Land degradation poses a significant threat to ecosystem health and food security, particularly in the global South. Given the severity of land degradation globally, land restoration is urgently needed to recover degraded ecosystems through, for example, tree planting and (farmer-managed) natural regeneration (FMNR). In this study we monitor the impacts of farmer-managed land restoration using satellite time series data through a Continuous Anomaly Detection after Intervention (CADI) approach. We also propose ways that this approach can be used to generate insights to help design future land restoration interventions. Data was collected for 127,782 restoration plots in seven sub-Saharan countries through the use of the “Regreening App”, which was designed for citizen science data collection. For each plot, a reference NDVI was modelled based on multiple years prior to restoration interventions which was compared to the actual NDVI to quantify the restoration impact. A comparison between our CADI approach and the residual trend (RESTREND) method was done based on the visual interpretation of 645 validation points. The CADI analysis proved better able to detect greening compared to RESTREND (F-score: 0.84 vs 0.79) and it performed better in arid regions (F-score: 0.88) than in dry sub-humid ecosystems (F-score: 0.75). FMNR was predominantly preferred in arid regions where higher greening was observed, indicating FMNR as a powerful and cost-effective option for future land restoration initiatives. To stimulate further use by policy makers and practitioners, the CADI analysis has been made available as an online tool here.
Tag: Citizen Science
Developing a conceptual framework for a citizen science-based agroecology self-assessment tool
Introduction: Agroecology offers a promising approach to strengthen, and revolutionise, smallholder food and agricultural systems. Unfortunately, the assessment of agroecology impact at different scales and contexts is hindered by a lack of data and a lack of awareness of the potential of agroecology. Citizen science approaches are, however, demonstrating a knowledge revolution where learning is vested in the hands and tools of the farmers. The self-correcting mechanisms, that citizen science offers, enable the farmers to learn about and change their practices through the evidence they discover. In this way, the ability to change comes from within farmers’ experience and practices rather than farmers receiving information and knowledge from the outside. The purpose of this research work was to develop an accessible citizen science-based Agroecology Self-Assessment (ASA) tool framework. Methods: This proposed ASA framework is purely conceptual, at this stage, and encompasses both physical and digital tools that can be used to assess agroecological practices and has the potential to address gaps related to agroecology performance assessments, data generation and knowledge-sharing. Furthermore, the proposed tool could lead to the development of a citizen science community of practice to empower smallholder farmers to collaborate and share both new and indigenous knowledge practices. Through fieldwork, the feasibility of using a mobile application to both collect data on various agroecological indicators, such as soil health, biodiversity, and water management, as well as socioeconomic factors related to agroecology was investigated. Results and discussion: The findings from the fieldwork showed that there is interest by smallholder farmers and agricultural extension officers in the use of citizen-science tools to complement and enhance agroecological practices. The conceptual design and framework for the ASA tool was developed using the information from a desktop-based literature review and findings from discussions with smallholder farmers, researchers and agricultural extension officers. It is envisaged that the ASA tool, once in operation, will provide smallholder farmers with personalised feedback based on household and field assessments, foster knowledge sharing and self-correcting mechanisms. Such applied practices enable, and strengthen, evidence-based decision-making. The study concludes that the ASA tool is undoubtably needed and should include relevant practical assessment tools.
Insights on the Regreening App: Uptake and use by stakeholders in Makueni and Taita Taveta (Research Summary Brief)
Under the UK PACT funded project ‘Delivering nature-based solution outcomes by addressing policy, institutional, and monitoring gaps in forest and landscape restoration’, CIFOR-ICRAF have undertaken practical training sessions with various stakeholders on using the Regreening App, a citizen science data collection initiative that enables farmers, government agents, project officers and implementors to track and provide evidence of restoration practices on the ground by reporting data on key indicators of land restoration.
This knowledge brief seeks to outline uptake of the Regreening Mobile App following two three-day practical workshops attended by a range of multi-disciplinary participants.
