PANGEA at Congo Basin Forest Partnership 20th MoP

The conference exchanges between civil servants, scientists, and philanthropic organizations in the Congo Basin provided a special opportunity to address the need for strengthening collaborative partnerships in the region and pan-tropically. A PANGEA side event hosted in partnership with the US Forest Service and the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) showcased synergistic remote sensing research activities from Congo Basin countries, the United States, and Europe.

The US Forest Service International Programs through various USG programs is supporting Congo basin countries in their efforts to sustainably manage forest landscapes and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions thereby contributing to the improvement of livelihoods, conservation of biodiversity and stabilization of the global climate. Part of this support involves deploying satellite technology to measure, monitor and provide data and information that will increase the understanding of the complex and diverse forest ecosystem and its interaction with human and climate. In collaboration with other US-based academic and research institutions and institutions within the Congo basin countries, methods are being developed to map and quantify carbon stocks in peatlands, to assess forest cover change and estimate associated GHG emissions; and determine estimates of carbon stock per unit area (emission factors) in different forest biomes.