Environment – Page 6

Agriculture, Climate Change, Democracy & Governance, Environment, Environment, Health, Land Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Pollution Prevention, Water

Open source software and participatory GIS

I work with a small NGO in the Cook Islands called Te Rito Enua. We recently concluded a pilot project funded by the Asian Development Bank to test the use of participatory GIS techniques to help develop community-scale climate adaptation strategies. Some of our key findings echo those Oregon State University scientists Sally Duncan and Denise Lach. As reported in the People and Place blog, they observe that

“Exchange of ideas and knowledge with the assistance of a technology that is both analytical and visual draws participants into new kinds of inquiry, calling upon broader kinds and definitions of knowledge and experience. In such a setting, GIS technology lends itself to the mapping of ideas as well as landscapes.” (emphasis is mine)

In our own work, we found that that the approach provides communities with the tools to assess climate risk according to their own frames of reference. Linking models with personal experience and traditional ecological knowledge gave the communities tangible evidence of climate risk that empowers them to own the problem and develop personal and collective responses based on their own needs and priorities. The participatory GIS process highlights behavioral and development issues that affect the vulnerability of individual households and the community at large. There was a discernable sense of empowerment by participating communities in developing vulnerability maps and planning on the basis of the spatially organized information.

Replicating the process is problematic though. We opted to use expensive high-end commercial GIS software to match the system used by the government. All the GIS expertise in the country (basically 2 people at the start of the project) were schooled in the use government system. We needed to work with those people. But the high end systems are a formidable barrier to entry; acquiring the software, hardware, and training costs thousands of dollars. Communities and NGOs lack those resources, and the emerging, computer-savvy generation lacks learning opportunities. In our final report, we recommended the use of open source software and support for regional training to build up the GIS community.

Fortunately the support for open-source GIS is growing fast. Some resources for beginners include:

The Participatory GIS Forum (www.ppgis.net) (and be sure to see the very helpful email list for PPGIS, links on the site).

Mapping Across Borders/Digital Distractions blog ( http://mikedotonline.wordpress.com/ )

Quantum GIS open source software (www.qgis.org)

And a new site, Training Kit on Participatory Spatial Information Management and Communications (http://pgis-tk-en.cta.int/)

Don’t forget that good data layers can often be found at Data Basin, and you can upload and share your files there. (www.databasin.org)

I’ve experienced significant resistance to participatory mapping in the past from the GIS technical community. It is true that you can produce complete garbage in GIS. And garbage, in planning, can be dangerous. But the answer doesn’t lie in treating geospatial planning as an esoteric art and shunning the novices. The answer lies in widening the pool of experts and providing support for grassroots initiatives. Duncan and Lech observe:

“The frequent repetition of the phrase “re-framing the debate” during focus-group discussions highlighted the progression from the one-way communication model, in which scientists impart their findings, to the dynamic process of engaging GIS technology as a tool of inquiry, mediation, and communication. Ideas suggested for a broader debate included making assumptions explicit on GIS maps, using the power of GIS to examine new questions, and sharing responsibility for new kinds of learning. …”

Duncan, S. and Lech, D. 2006. GIS Technology in Natural Resource Management: Process as a Tool of Change. Cartographica 41:3, 201-205. DOI: 10.3138/3571-88W4-77H2-3617.

Sounds like development to me.

[The Te Rito Enua project report can be downloaded at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1735507/ADB%20SGI%20report/Final%20Report-web.pdf]

February 13, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Democracy & Governance, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Health, Land Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Policy Development, Water

Use of neural net classifiers to map invasive plants using remote sensing data

Over the past year, I’ve been working with a Cook Islands NGO, Te Rito Enua, with funding from the Asian Development Bank, to develop a pilot project on participatory GIS as a tool to assist island communities to develop climate adaptation strategies. While there, Mona Matepi, president of TRE, called my attention to the problem of invasive vines on the island. Three species of woody vines* are colonizing the island forests, causing massive deforestation. They overtop and kill trees, replacing the forest with a solid jungle of vines. Since Rarotonga is dependent upon surface water for its entire supply, and since vines were killing the trees in its forested watershed, it seems like a non-trivial issue. Nobody knows how the vines will affect water supply. Will they reduce surface water supply through evapotranspiration? Will they hold the soils as well as the trees they are replacing? How will they respond to the more frequent cyclones and droughts that climate models predict? And, if they are a problem, how can they be controlled? Many questions to answer – our challenge right now is to find support for research into the issues and the options available. If no one does anything, there’s a chance, and its not a tiny one, that there could someday be a humanitarian crisis that would have severe implications for one of the dwindling number of robust Polynesian cultures remaining.

I asked University of Maryland doctoral candidate Benjamin White, a remote sensing specialist, for advice on how to illustrate the extent of the vine infestation. The island is rugged and steep, difficult to map on foot. But I was able to take some measurements using a handheld GPS unit. Ben offered to have a go at classifying the vines using my field observations as training data. Commercial remote sensing imagery provider GeoEye donated high-resolution (4m and 1m) satellite images. Ben developed a sophisticated neural net classifier, and processed the images as R/G/IR reflectance, reflectance-based NDVI, principal components, mean texture and a quick reflectance to “dense vegetation” classification. The final result was uploaded to Google Earth for visualization purposes; Google Earth data is not useful for this kind of application, but overlaying the classification results on a Google Earth image gives a context in terms of location and topography. Additional satellite imagery could provide complete ground coverage and (subject to availability) time series to measure change in land cover.

