Orbiting the Earth are fleets of satellites made specifically to help capture and transmit imagery of our planet’s landscapes.

Able to track real-time land and carbon changes due to climate change, human impact, environmental disasters and any number of other causes – including in remote and inaccessible areas – the Earth observation data collected by these spacecraft holds the potential to massively influence environmental decision-making. At all levels, from communities to policymakers, the findings of these advanced satellites could help revolutionize landscape management.

So how do we get there? One organization, Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa), is working to overcome the gap between the satellite data amassed and the way that data is understood and applied on the African continent. In this GLF Live for Earth Day 2021, we heard from DE Africa’s user engagement manager Dr. Kenneth Mubea on how learnings can be applied to transform conservation and restoration of African and global landscapes.

Dr. Kenneth Mubea is the User Engagement Manager, Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) Establishment Kenneth role includes technical support and user engagement and support, driving usage of the DE Africa services and engaging with our network of partners across Africa. Previously, Kenneth worked for the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), UN Foundation, SERVIR (USAID – NASA) program at Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), Esri and Google. Kenneth sees that a time has come that earth observation will be the critical means for decision making for countries and regional bodies in Africa towards the sustainable management of resources. This means that DE Africa will help countries manage various sectors of the economy such as agriculture and food security, water, urbanization, coastal ecosystems, forest and land degradation. Ultimately, DE Africa will help drive the continent towards the attainment of the Pan African Vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa as outlined by the Africa Union Commission, the Africa we want. Kenneth can be found on Twitter @kenmubea.