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