Project News

At the end of July 2019, the University of Maryland (UMD) in the United States organized a two-week forest Remote Sensing (RS) training for four RS technicians and researchers from the Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF-DOF) and National University of Laos (NUoL). In order to facilitate the training sessions for the Lao participants, one F-REDD expert also joined the RS training. UMD developed a groundbreaking satellite-based monitoring system that uses RS technology to estimate global deforestation and to monitor forest-cover change annually. Moreover, Lao PDR utilized the data generated by this system in producing its Reference Emission Level (REL). *

The training participants learned about the latest and yet still-evolving forest monitoring technologies, and received hands-on training in capturing time-series changes in land cover by using the actual data generated for Laos through UMD's system. Finding the technology featured in the sessions very interesting, the participants were motivated to use it in their own work. However, even the latest system will not provide a ‘one-size-fits-all' solution for forest monitoring activities in Lao PDR. The participants are expected to lead the way in adopting and utilizing what they learned at the training in the context of Lao PDR. F-REDD will continue to support this process.

* Reference Emission Level (REL) :also called FREL / FRL (Forest Reference Emission Level/Forest Reference Level) is a baseline or a benchmark to measure changes in greenhouse-gas emissions and removals related to forests.

Forest Monitoring Training at UMD.

The training participants and lecturer.