SEPAL Forest and Land Monitoring for Climate Action

19/02/2025
The further humans encroach upon the rainforests of our planet, the more the natural barriers that protect us from wild animal diseases disappear. Up to 75 percent of new human infectious diseases originate from animals, and as human activities push deeper into biodiverse ecosystems, the likelihood of pathogen spillover increases.
11/02/2025
Experts from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) participated in a training session led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on the computation and reporting of Sustainable Development Goal Indicator 15.4.2 – Mountain Green Cover Index and Proportion of Degraded Mountain Land.
03/12/2024
The recent webinar, Learning Opportunities for All: Forest Monitoring for Climate Action, that took place on December 26 at FAO headquarters, convened global experts and participants, including 128 online attendees and around 50 in-person participants, to explore FAO's approach to strengthening capacities in forest monitoring. The session showcased significant progress in eLearning resources particularly for National Forest Inventories (NFIs).
16/10/2024

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today launched two new solutions for countries to monitor and report progress towards the conservation and sustainable management of mountain ecosystems. The user-friendly solutions are designed to help countries analyse Earth Observation data for their territories and extract information on changes in the extent of mountain ecosystems. This information is needed to assess global progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15, Life on Land.

01/10/2024
The Research and Development (R&D) Coordination Component of the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) held the first session of the GFOI R&D Exchanges on 17 September 2024. This session focused on practical examples of near real-time (NRT) alert use in the field. With approximately 200 participants joining the exchange, the engaging discussion covered the key challenges and opportunities for countries with using forest disturbance alerts to better manage their forests and respond before the occurance of major deforestation events and resultant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
29/07/2024

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO’s) groundbreaking open-source technical solutions Open Foris and SEPAL have jointly won a prestigious Google Geo for Good Impact Award. FAO forest and land monitoring platforms Open Foris and SEPAL (System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land Monitoring), provide access to satellite data and processing capabilities powered by cloud-based super computers, and use Google Earth Engine technology.

18/06/2024
18 Junio 2024, Lima. El Ministerio del Ambiente, a través del Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado (Sernanp), ha sido destacado en el Reporte de Impacto en Ambiente, Sociedad y Gobierno de Planet 2024 (Planet ESG Report 2024) como un ejemplo de usuario que genera impactos positivos en el control de la deforestación en áreas prioritarias del trópico del continente americano. Las imágenes de Planet, que se caracterizan por su alta resolución espacial (3.7 m) y temporal (diaria), han sido proporcionadas al Sernanp a través del programa de datos satelitales de la Iniciativa Internacional de Clima y Bosques de Noruega (NICFI).
05/06/2024
On World Environment Day 2024, we celebrate the achievements of ten inspiring young women – the Forest Carbon Champions – who are leading the way for environmental conservation efforts with their local communities across eight counties in Kenya.
08/05/2024

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the

11/04/2024

On March 21st, the International Day of Forests celebrated the pivotal role of innovation in transforming forest monitoring. A key aspect of FAO and partner countries’ innovative work is the utilization of Planet's high-resolution satellite imagery through the NICFI Satellite Da...

11/04/2024
The NICFI Satellite Data Program provides comprehensive access to Planet’s high-resolution satellite monitoring to help reduce and reverse tropical forest loss. This program has enabled successful forest monitoring and conservation across the world's tropical forests. Today, we are highlighting the powerful work from our NICFI data users at the UN FAO from their blog cross-posted below:
28/03/2024

Innovation serves as catalyst for progress, propelling transformative change across sectors. Its impact transcends mere technological advancements, as it fosters inclusivity and breaks down systemic barriers. Last March 21st, the world commemorated the

21/03/2024
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today marked International Day of Forests by showcasing transformative innovations such as advances in forest monitoring, early warning systems and other vital technical solutions that are being used to help countries halt deforestation and forest degradation.
21/03/2024
Today is International Day of Forests, a day designated by the United Nations to celebrate our world’s forests and their contributions to the planet. Forests...
28/11/2023

SEPAL team hosted a two-week workshop in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) from the 16th to the 27th of October 2023 with national stakeholders to enhance their skills in forest monitoring using innovative approaches. The workshop, supported by the

14/11/2023
Collect Earth Online (CEO) and SEPAL (System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land Monitoring) are part of cutting-edge suite of platforms to interpret satellite data, generate land cover and land use c...
10/11/2023

The preservation and monitoring of forests in Central Africa has long been a subject of significant interest for foresters, environmental conservationists and scientists. The region, encompassing the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, and Centr...

04/09/2023

Capacity development activities in forest monitoring, including face-to-face workshops and online courses, can serve as important tools for increasing awareness on gender. However, women and other underrepresented groups, including youth, Indigenous peoples and people with disabilities, face s...

24/08/2023

In the ongoing battle against climate change, understanding the connection between land use changes and carbon emissions is paramount. Advancing this understanding formed the cornerstone of the GFOI-

24/07/2023

In May and June 2023, the CAFI/FAO Deforestation and Degradation Drivers project, in coordination with the Gabonese national project partner,