Juhn, Daniel: Conservation International Organization (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2017 - 2020
NRA: 2016 NASA: Group on Earth Observations Work Programme
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
On October 19 2015, Governor Abraham Ataruri declared West Papua to be Indonesia’s first Conservation Province. This vision of sustainable development went beyond policy towards provincial law that elevates both ecosystem protection and community-based resource management as foundations of future growth.
In support of the West Papua government's Conservation Province initiative, Conservation International (CI) is submitting this proposal to begin development of an ecosystem accounting system to enable better planning, prioritization of current and future green investments, and provide foundational science to support the implementation of existing and new regulations while monitoring progress for the Conservation Province vision.
The deliverables identified in this proposal, if approved, will effectively demonstrate Earth Observations (EO) for Ecosystem Accounting – EO4EA (GEO Work Programme Element 3.8) through 1) the development of an Ecosystem Extent Account for the province of West Papua, in Indonesia, and 2) outline a conceptual framework for creating of an Ecosystem Condition Account.
The ecosystem extent account and preliminary ecosystem condition accounts will be a precursor and requisite to develop Ecosystem Service Flow Accounts, and which can then be used to calculate the contribution of ecosystems to the West Papua economy and help demonstrate the use of ecosystem accounting in Indonesia more broadly.
Ecosystem extent will be delineated using a combination of inputs based on ecoregions, landforms, and vegetation cover. Ecoregion are macro-ecosystem delineations based on environmental and climatic data sources. Ecoregions represent areas with homogeneous characteristics and are of importance to both broader planning and environmental management. Information on landforms represent the effects that geology and topography have on landscape processes and the subsequent ecosystems that exist within these geographical settings. Vegetation cover and land-use derived from EO data, are represented in the nationally produced Indonesia land-cover product which is consistently updated and will be adapted to account for changes in the actual extent of ecosystems over time.
To advance the methods for developing an ecosystem condition account in West Papua a conceptual framework will be created and key condition indicators will be identified. The conceptual framework will be developed with stakeholder input and expert opinion to ensure that it is reflective of the needs within West Papua. The key indicators will be assessed based on the needs identified in the conceptual framework, and will heavily depend on EO data.
The ecosystem extent accounts and preliminary condition products will be shared with both national and regional stakeholders. Regular consultation as well as updates will enable further validation of published work and help to ensure the uptake of data and products beyond the life of the program. Publication of reports in both English and Indonesian will help ensure the data is shared and preserved more widely.
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
