Nadine T. Laporte, Ph.D., is the director of the Center’s Africa Program. rotected rea atch for the A biologist, her research focuses on the applications of satellite imagery to P A W tropical forest ecosystems, including vegetation mapping, land-use change, Albertine Rift and deforestation. She has been involved in numerous environmental projects in Africa over the past 20 years, working with in-country scientists, forest- The Protected Area Watch for the Albertine Rift (PAWAR) endeavors to ers, and international conservation organizations to develop integrated forest promote the development and use of remote sensing-derived information in monitoring systems and promote forest conservation. She received her doc- conservation policy analysis and to encourage dialogue on leading environ- torate in tropical biogeography from l’Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, mental and development concerns in the Albertine Rift region. France. Stretching from the northern end of Lake Albert to the south- The Woods Hole Research Center is dedicated to science, education and ern end of Lake Tanganyika, the public policy for a habitable Earth, seeking to conserve and sustain forests, Albertine Rift is one of Africa’s soils, water, and energy by demonstrating their value to human well-being most important and most and economic prosperity. The Center has initiatives in the Amazon, the Arc- threatened sites for biodiversity tic, Africa, Asia, Russia, Boreal North America, the Mid-Atlantic, and New conservation. Spanning 312,000 England including Cape Cod. Center programs focus on the global carbon km2, the rift is home to more cycle, forest function, landcover/land use, water cycles and chemicals in the than 7,500 species of endemic environment, science in public affairs, and education, providing primary data plants and animals. The region and enabling better appraisals of the trends in forests. is also one of the most populous in Africa, with up to 600 people per square kilometer in some lo- Acknowledgements: This project is funded by the NASA Applications cations. In addition to the pres- Program - Ecological Forecasting - Biodiversity (Woody Turner) with addi- sures of population density, an tional funds provided by the National Science Foundation Human and Social influx of refugees and the lack of Dynamics program (Saran Twombly and Thomas Baerwald), and USAID. settlement policies have com- pounded the problems of forest degradation, fragmentation, and For more information on the PAWAR project, please contact loss, particularly in protected Nadine Laporte at [email protected] areas. The current network of protected areas within the rift covers some 52,000 km2 (17%), evenly split between national parks (beige) and forest/wildlife The Woods Hole Research Center reserves (green). Falmouth, Massachusetts 02540 © whrc.org The Woods Hole Research Center Falmouth, Massachusetts 02540 © whrc.org Protected Area Watch for the Albertine Rift

Strategy: The strategy of the PAWAR project is to increase the flow of remote sensing information into conservation management and As part of the PAWAR project, analysis among all levels of civil Woods Hole Research Center staff society in support of conservation is conducting training workshops to build capacity in the use of decision-making. geospatial technologies (remote sensing and geographic informa- tion systems) among protected area managers in support of conserva- tion decision-making (top: Nadine Laporte (WHRC) consults with Dr. Located in southwestern Uganda, Margaret Driciru, a Uganda Wild- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park life Authority biologist in Queen (BINP) is home to nearly half the Elizabeth National Park); bottom: remaining population of mountain 2006 Kampala workshop gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei). Protected areas throughout the Alber- tine Rift are increasingly threatened by illegal activities including poaching and encroachment (above: mountain gorillas in BINP; right: southern border of BINP). Audience: The primary audience is African technicians, decision-makers and donor agencies involved in environmental planning and natural resources Activities: Project activities include the integration of remote sensing management. The results are intended to support the analytical agenda of analysis into existing decision support systems, the production of base maps the Albertine conservation network such as the Albertine Rift Conservation of land use/land cover, deforestation, forest carbon distribution, fires, and the Society (ARCOS). The core group includes the Wildlife Conservation So- development of monitoring tools that combine remote sensing and biodiver- ciety (WCS) Albertine Rift Programme; the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sity data. The intent is to improve natural resources management, distribut- Albertine Rift Mountain Forests Ecoregion Project; the Jane Goodall Institute ing spatial information supporting conservation policy analysis and providing (JGI); the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Central technical training to support the long-term use of spatial data and analyses African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE); the National For- for climate, forests, and biodiversity. est Authority (NFA) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA); the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) and Direction for Inventories Park CD Series: As part of an integrated conservation management plan for and Forest Management (DIAF) in the Democratic Republic of Congo; the the Albertine Rift region, the Woods Hole Research Center has developed Rwanda Office for National Parks and Tourism (ORTPN); the United -Na a series of informational CDs to help facilitate protected area management tions Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World and decision making. These materials can be downloaded from our website: Heritage Sites; and the UNEP Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) Scien- www.whrc.org/africa/PAWAR/PAWAR-data.htm tific Commission.