GFOI invites contributions to Forest Monitoring Tool Registry
News / 27 March 2019
GEO’s Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI) is seeking inputs for the development of a Registry of Forest Monitoring Tools to support countries in monitoring their forests and accounting for greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
GFOI is a GEO Flagship Initiative that coordinates the delivery of international assistance to developing countries for National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS) and associated emissions measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) procedures.
GFOI’s Data Coordination Component supports the coordinated acquisition, availability, accessibility and capacity of stakeholders to use datasets, tools and services for forest monitoring and MRV according to country-specific requirements.
Greater interest in forest monitoring combined with rapid improvements in technological capabilities has led to a steady expansion in the number of tools available to support forest monitoring activities. These tools may perform different or complimentary functions, be applicable at different scales or in different conditions, and are dispersed across various platforms and websites. The lack of coordination and communication around these tools creates a risk of confusion and duplication.
GFOI’s forest monitoring Registry of Tools will address this gap and help coordinate the availability, accessibility, and capacities of forest monitoring tools by helping countries identify, understand and select tools for that meet their context-specific needs and fit within a coherent forest monitoring system development workflow.
The registry will be hosted on REDDcompass, and displayed as a simple list with each tool linking to the relevant REDDcompass action.
To support the development of this Registry, GFOI is seeking submissions from all GFOI partners and stakeholders who have or are developing forest monitoring tools.
For the purpose of this registry, a forest monitoring tool is defined as any technology that directly or indirectly supports NFMS and associated MRV procedures. This includes technology which can be used directly within an NFMS or is used to prepare any inputs. Tools must comply with GFOI’s Methods and Guidance Documentation (MGD).
The GFOI registry of tools may include software packages that have a focus on broader applications, however the software should contain specific modules or plug-ins that are able to support NFMS and associated MRV procedures. Additionally, the tool should be capable of addressing specific REDDcompass actions.
To submit a tool to the registry, please follow the below steps by 10 April 2019:
Note: If you are not the point of contact for the tool you would like to propose for inclusion, please forward this email to the appropriate point of contact and copy office@gfoi.org.
Submissions will be reviewed by members of the GFOI community, who will then make recommendations to the GFOI’s MGD Advisory Group and the GFOI Leads Group who will ultimately endorse tools for inclusion in the registry.
Every effort will be made to include all nominated tools, providing they are considered to have achieved an appropriate level of maturity, are compliant with the MGD and can be used to address tangible functions within an NFMS.
Nominators of selected tools will be given the chance to review the registry, as it relates to their tools, before it is published on REDDcompass.
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For more information please contact office@gfoi.org.
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