A call for action…

A personal view…I’m not a GIS expert

So why am I standing up here?

I have been involved in some GIS development and have used GIS in my work

And that has shown me how really empowering GIS can be if youDevelop a purpose

don’t get hung up on the technology too much

choose your software wisely

don’t forget about training

try to put the tool in the hands of the people who really need it

We generate a lot of data Our visits to countries

PRAs etc. People we talk to Things we see on the way

into town from the airport GPS coordinates

Projects we coordinate or implement Consultancies we carry

out or commission from others

Stuff we read Info we pick up from visitors

to SPC Workshop participants

These data are in

spreadsheets or databases

Word or pdf

hardcopy

people’s heads

Wherever they are, these data are mostly managed sectorally… Animal disease distribution ,

Pest/disease surveys, pest list databases

GPS coordinates for the locations of fruit fly traps in the PICTs, pest distribution, location of villages that have pig farms and waste management composting sites.

Participatory GIS – documenting traditional knowledge

Distribution and evaluation of germplasm conserved at RGC

Forestry and Agricultural Diversification team in collaboration with SOPAC are using GIS/remote sensing for forest inventory and monitoring

Yet we talk about the necessity of integrated land use planning by countries…

…and indeed of an integrated approach

…also allows us to make use of other relevant information

There’s a lot of other data out there that’s also geo-referenced

Population etc.

Climate

Land use, vegetation

Soil

Mapping of invasive species – African Tulip, Termites etc

Which can

Tell us about places where we haven’t been

“Domains”

Help us predict where problems might occur

Climatic adaptation of pests/diseases

GIS is a tool for managinggeo-referenced data

Jurisdictional Boundaries

Habitats

Buildings

Soils

Transportation Network

Elevation

Climate

Vegetation

Geodetic Control

AnswersQuestions

…and is also good for out-reach

People like & understand maps better than tablesPAHIS

Better impact with decision-makersPopGIS (SPC

Demography/Population Programme)

Can even be used to strengthen community participationParticipatory GIS

http://www.iapad.org/Mental maps

But we need to do some homeworkWhat data do we already have?

Inventory itPrioritize itDigitize itGeo-reference it

more completelymore precisely (where possible)

Also – what else is out there that can be useful?National

eg PNGRegional

SOPAC SPREP SPC

Demography/Populationand Fisheries programmes

International CI WWF SINGER

Lots of free stuff on the internet if you know where to look and what you need…

And finally we’ll need…A process for keeping the information up to

date, and adding data as it becomes available (with due security safeguards)

Resources to manage the system in the long term

Strategic linkages with key partnersTraining: Everyone in SPC-LRD should be

able to use the system, not just a “GIS elite”

What should we do now?We certainly want a coordinated approach:

Both within SPCAnd within CROP: isn’t that what the Pacific

Plan calls for?

We need to consult with key partners, and then get someone in who can help us chart our own way forward

Actions undertaken by LRDThe SOPAC/SPC GIS

& RS unit will establish GIS at the Land Resources Division

Will train LRD staff on the use of GIS

Develop customised GIS solutions at LRD

Will coordinate and guide the GIS work at LRD

The idea is to have a centralized GIS establishment in the Ministry of

Agriculture in the PICTs

ConclusionIf we want an

integrated LRD…

If we want an integrated SPC…

And if we want more effective targeting of our interventions in land resources management…

We really should use GIS more,

and more strategically, as

a Division