DEFORESTATION AROUND THE WORLD - India Environment Portal

12
Bunjil Forest Watch
a Community-Based Forest Monitoring Service
1. Introduction
Chris Goodman
Object Consulting Pty Ltd,
Australia
Imagine the power of an Internet-enabled social network that tracked disturbances to the
world's most precious forests. Independent observers could expose failings in forest
management and help improve governance.
This scenario is not far-fetched, although satellite-monitoring technology has to be made
more accessible to non-technical, grass-roots organisations that are independent of official
agencies. The good news is that new and organic forms of social organisation and activism
are possible by merging the blogosphere with new public tools such as CrowdMap.com.
(Ushahidi, 2011). One example is an interactive map developed to show land grabs linked to
political elites in Sarawak (Malaysia Today, 2011).
This essay proposes a free public online service that provides non-expert conservation
groups in remote locations with alerts about recent forest disturbances in their area. It also
explains how such a service might work. Many of the required technical components
already exist in various forms.
Local conservation groups living in remote forest areas should not need to understand all
the technologies behind the service; nor have advanced computing resources or broadband
at their disposal. They should be able to just sign-up to receive free, timely reports about
recent disturbances in their area, in their own language, on their phone.
Under the proposal, local groups would control which areas are monitored by subscribing
to the service. On receiving reports about a disturbance, the groups would perform
enforcement activities according to their judgment and circumstances. They would also
provide feedback by responding to the reports.
It is critical that the complex collection and processing of remotely sensed data be
completely automated.
The proposal puts the public at the centre by actively encouraging the participation of
volunteer observers to perform the routine task of regularly checking new images obtained
via satellites. The volunteer observers need not be experts nor have any other connection
with the local group other than a common desire to preserve the forest. The service itself
would provide all the training for volunteers to become competent observers.
Removing barriers to participation allows the service to be widely deployed. It is envisaged
that environmental NGOs would promote the free service to communities in forest regions,
while soliciting volunteers from among their international support base.
A system that can provide this service would need to combine: