Using free online platforms to enable multi-user access to the most up-to-date information about priority areas for conservation in Mato Grosso’s cerrado, Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV) has prepared the baseline for data integration from the ground to the cloud. The success of a first pilot focused on the implementation of remote data collection using mobile phones is a promising start for the construction of a local interpretation of High Conservation Value Areas (HCVAs) as it provides an open platform upon which the Roundtable for Responsible Soy (RTRS) can build.

 

Forest Engineer Leandro Teixeira checks the coordinates on a GPS device while out in the field collecting data on HCVA 5 and 6. Teixeira is part of the ICV team mapping High Conservation Value Areas.  Photo by Vinicius Silgueiro, ICV.

 

Soy is one of the most lucrative crops in the cerrado savannah region of Mato Grosso and its expansion is contributing to the destruction of large areas of natural vegetation annually.  Although mapping techniques used to prioritize areas for conservation continue to advance, data on socio-biodiversity has proven difficult to collect and interpret and thus has received little attention in the models used by mapping specialists. To avoid a continued loss of biodiversity and other natural resources due to soy expansion, ICV carried out a small scale mapping pilot of HCVAs in the cerrado savannah’s Xingu River basin. Recent changes in the forest code that decrease the protection on forest remnants brought particular urgency to adaptating the generic RTRS standard for soy production to the local reality and ensuring compulsory protection of privately owned land.

 

ICV focused its data collection in the municipalities of Barra do Garças, Nova Xavantina, and Água Boa, using the pilot to refine at the farm level the large-scale HCVA mapping exercise previously undertaken by ICV in Mato Grosso state. The HCVA biodiversity framework was specifically utilized and, as substantial data on HCVA criteria 1 to 4 already existed, ICV focused its efforts on mapping criteria 5 (areas fundamental to meeting local communities’ basic needs such as subsistence and health) and criteria 6 (areas critical to local communities’ traditional cultural identity). To this end, ICV undertook a five day field trip to seek out such environmental services as water, fish, honey, and recreation. More than 20 areas were evaluated and a total of 14 key stakeholders were interviewed as part of this pilot, including the mayor of Nova Xavantina, Gercino Caetano, and the Xavante Indigenous Leader, Chief Tsipassé Xavante.

 

The pilot utilized a suite of new technology that enables users to remotely update an online database with a range of biodiversity data sent from the ground, including geographic coordinates, video, photos, recordings, and structured interviews. At the collection stage, the Open Data Kit “Collect” application runs on any cell phone with an Android operating system, even when the user does not have mobile service or an Internet connection at the time of data collection. The application then sends the data into the online Open Data Kit “Aggregate” tool for validation by ICV´s GIS Lab, where it is edited and shared via a Google web-mapping service.  By combining this data with land use maps derived from satellite imagery, ICV was  able to runs a MARXAN optimization algorithm, which when fully rolled out, will allow for prioritization of certain areas for conservation based in social and cultural values.  This optimization weighs conservation value against costs of implementation and indicates the most cost effective areas for conservation.

 

The findings from this field trial will be used to refine HCVA modeling for prioritization of watershed land units for conservation in Brazil. Additionally, ICV looks to utilize the results of this project and the methodology employed to propose to the RTRS’s Principles and Criteria Development Group a strengthened definition of the biodiversity criterion (Criterion 4.4) in the RTRS certification scheme.

 

The pilot of ground-level data collection is a milestone in the implementation of local high conservation value analyses in Brazil and is a baseline for the national mapping guidelines and local interpretation. Mobile technology is also making the collection and interpretation of large amounts of high-resolution data on social and cultural biodiversity indicators easier, thereby empowering the participation  of indigenous and other traditional populations. Acceptance of the mobile technology by stakeholders, including environmental agency officers and representatives of local civil society associations, opens the possibility of training a variety of collaborators to adopt the technology and ensure continuous data collection in the future.