The objectives of the Side Event was to share experiences on “Supporting National Forest Monitoring with Earth Observation” in the context of the Global Forest Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI). The Side Event was chaired by Dr. Stephen Briggs (ESA) and the Opening Note was presented by the Hon. Greg Hunt, Australian Minister for Environment. Two Users from Malawi and Cameroon presented the following service cases which were developed by GAF within the ESA funded Project GSE FM REDD+:
- Cameroon and REDD+, Dr. Joseph Armathée Amougou (Director General of the National Climate Change Observatory, Cameroon)
- REDD+ in Malawi: Application of Earth Observation for Dry Forest Mapping, Dr. Clement Chilima (Director, Department of Forestry of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, Malawi)
Both countries presented the status of their national REDD+ programmes as well as the role of EO in the deforestation/degradation assessments, referring to the work undertaken by GAF AG and the Consortium both in the GSE FM and REDDAF Projects. The role of Sentinel-2 data for the REDD+ in the Africa countries was well noted. Participants at the Side Event provided an overall positive feedback about the session.