Evaluate the use of geospatial information to carry out environmental studies
SANTO DOMINGO- The Climate Change and Resilience Observatory of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and the program SERVE Amazon they made a workshop of consultations to assess the needs, priorities and opportunities of organizations related to the co-design of training services for the use of geospatial information in order to improve environmental decision-making.
The consultations focused on the thematic areas of the extension of SERVIR-Amazonia in the Caribbean, the first being the management of water resources and hydroclimatic disasters, which includes the monitoring of floods, landslides and contamination by sediments.
La ecosystem management It was the second thematic aspect, and it focuses on the change of land use and monitoring of the loss of mangroves.
Vanesa Martin, interim Regional Scientific Coordination leader de SERVE Amazon, thanked the collaborating institutions and participating organizations for accessing the workshop.
“Co-development is fundamental to the work we do at SERVIR, and needs assessment workshops like these are the beginning of the co-development process. We, as a program, learn from you about your needs, your skills, your priorities and how we can better support you to protect the natural resources of the Dominican Republic”, assured the representative of SERVIR Amazonia.
The workshop given at INTEC was aimed at local institutions, agencies, government departments, academic institutions, NGOs and international organizations. During the day, the SERVIR-Amazonia survey results, which will guide the capacity building program in the Caribbean countries in strengthening their local capacities.
Subsequently, a technical training session was given with representatives of the user institutions, focused on cloud computing methods using Google Earth Engine (GEE).
The facilitators were José Fernandes and Paula Paz from Alianza Bioversidad (CIAT); together with Andréa Nicolau from the Spatial Informatics Group (TBC). Among the organizations participating in the workshop is the Dominican Rural Economic Development Foundation (REDDOM), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the José Joaquín Hungary Morell National Geographic Institute, among others.
SERVE Amazon Program
SERVIR Amazonia is a five-year program (2019-2023) that brings together local science knowledge in geospatial technology and planet earth observation. It seeks to understand the main needs of the region with the aim of developing tools, products and services that allow the countries that make up the Amazon basin to improve decision-making at the environmental level.
It is part of SERVIR Global, a joint project between USAID and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it also has the support of leading geospatial organizations in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It partners with countries and organizations in these regions.
Since 2005, it has promoted the use of information from Earth observation satellites and geospatial technologies, data necessary to address critical challenges around climate change, natural disasters, land use and air quality.
Headquartered at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in the United States, it is the most recent of the five existing regional centers in which SERVIR operates.