Conduct remote sensing national bamboo resource assessments for Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

Led by Tsinghua University and the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR), the project the team will use landsat images to determine bamboo species distribution, coverage, density and productivity in areas where it forms the canopy. National partners, the Ethiopian Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI), and the Uganda National Forest Authority (NFA), will make local assessments to verify remote sensing results with ground observations. To support African partners in this work, a regional training on the remote sensing assessment methodology will be held in Kenya. In addition to remote sensing, INBAR will also work with partners to share methods and train local authorities and community extension officers on how to conduct assessments of bamboo resources located outside of forests. The costs of such assessments will need to be borne by national or sub-national authorities. Activity 1.1 Outputs: 30 East Africans trained on bamboo remote sensing resource assessment by month 3; Method for assessing bamboo outside of forests developed and up to 3 local authorities per country trained through 3 courses (one per country); A regional bamboo resource assessment report by month 9. Tsinghua University team consisting of Prof. Peng Gong, Prof. Shuhua Qi, Dr. Duole Feng and Dr. Yuanyuan Zhao conducted a two days (13 and 14 January 2017) regional level remote sensing training for 20 GIS / inventory / remote sensing experts from four countries in Nairobi, Kenya . A scientific journal paper titled “Bamboo mapping of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda for the year 2016 using multi-temporal Landsat imagery” was published in International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geo-information (Vol 66, 116-125). remote sensing based regional bamboo resource assessment report of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda was published. The publication can be found at: http://resource.inbar.int/download/showdownload.php?lang=cn&id=167921. A web platform to view and measure the bamboo forest area developed and hosted in INBAR server http://bamboomap.inbar.int/ An mobile app was developed for assessing bamboo outside forests (homestead, farm boundary and block planting, and shelter belt planting). The web platform for mobile app can be found at (http://bambooafrica.inbar.int/). A total of six training was conducted for 99 participants at sub-national level