Introduction to Forest Mapping and Monitoring Tools for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

In this self-paced course, you will gain basic information about popular forest mapping and monitoring tools and understand how they can help Indigenous Peoples and other frontline communities* better manage their lands, territories, and resources.

Special note: * This course is designed to build the capacity of both Indigenous Peoples and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles— such as Afro-descendants, pastoralists, fisherfolk, and others — who have traditionally safeguarded forests. It is important to recognize that the use of the terms ‘Indigenous Peoples’ and ‘local communities’ in this context does not imply that these two groups have the same rights or recognition under international law. Indigenous Peoples hold unique rights under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, whereas local communities refer to those who do not identify as Indigenous but embody traditional lifestyles and share a deep connection with and responsibility for the conservation of forest ecosystems over time.

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Partners:

Contributors:

Developed with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the AIM4Forests program.

Course type: Self-paced course
Languages: English
Estimated effort: 3-5 hours per module
Duration: 5 modules
Partners: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Equator Initiative, Climate and Forests Team, NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET), Global Forest Watch, Nature4Climate, Digital Democracy, Rainforest Foundation US, Conservation Metrics.

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Indigenous Peoples are the guardians and the largest shareholders of the world’s remaining biodiversity. Conserving and monitoring biodiversity is intertwined with their livelihoods and food security. Indigenous Peoples have managed territories of these biodiverse landscapes over millennia. Yet their rights and access to these lands continue to be violated worldwide. Indigenous Peoples are still being displaced today, their forest tenure rights are violated, and their role as custodians of biodiversity and nature is undermined.

There are other frontline communities, such as Afro-descendents, pastoralists, fisherfolk, and others, who have also been protecting nature and facing challenges.

There is an abundance of spatial data, tools, and resources available to help protect, monitor, and manage forests worldwide. However, these resources are often not accessible to the Indigenous Peoples or other frontline communities who need them most. This course will support Indigenous or other frontline communities in mapping, monitoring, and managing community forests by providing introductory guidance on the use of existing forest mapping and monitoring tools, outlining their advantages and disadvantages, and guiding participants to select the tools that are optimal for their goals. The course will also discuss the issues of data governance, ownership and management, data safety and sovereignty, and explain how to leverage data for advocacy efforts to protect forests.

Course highlights and outcomes

Understand the basic features of the most popular forest mapping and monitoring tools
Explore rich learning materials, best practices, and case studies, diving into more detailed content based on specific needs
Learn how to select the most appropriate forest mapping and monitoring tools for your context
Receive a certificate of completion from the course partners
Join a community of practice working on forest mapping and monitoring

Learning objectives

By the time you complete the course, you will be able to understand:

The role of Indigenous Peoples and other frontline communities in forest protection and management
The basic features and applications of the most popular forest monitoring tools
The importance of data governance and data management
How to effectively use data for advocacy

Course topics

The course will cover the following topics:

Module 1: Introduction to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities' Role and Rights in Forest Stewardship
Module 2: Basics of Forest Mapping and Monitoring
Module 3: Mapping Tools, Resources, and Applications
Module 4: Data Governance, Sovereignty, and Management
Module 5: Data for Advocacy and Action

Registration

Click “Enroll” to register for the course. When you register for the course, you will be added to the course mailing list. When the course becomes available, you will receive an email from the course organizers with an invitation to start learning.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact the Learning for Nature team at info@learningfornature.org.

Pre-course survey

To make your learning experience more focused and engaged, we invite you to fill out a short pre-course survey.

Your inputs will allow us to customize the information presented in the course and co-create the course content with you. This survey will take about 5 minutes to complete.