Description

This training, offered in partnership between NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training program (ARSET) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), teaches participants about global biodiversity-based uses of remote sensing.

As we enter the fourth industrial revolution, technology is revolutionizing our ability to map nature. Satellite data provide a bird’s eye, yet incredibly detailed view of Earth’s surface in real-time, while drones and mobile apps enable local communities and indigenous peoples to map their knowledge of local ecosystems. To support policymakers to develop data-driven sustainable development solutions, UNDP, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) launched the UN Biodiversity Lab, with funding from the Global Environment Facility and support from MapX, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Global Resource Information Database-Geneva, and NASA. 

The UN Biodiversity Lab is an online platform that allows policymakers and other stakeholders to access global data layers, upload national datasets, and analyze these datasets in combination to provide key information on the CBD’s Aichi Biodiversity Targets and on the nature-based Sustainable Development Goals. Already in use by more than 50 countries, as well as utilized as the key decision support system for two NASA-funded applied science projects, the UN Biodiversity Lab has high potential to be scaled up to reach new ministries, countries, and stakeholder groups.

There is a global demand for more NASA ARSET trainings focused on biodiversity, conservation, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and how to link NASA satellite data to ecological and human-influenced systems. 

This training aims to fill that gap by extending the influence of this NASA-supported tool and increasing its dissemination, use, and overall success. The UN Biodiversity Lab makes global datasets on biodiversity and sustainable development easily accessible, supporting our broad audience.

Prerequisites

• Fundamentals of Remote Sensing

Objectives

By the end of this training, attendees will:

• Understand key global biodiversity and sustainable development policy instruments (CBD, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) as they relate to conservation efforts
• Have knowledge of spatial data on biodiversity and sustainable development, including data generated by NASA projects
• Be familiar with the UN Biodiversity Lab structure, data, and tools
• Have the ability to apply UN Biodiversity Lab tools to their region of interest
• Utilize case study examples from multiple partner countries as context for their work.

Target Audience

This training is designed for national policymakers involved in conservation and sustainable development commitments to the CBD, UNFCCC, and 2030 Agenda.

Course Format

• Three 1.5-hour parts

Sessions

Part 1: Introduction to Spatial Data and Policies for Biodiversity

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Materials

• Part 1 Presentation Slides (PDF, 12.7 MB)
• Part 1 Q&A Transcript (PDF, 522 KB)

Part 2: UN Biodiversity Lab: Introduction and Training 

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Materials

• Part 2 Presentation Slides (PDF, 6.7 MB)
• Part 2 Demos (PDF, 4.6 MB)
• Part 2 Q&A Transcript (PDF, 1.3 MB)

Part 3: How are Countries Using Spatial Data to Support Conservation of Nature?

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Materials

• Part 3 Presentation Slides (PDF, 26.6 MB)
• Part 3 Q&A Transcript (PDF, 2.4 MB)