ISRO-SAC and ATREE Sign MoU on Landscape Monitoring
Why in the news
The Space Applications Centre (SAC) of ISRO and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) signed a memorandum of understanding in Bengaluru on 16 April 2026 to improve how India monitors and manages its landscapes.
Key facts
- Parties: ISRO’s Space Applications Centre and ATREE.
- Area: about 319,675 sq km, around 10% of India’s land.
- Focus: open natural ecosystems such as shrublands, woodland savannas and saline landscapes.
- Method: satellite-based mapping paired with field validation by ecologists.
- Goal: contribute to Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030.
About the aims
The partnership aims to build standard protocols for monitoring ecosystems and to produce policy-ready data for land-use planning, climate action, conservation and rural livelihoods. It also plans data-driven strategies to help coastal communities cope with climate change and sea-level rise.
Exam angle
- Remember the two partners and the target year, 2030, for Land Degradation Neutrality.
- The MoU links space technology with ecology, a typical science-and-environment theme.
- The coverage figure is about one-tenth of India’s land area.