Denis Dobrynin, World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Russia) Projects Coordinator, spoke at the 6th International Conference “Earth from Space – the Most Effective Solutions” on the necessity to establish satellite-based monitoring of intact frontier forest under protection of nature conservation non-profit organizations in the framework of voluntary forest certification (by example of the Arkhangelsk Region).
The Arkhangelsk Region is known for its inconsistency with regard to remaining wildlife areas. On the one hand the southern and central parts of the region represent vast areas of secondary deciduous and mixed forest grown on the territory of previously cleared forest. On the other hand in remote corners of the Arkhangelsk Region there are still remaining large (hundreds of thousands and millions hectares) wild taiga areas, which meet criteria of intact frontier forest areas (IFFA).
— Activities of IFFA mapping were implemented on the basis of thematic maps and space images analysis. The Arkhangelsk Region timber industry aims at environmentally sensitive European markets. The mandatory requirement for products supplied to those markets is presence of sustainable forest management certificate. Therefore voluntary forest certification is the main tool in conserving intact frontier forest areas, — explained Denis Dobrynin.
Voluntary forest certification in the Arkhangelsk Region (as everywhere in Russia) follows the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) procedure. According to requirements of FSC intact frontier forest areas shall be conserved. However in majority of cases it turns out impossible to withdraw such large areas from commercial use due to local social and economic conditions. In this case, according to FSC requirements zones of strict protection shall be established within IFFA, which are entirely excluded from transportation and forest exploration.
Boundaries of zones of strict protection are defined using remote sensing data, forest management materials, topographic and thematic maps, and field survey results. Zones of strict protection shall be considered as a compromise between use and conservation of intact frontier forest.
— Zones of strict protection is a temporary measure aimed at conservation of IFFA. Long-term action for conservation of intact frontier forest areas is establishment of protected natural areas, for instance, landscape nature reserves of regional importance, — believes Denis Dobrynin.
In the Arkhangelsk Region (under the agreements between the World Wildlife Fund and the forest industry enterprises), zones of strict nature protection are outlined within the leased forest area of more than 10 companies with a total area of over 550,000 hectares. Terms of agreements, which regulate strict protection zones are different: from 5 years to the end of the lease forest land period (49 years).
Zones of strict protection (as opposed to protected natural areas) do not have a management board, which would carry out monitoring of protection regime and ecosystem condition. Taking into account large area of zones of strict protection as well as long time required to coordinate and establish new protected natural areas, it is apparent that monitoring shall be established over ecosystems being within boundaries of zones of strict protection. It is advisable to implement such monitoring using space images.
Space-based monitoring is required on both natural (wild fires, windthrow and dried-out areas, etc.) and human-induced factors (anthropogenic fires, logging, infrastructure development, quarry operations, etc).
For the majority of potential impacts on ecosystems within zones of protection (for instance, forest clearing or construction of timber roads) middle spatial resolution (15 – 30m/pixel) images will suffice. Such images (for instance, LANDSAT, ASTER, or TERRA) are available as open-source on the Internet. However, detection of some environmental impacts, for instance, selective logging normally requires imagery at higher spatial resolution. Besides, use of “live” scenes of satellite imagery requires installation of special software (commercial or open-source) and certain experience to operate this software.
Due to the above it appears to be interesting and important to create a tool for public satellite monitoring of conserved areas of intact frontier forest. This challenge could be overcome using an Internet-based resource, which would post and update space images (with sufficient performance specifications) for areas of zones of strict protection within IFFA. That said, efficient monitoring requires a lot more frequent space imagery updates than it is on «Google Earth», «Yandex. Maps», «Kosmosnimki» geoportals, etc. In addition to the objectives directly set fourth (enforcement of nature protection obligations assumed by forest land lease holders), use of such system of public space monitoring enables another application – raising nature conservation awareness and promoting environmental educations, — summed up Dobrynin.
Reference:
Intact frontier forest areas (IFFA) are intact natural areas of more than 50 thousand hectares without permanent settlements, operating transportation lines within their boundaries, which are not affected by modern economic activity. Such areas could be and normally are formed by a mosaic of various forest and non-forest (meadow, bog and riverside) ecosystems. Intact frontier forest has environmental value at the level of large natural landscapes (natural forest dynamics), it ensures population stability of rare and near-extinction species of plants, animals and mushrooms.
