GEO Contributes to UN Resolution on Geospatial Information and Services for Disasters
AmeriGEO Week strengthens regional collaboration
In August 2019, AmeriGEO in partnership with the La Comisión Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Aeroespacial, (CONIDA) and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) hosted the 5th annual AmeriGEO Week.
More than 150 participants from 75 organizations and governments gathered to strengthen collaborations in GEO activities and to build the capacity of their nations in use and benefit from EO. Trainings included Radar Remote Sensing (SAR) for ecosystem monitoring, GEOGloWS hydroinformatic services, Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) Operationalization, and more.
Building National GEOs the new regional priority
After successful efforts of countries like Colombia, Canada, and the United States with robust national and subnational engagement in GEO activities, the AmeriGEO leadership is turning their attention to strengthen the National participation in GEO activities as a priority.
The Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies, also known by its acronym in Spanish, IDEAM, is a government agency of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia As the focal point of Colombia-GEO, engaged national organizations that are leading activities within GEOBON, GEOGloWS, and GEONETCast-Americas. In the U.S., at the AGU Fall Meeting, December 14, 2016, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy presented selected achievements of the USGEO including GEOGLAM activities to promote sustainable agriculture and GEOBON, the global biodiversity monitoring network.
These lessons learned have been adapted by Peru, Chile, and the System for Central America Integration (SICA) who are working to engage national and subnational entities as well as GEO thematic Initiatives and flagships to build stronger National GEOs.
New Member State:
El Salvador
In 2019, El Salvador joined the AmeriGEO family, improving the presence in Central America. GEO members in this region include Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama.
Empowering Indigenous Peoples with Earth observations for the preservation of indigenous lands
Launched in April 2018, Earth Observation for Indigenous-led Land Management (EO4IM) is a NASA-funded project being implemented by a team from Conservation International (CI). The project strengthens the technical capacities of indigenous organizations in the Americas and globally. Through alignment with the Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (DGM) the project harnesses the power of EO for enhanced sustainable land management.
Aligned with AmeriGEO, EO4IM is supporting regional capacity for sustainable land-use decisions and data infrastructure by promoting EO data, tools, and web platforms. The EO4IM team conducted its first remote sensing capacity building during the DGM Americas Regional Exchange in Junín, Peru. In-person capacity building was held on June 2018, and the first NASA ARSET webinar series targeted an audience of indigenous peoples and their representatives. Over 700 people representing 85 countries, 500 unique organizations, and 41 indigenous persons attended the webinar series, which was conducted live in both English and Spanish.
Access the ARSET webinar recordings: https://arset.gsfc.nasa.gov/land/webinars/GEO-EO4IM