Back to success stories

Analysing land use change for improved decision making

Our Regional Land Cover Monitoring System is a first-of-its-kind resource for the region

70% Complete
Recognising the data gaps in land cover and inconsistencies in land cover maps in the HKH region, we launched our Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS), which provides annual land cover mapping and change analysis through generating spatially seamless and temporally consistent annual land cover maps. The systems uses broad land use categories recommended by the IPCC, which are suitable for monitoring changes in forest cover and carbon stocks, and urbanisation extent at the regional level.Our web-based application provides easy access to the harmonised land cover database for the entire HKH region from 2000 to 2018. It provides user-friendly tools to generate maps, charts, and statistics that improve understanding of the change processes and aid informed decision making. The system is being further customised to generate annual land cover data for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal.

The RLCMS will improve reporting on forest cover change and support lawmakers in making evidencebased policies to improve related land management practices. Additionally, it will support relevant government departments in making policies, planning, and managing their forestry sector.

Spatially seamless and temporally consistent annual land cover maps for the HKH region support the sustainable management of natural resources, environmental protection, and food security, and provide required information for national and international reporting such as greenhouse gas inventories and environmental-economic accounting

Other stories

14 Aug 2020 Atmosphere
A burning problem

Crop residue burning affects public health and contributes to regional pollution and global warming.

Bridging the STEM gender gap in the HKH

Women researchers and technologists in the Earth observation (EO) and geospatial information technology (GIT) sector are ...

Climate Services Initiative takes shape

Expanding knowledge on and access to climate and weather services

Regional Drought Monitoring Outlook System for South Asia launched

Near-real time monitoring of droughts through reliable indicators

Benchmark glaciers for monitoring in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Key steps towards more data generation, sharing and regional cooperation to understand and mitigate climate change impacts

9 Jul 2021 SERVIR-HKH
Data for food security planning in Nepal

From June to November 2020, 130 staff members from district ...

Empowering women farmers through agricultural mechanisation

As men migrate to seek alternative livelihoods, women have been compelled to take on tasks formerly ...

Flagship publications of 2021

In 2021, we published three books based on the work across three different initiatives.