MAPBIOMAS VENEZUELA
MapBiomas Venezuela is an initiative that brings together experts in satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems and programming from NGOs, universities and research centers, who work collaboratively to generate and share, publicly and free of charge, accurate and updated information on the transformation of the Venezuelan territory.
The First collection of annual land cover and use maps (1985 to 2022) for the Venezuelan territory was presented on November 14th, during the online event “MapBiomas Venezuela: 38 years of territorial history to imagine the future”. This new product is a result of the joint efforts of Provita, the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (Raisg), the Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Modeling (LSIGMA)of Simón Bolívar University, and Wataniba, It also includes technical collaborations from esteemed experts from various universities and national research centers.
ABOUT THE MAPBIOMAS VENEZUELA PLATFORM
The MapBiomas Venezuela platform is a tool that allows anyone with internet access to understand the changes in land use throughout the Venezuelan territory and the pressures on its coverage and natural ecosystems. The information generated is compatible for all biomes in the country and allows to know the state of 20 categories of land cover and land use, called “classes”, which include areas covered by forests, natural grasslands, mangroves, agriculture and rivers. The information is free and available for download.
In turn,the platform allows you to explore the collection of annual maps, which cover the period between 1985 and 2022, and identify changes in land cover and land use at the national, state or municipal level and in a given period (year, five-year period, decades, etc.). The tool also shows statistics in dynamic tables and graphs, with changes in use in the period that the user requires, and allows understanding the dynamics of changes that can be consulted from different spatial units such as: states, municipalities, physiographic provinces, protected natural areas, hydrographic basins, indigenous territories, among others.
https://plataforma.venezuela.mapbiomas.org/
ABOUT PROVITA
It is a non-profit Civil Association, established in February 1987. Its primary objective is to combat the loss of biodiversity in Venezuela and demonstrate that human development can coexist harmoniously with the conservation of nature. Over the course of 36 years, it has successfully implemented numerous projects, spanning a wide range of initiatives. These include the recovery of emblematic threatened species, the creation of red books documenting fauna and ecosystems, as well as the exploration of development alternatives for rural and indigenous communities.
ABOUT RAISG
RAISG is the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information, a consortium of civil society organizations from the Amazon countries. Its main objective is to promote socio-environmental sustainability in the Amazon region with the support of international cooperation. RAISG is responsible for generating and disseminating knowledge, statistical data, and geospatial socio-environmental information about the Amazon. This information is prepared using common protocols that are applicable to all countries in the region. The consortium facilitates the visualization of the Amazon as a whole, as well as the identification of threats and pressures that impact the region. RAISG is the result of collaboration among eight civil society organizations operating in six Amazonian countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
SOBRE LSIGMA
LSIGMA (Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Modeling Laboratory) - USB is a research center focused on digital geography. It is affiliated with the Electronics Laboratory C at Simón Bolívar University. LSIGMA-USB specializes in studying the territory and employs various methodologies and techniques, including data collection, global positioning, remote sensing, photogrammetry, cartography, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Equipped with modern and innovative technology, LSIGMA-USB offers technical and material support primarily to research groups at USB, as well as to public administration and private companies upon request.
SOBRE WATANIBA
Wataniba, the Socio-Environmental Working Group for the Amazon, was established in 2005 with the aim of promoting and defending the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon region. The organization is dedicated to addressing socio-environmental challenges faced by Indigenous communities and works towards their empowerment and well-being.
https://watanibasocioambiental.org/
ABOUT MAPBIOMAS
MapBiomas arose in Brazil as a multi-institutional initiative that brings together universities, NGOs and technology companies that come together to contribute to the understanding of the transformations of the Brazilian territory based on the annual map of land cover and land use in Brazil. Currently, this network brings together more than 70 institutions from Latin America and Indonesia in 7 initiatives and 14 countries committed to the generation of data, methods, tools and information that guide conservation and decision-making around natural resources. In August 2021, MapBiomas published Collection 7 of coverage and use maps of southern Brazil from 1985 to 2021. The tools developed by the MapBiomas network for all its initiatives present information generated with a spatial resolution of at least 30 meters. The data is processed using automatic classification algorithms through the Google Earth Engine cloud information.