Remote Sensing and Indicators and the Group on Observations (GEO) Support of the CBD 2010 Targets

Part I and Biodiversity Indicators

NASA-NGO Biodiversity Working Group and Fund

Holly Strand

The first half of this side event introduced the product of a three- year collaboration between the NASA-NGO Biodiversity Working Group, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. CBD Technical Series No. 32. “Sourcebook on Remote Sensing and Biodiversity Indicators” was written in response to the need for technical assistance in the field of remote sensing and its use in biodiversity monitoring. The document may be downloaded from the CBD website: http://biodiv.org/doc/publications/cbd-ts-32.pdf Contributing authors to the Sourcebook are environmental professionals who routinely use remote sensing to support biodiversity and conservation decision making. They have a history of collaboration on various projects designed to better understand and communicate the role remote sensing plays in exploring biodiversity issues. Currently, the Working Group is comprised of individuals from the American Museum of Natural History, Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation International, Smithsonian Institution, The Nature Conservancy, The Wilderness Society, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, the University of Maryland, UNEP-GRID Sioux Falls, and NASA. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the biodiversity assessment and policy support arm of the United Nations Environment Programme, the world's foremost intergovernmental environmental organization. Remote sensing technology is designed to gather geo-referenced information-- often over large areas and in a consistent manner over time. Once the provisional headline indicators for the 2010 goal were established in 2002 it became increasingly obvious that remote sensing would begin to play a bigger role in global and national biodiversity monitoring systems. Remote sensing includes applications associated with the provisional Indicators for Assessing Progress towards the 2010 Biodiversity Target listed below. These indicators form the main chapter headings of the Sourcebook.

Focal Area Headline Indicators Status and Trends of • Trends in extent of selected biomes, ecosystems, the Components of and habitats Biological Diversity • Trends in abundance and distribution of selected species • Coverage of protected areas • Change in status of threatened species

Sustainable Use • Ecological footprint and related concepts

Threats to • Trends in invasive alien species Biodiversity

Ecosystem Integrity • Water quality of freshwater ecosystems and • Connectivity/fragmentation of ecosystems Ecosystem Goods and Services

Three key concepts which must be considered whenever using remote sensing for monitoring are: 1. Importance of scale. Different features can be identified successfully depending on the spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions of data. Therefore, for any particular application, certain satellites are appropriate and others not.

2. Importance of field or ground truth data. Such data are absolutely necessary to make the links between what can be detected from above and actual biodiversity phenomena.

3. Accuracy. Accuracy increases with finer spectral and spatial resolution data, with better field data, and with coarser classification levels.

The following have been identified as remote sensing needs by the biodiversity community: 1. Need for national-global level linkages Ideally, monitoring processes at the global, regional, national and local levels would use the same indicators. Such an approach would allow building global biodiversity monitoring information from local, national and regional data. However, RS presents special challenges to bottom-up monitoring due to the varying circumstances associated with satellite data acquisition, differences in image interpretation techniques and amount of ground data used to classify and validate. Therefore, for now, we support a dual approach (as do Pereira and Cooper 2006) where global-scale programmes would follow a top-down approach, with an emphasis on central coordination, consistency and transparency, whereas the regional-scale programmes would follow a bottom-up approach, with an emphasis on regional management needs and capabilities. This dual approach is planned for FAOs Global Forest Resources 2010 assessment, but the dual approach could eventually be applied to other ecosystems as well.

For relating information from different assessments, compatible classification systems must be used. Therefore the efforts of FAO to develop the Land Cover Classification System -- a comprehensive, standardized system created from land cover mapping and comparing the results of disparate datasets—are quite relevant.

2. Higher accuracy of measurements and classifications The accuracy of global land cover datasets and global land cover change datasets is not high enough for many monitoring applications. One reason is that there are never enough data from field studies to guide the classification process and assess the accuracy of the final product. One effort that is trying to accomplish the assembly and standardization of validation sites is the Global Integrated Trends Analysis Network (GITAN http://rockyitr.cr.usgs.gov/gitan/) which is a network of collaborators interested in understanding the types, causes, and consequences of change on the landscape. A component of GITAN is the System for Terrestrial Ecosystem Parameterization (STEP) database. STEP stores land surface parameters and was designed as a tool for training and validating land cover maps. Two other global scale validation efforts include: CEOS working group on calibration and validation: http://lpvs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ MODIS land validation: http://landval.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.php .

3. Coordination of scientific and conservation monitoring communities Coordination could encourage needed applications, open data access, and foster more effective use. The recent agreement at the Third Earth Observations Summit to establish a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS, http://www.earthobservations.org/progress/geoss_progress.html) could help build a facilitation body for remote sensing use in ecosystem and biodiversity applications.

4. Continuity of data sources Continuous long-term satellite data from a single platform are needed to achieve the highest levels of accuracy for detecting change. The three most popular long-running optical satellite programmes are Landsat, SPOT, and IRS; Landsat has a continuous record since 1972 although there is a significant gap in the Landsat acquisitions due to problems with Landsat 7. The continuation of these and other missions into the future are critical for the national and regional monitoring programmes that rely on their data products. However, the ability of national governments to sustain Earth-focused remote sensing research and related applications may be subject to change.

5. Periodic data buys to release to all those who could not otherwise afford to buy the imagery. Periodic data buys of global wall-to-wall distributions are needed to make data economically accessible to all countries. An example is the Global GeoCover-Ortho database which resulted from a 1998 contract between NASA and Earth Satellite Corporation (EarthSat) as part of the NASA Scientific Data Buy program. The majority of the data was acquired by the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Multispectral Scanner (MSS) remote-sensing systems; consequently, the GeoCover-Ortho images are the most accurate freely available satellite-derived base maps of the world. It is a comprehensive global data set with image dates ranging from 1970’s to 2002 and is suited to establishing a worldwide environmental baseline. Additional Landsat TM images (and many other types of remotely sensed data) can be overlaid on the GeoCover- Ortho imagery for purposes of change detection. Subsequently, Landsat Orthorectified Pansharpened ETM+ data were compiled through NASA’s Commercial Remote Sensing Program producing a 15m data set that is available from EarthSat Corp. for a nominal cost.

