Land & Carbon Lab

🌍 Grasslands are vital global carbon stores, providing critical habitats for wildlife, underpinning livelihoods through grazing, and supporting communities worldwide. To protect and sustainably manage them, we need a deeper understanding—and better data is the key. The Global Pasture Watch research consortium, convened by Land & Carbon Lab, is developing groundbreaking tools and data sets to map grassland extent, productivity, livestock density and vegetation height. These advancements aim to provide decision-makers, scientists and land managers with actionable insights to address the complex challenges facing grasslands today. 📊 Learn more about the consortium’s transformative work and watch the full video here: https://lnkd.in/dKPxvwCt #GlobalPastureWatch #GrasslandMapping Bezos Earth Fund OpenGeoHub Foundation Laboratório de Processamento de Imagens e Geoprocessamento (Lapig) University of Maryland German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig Cornell University International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

What does it take to protect the world’s grasslands? A team of global experts working together to close critical knowledge gaps. 🌿 The #GlobalPastureWatch research consortium, convened by Land & Carbon Lab, combines expertise in machine learning, ecology and agriculture to create cutting-edge tools for mapping and monitoring grasslands. Discover how the consortium is advancing solutions for grassland protection, restoration and sustainable management here: https://lnkd.in/dKPxvwCt Consortium members: Cornell University GLAD Lab, University of Maryland International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig Land & Carbon Lab Laboratório de Processamento de Imagens e Geoprocessamento (Lapig) at the Federal University of Goiás  OpenGeoHub Foundation #GlobalPastureWatch #GrasslandMapping

“You can’t manage what you can’t monitor.” - Andy Jarvis, Director of Future of Food, Bezos Earth Fund. Grasslands, including open grasslands, grassy shrublands and savannas, are among the most vital ecosystems on Earth, covering roughly 40% of its land surface. They sustain over 1 billion people, provide essential ecosystem services, and store critical carbon stocks. Yet, only 10% are protected, leaving many at risk of degradation and conversion to other land uses. The Global Pasture Watch research consortium, convened by Land & Carbon Lab, is tackling these challenges by developing groundbreaking global data to monitor grassland extent, condition, and management. These insights are essential for protecting biodiversity, sustaining livelihoods and mitigating climate change. 🌍 Learn more about this innovative initiative and watch the full video here: https://bit.ly/gpw2024 #GlobalPastureWatch #GrasslandMapping

🌍 Global land cover maps don’t perform equally everywhere. Countries like #Algeria, #Egypt, #Greenland and #SaudiArabia —dominated by a single land cover type—tend to have the highest accuracies across maps. But what about countries with more complex landscapes? And does geography tell the full story? Our latest blog dives into the relative strengths and weaknesses of four key land cover maps, examining how variations in accuracy and other characteristics influence their application to real-world decisions. From emissions estimates to nature conservation, understanding these nuances is essential for effective land use planning and global goal tracking. 📊 Discover the findings: https://lnkd.in/g_Qy8vDV Wageningen University & Research University of Maryland

What does “accuracy” mean in the world of global land cover maps? 🗺️ In our latest blog, Land & Carbon Lab experts and partners analyze four global land cover data sets to uncover their relative strengths and weaknesses. Land cover maps play a key role in understanding how human activities are shaping our planet and the pressure this puts on natural resources. By understanding the accuracy and unique characteristics of these maps, users can better apply them to specific applications, whether it be related to land use planning, assessing progress toward global goals like land degradation neutrality and sustainable development, emissions estimates or nature conservation. 📊 Discover more: https://lnkd.in/g_Qy8vDV Wageningen University & Research University of Maryland

🌱 Non-forest ecosystems, such as grasslands and savannahs, are vitally important but often overlooked. Defining, mapping and understanding these ecosystems is key to identifying and preventing their conversion in commodity supply chains. 🤝 We have been collaborating with the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) to develop consistent, actionable definitions and improve our ability to monitor these landscapes. Together, we aim to enable better protection of these natural ecosystems. Read more about our joint efforts and learn more about Land & Carbon Lab’s open-source tools, including Version 1 of our Natural Lands Map, that help companies assess and reduce their footprint on natural ecosystems: https://bit.ly/3VbAt9D

📢 A communications internship is available for a university student in the Netherlands who is looking to gain experience in creating compelling, data-driven stories that spark action to protect forests and other vital ecosystems. 🌳 It's a great opportunity to work with experts and teams across a global non-profit organization, and hone your skills in strategic messaging, digital content development and social media. Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/eCj3w6Gz

🌍 Understanding greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts is key to unlocking smarter climate solutions. Land & Carbon Lab is generating innovative, open-source solutions that address land monitoring challenges in different contexts, providing insights into how to optimize land’s contribution to climate change mitigation while sustaining people and protecting nature. This includes monitoring GHG impacts across diverse landscapes. We’re bridging gaps in GHG inventories, designing a global system to track emissions and removals across forests, croplands, and grasslands, reducing emissions in corporate supply chains, enhancing transparency in carbon markets, and supporting communities in estimating and tracking land-based emissions and removals. By tackling these challenges, we’re empowering policymakers, companies, and communities to take informed and effective climate action. 👉 Learn more: https://bit.ly/3YU33NI

🌍 How do we measure the true impact of land use on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? 🌿📊 Land plays a critical role in shaping GHG concentrations, and the way we manage land can either accelerate or slow climate change. But unlike industries with easily tracked emissions, nature doesn’t report its activities to us. At Land & Carbon Lab, we’re tackling this challenge with innovative, open-source solutions that provide actionable insights into land’s role in climate change mitigation: ✅ Designing a comprehensive global monitoring system for forests, croplands, grasslands, and more to map emissions and removals. ✅ Bridging gaps in national GHG inventories by aligning monitoring data with reporting frameworks. ✅ Supporting local GHG inventories by providing methods tailored to community-level climate action. ✅ Reducing emissions in corporate supply chains by advancing consistency and accountability in GHG accounting. ✅ Improving transparency in carbon markets with consistent, independent deforestation estimates. ✅ Supporting ground-based measurements to enhance data accuracy and empower local partners. Learn more about our groundbreaking work in monitoring land’s GHG impacts and solutions: https://bit.ly/3YU33NI 🌿📊

🌍 Forest definitions differ widely around the world, influencing how we monitor and protect these essential landscapes. Establishing consistent definitions can enhance our ability to measure forest health and drive meaningful progress in reducing deforestation, strengthening ecosystem resilience, and supporting sustainable land use. 🛰️ Updating these definitions is also key for fully leveraging satellite technology—an invaluable tool for global forest monitoring. Many definitions were established before satellites existed, creating limitations in how well they align with satellite data and our ability to accurately track forest cover and deforestation. Rethinking these definitions enables us to set clear benchmarks, improve policy effectiveness, and better align our data with geospatial monitoring capabilities, supporting informed decision-making. In their latest article, Land & Carbon Lab experts explore how revisiting forest definitions can strengthen these efforts worldwide. Read more: https://bit.ly/3Crc8WV