GDP Center Co-Hosts Seminar and Workshop Series on Remote Sensing in Tropical Forests
The Land Use and Livelihoods Initiative (LULI) at the Global Development Policy Center and the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future recently co-hosted a three-day workshop and seminar series exploring the environmental science, policy, and land use impacts of remote sensing in tropical forests. The series, convened by Pardee Center Faculty Associate and LULI Associate Director Professor Julie Klinger, brought together a group of leading experts on international, national, and local climate change policy and forest conservation.
Tropical forest conservation is critical for climate change mitigation. About 13 million hectares are deforested annually, making up 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions when accounting for related land use change. State-of-the-art satellite monitoring efforts led by Brazil’s Institute for Space Research (INPE) in recent decades have resulted in some of the world’s most advanced tropical forest monitoring institutions, which have played major roles in slowing the rate of deforestation. But policy implementation has been uneven and diverse communities in tropical forests have suffered unintended effects.
The seminar and workshop series provided a forum for key leaders to assess these advances in remote sensing science and the impacts on land use and livelihood change in tropical forests. The first day explored how different institutions advance remote sensing, environmental policy, and socio-environmental sustainability. The session culminated in a Policy Leaders Forum event hosted by the Pardee School of Global Studies featuring Thelma Krug, Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The second day focused on advances in tropical forest remote sensing, exploring different methodological approaches and institutional perspectives. On the third day, participants assessed the history of institutional missions and research mandates and identified potential ways forward.
The series concluded with a keynote lecture on April 24 by Inge Jonckheere, the Remote Sensing Team Leader in National Forest Monitoring at the Forestry Department of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Speaking before a crowd of about 50 members of the Boston University community at the BU Hillel House, Jonckheere discussed the importance of linking efforts on tropical forest monitoring with different international reporting schemes and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, she discussed the history and future of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) — a climate mitigation effort under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that offers incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and invest in sustainable development.
The workshop and seminar series was co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Remote Sensing, the African Studies Center, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Department of Earth and Environment.