A joint European Space Agency/United Nations project to protect African gorillas using data from satellites is entering its second phase, an official from a conservation program told an ESA workshop on Friday. Data from ESA satellites are helping produce maps, detect changes over time in how land is used, and create three-dimensional digital elevation models of the terrain, according to Maryke Gray, regional monitoring officer with the International Gorilla Conservation Program.

Known as BeGO (Build Environment for Gorillas), the project provides Earth observation imagery and products to conservation groups and authorities that are monitoring and protecting the habitats of mountain gorillas in national parks located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.