SenSPa is a 1-year Activity carried out under a programme of, and funded by, the European Space Agency. Addressing activity line 6 "Earth Observations (EO) for Sustainable Development" of the ESA EO SCIENCE FOR SOCIETY PERMANENTLY OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS EOEP-5 BLOCK 4 (ESA/AO/1-9101/17/I-NB) call topic, SenSPa will foster the introduction of a new EO application concept and a EO based tool for stakeholders and users supporting sustainable pasture management in developing countries.

SenSPa will promote a multi-actor working scheme, where EO experts come together with pasture management scientists, ICT experts, policy makers, agri-business representatives and farmers (including cooperatives), and act in a multi-disciplinary and synergistic way to provide added-value, cost-efficient and real-life-tangible solutions to various user categories.

Sentinel images will be utilized to derive specific indicators that are used for vegetation monitoring and combine them with other ancillary data (soil maps, elevation data, livestock farming and farm data, etc.) in order to assist sustainable pasture management, decision making, planning of activities and in the long-term pastures’ restoration. The information will be available to local and national public administrations, public and private stakeholders, as well as end-users, via a web-based tool that will be processing continuously updated satellite data along with ancillary data in order to provide useful, up to date information for sustainable pasture management.

SenSPa is targeting Central Asia countries. In order to demonstrate and verify the added value, flexibility and adjustability of the SenSPa services at regional scales, a case study in Azerbaijan will be implemented. The two case study areas are Ismayilli and Shemakhi rayons. In these areas the primary occupation is sheep and cattle farming and sustainable pasture management is both socio-economically and ecologically vital.