Remote sensing technologies to improve sustainable management of wetlands and waterbirds in the Sahel

Rome - Innovative remote sensing technologies are improving the accuracy of a waterbird census in the Sahelian wetlands, the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme announced ahead of tomorrow's World Migratory Bird Day.

Coordinated by FAO, the SWM Programme’s RESSOURCE+ Project has been testing innovative census methods that combine traditional ground and aerial counts with the use of drones, artificial intelligence models and high-resolution satellite imagery.

The Sahelian wetlands underpin pastoral, agricultural, and economic activities for millions of people. They also support an incredibly rich and unique biodiversity, including millions of waterbirds, many of which are migratory species that breed in Europe and Asia.

“Reliable data is the foundation of effective conservation,” said FAO Forestry Director Zhimin Wu. “By combining remote sensing with ground-based monitoring, we can better survey, understand and protect the ecosystems that so many species and communities depend on – it’s important that we continue to invest in innovation.”

Innovation on the ground

Experimental applications of remote sensing are currently being conducted in Senegal, using drones and very high-resolution satellite imagery, and in Chad, where a low-altitude oblique aerial photographic system is being tested alongside satellite imagery. 

These approaches aim to improve count precision and accelerate the processing of data and images, which is critical for informing timely and effective conservation strategies, especially for many threatened migratory species.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) models are being developed and trained to support these efforts, and early results show encouraging potential for automating the detection of waterbirds in aerial imagery,” said Alexandre Delplanque, postdoctoral researcher at University of Liège/Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech.

Preliminary findings highlight the considerable potential of remote sensing as a complementary tool to conventional census techniques. Large bird species can be individually detected and counted using very-high resolution satellite images (30 cm), while smaller species would require even higher-resolution imagery.

Comparative studies with ground-based counts and long-term monitoring will be essential to assess the accuracy and precision of the estimates and to refine interpretation of remotely collected data.

“These innovations could greatly enhance monitoring efforts across the Sahel and beyond, but further investment is needed to refine the tools, scale up field testing, and integrate findings with existing monitoring and conservation strategies,” said FAO Forestry Officer and coordinator of the Sahelian Site of the SWM Programme Bruno Portier.

The RESSOURCE+ Project 

The RESSOURCE+ Project supports governments and communities in conserving wetlands and waterbirds in six countries. The project aims to promote waterbird monitoring, sustainable levels of hunting and effective conservation policies in the Sahel. It is co-funded by the French Facility for Global Environment and the European Union through the SWM Programme.

RESSOURCE+ activities are coordinated by FAO and implemented by technical partners recognized for their expertise, in collaboration with national authorities and local wildlife institutions.