ABOUT MAPBIOMAS
MapBiomas is an international collaborative network that originated in Brazil in July 2015. It is composed of civil society organizations, universities, laboratories, and technology companies that bring together capabilities in remote sensing, geographic information systems, data science, and environmental information. We generate systematized, transparent, and open-access spatial information through semi-automated methodologies and time series that enable consistent and scientifically rigorous monitoring of territorial transformations.
At the global level, MapBiomas has consolidated itself as a platform that integrates national and regional initiatives under shared principles, promoting data comparability and strengthening environmental monitoring at an international scale.
In Colombia, MapBiomas has several years of continuous work generating and updating geospatial information on territorial dynamics. To date, the network has consolidated various initiatives and thematic modules that expand the understanding of changes across the national territory. These include maps and data on land cover and land use from 1985 to the most recent year available in the current Collection, including vegetation loss, secondary vegetation, water surfaces and glaciers, as well as burned areas.
To learn more about other MapBiomas Colombia products, visit: https://colombia.mapbiomas.org/
ABOUT THE MAPBIOMAS ALERT INITIATIVE
The MapBiomas Alerta initiative is a system for the validation and refinement of deforestation alerts using high-resolution satellite imagery (Planet, 3.7 m).
On the MapBiomas Alerta platform, we publish alerts from various detection systems. We carry out the validation, refinement, and definition of a temporal window for each deforestation event, as well as spatial cross-referencing with relevant territorial information (e.g., department, municipality, Indigenous reserve, protected area, rural cadastre, etc.).
For each published alert, we provide a detailed report available for consultation and download, openly and free of charge. The MapBiomas Alerta initiative publishes all forest vegetation loss and loss of natural vegetation in other ecosystems, without assessing legality, compliance, or responsibility for vegetation removal.
OUR PURPOSE
MapBiomas Colombia aims to reveal the transformations of the Colombian territory through science, with precision, agility, and quality, and to make knowledge about land cover and land use accessible in order to promote conservation and the sustainable management of natural resources as a way to combat climate change.
Our objective at MapBiomas Alerta is to monitor and make public every deforestation event or loss of natural vegetation in Colombia. We emphasize that MapBiomas Alerta is not just another deforestation alert detection system, but rather an effort to provide greater certainty and enhance the usability and effectiveness of alerts already generated by existing systems.
The data produced are public and free, and can be accessed on the platform: https://plataforma.colombia.alerta.mapbiomas.org/