6. Technology transfer. Many countries lack the technology and trained personnel to take advantage of remote sensing for operational monitoring. Technology transfer and capacity building is needed from countries with more resources as well as from non-governmental organizations with experience in biodiversity monitoring.

7. Datasets designed to support the reporting requirements of various environmental treaties and agreements. Large area datasets should be designed fit the criteria for more than one environmental agreement when possible. There is an ongoing effort to coordinate CBD reporting requirements with other environmental treaties and multinational environmental agreements such as Kyoto Protocol, UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Montreal Process.

8. Take advantage of expanding species information portals Geo-referenced species data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility might be combined with remote sensing data to strengthen the links between satellite observations and on-the-ground biodiversity phenomena.

Part II The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Support of the CBD 2010 Targets

Doug Muchoney, GEO Secretariat

On February 16, 2005, 61 countries agreed to a 10-year implementation plan for a Global Earth Observation System of Systems, known as GEOSS. The GEOSS project is designed to help all nations involved to produce and manage their information in a way that benefits the environment as well as humanity by taking a pulse of the planet. It is a step toward addressing the challenges articulated by United Nations Millennium Declaration and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, including the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. GEOSS will also further the implementation of international environmental treaty obligations. GEO is the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) leading the worldwide effort to build GEOSS over the next 10 years.

GEOSS is intended to provide the overall conceptual and organizational framework to build towards integrated global Earth observations to meet user needs. GEOSS will be a “system of systems” consisting of existing and future Earth observation systems, supplementing but not supplanting their own mandates and governance arrangements. It will provide the institutional mechanisms for ensuring the necessary level of coordination, strengthening and supplementation of existing global Earth observation systems, and for reinforcing and supporting them in carrying out their mandates. GEOSS will capture the success of Earth observation research programs, and facilitate their transition to sustained operational use. It is a global distributed system, including satellite observation systems, global in situ networks and systems, and local and regional in situ networks. Over the next ten years GEOSS will develop the ability to deliver the benefits of Earth Observation to data and information providers as well as consumers.

Ecosystems and biodiversity are among the nine topic area that GEOSS is designed to address. I. Goals for ecosystem observation include: • Initiation of a global carbon observing system • Development and mapping of global operational scheme for ecosystems classification • Historical Ecosystem Data Inventory, Collection and Capture • Harmonization of ecosystems observing methods • Improving tools for space-based and in-situ ecosystems observations • GEO Ecosystems Observation Network • Regional Networks for Ecosystems • Development of a global sampling frame for ecosystems • GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot Interactive Data Access and Analysis System • Global Land Cover • Forest Monitoring • Protected Area Monitoring

II. In the area of biodiversity, GEO plans to: • Develop a strategy for assessing biodiversity at both the species and ecosystems level. • Facilitate the establishment of monitoring systems that enable frequent, repeated, globally coordinated assessment of trends and distributions of species and ecosystems of special conservation merit among monitoring programs. • Ensure that the biodiversity data collection process will contribute to ongoing global initiatives. • Develop a strategic plan for the periodic assessment of species and ecosystems of merit, taking into account the results of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 Targets. • Consolidate and enlarge the community, and define and operationalize the integrated global observation system

The GEO 2007 – 2009 Workplan and Task BI-07-01 calls for the developing and implementing a GEO Biodiversity Observation Network that is spatially and topically prioritized, based on analysis of existing information, identifying unique or highly diverse ecosystems and those supporting migratory, endemic or globally threatened species, those whose biodiversity is of socio-economic importance, and which can support the 2010 CBD target. It includes developing a strategy for assessing biodiversity at both the species and ecosystems level, and facilitating the establishment of monitoring systems that enable frequent, repeated, globally coordinated assessment of trends and distributions of species and ecosystems of special conservation merit. It should also serve to promote consensus on data collection protocols and the coordination of the development of interoperability among monitoring programs For the terrestrial areas, this task will further develop and implement the GEO Biodiversity Observation Network, building upon the Biodiversity task BI-06-02, "defining the needs and requirements of the biodiversity information". For the ocean, it will be coordinated through IOC’s Coastal GOOS, and the Census of Marine Life program with its Ocean Biogeographic Information System.

III. Successes to date within the GEOSS framework include: • Diversitas has launched the GEO BioObservation.org website with a declaration and mechanism to join the network: http://www.bioobservation.net/ • Primarily through the USGS/NBII-supported Global Data Toolkit (GDT; http://rockyitr.cr.usgs.gov/gitan/ ) and partnerships with GBIF, WCMC-UNEP, IABIN and most recently with Conservation International, IUCN and the Zoological Society of London, the GDT is or will be used for Threatened and Endangered Species assessments, and supporting the global biodiversity assessments (like mammals, amphibians and reptiles). • The functionality of the GDT has increased tremendously, as have the data holdings. Modules now include protected areas, BirdLife and species assessments (T&E and global). • Integrate the Model GEO Biodiversity Observation Network portal and the Global Data Toolkit (http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/GITAN/) into the GEO WebPortal (http://geoportal.org/index.cfm ) • Demo the Rapid Biological and Ecological Assessment of Reserves project showing power of integrating data and providing models and tools such as ATtILLA landscape and hydro models and the GEO ecosystem model. • Formation of the new GEO Invasive Species Monitoring Network. • Release of the Rapid Land Cover Mapping Tool .