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Tag: SDG

Advancing Sustainable Development in West Africa: A Geospatial Toolkit for Monitoring SDG Goals

In 2015, United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a shared blueprint for global peace and prosperity now and into the future. Within the core of this agenda are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which call all countries to action in a global partnership.

Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals outlines a plan to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss

As part of its initiatives in West Africa, the MIT Media Lab partnered with the Biospheric Sciences Lab at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Blue Raster to develop a desktop-based geospatial toolkit for calculating and reporting key indicators within Goal 15 of the SDGs. These key indicators are:

  • Forest area as a proportion of total land area
  • Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type.
  • Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain biodiversity.

Blue Raster developed these tools in a custom toolbox using ArcGIS Pro and the ArcGIS Python site package, ArcPy to calculate the key indicators for countries in the West African region namely: Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Togo, Benin, Guinea, and Botswana. The tool leverages remotely sensed imagery and standardized datasets to inform and provide decision making support to West African stakeholders as well as stakeholders within the academic community supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development agenda.

Blue Raster is long time partner of the MIT Media Lab and had previously partnered with the MIT Media Lab and Green Keeper Africa to develop the Lake Nokoué Environmental Observatory application, an online mapping that provides the public with current and historic information about water quality and invasive species in Lake Nokoué. The online observatory and decision support tool utilizes satellite, aerial and ground data to map water quality readings, as well as the location of water hyacinth and a fish farming practice known as “acadja” over time.

Blue Raster Receives Sustainable Development Award and is Named Esri Cornerstone Partner at 2023 Esri Partner Conference

On March 6, 2023, Blue Raster received two significant honors at the 2023 Esri Partner Conference (EPC) held in Palm Springs, California from March 4-6, 2023. Our company was recognized by Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, for both our accomplishments in applying GIS solutions to support sustainable development worldwide, and for reaching the milestone of 20 years of Esri Partner Network (EPN) participation.

As a recipient of the Esri Sustainable Development Award, Blue Raster was commended for helping customers meet global sustainable development goals by understanding their needs, mapping their work, measuring impact, analyzing performance, and engaging stakeholders. We're proud of our long history of creating innovative GIS solutions that address some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. Among our most significant projects, our team has developed interactive applications and tools to map deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, manage and monitor water resources, and track progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations. We currently work with leading nonprofit conservation organizations including The World Resources Institute, the Jane Goodall Institute, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, UNICEF, The Earth Genome, NatureServe, National Audubon Society, and The Stimson Center, among others.

Esri is the global leader in location intelligence with a network of over 2,800 partners around the world. The award winners are organizations that have demonstrated innovative and creative ways to solve complex problems by using Esri’s ArcGIS software and those that have done exceptional work in advancing GIS technology. Blue Raster was one of 27 Esri partners that received an achievement award at the conference.

“Esri congratulates Blue Raster on their 2023 EPC award in recognition of their innovative work leveraging ArcGIS software,” said Robert Laudati, Director of Global Partners and Alliances at Esri. “We are proud to partner with Blue Raster to foster the use of Esri technology in support of our mutual customers.”

In addition, Blue Raster was officially named an Esri Cornerstone Partner for our long-term commitment to Esri and the GIS community. Cornerstone Partner recognition is given to organizations that have participated in the EPN for 20 years while demonstrating a consistent focus on helping customers succeed through the adoption of ArcGIS technology.

We are extremely proud to achieve Esri Cornerstone Partner status, as it has been a privilege to be a part of the EPN since our founding 20 years ago,” says Michael Lippmann, principal/founder, Blue Raster. “We are also honored to receive the Esri Sustainable Development Award and be recognized for the positive environmental impact our applications have helped to make around the world. Our team remains incredibly passionate about innovating new and creative ways to apply ArcGIS technology and help our clients make a measurable and meaningful difference.”


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