Editing Deforestation (section)

== Monitoring ==
[[File:Terra Indígena Tenharim do Igarapé Preto, Amazonas (41737918674).jpg|thumb|Agents from IBAMA, [[Brazil]]'s environmental police, searching for illegal logging activity in [[Indigenous territory (Brazil)|Indigenous territory]] in the [[Amazon rainforest]], 2018]]
There are multiple methods that are appropriate and reliable for reducing and monitoring deforestation. One method is the "visual interpretation of aerial photos or satellite imagery that is labor-intensive but does not require high-level training in computer image processing or extensive computational resources".<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Another method includes hot-spot analysis (that is, locations of rapid change) using expert opinion or coarse resolution satellite data to identify locations for detailed digital analysis with high resolution satellite images.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Deforestation is typically assessed by quantifying the amount of area deforested, measured at the present time.
From an environmental point of view, quantifying the damage and its possible consequences is a more important task, while conservation efforts are more focused on forested land protection and development of land-use alternatives to avoid continued deforestation.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Deforestation rate and total area deforested have been widely used for monitoring deforestation in many regions, including the Brazilian Amazon deforestation monitoring by INPE.<ref name="ReferenceC" /> A global satellite view is available, an example of [[land change science]] monitoring of land cover over time.<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Forest Change – Google Crisis Map|url=https://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest|access-date=12 October 2016|work=Google Crisis Map}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Popkin|first1=Gabriel|date=4 October 2016|title=Warning to forest destroyers: this scientist will catch you|journal=Nature News & Comment|volume=538|issue=7623|pages=24–26|bibcode=2016Natur.538...24P|doi=10.1038/538024a|pmid=27708330|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Satellite imaging has become crucial in obtaining data on levels of deforestation and reforestation. [[Landsat]] [[satellite]] data, for example, has been used to map tropical deforestation as part of [[NASA]]'s Landsat ''Pathfinder Humid Tropical Deforestation Project''. The project yielded deforestation maps for the [[Amazon Basin]], [[Central Africa]], and [[Southeast Asia]] for three periods in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.<ref>[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update4.php Earth Observatory. NASA Tropical Deforestation Research.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123222113/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update4.php|date=2009-11-23}} accessed 12 November 2009.</ref>

Greenpeace has mapped out the forests that are still intact<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090327183443/http://www.intactforests.org/publications/intactforests_poster_preview.pdf The world’s last intact forest landscapes]. intactforests.org</ref> and published this information on the internet.<ref>{{cite web|title=World Intact Forests campaign by Greenpeace|url=http://www.intactforests.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228060648/http://www.intactforests.org/|archive-date=28 February 2009|access-date=10 July 2008|work=intactforests.org}}</ref> [[World Resources Institute]] in turn has made a simpler thematic map<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100724183523/http://www.wri.org/map/worlds-forests-restoration-perspective The World's Forests from a Restoration Perspective], WRI</ref> showing the amount of forests present just before the age of man (8000 years ago) and the current (reduced) levels of forest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alternative thematic map by Howstuffworks; in pdf|url=http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/maps/pdf/WOR_THEM_Forests.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711004701/http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/maps/pdf/WOR_THEM_Forests.pdf|archive-date=11 July 2009|access-date=6 April 2009}}</ref>