Mapping vegetation density in a heterogeneous river floodplain ecosystem using pointable CHRIS/PROBA data

River floodplains in the Netherlands serve as water storage areas, while they also have the function of nature rehabilitation areas. Floodplain vegetation is therefore subject to natural processes of vegetation succession. At the same time, vegetation encroachment obstructs the water flow into the floodplains and increases the flood risk for the hinterland. Spaceborne pointable imaging spectroscopy has the potential to quantify vegetation density on the basis of leaf area index (LAI) from a desired view zenith angle. In this respect, hyperspectral pointable CHRIS data were linked to the ray tracing canopy reflectance model FLIGHT to retrieve vegetation density estimates over a heterogeneous river floodplain. FLIGHT enables simulating top-of-canopy reflectance of vegetated surfaces either in turbid (e.g., grasslands) or in 3D (e.g., forests) mode. By inverting FLIGHT against CHRIS data, LAI was computed for three main classified vegetation types, ‘herbaceous’, ‘shrubs’ and ‘forest’, and for the CHRIS view zenith angles in nadir, backward (-36°) and forward (+36°) scatter direction. The -36° direction showed most LAI variability within the vegetation types and was best validated, closely followed by the nadir direction. The +36° direction led to poorest LAI retrievals. The class-based inversion process has been implemented into a GUI toolbox which would enable the river manager to generate LAI maps in a semiautomatic way

What is out there? A typology of land restoration projects in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract Restoring degraded lands is high on the international agenda and the number of restoration projects in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has increased considerably over the past decades. However, the variety of approaches used have not been systematically documented and analyzed. We aimed to develop a restoration typology as a function of the geographical and socio-economical setting, planning, timeframe, finances, implementation, monitoring and potential impact, which will help to discern broad patterns and identify gaps in project implementation in LAC. We categorized 97 restoration projects using Multiple Correspondence Analysis and a Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components. Three main restoration types emerged from the clustering, with the main defining variables being: (1) project area under restoration, (2) amount of funding received, (3) source of funding and (4) monitoring efforts. The first type are large-scale projects, which receive high amounts of funding provided by international donors, and with a well-established monitoring plan; the second type are projects financed with private money, typically lacking a sound monitoring program; and the third type represents small projects with low amounts of funding, financed with public funds from national governments, often with a rudimentary monitoring plan. The typology enables a comparative analysis of the status and trends of restoration activities across Latin America. We conclude that, despite growing awareness and recognition that integrated approaches are needed to revert complex and interconnected socio-economic and environmental issues like land degradation, the socio-economic dimension remains underexposed in the majority of restoration projects, whereas monitoring is still regarded as an extra cost instead of a necessary investment

Replication Data for: Restoration Database for Latin America and the Caribbean. Comparative Research Project on Landscape Restoration for Emissions Reductions, CIAT/WUR project for USAID

This database is produced as part of the Comparative Research Project on Landscape Restoration for Emissions Reductions, a collaboration between Wageningen University and Research (Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing) and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), supported by USAID. The aim of this research project is to map and characterize planned, ongoing and finished restoration projects in LAC countries. The database contains detailed project information from 154 restoration projects in LAC. Projects from various initiatives (20x20, GEF, UNFCCC CDM, FIP, and many others) are included in the database. We used project reports and information from websites from the various initiatives to assemble project information for this database. Projects from the following databases were included: •Cerrón, J., del Castillo, J., Mathez-Stiefel, S.-L. and Thomas, E. (2017) Lecciones aprendidas de experiencias de restauración en el Perú. Bioversity, ICRAF, SERFOR. •Méndez-Toribio, M., Martínez-Garza, C., Ceccon, E. and Guariguata, M. R. (2018) La restauración de ecosistemas terrestres en México. Estado actual, necesidades y oportunidades. Documentos Ocasionales 185. CIFOR. doi: 10.17528/cifor/006853. •Murcia, C. and Guariguata, M. (2014) La restauración ecológica en Colombia. Tendencias, necesidades y oportunidades. CIFOR

Replication Data for: Restoration Database for Latin America and the Caribbean. Comparative Research Project on Landscape Restoration for Emissions Reductions, CIAT/WUR project for USAID

This database is produced as part of the Comparative Research Project on Landscape Restoration for Emissions Reductions, a collaboration between Wageningen University and Research (Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing) and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), supported by USAID. The aim of this research project is to map and characterize planned, ongoing and finished restoration projects in LAC countries. The database contains detailed project information from 154 restoration projects in LAC. Projects from various initiatives (20x20, GEF, UNFCCC CDM, FIP, and many others) are included in the database. We used project reports and information from websites from the various initiatives to assemble project information for this database. Projects from the following databases were included: •Cerrón, J., del Castillo, J., Mathez-Stiefel, S.-L. and Thomas, E. (2017) Lecciones aprendidas de experiencias de restauración en el Perú. Bioversity, ICRAF, SERFOR. •Méndez-Toribio, M., Martínez-Garza, C., Ceccon, E. and Guariguata, M. R. (2018) La restauración de ecosistemas terrestres en México. Estado actual, necesidades y oportunidades. Documentos Ocasionales 185. CIFOR. doi: 10.17528/cifor/006853. •Murcia, C. and Guariguata, M. (2014) La restauración ecológica en Colombia. Tendencias, necesidades y oportunidades. CIFOR