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COVID, Kids, and Diversity: Birds of Illusion

Posted on June 2, 2020June 23, 2020 by Ana Folhadella

The Biodiversity Day Contest: “If you could fly, which bird would you be?”

By María Elena Gutierrez

Ricardo's bird drawing done during Amazon Conservation 'if you were a bird what would you be' contest

Ricardo, 6 years old, drawing

Most of us living in the city would enjoy the opportunity to spend quarantine in a house in the middle of the forest, closer to nature. We could appreciate spending the day listening to the birds, smelling the flowers, or admiring the movements of a calming river.

COVID-19 has shown us how vulnerable our society is, how the pressure that we put on wild animals has disastrous consequences, and that our individual decisions have to be considered as part of the whole picture. But fear shouldn’t govern us. On the contrary, we should reinvent ourselves as one family living in the same house: Earth.

Because of that, our sister organization in Peru, Conservación Amazónica -ACCA wanted to celebrate Biodiversity Day, May 22nd, in a different manner. We wanted to involve the future leaders who, without a doubt, have a much higher environmental conscious than we do, and who have inherited the responsibility of handling the extremely fragile planet. I am referring to our children.

Emma's watercolor bird painting done during Amazon Conservation 'if you were a bird what would you be' contest

Emma, 6 years old, painting of her bird

May 9th was Global Big Day, a day to celebrate the fascinating diversity of birds around the world. Thousands of birdwatchers enter forests and take pictures of birds in their natural habitats, and if they observe a new species of bird they can register it. Peru is the second most bird-diverse country on the planet and since we couldn’t participate this year, we organized a competition for children agews 5-12 to motivate them to birdwatch at home, and to draw pictures of any birds they might see through their windows. We asked them “if you could fly, which bird would you be?” We asked them to describe the bird that they would be and explain their reasoning. The results were marvelous.

Emma, a six-year-old girl from San Miguel (near Lima), demonstrated her watercolor skills by painting a picture of a bird who has the power to turn anyone who harms the jungle into better people. Her wings also heal sick animals when they fall to the ground.

Daniel's bird painting done during Amazon Conservation 'if you were a bird what would you be' contest

Daniel, 7 years old, painting of the ‘cacatrua’

For his bird, a 7-year-old Daniel invented a bird called the cacatrua. Daniels bird is considered extinct, has feathers with a wide array of colors, and feeds on wild flowers. On top of all this, it can give presents to it’s friends and asks for help from it’s woodpecker friends only when necessary.

Amazonas, an 11-year-old from Huanchoc, Cusco, labored for three days trying to paint her flycatcher just right. We dare to say that she has the makings of a true artist, but we hope that she continues to quench her thirst for knowledge about birds. In her description, she denotes that her bird can help exterminate pests that reside on plants. We don’t know if she’s aware of it, but she touched on a very important role birds play in the Amazon, as their presence is vital to maintain an equilibrium within an ecosystem.

Amazonas bird painting done during Amazon Conservation 'if you were a bird what would you be' contest

Amazonas, 11, painting of a flycatcher

Behind each piece of art there are very moving cases, such as the teacher who submitted drawings from her students. The mothers who, on top of all their other responsibilities, are now homeschooling their children and working remotely, sent us pictures of their kids. Or the proud fathers who saw their kids painting the birds of their surroundings.

'El Colibri' bird drawing done during Amazon Conservation 'if you were a bird what would you be' contest

‘El Colibri’ bird drawing submission

The vast majority of children describe themselves as feeling like they’re birds in captivity. Some have a more optimistic tone, while others are annoyed by their entrapment. They also saw in the bird the quality that deep down they liked more of in themselves. Some described memories with their grandfathers, being awestruck at the elegance of the birds they would watch together. Others were extremely passionate about the biology of the creatures. But they all had the ingenuity and sincerity that only a child can possess.

Will there be birdwatchers in the future? Will businesses be environmentally conscious? Will we convert anyone into an investigator in our biological stations at Wayqecha or Los Amigos? Will there be artists focused on conservation? Political leaders with sustainable visions? We don’t know. But we have learned that in the middle of a pandemic there’s one thing to focus on for the future: promoting environmental knowledge to children. And we hope that you add on to our agenda, whether you’re an artist, professor, journalist, uncle, aunt, mother, or father. If your child wants to fly, would you help build them wings?

