Malaysian Forest Monitoring and other Crowdsourcing GIS News

 Transparency International – Malaysia (TI-M) aims to enlist 1,000 committed volunteers this year to help monitor the forests in the country.

“Anybody can join our Forest Watch Project and become a forest ranger,” said TI-M Forest Governance Integrity Programme project manager Victor Soosai at a conference at Grand Dorsett Hotel last Thursday.

He said members of the public can sign up to be a volunteer via the Forest Watch Project website (http://www.timalaysia-forestwatch.org.my).

Launched on Feb 1, the website enables the public to report illegal deforestation using Google Earth’s real-time satellite imagery and aerial photography.

Of course the imagery is not real time, but the crowdsourced effort is already underway in other countries including  Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, China and the Solomon Islands 

- Selangor Times

Using the power of social-networking BomgoHive Zambia is using the on-line mapping platform Ushahidi to build up an accurate picture of the fast-growing network of technology innovation and entrepreneurship centres across the continent of Africa. 

BongoHive have created a dynamic, user-generated, on-line map which is revealing just how many tech business incubation hubs have been set up around the continent. 

- press release

Grindr, the social network for the LGBT crowd, has luanched a new effort centered around social justice.

Grindr for Equality is requesting ongoing submissions and information pertaining to the GLBT community where users live. Individuals and like-minded groups are encouraged to send an email with basic contact information and a brief description of how the issue relates to the GLBT community and how Grindr for Equality could provide assistance. Submissions can be sent via email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or those interested can visit www.grindr4equality.com for additional information.

- Just Means

Brookline MA Track Coyotes and other Crowdsourcing GIS News

Yes, coyotes in Brookline, MA. The GIS challenge: offer an online form for citizens where they can post sightings and see a map of them (up and running) or tap into the 311 reporting app called BrookOnLine as one selectman proposed.

- Brookline Patch

Wentzville Patch (MO) is crowdsourcing fish fry locations for lent.

- Patch

A UK Charity is looking at violence data from the other side - not that of poice - but from victims and witnesses.

Today a new map of crime called Street Violence is launched by the charity Witness Confident.

Unlike Police.uk which displays official statistics of crimes at street level, the Street Violence map will display accounts of street robberies and attacks from witnesses and victims.

The motivation for this, as Witness Confident explain, is that a signficant portion of violent crime is not reported, so making it easier and quicker to share information about crime can help to reduce these lost cases.

The reports are sent to the Met Police but that group prefers calls over e-mail reporting of incidents.

- Guardian (which offers full access to the data)

Iranian Nuclear Sites and other Crowdsourcing GIS News

Open Nuclear Iran is a crowdsourced effort developed anonymously by concerned Iranians and experts from the arms control community to document, assess, and share information on Iran's nuclear program in an open forum.

It's a CrowdMap implementation.

via @opennucleariran

Pulse, a UK publication "for health professionals only" (so it says at the top of the page) is building a senitment map.

We plan to build an interactive map detailing what GPs feel about their local hospital services. But we need your help - fill in this quick, 20-question survey, and you will be entered into a prize draw for an iPad 2 worth £399.

- Pulse

The Geo-Wiki Project is a global network of volunteers who wish to help improve the quality of global land cover maps. Since large differences occur between existing global land cover maps, current ecosystem and land-use science lacks crucial accurate data (e.g. to determine the potential of additional agricultural land available to grow crops in Africa). Volunteers are asked to review hotspot maps of global land cover disagreement and determine, based on what they actually see in Google Earth and their local knowledge, if the land cover maps are correct or incorrect. Their input is recorded in a database, along with uploaded photos, to be used in the future for the creation of a new and improved global land cover map.

- Geo-Wiki via SlashGeo

Chicago Shovels and other Crowdsourcing GIS News

A new addition to ChicagoShovels.org, Adopt-a-Sidewalk will allow residents to request help in shoveling via a map.

- NWI Times

Forget OSM and Google Maps, Hillsborough, NJ is using GreenMap.org for its community mapping efforts.

- Hillsborough Patch

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the British Astronomical Association’s Campaign for Dark Skies are calling for ‘citizen scientists’ to take part in Star Count Week.

From January 20-27 stargazers will be asked to count the number of stars they can see within the constellation of Orion with the naked eye.

This effort is in Cheshire and yes, the results will be posted on a map. Data is gathered via Survey Monkey.

- Ellesmere Port Pioneer

Mapping Japan Earthquake Debris and other Crowdsourcing GIS News

A Canadian paper now offers a map where readers can post details of where they see debris from the Japanese earthquake of 2011.

Now, The Province is offering an interactive map on its web-site where readers can post the sites where they find Japanese debris. Simply log on to theprovince.com/debris and follow the instructions.

- The Province

In the Horn of Africa, Somalia makes headlines, but often only because of drought, famine, crisis and insecurity. Al Jazeera launched Somalia Speaks to help amplify stories from people and their everyday lives in the region -- all via SMS.

Somalia Speaks is a collaboration between Souktel, a Palestinian-based organization providing SMS messaging services, Ushahidi, Al Jazeera, Crowdflower, and the African Diaspora Institute. "We wanted to find out the perspective of normal Somali citizens to tell us how the crisis has affected them and the Somali diaspora," Al Jazeera's Soud Hyder said in an interview.

It's great to see crowdsourced, geotagged news in one of the world's most challenged places.

- MediaShift Blog

Want to thank our troops? How about letting them know from where the greetings come? How about a crowdourced Thank You map? That's what the USO created.

- South Brunswick Patch