Capacity for Copernicus REDD+ and Forest Monitoring Services

Project Information

REDDCopernicus

Grant agreement ID: 821880

DOI

10.3030/821880

Project closed

EC signature date 24 October 2018

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 31 January 2022

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Space

Total cost

€ 2 697 463,75

EU contribution

€ 2 697 463,50

Coordinated by

GAF Geospatial GmbH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - REDDCopernicus (Capacity for Copernicus REDD+ and Forest Monitoring Services)

Reporting period: 2020-02-01 to 2022-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Tropical forests play a key role in stabilizing the world’s climate and the mitigation of climate change. Efforts to monitor and map changes of forest areas using Earth Observation (EO) technologies to support decision making in reversing deforestation/degradation has been increasing in the past decade. The United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) policy process related to countries reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) requires an assessment of national historical and projected deforestation/ degradation rates. The REDDCopernicus project aimed to assess and evaluate the existing European Capacity for EO based Forest Monitoring for REDD+ and sustainable forest management with all relevant stakeholders. The overall project objectives were:
1. Review and synthesise the key Policy drivers and existing capacities in Europe related to EO Forest Monitoring (FM), including the assessment of institutional arrangements pertinent for the implementation of a Copernicus FM Service for REDD+ and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM).
2. To coordinate results and experiences from existing REDD+ and Copernicus Programmes for the identification of infrastructural and research gaps for EO FM on different scales (global to local) resulting in the definition of future Research and Development (R&D) Programmes addressing key gaps and priorities and ensuring complementarity and sustainability of existing Programmes.
3. Define an end-to-end operational system for Core and Downstream REDD+ Service components which includes organisational and technical specifications including the products and services that can be made available via the Copernicus Data and Information Access Services (C-DIAS).
4. Raise awareness and showcase the European capacities in EO FM as well as related user uptake in countries via 2-3 Learning Exercise/Studies in developing countries in different geographical regions.
5. Disseminate, communicate and exploit the results of the project to a wide stakeholder audience to ensure that the overall impact and uptake of the project is optimised.
6. Recommend a framework for a Copernicus REDD+ Service component to establish long-term European Capacity and leadership in this domain.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The definition of an end-to-end operational Core and Downstream Service Component was based on a phased process which included the following steps: (i) assess the requirements for REDD+ FM in International and EU policy requirements, (ii) review existing European EO-based FM technical capacities, (iii) the design of the initial main technical and organisational elements of FM/ REDD+ Service, (iv) the contributions and feedback from REDD+ partner countries and (v) the feedback from the International Agencies and Programmes related to downstream requirements. Each of these steps were part of different Work Packages. The main achievements from implementing these steps included an in-depth assessment of the evolving policy drivers for global and national FM, in realtion to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. The most appropriate key elements for a Copernicus REDD+ Service were identified through a benchmarking process, applied to a list of potentially suitable FM products. The four generic products proposed were: Sentinel-2 Image Composites; Pan-Tropical Tree Cover Density for the reference year 2020; Pan-Tropical Annual Tree Cover Change and Pan-Tropical Tree Cover Disturbance Alerting. These products were then presented to stakeholders in Africa, S. American and SE Asia via Learning Exercise Workshops. The stakeholder feedback was used for the consolidation of the design of a future service. The following products were identified as key for providing base layers for FM: (i) Sentinel-2 Composites, (ii) Tree Cover Density (TCD) for year 2020 (iii) Tree Cover Presence & Seasonality (TCPS), (iv) annual Tree Cover Presence Change (TCPC), (v) Tree Cover Disturbance (TCDist).
The main R&D activities which examined research priorities for operational FM in dry and humid Tropics, resulted in five priority themes: degradation and regrowth; Biomass; land use and GHGs; Early Warning Systems and uncertainty analysis. The R&D priorities for European SFM included EO for regrowth and forest damage monitoring; forest biomass estimation; biodiversity and ecosystem services monitoring; stronger unification and synergy of EO and National Forest Inventory (NFI) approaches; applications for large area SFM monitoring on online platforms; and uncertainty assessment. In relation to the examination of Infrastructure gaps, the potential of the European ground infrastructure to host Copernicus REDD+ Service was found to be high. Distribution of the service through an online platform was also found to be suitable for the majority of end-users in tropical countries, particularly if supported by alternative off-line solutions.
Finally, the project prepared a roadmap for a Copernicus REDD+ Service, which included a review of the EU Regulatory Framework for Copernicus, and pertinent Global Initiatives such as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Other frame conditions presented were the technical and financial aspects of such a service. And a close examination of how a Core REDD+ product which could have multiple Downstream applications. Awareness raising of the project and a future Core REDD+ service was undertaken with different groups; the project website www.reddcopernicus.info together with a Twitter account supported also cross-media communication.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main expected Impacts from the project related to developing operational Copernicus FM Services from a global to local level was achieved via the presentation of a key set of products that could be offered as a Core REDD+ service. These products will be accessible on a free and open manner. Such products can be used by public authorities and serve as inputs products for the industry who can provide added-value products or services for various user communities and therefore, develop the Downstream market. Another impact achieved was the improved interaction for the REDD+ process. As further efforts are required by tropical countries in terms of reaching results-based payments, the majority of countries would benefit from a Copernicus Core REDD+ Service which could be further used for local forest monitoring requirements. Thus, the new Copernicus REDD+ Services can be considered as a game changer to be adopted by the global community.
In the context of European forest monitoring the recommendations from the R&D support the implementation of the New EU Forest Strategy and local forest monitoring activities. The New EU Forest Strategy puts strong emphasis on the sustainable use of forests, aiming to align forest management with the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy.
Finally the project has been included in three main EC policy or planning documents as follows: 1.) the feasibility of a REDD component appears as one of the 15 key actions of the EC Communication on the Protection and Restoration of the World’s Forests (2019); 2.) the Copernicus work Programme for period 2021-2027 includes a global forest monitoring component and 3.) the use of Copernicus data appears in the proposal for a new Regulation on deforestation free products (2021).

Auditors confirmation for missing results in the RoFF

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