South Aceh - There are many technologies, tools and data that can be utilized for various purposes throughout the world. Often, these technologies and data are known to us too late, due to the lack of information obtained.

One of these technologies is satellite imagery-based technology that has been widely applied to various fields. One application of this technology is to identify forest damage, especially in forest areas.

The Aceh Forest, Nature and Environment Foundation (HAkA), one of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Aceh that supports the protection and preservation of the Leuser Ecosystem Area (KEL) has been actively sharing knowledge with several government agencies regarding Global Forest Watch (GFW), a platform that functions to monitor forests globally.

Global Forest Watch is a platform created by the World Resources Institutes (WRI) in collaboration with the University of Maryland, and several other partners. One of the data contained in GFW is the Global Land Analysis & Discovery (GLAD) data, which is able to identify areas that are likely to experience tree cover loss periodically every week.

Since 2017, the HAkA Foundation has been actively sharing knowledge about Global Forest Watch to almost all government agencies in the forestry sector in Aceh Province, such as the Environment and Forestry Service (DLHK), Forest Management Unit (KPH), Gunung Leuser National Park Management Division (BPTNGL), BPHP, BPDAS, BPKH, and BKSDA.

In addition, the HAkA Foundation also introduced Global Forest Watch to other related institutions, such as the Regional Police (Polda) and Resort Police (Polres) in Aceh Province, journalists in the environmental sector, and several partners of Non-Governmental Organizations.

On this occasion, the HAkA Foundation had the opportunity to provide Global Forest Watch training to Tipidter personnel within the Resort Police (Polres) and South Aceh Police Sector (Polsek), totaling fifteen people.

This training implemented strict health protocols during the training. The training was held on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, which was located at the South Aceh Police Hall, in Tapaktuan City. The training was opened directly by the Head of the South Aceh Police, AKBP Ardanto Nugroho S.I.K., S.H, M.H.

Ardanto Nugroho said, in the opening, that Leuser, which is mostly located in Aceh Province, has been the focus of attention for many people for a long time, not only in Aceh or Indonesia, but also the world.

"This area is known as the lungs of the world which is one of the largest oxygen contributors in the world," said Ardanto.

This training was divided into two sessions, namely the material session and the field session. In the material session, the speaker from the HAkA Foundation explained the use of Global Forest Watch and the features in it, both the version accessed from a computer and the smartphone version.

After that, the training continued with the use of the Forest Watcher (FW) application for navigation to the field to check GLAD data directly in the field.

Participants came directly to the GLAD location identified through Global Forest Watch in the Meukek area to check whether or not there was tree felling in the area.

During the training, the Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Meukek Police, Dani Indra, also gave his opinion regarding Global Forest Watch. "Global Forest Watch is very good for forest monitoring activities, because the data is up to date and the Forest Watcher application is also very good, because it can directly help navigate to the location of tree loss," he said in the middle of the training.

Dani Indra also hopes that Global Forest Watch can be included in their daily work system, such as the Lancang Kuning application whose data must be checked immediately as soon as the data comes out.

In addition, the South Aceh Police Chief, Ardanto also said that technology that has developed greatly allows us to know the entire condition of the earth's surface through satellite imagery.

He added that this is in line with the technology in Global Forest Watch, where we can find out information on the potential for tree cover loss faster in almost every location around the world.

"By holding Global Forest Watch training within the scope of the South Aceh Police, it is hoped that it can improve the capacity of forest monitoring more carefully in the future," he concluded.

Sources : www.rmolaceh.id/polres-aceh-selatan-dibekalia-pantau-kerusakan-hutan-melalui-satelit