National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Rapid advancement in the generation, distribution and analysis of satellite-derived environmental data is overwhelming developing countries' ability to apply these datasets to improved land management in some of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems and communities. Governments in the global south need access to scientifically grounded, approachable planning tools that link remote sensing data streams to tangible applications in sustainable planning. Winrock International's Ecosystem Services team (WI-ECO) has for two decades provided technical assistance to partners worldwide on issues of greenhouse gas mitigation and analyses of water supply and water quality in agriculture and forestry. Through our experience of working with a range of capacity levels and national land use contexts, we have refined a generalized approach for bringing RS-derived spatial data to bear on development problems. Some key needs identified across varied contexts are to better intergrade climate policy with broader land use decision making, to cater assistance to tangible decision points within a bureaucracy, to demystify and open up spatial information to non-GIS specialists, and to leverage global data for both cost reduction and consistency. A number of open source spatial planning tools exist today, but many suffer from flaws that hamper their uptake by the offices and persons who hold real power in influencing land use. This session will touch on examples of Winrock's experience regarding the challenges developing country government face in acting on remote sensing data in the climate change and land use fields, and will introduce a series of WI-developed web-based planning tools for Cambodia and Indonesia that seek to address these challenges. Winrock hopes to spark discussion about how the remote sensing community can continue to develop products that support these kinds of practical policy needs in the developing world.