IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i2p303-d1043699.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

RePlant Alfa: Integrating Google Earth Engine and R Coding to Support the Identification of Priority Areas for Ecological Restoration

Author

Listed:
  • Narkis S. Morales

    (Departamento de Ecosistemas y Medio Ambiente, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile)

  • Ignacio C. Fernández

    (Centro de Modelación y Monitoreo de Ecosistemas, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 7500994, Chile)

  • Leonardo P. Durán

    (Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 7500994, Chile
    Hémera Centro de Observación de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 7500994, Chile)

  • Waldo A. Pérez-Martínez

    (Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 7500994, Chile
    Hémera Centro de Observación de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 7500994, Chile)

Abstract

Land degradation and climate change are among the main threats to the sustainability of ecosystems worldwide. As a result, the restoration of degraded landscapes is essential to maintaining the functionality of ecosystems, especially those with greater social, economic, and environmental vulnerability. Nevertheless, policymakers are frequently challenged by deciding where to prioritize restoration actions, which usually includes dealing with multiple and complex needs under an always limited budget. If these decisions are not taken based on proper data and processes, restoration implementation can easily fail. In order to help decision-makers take informed decisions on where to implement restoration activities, we have developed a semiautomatic geospatial platform to prioritize areas for restoration activities based on ecological, social, and economic variables. This platform takes advantage of the potential to integrate R coding, Google Earth Engine cloud computing, and GIS visualization services to generate an interactive geospatial decision-maker tool for restoration. Here, we present a prototype version called “RePlant alpha”, which was tested with data from the Central Zone of Chile. This exercise proved that integrating R and GEE was feasible, and that the analysis with at least six indicators for a specific region was also feasible to implement even from a personal computer. Therefore, the use of a virtual machine in the cloud with a large number of indicators over large areas is both possible and practical.