MAAP #119: Predicting 2020 Brazilian Amazon Fires

Posted on May 29, 2020August 26, 2020 by Ana Folhadella

The Brazilian Amazon fires made international headlines last year.

By analyzing an archive of satellite imagery (from Planet Explorer), we made the major discovery that many of the 2019 fires were actually burning recently deforested areas (MAAP #113). In fact, many of the fires were burning areas deforested earlier that same year of 2019.

Thus, we may predict 2020 fire locations based on identifying major deforestation events in the early months of this year.

2019 Brazilian Amazon fire burning recently deforested area, not uncontrolled forest fire. Data: Planet; Analysis: MAAP.

Using a novel methodology*, we estimate the deforestation of over 150,000 hectares (373,240 acres) of primary forest in the Brazilian Amazon thus far in 2020 (through May 25). Thus, there is high potential for another intense fire season.

Below, we illustrate the process of predicting 2020 fires based on recent deforestation.

Note: In MAAP #118 we just reported that the first major fires of 2020 were in fact burning recently deforested areas (2018-19).

Predicting 2020 fires

In the Base Map, the yellow dots indicate the largest new deforestation events that we predict are likely 2020 fire locations. See below for satellite imagery examples (letters A-G). Two of the likely fire points are within protected areas (see Annex).

Base Map. Major 2020 deforestation events (yellow dots) as predictors of 2020 fire events. Data: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, UMD/GLAD, RAISG, MAAP. Click to Enlarge.

Examples of Major 2020 Deforestation Events

Below is a series of images showing the major deforestation events of 2020 that we predict are likely upcoming fire locations (see letters A-G on the Base Map above for context). The red arrows point to the major deforestation events. Note that all of the deforestation areas are surrounded by primary forest that could be impacted if fires escape. Also note that several deforestation areas are quite large, over 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres).

Zoom A (Mato Grosso)

Zoom A shows the deforestation of 775 hectares (1,915 acres) between January (left panel) and May 2020 (right panel), in the state of Mato Grosso.

Satellite Zoom A. January to May, showing deforestation.

Zoom A. Click to enlarge.

Zoom B (Mato Grosso)

Zoom B shows the deforestation of 205 hectares (510 acres) between January (left panel) and May 2020 (right panel), in the state of Mato Grosso.

Satellite Zoom B. January to May, showing deforestation.

Satellite Zoom B. Click to enlarge.

Zoom C (Mato Grosso)

Zoom C shows the deforestation of 395 hectares (980 acres) between January (left panel) and May 2020 (right panel), in the state of Mato Grosso.

Satellite Zoom C. January to May, showing deforestation.

Zoom C. Click to enlarge.

Zoom D (Mato Grosso)

Zoom D shows the deforestation of 300 hectares (735 acres) between January (left panel) and May 2020 (right panel), in the state of Mato Grosso.

Satellite Zoom D. January to May, showing deforestation.

Zoom D. Click to enlarge.

Zoom E (Rondônia)

Zoom E shows the deforestation of 840 hectares (2,075 acres) between January (left panel) and April 2020 (right panel), in the state of Rondônia.

Satellite Zoom E Rondonia. January to May, showing deforestation.

Zoom E. Click to enlarge.

Zoom F (Amazonas)

Zoom F shows the deforestation of 2,395 hectares (5,920 acres) between January (left panel) and May 2020 (right panel), in the state of Amazonas.

Zoom F. Click to enlarge.

Zoom G (Pará)

Zoom G shows the deforestation of 5,990 hectares (14,800 acres) between January (left panel) and May 2020 (right panel), in the state of Pará.

Satellite Zoom G Para . January to May, showing deforestation.

Zoom G. Click to enlarge.

Coordinates

World Eckert IV (Decimal Degrees) (X,Y)

Zoom A: -54.862624, -11.971904
Zoom B: -55.087026, -11.836788
Zoom C: -56.999405, -11.979054
Zoom D: -57.128192, -11.896948
Zoom E: -62.658907, -8.477944
Zoom F: -58.892358, -6.567775
Zoom G: -54.948419, -7.853721

2020 Fire Forecast

The July – September 2020 forecast points to an active fire season in most of the western Amazon – much of central and southern Peru, northern Bolivia and the Brazilian states of Acre and Rondônia. This year’s forecast indicates an active fire season of similar magnitude to those of 2005 and 2010, when widespread fires were observed in the region.

