FCMC Engages in GFOI-SilvaCarbon Remote Sensing Meeting in Cameroon
During the first week of June, Jenny Hewson, from FCMC implementing partner Conservation International (CI), participated in the First Regional Workshop on Remote Sensing for Forest Monitoring: Technical Central Africa Initiative GEO GFOI. Held in Douala, Cameroon, the workshop was organized by the Group on Earth Observations Global Forest Observations Initiative (GEO GFOI), SilvaCarbon, and COMIFAC (the regional Forestry Commission for Central Africa). FCMC coordinates with the GFOI, as well as the US program SilvaCarbon, in international capacity building for REDD+ Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV). This is done via partnering on regional workshops and coordination in the development and communication of MRV resources, such as the FCMC MRV Manual.
The workshop brought together representatives from multiple Congo Basin countries including: Cameroon; the Central African Republic: the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Republic of the Congo; and Gabon. Representatives from other COMIFAC countries, including Chad and São Tomé and Principe, as well as Kenya, also participated. The objectives of the workshop were to provide support to participants in the development of activities related to MRV for REDD+, and included a combination of presentations and hands-on field activities highlighting the range of remote sensing data and techniques available for mapping forest cover, as well as methodologies and tools available for mapping biomass. In addition, the GFOI Methods and Guidance Document (MGD) was presented by the MGD Component Manager, and Jenny presented the FCMC REDD+ MRV Manual.
The venue provided a valuable opportunity to elicit user feedback to incorporate, where feasible, into Version 2 of the MRV Manual, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2014. A question and answer session after the presentation also provided Jenny with an opportunity to further explain key sections of the MRV Manual and capture user input directly. Each participant was provided with a digital copy of the Manual and a user feedback form to send additional comments via email.
