Biodiversity & habitats
"Here in Sweden, it is our task to guarantee the sustainable management of our forests. Now we use remote sensing that is integrated into our geographical information system (GIS). Without increasing costs we now monitor clear cuts, reforestation, key habitats and protected areas at a much higher quality than before. Previously we thought we knew about our forests. Earth Observation showed us that we didn't!"
Peter Söderberg, Swedish Forest Administration.
Variety really is the spice of life on Earth. Diversity of genes within living organisms leads to a diversity of plant and animal species that means in turn a diversity of ecosystems, including lush habitats like wetlands, grasslands, and forests.
The more diverse an ecosystem is, the healthier and more biologically productive it is. The complex functioning of ecosystems provide us with food, fuel and the basis of most of our medicines as well as invaluable services such as climate modification, water purification crop pollination and soil conservation.
But their complexity also makes these habitats vulnerable to human activities. For example, half of all the world's approximately 14 million species reside in tropical forests, many of them under threat from logging or land use change.
Worldwide, forests originally covered 46% of the land surface but half of them are already gone, increasing the importance of conserving what remains. With this in mind, forest management objectives have changed dramatically in recent years.
In addition to the economic value of their resources, their importance with respect to biodiversity conservation has moved to centre stage, along with their importance to recreation, tourism, rural development and water supply.
This transition demands a greater level of understanding and more informed policies promoting sustainable forests with positive social, economic and environmental impacts.
Earth Observation enables a range of services for forest managers in support of these goals, providing cost-efficient access to key information such as maps of forest extent, land changes and environmental indicators.
Less visible than trees but equally important, the degradation of soil represents a serious threat to worldwide habitats and global carrying capacity.
Soil degradation manifests itself in different ways such as nutrient leaching, desertification, desalinisation and contamination of the ground with pesticides and fertilisers.
Most of these processes have a direct and disastrous effect on agricultural production. Earth Observation can record the information that can then be combined with socio-economic data to identify the most vulnerable areas.