I’m hoping that the image will drive home how bad the problem is, and mobilize some support for Te Rito Enua and the Cook Islands government to get a handle on the vine problem.

Heartfelt thanks go to Ben White and the University of Maryland Geography Department, GeoEye, and the Asian Development Bank for support.

* the vines are Cardiospermum grandiflorum, Mikania micrantha, and Merremia peltata.

via GREEN HAND.

February 13, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Connectivity, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Solar Nexus: Reliable Solar Power, Anywhere

Eric Youngren, founder of Solar Nexus International, serves as a catalyst for reliable, rural power solutions in the developing world. The Solar Nexus power center is an innovative solution for electricity that brings the quality tested North American off-grid solar installations to areas of the world where similar systems are rarely found.

The SolarNexus is an all-encompassing system, where all the high quality electronics necessary to convert the energy generated by the solar PV panels (or any other source of renewable energy) into power that is stored in batteries for later use.

SolarNexus power centers are sold as part of a complete package, shown here. The package includes PV panels, deep cycle batteries, mounting hardware, code-compliant wiring, and instructions

SolarNexus power center is designed for permanent indoor installation and includes instructions, training and support to ensure successful installations and build capacity in local communities. To understand how the Solar Nexus system operates, view this great introductory explanation on the Solar Nexus International website

Installation was performed by Ensol, of Dar es Salaam, TZ Photo Credit: Eric Youngren

A project was launched in April 2010, Solar Nexus International shipped 30 complete SolarNexus systems — including PV panels and deep cycle batteries — to Tanzania for a project run by the U.K. based charity SolarAid. The systems would be used to provide light and power to schools that were beyond the radius of the electricity grid. The mission was to replace the old, smokey, and potentially dangerous kerosene lanterns with effective, compact fluorescent light. This improved visability would allow more local children to attend the schools.

Eric traveled to Tanzania to assist in the training of local installation crews and help facilitate aptitude. One main goal of the founder and his company is to improve the knowledge, skills and capacity of the solar installers in the developing world to ensure the system’s sustainability and overall impact.

Visit the Solar Nexus International website and their blog for more information on current projects

February 10, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Introduction to your content curator

I’ve been asked to be an editor of the environment and natural resources sector page of the GBI blog, so I’m writing a few words by way of introduction. My name is John Waugh. I live in the rural Virginia Piedmont, and have three decades of experience in natural resource management, running the gamut of conservation. I started out as a firefighter for the US Forest Service and US National Park Service (a little shout out to the old Flathead IR and the Arrowhead Hotshots). By turns I became a technician on fire ecology studies, a Park Ranger, and then, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, the manager of two World Wildlife Fund projects in West Africa. This was followed by a long sojourn at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), where I helped to develop a marine program, managed UN relations, and represented the conservation community at a range of intergovernmental processes addressing biodiversity conservation. Work has taken me to over sixty countries on every continent except Antarctica. For the past several years, I’ve been working as a private consultant conducting program evaluations, developing and implementing projects, and providing advice on conservation strategies and planning.

Through all of this, I’ve been watching with interest the liberating role that technology can play in natural resource management. Recently I returned to Liberia after a 24 year absence to assist a USAID funded project on land rights and community forestry. In a meeting with government community leaders, I experienced a moment of cognitive dissonance when cellphone calls interrupted the flow of the discussion. 24 years ago, it would have been impossible for community leaders to consult with their base while sitting in a meeting in Monrovia. When technology can facilitate information exchange in real time, participation becomes a real possibility.

I recently completed a participatory GIS project with colleagues in the Cook Islands (I know, I know – you go bust your butt for 30 years and you too may get your chance!). The goal was to facilitate community-based climate adaptation planning using maps. We superimposed data collected by the community using handheld GPS units with satellite imagery, existing government map layers, and climate models, and produced custom maps as the starting point for adaptation planning. Sally Duncan and Denise Lach of Oregon State University describe what can happen: “the deliberative interactions … altered the power held in the privileged knowledge of scientists….GIS technology routinely used to generate such interactions, [can] potentially contribute to the development of new knowledge communities, in which public participation, scientific research, local/traditional ecological knowledge, and technology combine to change the nature and the locus of power in natural-resource management. …”

Of course technology can just as easily be used to achieve the opposite results. The potential is huge and the change is rapid. I look forward to exchanging views with the GBI Portal readers on opportunities, and on good practices, for the use of technology for NRM.

I also blog (intermittently) at www.green-hand.net, where you’re welcome to visit and chew the fat.

February 10, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

How USF is Promoting Renewable Energy Use by Pakistan Telecom Industry

This article written by Babar Bhatti discusses how public policy is being used to drive long term benefits for society, the Universal Service Fund of Pakistan has made the use of renewable energy compulsory for all Base Stations funded by USF

January 13, 2011/by actualize

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