by RIN
➔ 37 fellows
➔ ~ 190 original works published
in 2 years
➔ 500+ republications
➔ 5 million online views (2023)
➔ 110,000 social media shares
➔ 1.2 million YouTube views
Our numbers
62. Kuang Keng Kuek Ser
keng@pulitzercenter.org
Check out our toolkits and
methodologies at
pulitzercenter.org/journalism/initiative
s/rainforest-investigations-network-
initiative
Thank you
63. AGENDA
• Introduction
• How to Use Global
Forest Watch
• Speaker
Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: Reporter Brasil
64. Stay in touch!
1. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter
2. Follow us on social media @globalforests
3. Explore the GFW Help Center for other tutorials and resources on how to
use GFW tools and data
• Webinars, trainings and office hours
4. Complete our survey!
GFW media inquiries? Contact kaitlyn.thayer@wri.org
65. AGENDA
• Introduction
• How to Use Global
Forest Watch
• Speaker
Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: Reporter Brasil
66. Thank you! Questions?
Kaitlyn Thayer
Communications
Manager
Global Forest Watch
Willie Shubert
Global Program Director
Mongabay
Isabela Barriga
Engagement Specialist
Global Forest Watch
MODERATOR
Kuek Ser Kuang Keng
Data Editor, Environmental
Investigations Unit
Pulitzer Center
Madeleine Ngeunga
Africa Editor,
Pulitzer Center;
Rainforest Investigations
Fellow, InfoCongo
Anika Berger
Research Analyst
Global Forest
Watch
67. Contact Information & Resources
Global Forest Watch
• GFW Media inquiries?
• Contact Kaitlyn: kaitlyn.thayer@wri.org
• GFW data or alert questions?
• Contact Anika: anika.berger@wri.org
• Opportunitiesfor engagement, future webinars, etc.?
• Contact Isabela: isabela.barriga@wri.org
Pulitzer Center
• Kuang Keng Kuek Ser: keng@pulitzercenter.org
• Madeleine Ngeunga: mngeunga@pulitzercenter.org
Mongabay
• Willie Shubert: willie@mongabay.com