Biodiversity conservation

(e.g. mapping and monitoring wildlife habitat)

The high resolution radar monitoring system is perfectly suitable in support of local management and law enforcement in National Parks and Nature Reserves. The system can provide regular information on the location of changes within park and reserve borders and surroundings, such as changes in the forest canopy through logging or landslides, (illegal) clearing of areas (for agriculture, mining, oil palm plantation) and encroachment patterns, expansion of road networks, fire impacts and vegetation development.

In Indonesia, the system is put into action for the protection of the last populations of wild orang utan in the 700.000 ha Mawas peat swamp reserve and the 600.000 ha Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan. In collaboration with the Indonesian NGO Borneo Orang utan Survival Foundation, a complete monitoring chain from frequent spaceborne radar detection of forest cover change via airborne (ultra-light) verification towards legal enforcement action in the field has been set up.

New radar satellite change detection maps including GPS coordinates of change are sent to the BOS and WWF field offices. In the field, the ultra light aircraft system is employed to inspect the locations to collect evidence. Afterwards, an integrated illegal logging response team including local police visits identified sites on the ground, chainsaws are confiscated and police reports filed. In several cases those behind illegal loggers have actually been prosecuted and jailed, a very encouraging development. As a result, the Mawas area now is virtually free of illegal logging.

Over large inaccessible areas, using this approach is found to be more efficient than random ground checks. Besides it is fast; the above steps are routinely completed within 3 days after receiving the radar data, roughly every month. This would not be possible using Landsat, due to persistent cloud cover in much of the country.