Day 2 (16.30) (livestream:http://events.globallandscapesforum.org/landscape-talk/bonn-2017/day-2/block-3/indigenous-people-protected-areas-coffee-landscape-burundi/)
What can you see when you look at this forest? A pristine and intact primary forests. But it is not all gold what shines.
Under a nice canopy you can have a lot of deforestation, degradation and poaching
What can we do?
Moving from the sky to the earth, in Ghana we are using sound and camera traps to monitor illegal deforestation and watch wildlife
… And… surprise, not only wildlife is captured, but also a poacher has been trapped by the camera. This led to a new program of converting poachers into rangers.
Multi-million $ product markets for vegetable and other oils…
Marketing portals
In Liberia UN Sanctions on timber (that were imposed since timber revenues were used to finance the war) where lifted only when a “ chain of custody “ was out in place by our Forests Project: a chip was placed on trees making it easy to track it from the stump to the port. Important not only for detecting illegal logging but also for revenues and bribes. Barcoding can also be used to track cattle ranching
In March 2014, more than 29,000 logs were seized from a vessel berthed at Jurong Port. The 3,235-tonne confiscation is reportedly the largest-ever of rosewood made in the world, said the prosecution, which had sought at least 18 months' jail for Wong.
In Indonesia satellite images were used to control the situation of forest fires in 2015 and our work on Cost of fires
Major impacts of the study, which was cited over 4000 times in international and local press and publications, included:
- Changed political economy of the issue heading into the Paris COP, and brought us to the table to advise on GOI response to fires
- Contributed to GOI/President Widodo's announcements at COP to create Peatland Restoration Agency, tasked with restoring 2 m ha of degraded peatlands, commitment to complete one map, moratorium on peat conversion, etc.
- Led to WB lending for One Map (under preparation)
Led to creation of Sustainable Landscapes Management MDTF, which provides resources for policy advisory, TA to improve quality of GOI programming and reforms, and support to/platform for institutional coordination
We see on TV that DNA forensics play a key role in solving crimes…
It is the same in eco-crimes
By tracking DNA along the supply chain, you can better target poaching hotspots and better focus scarce resources…
Last year was the worse year for elephant poaching. Our Wildlife and Trafficking program worked with countries to test the DNA of the tusks in DNA lab in Kenya, and track where it comes from. This led to new preventive programs in key countries under the wildlife program.
Earth observation helps us look over the years to identify deforestation hotspots.
We are starting to work on this in over 50 countries with our forest partnerships (e.g. FCPFs, FIP, REDD+, BioCF, etc.) and with data partners such as NASA and ESA…
We are starting a discussion to look into the possibility of using drones in the second phase of the GGW or in Asia like it was done in China or Thailand to plant trees and regreen deserts specially in FVC zone, if drones are allowed..
I hope that now when you look at this picture you not only see the “ Forest for the tree..but also the tree for the Forest” smart technology help us to be forest smart.