Elements for Life

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AHARAN

FRICA

is home to many of the world’s

developing nations – and to some of its poorest, for

whom life is precarious. Crop failure, environmental

degradation and increasing competition for scarce natural

resources caused by extreme weather events and climate

changes are posing unprecedented threats to economies, liveli-

hoods and traditional ways of life.

Weather forecasting capabilities across the continent have

been greatly enhanced in recent years by initiatives such as

Preparation for the Use of MSG in Africa (PUMA), the first

pan-African technology project focusing on Earth observation

funded by the European Union. PUMA has made available data

and products from the latest satellites of the European

Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

(EUMETSAT), enabling African National Meteorological and

Hydrological Services (NMHS) to provide accurate weather

forecasts, monitor extreme weather events, improve disaster

management and forestall drought and starvation.

The African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable

Development (AMESD) initiative takes PUMA a stage further

by significantly extending the use of remote sensing data to

environmental and climate monitoring applications. AMESD,

in which EUMETSAT also plays a key role, is financed out of

the European Union’s European Development Fund. Like

PUMA, AMESD is an international cooperation project with

the objective of providing all African nations with the resources

they need to manage their environment more effectively and

ensure long-term sustainable development in the region.

The European Union’s strategy for Africa

Peace, security and good governance are prerequisites for

sustainable development in Africa. Accordingly, the European

Union’s strategy for Africa addresses actions in areas that are

critical to creating the necessary environment for economic

growth, stability, trade and infrastructure. In particular, the strat-

egy promotes investment in sectors which impact directly on

the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

These goals aim to eliminate poverty, promote sustainable devel-

opment and improve the health, education and well being of

the world’s developing and impoverished nations.

Earth observation technologies have been identified as vital

tools in the MDGs’ pursuit of sustainable development, espe-

cially with regard to the environment. AMESD is, therefore,

expected to play an essential role in the implementation of the

European Union’s strategy for Africa.

AMESD would also be the precursor of the extension of

Europe’s Global Monitoring of the Environment and Security

(GMES) initiative to Africa, as requested by key African deci-

sion-makers in the Maputo Declaration signed on 15 October

2006 at the seventh EUMETSAT African User Forum in

Mozambique.

AMESD builds on PUMA’s success

PUMA laid the groundwork for AMESD by providing the

NMHS of all African countries with the equipment, training

and support required for receiving the latest space-based

images and products from EUMETSAT via the EUMETCast

distribution system.

In creating a successful pan-African network with opera-

tional access to state-of-the-art satellite technology, PUMA

provided each country with the means to develop their own

applications with the potential to enhance quality of life

The African Monitoring of the Environment for

Sustainable Development Initiative: a timely

initiative to save an endangered continent

Paul Counet, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

Signing of the Dakar Declaration, 29 September 2002