The ‘age of ignorance’

For a long time land governance, land tenure and land rights remained in the ‘age of ignorance’.  We have known for some time that land governance is a key ingredient for social, economic and environmental development; what was missing, however, was the data.  With the little information available to us at the time, we set priorities and crafted interventions for our course of work. Relying on a few rough figures meant that we were often repeating mantras and slogans based on loose, rather than on hard and reliable facts.  Most notable among these was the often repeated and now widely disputed, “women own 2% of the world’s land”.

Earlier this year, in honor of International Open Data Day, which took place on March 2nd, we put out a call, asking Land Portal users and any and all interested to submit their very own data stories to the Land Portal.  What we were looking for were stories that were unique and original, and that presented data in innovative and engaging ways.  We realized that this was no easy feat, but each and every one of the submissions we received made inventive use of photos, quotes, maps and infographics to tell compelling stories.  In the end, the be

In early May 2019, it was reported that agricultural areas of central and northern Iraq were being set ablaze — allegedly by remaining pockets of fighters from the so-called Islamic State.

We meet Rosalía in a roadside café in a dusty town in the Quiché department, in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. She lowers her voice whenever people come in – you never know who might be listening. Land is sensitive stuff, especially in Quiché, a region that still bears, perhaps more than any other part of Guatemala, the scars of the civil war (1960-1996) – as we will see. In 2018 alone, 15 defenders of land rights in Guatemala have been killed with total impunity, several of them in Quiché.

The land sector is in the throes of the Global Data Revolution, which, of course, has created opportunities as well as challenges.  Government data portals, open access academic journals, community mapping and other citizen-generated data initiatives create possibilities for inclusive and open approaches to data collection and management.  But how can these opportunities be leveraged for real change and benefits to citizens?

Introduction

The Deforestation and Forest Degradation in the Amazon Biome map was produced by Imazon in order to contribute towards monitoring in the region. The methodology applied simultaneously generates mapping of deforestation and forest degradation [caused by logging activity and forest burning] using Landsat satellite images. Existing methods individually detect and map those processes, which can lead to overlaps in the results and increasing uncertainty in estimates of annual deforestation rates.

By Kathleen Buckingham and Lars Laestadius

This is the third installment of WRI’s blog series, New Perspectives on Restoration. The series aims to share WRI’s views on restoration, dispel myths, and explore restoration opportunities throughout the world.

By Katie Reytar 

This is the second installment of WRI’s blog series, New Perspectives on Restoration. The series aims to share WRI’s views on restoration, dispel myths, and explore restoration opportunities throughout the world.

By Robert Winterbottom 

This is the first installment of WRI’s blog series, New Perspectives on Restoration. The series aims to share WRI’s views on restoration, dispel myths, and explore restoration opportunities throughout the world.

Almost half of the world’s original forests have been cleared or degraded. So naturally, most people think of the “forest restoration” movement as an effort to re-plant these lost trees.