SERVIR-Amazonia joined the global SERVIR network in early 2019, bringing state-of-the-art land monitoring technology into the hands of land managers in this globally critical ecosystem. Based in Colombia, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) implements SERVIR-Amazonia together with consortium partners from the Institute of Agricultural and Forest Management and Certification (IMAFLORA) in Brazil, Conservación Amazónica (ACCA) in Peru, and SIG. The SERVIR Hub will focus on development activities in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, with impacts that reach into Ecuador, Guyana and Suriname.
SERVIR-Amazonia will, like other SERVIR hubs, develop services in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including government agencies, civil society, the private sector, indigenous groups, women, and marginalized people. The Hub will empower people in the region to track environmental changes in near real-time, evaluate climatic threats, and rapidly respond to natural disasters.
The lead hosting organization, CIAT, aims to increase prosperity and improve human nutrition in the tropics through research-based solutions in agriculture and the environment. CIAT has been a regional actor and stakeholder for the last 50 years, with links to public, private and nongovernmental organizations throughout the Amazon region. The Center is also a leading source of information on systems resilience, resource-use efficiency, social equity, food security and local livelihoods.
SIG is supporting SERVIR by providing expertise on geospatial technologies including: land use and land cover monitoring systems leveraging machine learning to identify habitat change, climate suitability models for planning climate-resilient landscapes, geospatial scenario analyses to assist with water-related conflict resolution, and ecosystem service evaluations integrating soil carbon, biodiversity, and water resources.
By putting tools in the hands of land use professionals in the field, SERVIR-Amazonia is improving local technical capacity and job skills, saving money, and helping preserve one of the planets’ most valuable ecosystems, one satellite scan at a time. For full project information, please see the SERVIR Amazonia website.
