MAP joins Mapping and Monitoring of Mangrove Ecosystems Workshop in Viet Nam
Jaruwan (Ning) Enright, MAP Field Project Coordinator,
Two MAP-Asia staffers, Ms. Jaruwan Enright and Mr. Udomsak Pariwatpan, joined a four day workshop on “AFOLU (1) Working Group Technical workshop: Advancing the mapping and monitoring of mangrove ecosystems” held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 9-12 August 2016. The workshop was organized by USAID through the following programs; SERVIR-Mekong (2), SilvaCarbon (3) and SWAMP (4) and Low Emissions Asian Development (LEAD). There were more than 60 participants represented from government, civil society agencies and researchers who are responsible and working on coastal management and remote sensing for mapping mangrove forest in Southeast Asia.
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MAP staff met mangrove experts; Dr. Toe Aung from Forest Dept. Myanmar & Dr. Chandra Giri from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, USA) |
The workshop aimed was to bridge the gap between latest technological remote sensing advances and current decision-making for coastal zone management. Thus the current technical capacity needs and support required for improving the creation and use of mangrove data in the region was identified. The workshop presented lots of opportunity for discussions and fieldwork practice on integrating ground data for biomass estimation.
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Participants on field day training at Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, HCMC, Vietnam. |
The one day field work exercise was conducted at the Can Gio Bioshere Reserve is 75,740 hectares in size has been declared as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2000. Can Gio is located 40 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City and the site is an important wildlife sanctuary in Vietnam as it is characterized by a wetland bio-system dominated by mangrove, with more than 200 species of fauna and 52 species of flora and a number of rare species.
The workshop was a great opportunity for MAP-Asia staff to share experiences in the region and to re-connect with mangrove network friends representing both NGOs and Government.
1. AFOLU: Agriculture, Forest and Land Use, is part of LEDS Global Partnership
2, The SERVIR-Global network of regional geospatial support hubs is an initiative of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
3. SilvaCarbon is a US Interagency initiative to build capacity for measuring and monitoring tropical forest and terrestrial carbon.
4. SWAMP is the Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Program () is a collaborative effort by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the USDA Forest Service (USFS) and Oregon State University with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID)