Eyes in the sky track health
of Earth’s African ‘lung’
H
igh in the sky, a satellite passes
over the equatorial forest of central
Africa, the Earth’s second largest "lung"
after the Amazon. In Ntoum, a village
about 30km from Gabon’s capital
Libreville, a giant satellite dish slowly
swings into action, capturing key data
on Africa’s environmental health. It
takes in a broad sweep of 23 countries
from the Sahara Desert to southern
Africa, covering a 2,800km radius.
The idea for the station, inaugurated
in August, stemmed from UN climate
talks in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007.
"We realised the importance of our
forests and of the importance of
satellite imagery as a scientific tool,"
said Tanguy Gahouma Bekale, special
adviser to Gabonese President Ali
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November 2015
Bongo on climate issues. Mr Gahouma
now also directs the Gabonese Agency
for Space Studies and Observation,
which goes by the French acronym
AGEOS and runs the Ntoum station.
The forested countries of the Congo
Basin face enormous challenges.
"We are responsible for the secondbiggest green lung on the planet, and
now we have the resources to answer
these questions," Mr Gahouma said.
The information AGEOS gathers is
invaluable for the protection of an
environment increasingly threatened
by drought, maritime pollution and
logging. (and charcoal production)
Satellite data can track changes such
as the size of Lake Chad, which has
shrunk by 90% in the past 50 years,