Subscriptions to a free, weekly deforestation alert system available on the simple interface Global Forest Watch reduced deforestation in the protected areas and logging concessions of tropical African forests. This suggests that freely available near-real-time forest monitoring systems can help reduce emissions from deforestation if they are integrated with forest policies.
Messages for policy
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Monitoring land-use change is an essential component of any policy that is implemented to reduce deforestation.
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The availability of near-real-time alert systems is not enough to reduce deforestation; they must be used for enforcement and intervention.
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The use of near-real-time satellite-derived measures of deforestation on accessible and easy-to-use geospatial platforms can be an important tool in addressing land-use change.
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The value of satellite-based deforestation monitoring systems in terms of avoided carbon emissions is likely to exceed the costs of design and maintenance.
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Free, high-resolution and high-frequency deforestation alerts can reduce deforestation in settings where they provide new information and policymakers are able to integrate them into enforcement policy.
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Further reading
Assunção, J., Gandour, C. & Rocha, R. DETERring Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement (Climate Policy Initiative, 2017); https://climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DETERring-Deforestation-in-the-Brazilian-Amazon-Environmental-Monitoring-and-Law-Enforcement-Technical-Paper_Feb2017.pdfEvidence of the impact of the near-real-time deforestation alert system DETER, which was created by and provided to the Brazilian government to monitor the Brazilian Amazon.
Hansen, M. C. et al. High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science 342, 850–853 (2013). Global annual data on tree-cover loss.
Hansen, M. C. et al. Humid tropical forest disturbance alerts using Landsat data. Environ. Res. Lett. 11, 34008 (2016). This study describes the methodology used to create the GLAD alerts; our research examines the impact of these alerts.
Slough, T., Kopas, J. & Urpelainen, J. Satellite-based deforestation alerts with training and incentives for patrolling facilitate community monitoring in the Peruvian Amazon. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2015171118 (2021). A randomized control trial that analysed the effect of training and incentivising indigenous communities in Peru to use the deforestation alerts from Global Forest Watch.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge funding from the World Resources Institute. The organisation reviewed the paper but had no input in the study design nor influence on the presentation of results.
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Moffette, F., Alix-Garcia, J., Shea, K. et al. Freely available deforestation alerts can reduce emissions from land-use change. Nat. Clim. Chang. 11, 913–914 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01195-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01195-3
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