In June 2002, Global Forest Watch (GFW) and the government of Cameroon signed an agreement to share data and maps about the country's forests in a bid to curb rampant illegal logging. This is the first map-based monitoring agreement of its kind in Africa and the first entered into by the two-year-old Global Forest Watch.

The agreement stipulates that Cameroon's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MINEF) will provide GFW with information on forest concessions and allocations in the country. In turn, GFW will produce reports on the state of forest concessions in Cameroon and create maps that will enable MINEF officials to detect illegal logging in the country.

GFW is creating logging road maps of Cameroon's forests using GIS and remote sensing software from Esri and ERDAS. Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite images were obtained from the University of Maryland through the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Land Use Land Cover Change program. Logging roads were digitized using ArcView 3.2 with ERDAS' ArcView Image Analysis 1.1 extension.

Satellite imagery makes it possible to detect new logging roads outside of active concession areas and in national parks. It will also help to determine whether the rate and extent of logging follows forest management plans.

For more information, contact Isabel Munilla, World Resources Institute (e-mail: isabelm@wri.org, tel.: 202-729-7711, Web: www.globalforestwatch.org).