FOREST DEGRADATION AND DEFORESTATION IN WEST AFRICA ARE WIDESPREAD AND THE LACK OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXTENT MAGNITUDE AND RATE HAS CONTRIBUTED TO INADEQUATE DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND AN INABILITY OF DECISION-MAKERS AND SOCIETY TO CURB AND MITIGATE THE ASSOCIATED NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON LAND AND PEOPLE. A LACK OF ACCESS TO THE TECHNIQUES AND DATA REQUIRED FOR PRODUCTION OF COMPARABLE AREA ESTIMATES COMBINED WITH A LACK OF CONSISTENT LAND CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS PREVENT THE GENERATION OF INFORMATION ON LAND DYNAMICS REQUIRED BY DECISION-MAKERS TO ARRIVE AT EFFECTIVE DECISIONS. FOR EXAMPLE EFFECTIVE LAND MONITORING AND UNBIASED ESTIMATION OF AREA ARE MANDATORY WHEN REPORTING WITHIN INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORKS SUCH AS REDD+ BUT BEING ABLE TO COMPARE ESTIMATES IN SPACE AND TIME IS A NECESSITY ALSO FOR THE LOCAL DECISION-MAKER. OF IMPORTANCE TO THE LACK OF ACCESS TO MORE ADVANCED MONITORING AND ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES ARE ALGORITHM COMPLEXITY AND DEMANDS ON DATA PROCESSING AND STORAGE WITH THE EMERGENCE OF COMPUTING PLATFORMS SUCH AS GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE WE ARE NOW AT A POSITION WHERE WE CAN ALLEVIATE SUCH OBSTACLES BY PROVIDING DIRECT ACCESS TO THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED FOR ADDRESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES IN THE REGION. WITH THIS PROPOSAL WE AIM TO PROVIDE TO A SET OF COUNTRIES IN WEST AFRICA THE CAPACITY FOR LANDSCAPE MONITORING BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF TIME SERIES OF LANDSAT OBSERVATIONS COMPREHENSIVE SUPPORT FOR SAMPLE-BASED ESTIMATION OF MAP ACCURACY AND AREA OF LAND COVER AND LAND CHANGE IN GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE. BOTH THE PI CO-I AND COLLABORATORS HAVE A PROVEN RECORD OF CAPACITY BUILDING IN TROPICAL COUNTRIES COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION WITH SILVACARBON GOFC GOLD AND THE AST FOR SERVIR S EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA HUB WILL INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF PROPOSED EFFORT HAVING SOCIETAL IMPACT.