Participation of OSS in collaboration with DE Africa in the 7th AfriGEO Symposium in Swakopmund, Namibia, September 18-23, 2023.

Participation of OSS in collaboration with DE Africa in the 7th AfriGEO Symposium in Swakopmund, Namibia, September 18-23, 2023.

In collaboration with DE Africa, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) took part in the 7th AfriGEO Symposium held from September 18th to 23rd, 2023, in Swakopmund, Namibia. TAPSOBA W. Thierry Camille, an expert in Geomatics and Environment, represented OSS as a consortium member and leader of the land degradation theme.

AfriGEO is a pan-African initiative aimed at raising awareness and enhancing the capacities of governments, research institutions, and the private sector in the field of earth observation. Since 2016, AfriGEO symposiums have provided the community with the opportunity to share activities, forge collaborations, and address development challenges through earth observation.

In 2023, in addition to the main symposium, pre-symposium training sessions were organized by ESRI, Digital Earth Africa, and GEO LDN & CBAS. These aimed to develop geoinformation skills and support the goals of promoting earth observation in Africa. Sharing resources and practical tools with participants enabled them to map areas vulnerable to natural resource degradation and prepare for weather and climate-related risks.

The training sessions served as a platform to strengthen synergies and share knowledge and best practices on various current issues. They notably covered concepts of Web Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and how to create and share web maps, applications, and other authoritative content via operational digital systems. Participants were thus able to use, create, and share content with tangible geographic and visual impact for their projects.

Mrs. Fatou Ndeye MAR, Coordinator of the Land Department at OSS, highlighted the organization's experience in the context of the Great Green Wall. During her intervention in the session on nature-based solutions, she emphasized how Earth Observation (EO) tools are deployed to support conservation and restoration initiatives, focusing on ecosystem-based mitigation and adaptation approaches.

The event provided OSS with the opportunity to present the "notebooks" developed on the DEA sandbox platform, carried out in 2022 and 2023 in the coverage area (Burkina Faso and Tunisia). These efforts supported the implementation of conventions related to desertification, climate change, and biodiversity conservation, with a particular emphasis on the importance of Earth Observation (EO) tools in land degradation assessment.