Workshop in Mexico on Modeling Deforestation in the Yucatan and Beyond

RFF's Senior Research Fellow, Allen Blackman and Len Goff presented overview of RFF’s Forest Conservation Targeting Tool at “Modelling Deforestation in the Yucatan and Beyond” workshop on April 2, 2014. 

The purpose of the workshop was to support the work of Mexico REDD, a $20 million USAID funded project aimed at boosting REDD readiness in Mexico, and in particular in the Yucatan. More specifically, the project focused on building capacity among Mexican policy makers for modeling deforestation, and for implementing conservation activities.

The presentation by Blackman and Goff was a demonstration of web-based computation model called Forest Conservation Targeting Tool (FCTT) that identifies forests where conservation is likely to generate the biggest bang for the buck. It uses on-board geospatial data on deforestation risk, ecosystem services provided by forests, and the costs of forest conservation.

The workshop was collectively hosted by The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, Environmental Defense Fund, Center for Global Development, and the Observatorio de Selva May in Merida, Mexico.

To see the tentative agenda and content of the workshop, click here.