Restoration Monitoring Tool Finder

In addition to the Platform (data portal and web map), FERM also includes three other components in various levels of development. The FERM Database refers to the ‘Indicators’ tab in the data portal, where users can explore suggested indicators of restoration progress from the UN and the Global Restoration Observatory (GRO) network. Also, under development and currently unavailable are the FERM Registry and Dashboard (which are intended to help users aggregate data from restoration projects and report on and visualize restoration progress). Currently, FERM is most useful as a catalog of restoration monitoring-relevant geospatial datasets and a collected list of some common indicators of restoration progress.

While GFW focuses primarily on forests, it does contain datasets that can be useful for monitoring restoration on other landscapes. GFW also posts informational articles about different aspects of forest and landscape monitoring, new advances in monitoring, and insights gleaned from GFW-hosted data.

To use Google Earth, you must be logged in to your Google account. If you do not have one, you can sign up for one here. Google Earth Pro is a desktop-based application that can be downloaded here. Google Earth Pro has a slightly more complex interface than Google Earth; however, it also provides more advanced functionalities, including the Time Slider tool, which lets a user see how an area has changed over time or digitize polygons based on past imagery. See the following links for tutorials on drawing polygons.

• Google Earth Tutorial (Create a Polygon)
• Google Earth Tutorial (Export a KML)
• Google Earth Pro Video Tutorial

The LDSF is focused on terrestrial ecosystems and can be used to assess baseline status of vegetation cover and structure; tree, shrub, and grass species diversity; current and historic land use; infiltration capacity; soil characteristics (including soil organic carbon); and land degradation (including soil erosion prevalence). The LDSF is designed to work at multiple scales and to monitor multiple variables simultaneously. Recognizing that significant resources are spent to reach remote field sites, the LDSF attempts to maximize time and resource use by streamlining data collection for multiple indicators or variables. The LDSF is flexible, allowing users to monitor the indicators that are most relevant to their context. It is integrated with field-level data collection tools like the Regreening Africa App, lab-based soil analysis through spectroscopy, and remote sensing spatial analysis. The LDSF and related tools were co-designed with relevant user groups. LDSF’s extensive datasets facilitate modeling, so in selecting sites for in-depth monitoring with LDSF, ICRAF prioritizes regions and activities where the LDSF data is weak.

LandScale is focused on measuring the sustainability of a landscape, where a landscape is defined as “large enough to capture linkages between different sustainability issues but small enough for results to inform interventions – typically at least 100 sq km.” The indicators of restoration progress encompass four pillars: ecosystems, governance, human well-being, and production. Each pillar includes several required indicators, but users can tailor the framework to their needs by selecting additional optional and landscape-dependent indicators. There are three subscription options for conducting a LandScale assessment, which have different price points: Powered, Validated, or Enterprise. A “Powered by LandScale” assessment includes access to the assessment framework, assessment resources, and online learning content, but the results are not independently validated. A “Validated by LandScale” assessment includes independent validation by the LandScale team as well as publication and communications options. The validation process checks that the guidelines for the assessment were followed, and the input data are of sufficient quality. The fees and services included in the Enterprise assessment option are designed in consultation with the LandScale team.

The tool is exclusively focused on monitoring restoration of mangroves, which exist in the coastal zones of tropical and subtropical countries. The guidebook is designed to be used in tandem with a variety of other data-collection tools that are both field-level and remote-sensing based. For example, carbon stock estimation requires measurement of basal area and soil depth at sampling sites, for input into carbon estimation equations. The monitoring protocol involves multiple options for tracking change over time such as geo-located photography at specific sites, satellite monitoring analysis, or physical monitoring.

MapBuilder allows users to apply Global Forest Watch’s powerful built-in data analysis tools, as well as data from Resource Watch, to their area of interest. Users can calculate statistics on forest loss, land cover composition, and other metrics, as well as access deforestation alerts from the University of Maryland’s Global Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) lab. MapBuilder can be integrated with either free or paid organizational ArcGIS Online accounts, although some features are restricted to users with organizational ArcGIS Online accounts.