LARGER-SCALE EO EXPLOITATION ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES (EO4SD) – FOREST MANAGEMENT

The European Space Agency (ESA)’s Earth Observation for Sustainable Development (EO4SD) Initiative (http://eo4sd.esa.int), linked to the ESA-WB partnership, has started in September 2020 a new thematic cluster dedicated to Forest Management which is financed by ESA through 2023. The EO4SD-Forest Management Cluster has the overall objective of demonstrating the utility and benefits of mainstreaming Satellite Earth Observation (EO)– based forest related products and services for improved Forest Management for International Financial Institution (IFI) Programmes and stakeholder in Client States (CS). The cluster complements a set of seven other thematic areas addressed under the EO4SD initiative in collaboration with the World Bank (WB) and other IFI partners. EO4SD forms the basis for the new Space in Support of International Development Assistance (Space for IDA) follow-up initiative, jointly implemented by ESA and World Bank, which aims at bringing these efforts to scale and at enlarging the long-term ESA-WB partnership.

The EO4SD-Forests cluster is led by GAF AG (Germany) and a Consortium of European and Canadian expert partners (Caribou Space/UK, Hatfield/Canada, Indufor/Finland, SIRS/France, Wageningen University/Netherlands) who have well established experience in the provision of geo-spatial data and services for forest monitoring and management especially in the UNFCCC REDD+ policy segment. Following the EO4SD framework, the Consortium will embark on initial consultative discussions on stakeholder engagement with the Bank’s various groups active in the forest domain and jointly identify best cases for collaboration.

In the current EO4SD component, the more specific objectives are to provide convincing demonstrations of the benefit and utility of EO-based information in the field of Forest Management. The service provisions shall be on a regional basis in specific countries in Latin America, South East Asia and Africa and will be based on a fully functional forest service portfolio with quality controlled EO products. Skills transfer via capacity building will be implemented in the different regions in order to enable CS stakeholders to both use and produce EO products.