Mapazonia is a collaborative project by the Latin American OpenStreetMap community to map the Amazon. Due to the vast Amazon region spanning several nations, governments need better geospatial data to carry out their work there, and you can participate in this project.
Why map the Amazon?
The Latin American OpenStreetMap community decided to organize an open project known as Mapazonia, whose goal is to collaboratively map the Amazon region in OpenStreetMap using satellite imagery and mapping river geometries, transport, and land uses to improve coverage. Why? Because the territory of the Amazon rainforest belongs to nine different nations and there are many environmental institutions and governments that need better geospatial data to do their work in that region. Moreover, it is always good to have precise data in case of a natural disaster or other humanitarian issues.
Progress and activities
For example, in Brazil there are not many editors in the northern region, so there are a large number of towns with no data and some roads without mapping. The task is complicated due to the enormous Amazon territory, which covers five and a half million square kilometers. The Mapazonia project began by tracing some priority areas to advance through the rest of the zones. There is already an activity in Brazil and another in Bolivia. The main objective is to improve the mapping of rivers and road coverage to encompass more areas in other countries.
How to participate
Mapazonia uses the task manager of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team to define the areas on which work is done, and mapathons are organized where training is offered in the use of collaborative mapping tools. If you want to participate working in other areas of the Amazon, don't hesitate to contact the Latin American Mapazonia community by clicking here.
