Navigation Links
Rain forest protection works in Peru
Date:8/13/2007

etect logging activities there. CLAS is a satellite-based forest-damage detection system, which can penetrate the shielding upper layers of forest leaves to see consequences of logging activities below. The CLAS system can uncover forest changes at a resolution of less than 100 by 100 ft. The core process behind CLAS is an advanced signal processing approach developed by study lead Greg Asner.

Our approach has improved over the past eight years, but relies on a core set of methods that have consistently worked, Asner said. We spent years developing them in Brazil, then went to Peru and completed this study in only a year. We are now operating over Borneo. Our approach is proving a good way to monitor rain forest disturbance and deforestation anywhere in the world.

The researchers found that, between 1999 and 2005, disturbance and deforestation rates averaged only 244 square miles and 249 square miles per year respectively. About 86% of the damaged Peruvian areas were concentrated in two regionsin the Madre de Dios, east of Cuzco, and in the central eastern part of the country near Pucallpa. Most of the rain forest damage75%was found within 12.5 miles (20 km) of the nearest roads. However, even within those limits, forests set aside by the government were more than 4 times better protected than areas not designated for conservation.

This is another study from the Carnegie group showing the world how tropical forests can be systematically monitored amazingly quickly and at a reasonable cost. said Michael Wright of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which helped support the research. I foresee that CLAS-like satellite analysis systems will become the standards routinely used by local conservation agencies to track rain forest disturbances and deforestation in the future.


'/>"/>

Contact: Gregory Asner
gpa@stanford.edu
650-380-2828
Carnegie Institution
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Essential mangrove forest threatened by cryptic ecological degradation
2. Falling ants glide back to trunk to avoid dangers of forest floor
3. Worlds largest rainforest drying experiment completes first phase
4. Live fast, die young true for forests too
5. Shift of weather patterns necessitates rethinking of reforestation methods
6. Finding hidden invaders in a Hawaiian rain forest
7. Wake Forest scientists find new combination vaccine effective against plague
8. U.N. mulls the protection of Earths forests
9. Study of energy and health in Africa focuses spotlight on charcoal and forest management
10. Revueltosaurus skeleton unearthed at Petrified Forest upsets dinosaur tale
11. Fungus-farming termites descend from an African rain forest Eve
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email: