SINREX Sustainable Solutions and Wilpa Capacity Development attended the ESA StatEO 2026 Conference this week in Frascati, where Destin Loge Lokegna presented Cameroon’s sample-based land-use and land-cover change assessment methodology. The methodology was used to develop the country’s Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) and was submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in January 2026.
Developed in collaboration with the Observatory on Climate Change (ONACC) and the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED), the methodology uses a systematic national 4 × 4 km sampling grid, which was interpreted annually from 2000 to 2023 using Collect Earth Online (CEO). By combining Landsat, Sentinel-1/2, Planet NICFI, and Google Earth imagery with rigorous QA/QC procedures and IPCC-aligned land-use classifications, the system produced transparent, consistent activity data for REDD+ reporting and long-term forest monitoring.
The presentation highlighted how multi-sensor, sample-based approaches can strengthen credible climate reporting, forest governance, and Earth observation applications throughout the Congo Basin.
It also identified opportunities to refine the classification of degradation and agroforestry systems, adopt stratified, spatially balanced sampling with class- and transition-specific precision targets, strengthen uncertainty reporting, develop country-specific emission factors, and support the long-term institutionalization of national monitoring systems.
Add comment