To more information check:https://firecast.cast.uark.edu/

Annex – Likely 2020 fire locations in relation to Protected Areas and Indigenous Territories

Methodology

*We developed a novel methodology to estimate deforestation of primary forest in the Brazilian Amazon. For 2020 data, we merged confirmed GLAD alerts (University of Maryland) with select DETER alerts from the Brazilian space agency (INPE). This methodology takes advantage of the higher resolution of the GLAD alerts (30 meters vs 64 meters from DETER), but also the national expertise of the Brazilian government.

For the DETER data, we used the three deforestation and mining categories (DESMATAMENTO CR, DESMATAMENTO Vegetal, and MINERACAO). We avoided overlapping areas with the GLAD alerts.

Finally, we filtered the data for only primary forest loss. For our estimate of primary forest loss, we intersected the forest cover loss data with the additional dataset “primary humid tropical forests” as of 2001 (Turubanova et al 2018). We also removed all previous forest loss data 2001-19.

Acknowledgements

We thank J. Beavers, S. Novoa, K. Fernandes, and G. Palacios for helpful comments to earlier versions of this report.

This work was supported by the following major funders: Global Forest Watch Small Grants Fund (WRI), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), International Conservation Fund of Canada (ICFC), Metabolic Studio, and Erol Foundation.

Citation

Finer M, Mamani N (2020) Deforestation and Fires in the Brazilian Amazon – 2020. MAAP:

MAAP #118: Real-time Amazon Fire Monitoring App

Posted on May 29, 2020August 26, 2020 by Ana Folhadella

In time for the next fire season, we are relaunching an improved version of our Amazon real-time fire monitoring app, hosted by Google Earth Engine.

Image 1. First Major Amazon fire of 2020, in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Data: Planet.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols.* A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions.*

The major feature of the app is user-friendly and real-time identification of major fires across the Amazon, based on the aerosol emissions detected by Sentinel-5P.

The app also contains the commonly-used “fire alerts,” which are satellite-based data of temperature anomalies.*

Thus, the user combine data from the atmosphere (aerosol) with data from the ground (temperature) to pinpoint the source of major fires.

Since the data updates daily and is not impacted by clouds, real-time monitoring really is possible. Our goal is to upload each day’s new image by midnight.

Using the app, we recently identified the first major Amazon fire of 2020 on May 28, in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil. It was burning an area recently deforested in July 2019.

Below, we provide instructions on how to use the app, with the May 28 fire as an example.

Instructions &
How We Identified First Major Brazilian Amazon Fire of 2020

Step 1. Open real-time fire monitoring app, hosted by Google Earth Engine. Scan the Amazon for aerosol emissions of major fires (indicated in yellow, orange, and red). In this case, we spotted elevated emissions in the southeast Brazilian Amazon (on May 28, 2020).

Step 2. Click the “Layers” menu in the upper right for more options. For example, clicking “State/Department Boundaries” we see the emissions are coming from Mato Grosso. Note you can also add “Protected Areas” and check the dates of the images and alerts.

Step 3. Zoom in on the aerosol emissions.

Step 4. Adjust (slide down) the transparency of the emissions layer to see the underlying fire alerts. We use the alerts to pinpoint the source of emissions (see purple circle). Obtain coordinates of the alerts by clicking on the map and then checking the “Coordinates” bar on the left (below Instructions).

Step 5. We entered the coordinates into Planet Explorer and found a high-resolution image for that same day (May 28), confirming the first major Amazon fire of 2020. The burned area was 357 hectares (882 acres).

Predicting 2020 Brazilian Amazon Fires

Using the Planet archive, we discovered that this exact area was deforested between July and August 2019, and then burned in May 2020. This fits our recent major finding that many Brazilian Amazon fires are actually burning recently deforested areas (MAAP #113). For more on how to predict upcoming fires based on recent deforestation, see MAAP #119.