LAND COVER MAPPING ACTIVITIES IN GUYANA
Paramaribo, Suriname 09th – 13th March, 2015
Guyana Forestry Commission
Outline
• Country Profile
• Policy Context
• Natural Resources Datasets
▫ Land Classes
▫ Land Cover Classes
▫ Land Use Classes
• Forest Area Assessment
▫ ArcGIS based change event
mapping
Country Profile
• The total land area of Guyana is 214000 square km.
• Total land area divided by forest and non-forest based on 2009 Benchmark Map.
• Developing country, low population (approx. 756, 000) with 90 % living on the coast.
• Largely forested (18.5 million ha), mostly inaccessible. Flat coastal plain
• Hinterland region significant reservoir for biodiversity and contributor to forestry/mining sector
Policy Context
Low Carbon Development Strategy
• Launched on June 8, 2009.
• A strategy used to transform Guyana’s economy while combating climate change by:
5
1 • Avoiding Deforestation & Forest
Degradation
2 • Promoting Low Carbon Development
initiatives
3 • Adapting to Climate Change
Guyana - Norway Cooperation
2009 Guyana &
Norway sign a Memorandum
of Understanding
The Joint Concept Note (JCN) is the ‘action list’
component of the MoU
Under the MoU Guyana is entitled to performance
based payments of
up to US$250m
This finances the
implementation of LCDS & associated capacity building
MRVS –
Area assessment & Carbon analysis
Measure: Quantify what
you have
Report: How much stock
remains; report by drivers (e.g. mining,
agriculture, etc) using approaches defined by international standards
set out by the IPCC GPG
Verify: Independent Third Party checks to see if quantity, method, etc, is correct.
Ind. Forest
Monitoring (IFM)
Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
Contracted by Norway
Natural Resources Agencies
Datasets
• Several Government agencies that fall under the
Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment are involved in the management and allocation of land resources in Guyana hold spatial datasets.
• A newly established Protected Areas Commission (PAC) now holds spatial representations of all protected areas.
• Since 2010 GFC has coordinated the storage of these
datasets for the change mapping program.
• Table 1 provides a summary of the various spatial datasets.
Agency Role Data Held
Guyana Forestry Commission(GFC)
Management of forest resources
Resource management related datasets
Guyana Geology and Mines Commission(GGMC)
Management of mining and mineral resources
Mining lease information, large and medium scale mining areas and dredge locations
Guyana Lands and Survey Commission(GLSC)
Management of land titling and surveying of land
Land tenure, settlements extent and country boundary
Protected Areas Commission (PAC)
Management of protected areas in Guyana
Spatial representation of legally protected areas
Land Classification Land Classes Description
State Forest Area According to the Forest Act Section 3, Chapter 61:01, the State Forest Area is that area of State Land that is designated as State Forest. This area of State Forest has been gazetted.
State Land State Lands are identified as areas that are not included as part of the State Forest Estate that are under the mandate of the State
Protected Areas Four Protected Areas that come under the scope of the Protected Areas Act are: Iwokrama, Shell Beach, Kanuku Mountains and Kaieteur National Park.
Titled Amerindian Area These are areas that are titled to Amerindian villages. It includes both initial titles as well as extensions that have been granted to these titled areas.
Land Cover Classes
Land Use Classes (main)
Classes Description
Mining Mining activity produces forest clearings with variable shapes and sizes and with sharp boundaries.
Shifting Agriculture Small patches of soil cover are interspersed with areas of cropland and grassland. The patches are amorphous to regular in shape and the transition to forest is usually gradual.
Forest Harvest Selective logging degrades the forest causing damage to nearby trees and soils and decreases the forest canopy. The land cover shows a complex arrangement of dead vegetation, forest islands and bare soil.
Infrastructure Roads Access or transport routes between inhabited areas and small villages. Normally quite straight and often wider than mining and forestry roads.
Mapping & Attribution
Approach
• Systematic review of each 1km grid within 24 km tile.
• Use of previous mapping, imagery and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI).
• Observance of spectral signatures, location and geometry of change event.
• Editing of EVI vector output by mapping analyst.
• Attributing land use change by documenting:
▫ Satellite image evidence ▫ Period change occurred in ▫ Driver of the change ▫ Final land use
1km
Forest/Non-Forest IPCC Categories I. Forest Land (managed
and unmanaged) II. Cropland III. Grassland(managed
and unmanaged) IV. Wetlands V. Settlements VI. Other Land( rock,
bareland)
Detecting Change
• Landsat 2010
• Resolution: 30 m
• RapidEye 2011
• Resolution: 5 m
• Mapping Scale: 1:15,000
Year 1 Year 2
Detecting Change
Year 2 Year 3
Post-processing
•Systematically check through 445 24km tiles •Validate “No Overlaps” topology rule. •Review attribution. •Ensure Driver and End LUC is filled.
Post-Processing- Final QC
This table produces the raw data
input for QC analysis, and final area
reporting.
Final Reporting
Deforestation rate
calculation is produced
by driver.
Thank you