Suggested Citation

  • Narkis S. Morales & Ignacio C. Fernández & Leonardo P. Durán & Waldo A. Pérez-Martínez, 2023. "RePlant Alfa: Integrating Google Earth Engine and R Coding to Support the Identification of Priority Areas for Ecological Restoration," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:303-:d:1043699
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/303/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/303/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lanfredi, Maria & Egidi, Gianluca & Bianchini, Leonardo & Salvati, Luca, 2022. "One size does not fit all: A tale of polycentric development and land degradation in Italy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. Simon L. Lewis & Mark A. Maslin, 2015. "Defining the Anthropocene," Nature, Nature, vol. 519(7542), pages 171-180, March.
    3. Bernardo B. N. Strassburg & Alvaro Iribarrem & Hawthorne L. Beyer & Carlos Leandro Cordeiro & Renato Crouzeilles & Catarina C. Jakovac & André Braga Junqueira & Eduardo Lacerda & Agnieszka E. Latawiec, 2020. "Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7831), pages 724-729, October.
    4. Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil Abhilash, 2021. "Restoring the Unrestored: Strategies for Restoring Global Land during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UN-DER)," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-19, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ziyan Li & Libang Ma & Xianfei Chen & Xiang Wang & Jing Bai, 2023. "Zoning and Management of Ecological Restoration from the Perspective of Ecosystem Service Supply and Demand: A Case Study of Yuzhong County in Longzhong Loess Hilly Region, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Marcell Tamas Kurbucz & Bo Pieter Johannes Andree, 2025. "Building and Managing Local Databases from Google Earth Engine with the geeLite R Package," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11115, The World Bank.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniela Firoiu & George H. Ionescu & Cerasela Pîrvu & Ramona Pîrvu & Cristian Mihai Cismaș & Melinda Petronela Costin, 2024. "The Road to 2030: Evaluating Europe’s Progress on Sustainable Ecosystem Protection and Restoration," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Frederik Dahlmann, 2025. "Conceptualising Sustainability as the Pursuit of Life," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 196(3), pages 499-521, January.
    3. Tironi, Martín & Rivera Lisboa, Diego Ignacio, 2023. "Artificial intelligence in the new forms of environmental governance in the Chilean State: Towards an eco-algorithmic governance," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Mingli Qiu & Yuxin Zhao & Dianfeng Liu, 2025. "Assessing Forest Carbon Sequestration in China Under Multiple Climate Change Mitigation Scenarios," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Felipe Vásquez & Gibran Vita & Daniel B. Müller, 2018. "Food Security for an Aging and Heavier Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Ahammad, Ronju & Hossain, Mohammed Kamal & Sobhan, Istiak & Hasan, Rakibul & Biswas, Shekhar R. & Mukul, Sharif A., 2023. "Social-ecological and institutional factors affecting forest and landscape restoration in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Marco Filippo Torchio & Umberto Lucia & Giulia Grisolia, 2020. "Economic and Human Features for Energy and Environmental Indicators: A Tool to Assess Countries’ Progress towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Encalada, Diana & Castro, Luz María & Cabrera, Omar & Ramón, Pablo & Reyes-Bueno, Fabián & Paul, Carola, 2025. "Factors influencing the expressed willingness to transition from collection to cultivation of non-timber forest products: The case of Caesalpinia spinosa in southern Ecuador," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    9. Caterina Samela & Vito Imbrenda & Rosa Coluzzi & Letizia Pace & Tiziana Simoniello & Maria Lanfredi, 2022. "Multi-Decadal Assessment of Soil Loss in a Mediterranean Region Characterized by Contrasting Local Climates," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-25, July.
    10. Rachel Mazac & Hanna L. Tuomisto, 2020. "The Post-Anthropocene Diet: Navigating Future Diets for Sustainable Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Li, Xiaoliang & Wu, Kening & Yang, Qijun & Hao, Shiheng & Feng, Zhe & Ma, Jinliang, 2023. "Quantitative assessment of cultivated land use intensity in Heilongjiang Province, China, 2001–2015," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    12. Eva Michaeli & Vladimír Solár & Matúš Maxin & Jozef Vilček & Martin Boltižiar, 2021. "The Nature of the Technosols on the Waste from Nickel Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Latinovic, Zoran & Chatterjee, Sharmila C., 2024. "Value co-creation: Balancing B2B platform value and potential reverse-value effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    14. Kaisa Vehmas & Nancy Bocken & Hannamaija Tuovila, 2024. "Understanding Consumer Attitudes Towards Sustainable Business Models—A Qualitative Study with Finnish Consumers," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1487-1512, June.
    15. Vera, Ivan & Wicke, Birka & Lamers, Patrick & Cowie, Annette & Repo, Anna & Heukels, Bas & Zumpf, Colleen & Styles, David & Parish, Esther & Cherubini, Francesco & Berndes, Göran & Jager, Henriette & , 2022. "Land use for bioenergy: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    16. Seray Ergene & Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee & Erim Ergene, 2024. "Environmental Racism and Climate (In)Justice in the Anthropocene: Addressing the Silences and Erasures in Management and Organization Studies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(4), pages 785-800, September.
    17. Zhiting Chen & Qing Ren & Tian Zhang & Zhewen Kang & Xiaoyan Huang & Peng Li & Xiaohu Dang & Xiaoshu Cao & Mingjiang Deng, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Human Critical Area (HCA) in the “Three Water Lines” Region of Northwest China and the Impact of Socioeconomic Factors between 2000 and 2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, May.
    18. Garrath T. Wilson & Tracy Bhamra, 2020. "Design for Sustainability: The Need for a New Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-8, April.
    19. Rana, Pushpendra & Fleischman, Forrest & Ramprasad, Vijay & Lee, Kangjae, 2022. "Predicting wasteful spending in tree planting programs in Indian Himalaya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    20. Paula Botella & Salvador Baena-Morales & Olalla García-Taibo & Alberto Ferriz-Valero, 2022. "Effects of Self-Construction of Materials on the Ecological Awareness of Physical Education Primary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-13, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:303-:d:1043699. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.