Jakarta, April 2019 – “Brazil is the third largest carbon sink country in the world, but at the same time it is the 7th largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions after Indonesia. Changes in land cover and use are the most dominant sources of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Tasso Azevedo at the opening session of MapBiomas Brasil’s visit to Indonesia.
MapBiomas Brasil’s visit was a collaboration between Indonesia and Brazil civil society networks to implement a platform for monitoring forest and land cover dynamics. Tasso Azevedo, the General Coordinator for MapBiomas Brasil, explained the importance of annual land cover data to see how transitions occur and as inputs for natural resource and environment management policies.
During the visit to Indonesia, MapBiomas Brasil together with Auriga Nusantara and Woods & Wayside International visited several ministries and agencies including the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK), the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG), and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), as well as several NGOs focused on environmental conservation.
The sessions focused on the methods and technologies used in the mapping process. MapBiomas develops land cover and land use mapping techniques based on Landsat and other satellite imagery with machine learning algorithms processed through clouding computing on the Google Earth Engine platform.
The exchanges with government agencies and civil society institutions is expected to assist in developing a mapping platform that is fast, reliable, and open to the public.
