African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development

General Presentation

The African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development ( ) initiative takes the Preparation for Use of MSG in Africa ( ) project a stage further by extending the operational use of Earth observation technologies and data to environmental and climate monitoring applications. It will also be the precursor of the extension of the European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security ( ) initiative to Africa.

Launched in 2007, AMESD is scheduled to run to mid-2013 and receive funding of 21 million euro from the European Commission through the European Development Fund. The programme is managed by the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A steering committee provides guidance to the programme, this is composed of the main AMESD stakeholders: the five Regional Economic Communities (RECs) (ECOWAS, SADC, CEMAC, IGAD, IOC) and the ACP secretariat.

The AMESD initiative's objective is to provide all African nations with the resources they need to manage their environment more effectively and ensure long-term sustainable development in the region. Most importantly, AMESD aims to improve the lives and prospects of the 350 million disadvantaged people in Africa currently enduring poverty and hardship, whose livelihoods depend heavily on their environment.

AMESD aims to provide decision-makers in the RECs, the African Union Commission and at national level with full access to the environmental data and products they need to improve national and regional policy and decision-making processes.

EUMETSAT role in AMESD

AMESD is an international cooperation project in which EUMETSAT plays a key role. EUMETSAT's role, as the organisation responsible for Europe's operational meteorological satellites, is fundamental to the successful implementation of AMESD. It encompasses:

• Continuous supply of its satellite data and products free of charge via the dissemination system
• Providing AMESD with support in the maintenance and upgrading of receiving stations and equipment
• Continuing its training programmes for African National Meteorological and Hydrological Services personnel, in close coordination with the AMESD training activities
• Providing managerial support to the committee in charge of supervising the project
• Offering, through its biennial African User Forum, an opportunity for the African user community to meet, discuss and exchange information and ideas about AMESD and EUMETSAT data and products.

In April 2008, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the African Union Commission and EUMETSAT on the support provided by EUMETSAT to the AMESD programme.

AMESD THEMA

AMESD is establishing operational regional information services to support and improve the decision-making process in the field of environmental management, focusing on five themes. Each theme is implemented in the region by a so-call Regional Implementation Centre (RIC), which is in charge of creating a regional network of partners to achieve the objectives of the programme. The five themes are as follows:

• Water resources management in the region of the Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale ( ), implemented under the leadership of the Commission Internationale du Bassin Congo - Oubangui - Sangha (CICOS), in Kinshasa, Congo.
• Agricultural and environmental resource management in the region of the Southern African Development Community ( ), implemented under the leadership of Botswana Meteorological Service Department, in Gaborone, Botswana.
• Land degradation and desertification mitigation, and natural habitat conservation, in the region of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development ( ), implemented under the leadership of the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), in Nairobi, Kenya.
• Marine and coastal management in the region of the Indian Ocean Commission ( ), implemented under the leadership of the Mauritius Oceanographic Institute (MOI), in Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius
• Crop and rangeland management in the region of the Economic Community of West African States ( ), implemented under the leadership of the Centre AGRHYMET of the Comité Permanent Inter Etats de lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS), in Niamey, Niger.

AMESD horizontal activities

In addition to the thematic activities presented above, the AMESD programme is also performing horizontal activities, aimed at ensuring sustainability beyond the duration of the AMES D project. These activities are:

1. Maintenance and upgrade of the PUMA infrastructure, namely the EUMETCast reception stations in the African National Meteorological Services.
2. Specialised training on the use of Earth Observation data for Environment management.
3. Institutional development activities aimed at helping African political institutions at national, regional and continental level in making sound use of earth Observation information in their decision making processes and to support their environmental policies.

AMESD outreaches

In helping to establish national, regional and continental environmental information processes, frameworks and activities, AMESD will also enable African governments to effectively meet effectively their obligations regarding international environmental treaties and participate in strategic global environment surveillance programmes such as Europe's GMES initiative and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems ( ) initiative. AMESD has been recognised as one of the First 100 Steps to GEOSS by the Group of Earth Observation.

AMESD - precursor of GMES Africa

AMESD is also paving the way for the GMES Africa initiative.