1

GEO Working Group On Land Cover For Africa (WGLCA – Update)

Ms Semoli Bulelwa - WGLCA Dr Amadou M. Dieye - TAG GEO WGLCA GEO Plenary XII, Mexico City, Mexico , 9 November 2015

2

Overview of WGLCA• June 2013 (Nairobi), International Symposium on Land Cover

Mapping for the African Continent: – Commitment to establish a Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Working Group on

Global Land Cover for Africa

• November 2013 (Addis Ababa), AfricaGIS/GSDI Conference: – GEO Working Group on Global Land Cover for Africa (WGLCA) is established

• WGLCA Executive Board (EB) and Technical Advisory Group (TAG)• Members are experts of the different sub-regions of Africa and International partners.

Purpose: Contribute to the development of a land cover data product for the entire African continent at a 30-m resolution for the African element of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (AfriGEOSS). Build mutually beneficial partnerships with national and regional institutions to assess their land cover needs, including products, while increasing their involvement in the Global Land Cover Dataset.

3

WGLCA Objectives • Inventory of Land Cover data sets in Africa• Standardization and validation of the 30m Global

Land Cover of Africa • Resource mobilization for the Working Group• Development of a five year Strategy Plan

4

WGLCA - TAG Objectives • Complement the priorities of the Global Land Cover task as related to the

needs for Africa;• Encourage full participation of partners in the Land Cover inventory for

Africa;• Support capacity building activities within the different regions of Africa;• Raise awareness of the use and applications of the Land Cover data for

Africa;• Advocate for full and open access to datasets, including Earth observation

satellite imagery and completed land cover datasets;• Provide guidance and support to the Executive Board to establish an Africa-

focused Community of Practice for Land Use and Land Cover to facilitate networking between scientists and technicians

• Provide the Executive Board with technical support on other related issues as appropriate.

5

Progress to date of the LCWGA

1. USGS /GEO / SERVIR LULC technical workshops (10 countries – Southern and East Africa)

2. Several countries benefited in the GHG Land cover project – RCMRD Kenya

3. Scientific Technical Meeting for East and Southern region at the USGS in 2014

4. Slow progress on completion of the land cover Inventory

Project Countries

Countries participating in the project

1. Malawi

2. Rwanda

3. Tanzania

4. Zambia

5. Namibia

6. Botswana

7. Ethiopia

8. Kenya

9. Uganda

10. Mauritius

6

7

8

9

Progress to data – TAG work and output

• Since Marsh 2014, the TAG intensified its work as follows: – Drafted its ToR : submitted to the IEB – In its 4th meeting, the Executive Board approved the Terms of

Reference for the Technical Advisory Group and nominated two co-chairs, Amadou Dieye (Senegal) and Jean Parcher (U.S.), Department of the Interior, International Technical Assistance Program.

Tasks :– The first task of the TAG is to help with the Land Cover

Inventory– Other needs include: defining the standardization and

validation of the 30 meter Land Cover for Africa.

10

Progress to date – TAG– Land Cover Inventory

• Design the questionnaire (English and French versions)• Prepare letters of introduction (English and French versions)• Send letters• Manage information received and master list

Few respondents….; Why ? Suggestions from the audience ??

– Land Cover Standardization and Validation• Express a need to draft a concept paper• Two teams (C. Giri, USAID and P. Gong, University of China)

P. Gong : preliminary land cover map for Africa, mapping procedure, developed software, first results available

11

Planned actions for the LCWGA & TAG

Action1: TAG- Co Chair to be appointed – Ms Jean Parcher retired

Action2: The inventory of African land cover should be briefly summarised per country (map) indicating basic stats, e.g. the age of the latest map, producers of the map. The website with the inventory template is online (www.earthobservations.org/afrigeoss). Action 3: Summarise the country capabilities for land cover mapping per country.

Action 4: GEO Sec/JRC to make an official request to FAO to ask for assistance with the new ISO standard LCML implementation

Action 5: Define a long term goal for the Task to bring together land cover data users (by country and region) and data producers

12

THANK YOU