E-Agriculture Promising Practice: Drones for Community Monitoring Of
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e-Agriculture Promising Practice Drones for community monitoring of forests © FAO Panama New technologies for self- management of indigenous Key facts territories in Panama Location: Panama In 1950, approximately 70 percent of the Panamanian territory was covered with forests, a figure that fell to 60 percent of the area in ICT used: GIS, remote sensors, mobile phones and 2012, and which is still decreasing. Indigenous people are the main drones forest inhabitants and they play an invaluable role in monitoring and conserving forests, a fundamental resource for biodiversity and food Area of work: Forestry security. To strengthen the natural resource management capacities of Target group: Indigenous indigenous territories, FAO, with support of the UN-REDD programme, communities (Bribri, Bugle, implemented a community forest-monitoring project. The project had Emberá, Kuna, Naso, Ngäbe and Wounaan) as strong focus on capacity development of members of the indigenous communities. The training included the preparation of Stakeholders: UN-REDD, flight plans, arming and flying drones, image processing and mapping FAO, COONAPIP, MIAMBIENTE, Rainforest with high-resolution images. The main objective of the project was to Foundation US identify changes in specific points of forest cover undergoing deforestation and degradation processes, to monitor the status of Timeframe: 2015-2017 crops and to monitor invasions of territory. The introduction of drones made the whole process a lot easier. Capacity development was at the heart of the project. The trained indigenous technicians were the key players for its implementation and success. © FAO Project partners indigenous peoples in Panama. Its work focuses on the legalization of indigenous territories and the indigenous economy, among other functions. The The UN-REDD collaborative program was role of COONAPIP was key to this project, as it launched in 2008 to support countries' readiness to initiated its proposal with FAO and requested funds implement actions to reduce emissions from from UN-REDD, through the Ministry of deforestation and forest degradation; and to have Environment, to carry out community monitoring. the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks in COONAPIP also had the responsibility of being the developing countries (REDD +). This program is liaison with the indigenous peoples, helping in the based on the convening power and technical coordination and communication with the expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization traditional authorities. All activities were organized of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations through them, who in turn acted as interlocutors Development Program (UNDP) and the UN with the traditional authorities if a problem arose. Environment Program (UNEP). The Ministry of the Environment of Panama The UN-REDD Program supports nationally-led (MIAMBIENTE) secured liaison with the National REDD + processes and promotes the informed and Forest Monitoring System, supported the training meaningful participation of all stakeholders - activities and attended the academic courses with including indigenous peoples and other forest- the presence of members of the institution. dependent communities - in the national and The Rainforest Foundation, for its part, supports international implementation of REDD +. communities in developing processes to resolve With this background information, we want to show conflicts over land tenure, reporting illegal logging how the UN-REDD Program has been an essential by timber companies, managing forests and partner through the comparative advantages of protecting the environment. Globally, they develop each agency, in this case FAO supporting the issue of campaigns to influence national and international forest monitoring in indigenous territories. laws to protect rainforests and their inhabitants. Rainforest Foundation, US supported communities The Food and Agriculture Organization of the with territorial management scaling and United Nations (FAO) is the main partner of the participatory mapping. project and provides technical assistance and practical training to the indigenous communities. The National Coordination of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP) coordinates eleven general congresses, including four indigenous districts in Panama and actively participates in the country's economic, social, cultural and environmental policies, contributing to the collective and multicultural aspiration of 2 Local communities, traditional authorities and inhabitants of these areas, play a vital role in the indigenous technicians were placed at the heart care and monitoring of this important resource for of the project and, through COONAPIP, were food security. involved in all aspects of the program. Panama is advancing in the development of the Traditional authorities appointed technicians, National REDD + Strategy. As part of the joint UN- supported activities and incorporated REDD national program, work was done on the community monitoring into their worldview. The design of a National Forest Monitoring System indigenous technicians were the key players in (SNMB). The SNMB was defined as a multipurpose the implementation and success of the project. system that provides key information for REDD + and for the monitoring of forest resources in Timeframe of general. In this context and complementary to the implementation SNMB, a project was carried out for the community management and monitoring of forests in The community forest monitoring project began indigenous territories, supported by resources from in 2015 and was extended to 2017, which the UN-REDD program through FAO, in conjunction allowed the expansion of activities to more with the National Coordinator of Indigenous communities and, at the same time, to organize Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP) and the Ministry of the exchange of experiences with other Environment of Panama (MIAMBIENTE). countries. The first drone flight took place in The development of the SNMB was part of the joint April 2016, in the Madugandi Comarca. Since national program. FAO provided the methodologies, then, more communities have joined, and by June the satellite system, the forest inventory and the 2017 the 12 indigenous territories of all ethnic geo-portal, to give it visibility and transparency. The groups in Panama (Bribri, Bugle, Emberá, Kuna, SNMB is still under development and in the process Naso, Ngäbe, and Wounaan). During 2017 there of institutionalization in MIAMBIENTE. have also been exchange of experiences with Guatemala, Paraguay, Colombia and Peru. To strengthen the natural resource management capacities of indigenous territories, FAO, through Context and problems the UN-REDD Program, implemented a community forest monitoring project. Based on this project, raised personnel of eleven of the twelve congresses and indigenous councils of the country were trained in In 1950, approximately 70% of the Panamanian the use of drones. The training included the territory was covered with forests (5.3 million preparation of flight plans, arming and maneuvering hectares). In 2012 this figure fell to 60% of the drones, image processing and mapping with high- area (4.5 million hectares). According to FAO's resolution images. 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment, between 2010 and 2015, 16,400 hectares of The main objective of the project was to identify forest per year were lost (equivalent to 90,000 changes in specific points of forest cover undergoing soccer fields per year). deforestation and degradation processes, to monitor the status of crops and to monitor Deforestation and the loss of ecosystem services invasions of territory. The maps generated will associated with forests represent the loss of enable the authorities to guide decision making for natural capital from which the livelihoods of the protection, management and conservation of local communities and indigenous peoples their forests and natural resources, thus derive. This implies a close relationship between contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals deforestation and food insecurity, a risk that is 13 and 15 linked to ecosystem and climate care. increased by the poverty conditions that, in general, affect this segment of the population. The technicians were also prepared for the development of forest and carbon inventories, to Forests cover more than half of the Panamanian generate databases on their forest resources territory. Indigenous peoples, the main 3 so that, later on, they could implement a community 1. Introductory training for indigenous technicians intellectual property protocol on traditional in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and knowledge of flora species. remote sensing for forest monitoring. 2. Acquisition of monitoring stations for the storage Currently there are six monitoring stations of geo-referenced data and remote sensors for operating in the different indigenous communities of community monitoring of forests, for some the country, coordinated by young technicians who indigenous congresses and councils. form a community forest monitoring network, which 3. Drafting of the first draft of the community favors the exchange of experiences between intellectual property protocol on traditional territories and technicians, strengthening the knowledge of flora species and collecting learning among its members. reference plant material in indigenous territories. Community forest monitoring aims to improve the (see box) management and