2020 in review

The first measure of ecological integrity of the entire planet’s forests, involving cloud computing and enormous datasets. The analysis was co-authored with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) involving 47 forest experts from around the world and… (wait for it)… Leonardo DiCaprio’s Insta! 152,713 likes so far, for this one post is probably more than I’ll ever receive in my entire life…
Thanks Leo, you’re the best! 
www.forestintegrity.com

KAZA Analysis + Story map

In cooperation with FAO, we released a beautiful story map to coincide with a Global Forest Observation Initiative webinar (we were expert panelists). The cooperation allowed WWF to use Sepal (FAO’s remote sensing tool) to monitor changes on natural habitat in the KAZA TFCA – That’s the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, in Southern Africa. (I love a good acronym). 

Global Deforestation Fronts, Trends + hotspots

Supporting WWF-US and Global Science Team, we processed a huge amount of available data to assess global hotspots and trends in deforestation – where forest loss is accelerating significantly. We also assessed global fragmentation and change, and WWF-India helped assess the global patterns of fire. The web app is here and the 24 major deforestation fronts are described in more detail in this dashboard. We’re looking forward to the report being released…next week??

Global Forest Fires Analysis

Speaking of forest fires, we have a new story map, developed by our intern Reinhard Kückes and integrating data from WWF-India, and analyses from Space+Science to showcase where and when forests are burning. While the total number of forests fires is actually decreasing worldwide, fires are increasing in severity and intensity in temperate forests, like Australia, USA and Russia (hello? Were you under a rock last year?) 

TRIDOM – not just a map for Jaap

A dynamic, one-stop-shop, conservation Web Mapping App, to help Japp Van Der Waarde and his WWF Cambodia/Gabon/Cameroon team keep on top of the conflict between Protected areas and areas assigned for mineral and petroleum exploitation. So far the feedback has been amazing; Japp’s a happy chap. It’s here.
The good news for us is that the concept is transferable. Space + Science now has a workflow that we can use for other teams around the world. Who’s next? Please form an orderly line (with 1.5 m distance)… or just email us, that’d probably be easier. 

Congo High Conservation Value Analysis

Coordinated by the The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is the first High Conservation Value (HCV) regional analysis for Congo Basin forests including an extremely cool Web App that easily highlights where conservation should focus on – connected, intact, high biodiversity forests –  and is meant to help forest concessionaires manage their resources more effectively in the largest forest ecosystem in Africa. 
Read the peer-reviewed article in Environmental Research Letters.  

Mapping + Monitoring Quirimbas National Park Seascape

Fourteen months of planning, fieldwork, analysing and writing came to fruition with publication of the report and first map of its kind – informing management to help better protect both livelihoods and the Super Corals.
The peer-reviewed article was published in the journal Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, and the “Looking Below the Surface” story map that accompanied it became a 2020 ESRI Story map competition finalist. Niiiice. 

Climate Change Adaptation

We delivered a study on modelling the impacts of climate change and decreasing sedimentation rates on bird habitats in the Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar site, in cooperation with WWF Hong-Kong. The study was published in the PLOS journal. 

Conservation Technology: Drones for Conservation

New release in the Conservation Technology Series provides accessible guidance for applications of new technologies in conservation. Following the satellite remote sensing guide published in 2018, (downloaded more than 23,000 times, thank you very much) we noticed a lot of people asking for help in using drones for their projects, including safety advice and which drones to purchase.
We partnered with the University of Exeter DroneLab to release this comprehensive report compiling the latest scientific assessments using drones, along with 10 case studies (5 of which are projects led by women) showcasing new and unique approaches in a variety of environments, along with best practices and recommendations for any user. Was this too much information? Sorry for droning on a bit…https://space-science.wwf.de/drones 

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Ch ch ch changes!

New GLOBIL homepage

It’s happening! globil.panda.org is going to be looking especially fresh and simple (like me in the morning), helping everyone navigate to their favorite dataset, story map, or App with just a few elegant clicks.

Team Changes

The new voice of Space+Science, Espin (and yes, real name), has joined our team. If you need any comms support, specifically story maps, newsletters or apps, get in touch! (Dad jokes are optional). Thankfully, we are also have the multitalented Bart (right, and he normally is) on board for another year. Based in Poland he is our GLOBIL/cartographer/database extraordinaire
You can find out about the whole team here.  

But meanwhile….Aurélie is leaving!

Goodbye and thanks for 14 years of memorable, mappable memories! Sometimes it’s time to turn a new leaf, but the team will miss her incredible skills and personality. She made it all look easy. We thank her for so much hard work and inspiration, and wish her the very best for all the adventures that lie ahead, Geo-spatial or otherwise. Allez Aurélie! Go get ’em!     That’s it from us. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you in this new year, and wish you good luck for whatever surprises 2021 has up its sleeve.

Thanks so much for reading. Your Space + Science Team