A global deforestation tracking tool developed by Mongabay and NASA has been honored as a Finalist for the 2013 Katerva Award.
“It is a surprise and an incredible honor to be selected as a finalist for the Katerva Award,” said Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler. “We’d like to thank Dr. Christopher Potter and his colleagues at NASA for their efforts to develop this powerful tool.”
Mongabay was recognized for its Global Forest Disturbance Alert System (GloF-DAS), which was developed in partnership with the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) ecosystem modeling team at NASA Ames Research Center. The system, which was launched in May 2012, helps users detect deforestation shortly after it occurs, offering the potential to take measures to investigate clearing before it expands.
Founded in 2010, The Katerva Prize, which has been called “the Nobel Prize of Sustainability”, honors the most innovative projects from around the globe on an annual basis. Winners are selected by a panel of experts. Mongabay was a finalist in the “ecosystem conservation” category.
“To solve the complex sustainability challenges we face as stewards of our planet, will
require innovative solutions across a wide range of disciplines and economic sectors.
Katerva provides a much needed and novel forum for this to happen, as evidenced by the
Finalists for the Katerva Award,” said Antonio J. Busalacchi, Jr, Director of the Earth
System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) and Professor in the Department of
Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland, USA.
“Katerva is not just interested in ‘good’ ideas; the ideas we are after will create big changes in how we live on this planet,” added Katerva’s founder, innovation expert Terry Waghorn. “Katerva’s approach places emphasis squarely on action for a sustainable future—creating and implementing solutions to sustainability-related concerns.”
Katerva also offers a People’s Choice Award enabling the public to vote on what it views as the most innovative project. Voting is open through March 28 at the Katerva website.