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West African Land Cover Reference System










Di Gregorio, A., Mushtaq, F., Tchana, E., Aw, M., D'Annunzio, R., Muchoney, D., Mamane, B., Mahamane, M., Assoumana, B.T., Mimouni, M., Aubee, E., Enaruvbe, G.O., Mensah, F., Bartel, P. and Henry, M. 2022. West African Land Cover Reference System. Rome, FAO, AGRHYMET, ECOWAS and OSS. 




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    Booklet
    Regional consultation on West African land cover reference system
    Report of the proceedings, 3 July 2023
    2023
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    The West African land cover reference system (WALCRS) is the result of an initiative to take a first step towards a harmonized and ISO based international reference system for creating land cover legend in the region. The regional system has been supported by various projects and organizations such as “Global Transformation of Forest for People and Climate Focus Africa '' funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), SERVIR West-Africa. The virtual regional consultation was organized on 3 July 2023 for experts dealing with land cover from all around the world. This consultation aims at strengthening collaboration between national, regional, and international stakeholders on land cover and to implement and operationalize the regional land cover reference system in the region. It will contribute to defining the way forward for the preparation of reliable baseline land cover information for West African countries using the WALCRS.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Libyan Land Cover Reference System 2023
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    Land use is an essential component for many areas, from water management to agriculture, from the fight against desertification to that against climate change. The detection of changes in land cover allows a better understanding of the state and dynamics of natural resources and, to a certain extent, of their use. However, the legends used to describe land cover often have many inconsistencies and this limits their use and the sustainability of land cover monitoring efforts. The establishment of a common land cover classification system is one of the solutions identified to ensure consistency between maps prepared by different organizations. Also, with the establishment of an international standard for the development of land cover classification systems (ISO 19144-2), it is possible to use a national reference system and derive legends from it of land use that are interoperable. This facilitates the use of the same card for different objectives, forestry or agricultural, as well as for the assessment of ecosystem functions, the assessment biodiversity, the carbon cycle and many others. Many land cover maps have been established for Libya, but, as in most countries the legends were developed for very specific purposes, they are not interoperable and their use for the evaluation of temporal changes is greatly limited. The government can establish a national land cover classification system, which allows interoperability and an integration, whether for local applications (for example that collected by the teams of field) or national. The objective of this document is to present the land cover reference system for Libya. The main aim of this reference system is to provide a common framework so that experts and land cover communities can generate their own legend and classes depending on their objective in Libya. This land cover reference system is based on Land Cover Meta Language (LCML) ISO-based standards. The rules that characterize each node in LCML are controlled by a specific object-based rule that is fully documented and explained in the publication. This publication is the result of collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Libyan Centre for Remote Sensing and Space Science and University of Tripoli.
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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Land Cover Mapping Process - Tunisia 2023
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    Land cover and land use information is a vital information for governments, agencies and institutions of a country to make informed decisions, promote sustainable development, protect the environment, food security biodiversity conservation, climate change and ensure the well-being of their citizens. It plays a critical role in shaping policies and actions that align with long-term sustainability goals. Technological advancements have significantly heightened the value of land cover (LC) information. However, this progress has also widened the user base, posing challenges for harmonization and uniform utilization. The constant generation of new LC data and diverse classification schemes has led to inconsistencies, hindered interoperability, and limited practical application due to traditional vague classifications. Hence, there is a critical necessity to create reliable, standardized LC data and legends using geospatial tools and applications. This approach is crucial to effectively address global, regional, and national environmental monitoring needs and challenges. The Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) is involved in developing and enhancing all aspects of land cover and its applications. FAO offers land cover services at global, regional, and national levels following international standards and using the latest state of art technology innovation. This includes land cover legend registry, land cover ontology and classification systems, essential to consistency across systems and disciplinesfor sharing; development of methodologies for operational rapid assessment of land cover and its changes at national, regional and global scale; and helping member countries to meet their need for up-to-date, consistent and detailed land cover and land use information. FAO Tunisia is working closely with the national partners to ensure the sustainability of the system to support ongoing projects.

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