Community-based monitoring in the context of sustainable wildlife management and biodiversity conservation in tropical countries
This document is addressed to communities and their partners, and features eight main key lessons learned that emerge from the implementation of community-based monitoring in the context of wildlife management and biodiversity conservation, across 15 countries in Africa, the Guyana Shield and the Pacific Region in which the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme is implemented. The examples involve diverse forms of community-based monitoring and include different ecosystems (forests, savannahs, wetlands) and taxonomic groups (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish). We further provide a more focused description of five case studies, including the multitaxa community-based monitoring process implemented by community wildlife and fisheries committees in the Rupununi (Guyana), the human-wildlife coexistence monitoring programme implemented by communities in Mucheni Community Conservancy (Zimbabwe), the co-managed monitoring system implemented for sustainable hunting around Lastoursville (Gabon), and the citizen science process implemented in communities around the Dja Reserve (Cameroon) to monitor and alert emergence of zoonotic diseases and the community-based monitoring system implemented in Namibia in the context of community-based conservancies (Namibia).
Delivering nature-based solution outcomes by addressing policy, institutional, and monitoring gaps in forest and landscape restoration (Research Summary Brief)
Under the UK PACT funded project ‘Promoting nature-based solutions for land restoration while strengthening the national monitoring technical working group in Kenya’, CIFOR-ICRAF have undertaken practical training sessions with various stakeholders on using the Regreening App, a citizen science data collection initiative that enables farmers, government agents, project officers and implementors to track and provide evidence of restoration practices on the ground by reporting data on key indicators of land restoration.
This knowledge brief seeks to outline uptake of the Regreening Mobile App following two three-day practical workshops attended by a range of multi-disciplinary participants.
Harnessing the Power of Citizen Science for Agroecological Transitions: The Case of the One Million Voices of Agroecology Initiative and Digital Platform
The One Million Voices (OMV) citizen science initiative seeks to harness citizen science to accelerate agroecological transitions globally. Its primary objective is to co-develop a participatory platform that enables farmers, producer organizations, and consumers worldwide to engage in agroecology movements, adoption efforts, and collaborative knowledge-sharing on agroecological performance. The initiative employs a facilitated co-design process, incorporating a global review, regional partnerships, and structured dialogues across four regions to collectively shape the platform’s scope and features. In alignment with recommendations to leverage existing networks, OMV collaborated with Agroecology Map to create the OMV of Agroecology platform. The platform addresses the key research question: What agroecological practices are being implemented globally, by whom, and with what effects? It facilitates participatory mapping of innovative agroecological practices, their characterization and evaluation, and fosters connectivity among stakeholders. Users can access mapped locations and practices, engage with peers, and analyze personalized summary data, providing scientific insights into geographic trends, actor preferences, and context-specific agroecology performance. This study illustrates how a co-created citizen science process can be effectively structured and leveraged transdisciplinarily. The success of the OMV platform in advancing agroecological transitions hinges on broad, diverse, and decisive participation.
Citizen science and scaling the use of the Regreening App
This brief shares key learnings and insights into the success of the Regreening App through citizen science and stakeholder engagement.
Do Digital Climate Services for Farmers Encourage Resilient Farming Practices? Pinpointing Gaps through the Responsible Research and Innovation Framework
Digital climate services can support agricultural management decisions under uncertain climatological conditions and may contribute to achieving the ambitions of the fourth agricultural revolution. However, do they encourage social and environmental aspects? Our analysis builds on the four dimensions of the Responsible Research and Innovation framework and evaluates, among other things, which production systems are promoted in climate service apps; how the services contribute to or challenge (inter)national targets for sustainable development, ecosystem restoration, and climate resilience. From a longlist of apps, we present the best documented ones as case studies: nine weather-based and two non-weather-based digital services. We target apps of relevance for Southeast Asian smallholder farming systems, where both supply of and demand for such apps have this far been limited in contrast to the access to phones, and where particularly the supply of apps is poorly documented. The key findings point out several gaps. First, digitalization in Southeast Asia’s farming system is driven by foreign investments, while partnerships with public agencies, in particular national Met Offices, were rare. Services were developed for farmers but not necessarily with farmers, thereby overlooking needs and social factors such as (digital) literacy and trust. While some of the weather-based apps included more than one crop, they primarily support single solutions and none of them targeted mixed or integrated farming systems. This calls for developers of digital climate services to innovate applications in an inclusive manner, and to support governments in achieving their commitments to global climate, biodiversity, and sustainability goals. Difficulties in generating comparable information about the reviewed apps regardless of the study’s geographical focus demonstrates a need for more transparent means and protocols for users to assess and compare digital climate services.