In February 2017, FAO supported the Bangladesh Forest Department in two parallel activities related to ‘Land Cover Mapping’ in an effort to improve the forest management in the context of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Land Cover Map 2015 in process

First activity validated the ‘Land Cover Map 2015’, developed by Forest Department’s Resource Information Management System (RIMS) unit with technical support from both FAO and the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS).

Validation of the Land Cover Map is the culmination of six months’ work and collaboration with over 30 institutions who came forward to assist in developing the National Land Representation System to be published in April 2017. The validation process identified the last remaining issues required to finalise the map, and also showing overall a high accuracy of land class attribution to the satellite imagery used.

The ‘Land Cover Map 2015’ will be published this year and, is the first national map developed using the international standard for land cover classification LCCS.V3.

Trial of Field Papers

The second activity trialed the open source - “Field Papers” mapping technique facilitating the collection of spatial data without having to need complex technical equipment or field GPS experts.

Field Papers is a web based tool used to create printable map atlases that support the collection of spatial data. Notes and sketches are drawn directly onto printed maps to identify and document information not discernable from satellite imagery. Once the relevant features have been transcribed on to paper, the map is photographed with a smart phone or tablet and uploaded back to the website. The system’s advantage is that the map is pre-georeferenced so the marked-up map can be overlaid onto spatial layers and easily digitized. The major benefit is that users do not need a GPS or to understand complicated GIS software.  This is the first time such an approach has been proposed to assist mapping of social forestry plantations and may also have implications for land cover accuracy assessment.

22 men and 7 women attended the sessions supported financially by the Untitled States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UN REDD Programme. Follow up activities include the Integration of the Land Cover Map with similar, complimentary mapping products, further Field Trainings for plantation mapping and, the Development of Public Actions related to the National Land Representation System that forms the foundation of the land cover map 2015.