Environmental Compliance

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Forestry, Land Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Successful Community-Based Forestry Management

Photo Credit: CARPE

The Congo Basin is a critical tropical forest that supplies vital regional and worldwide ecological services. It is one of the largest tropical rainforests in the world, home to thousands of endemic plant and animal species such as lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and forest elephants. More than eighty million people depend on its abundance of timber and other natural resources for their livelihoods. A paradoxical note is that despite the richness of the Congo Basin, the people near it are some of the poorest in Africa. The forest is constantly cleared to make room for agricultural pursuits and to feed urbanized areas’ hunger for lumber. In addition to deforestation and forest degradation, illegal hunting and commercial bushmeat trade are major threats to biodiversity.

The Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) is a USAID longterm and regional initiative formed in 1995 in association with a consortium of government and NGO partners that concentrates its resources on six principal forested countries in Central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo. Uganda, Rwanda, Chad, Burundi, Rwanda and Sao Tome Principe are also involved in the initiative. CARPE is intended to be a 20-year process, resulting in complete local guidance. A major objective of CARPE is to protect forest resources by reducing degradation and protecting biodiversity. Modern tools such as Landsat satellite-derived maps, remote sensing, GIS, and geospatial databases are used for planning and monitoring of the forest. With this information, threatened species are under the protection of local communities and logging is controlled.

Prior to the development of CARPE, vast areas of the Congo Basin were unknown. Since then, a number of initiatives and activities have taken place, resulting in an overall evaluation in 2011. In this evaluation, CARPE was deemed extremely successful for introducing large-scale ecosystem management approaches. Tens of thousands of individuals have been trained in a variety of conservation methods and techniques. With empowerment through such training and motivation that educates and organizes local groups to play an active role in forest and biodiversity conservation programs, civil society is being strengthened. This is seen as critical, circumventing the often inefficiently administered and economically weak centralized governments. The tools practiced allow for an understaffed patrol to communicate with a wider audience, limiting the “weak state management of these resources (that) creates a vacuum where local populations are often stripped of benefits as stronger or elite groups including private companies expropriate natural resources at sub-national and local levels.”Where will CARPE head in the coming years? The implementation of land use management plans for micro- and macro- zones, strengthening of government capacity and transparency are key.

February 23, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

What is Ecotourism 2.0?

Photo Credit: MarineBio

By some accounts tourism is the world’s largest industry, accounting for more than 10% of total employment. Tourism can have a negative impact on the environment by leading to the degradation of habitats and landscapes, depleting natural resources, and generating waste and pollution.

As a response to these concerns, ecotourism has grown in popularity because of its emphasis on being ecologically and socially conscious by raising awareness and support for conservation and local culture. Responsible ecotourism includes programs that minimize the adverse effects of traditional tourism on the natural environment and enhance the cultural integrity of the local people. Ecotourism has great potential for the developing world as communities come together and get involved, enforcing their own standards for sustainability.

So what is ecotourism 2.0? Ecotourism 2.0 seeks to fill the gaps that exist in ineffective organizing structures of ecotour communities. There are three main characteristics of ecotourism 2.0:

1. Engagement and Education – tourism doesn’t have to be passive and there can be a take-home message

2. Social Media – access and communication of information

3. Radical Transparency – clear organization within communities and with their visitors

Social media has thoroughly changed marketing techniques, now “people aggregate themselves around causes and products they believe in and age, sex and other demographic information is more and more irrelevant as this new media environment takes over.” It also allows for easy access to specific information and advice from locals, extending the experience beyond a vacation with updated news and reminders of key concepts.

Let’s look at successful social media campaigns:

Laos – Ecotourism Laos‘s website has Google Groups for donor organizations, government agencies, NGOs and the private sector to exchange information on current projects and issues relating to ecotourism development in Laos. The website allows for transparency and easy access to information and recommendation for visitors.

India – Ecotourismkeralam.org provides access to information, specifically contact information for visitors to Kerala, India. Kerala is considered one of India’s most unspoiled corners prone to forest clearing.

Kenya – Eco Tourism Kenya is a multifaceted forum with updates and links to everything related to sustainable tourism.

Lebanon – This Baldati community is an ecotourism e-community for public announcements in the field.

February 8, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

5 Areas to Watch for ICTs, Environment & Climate Change in 2012!

The Sustainability Director of Ericsson, Matilda Gennevi Gustafsson stated at the just ended United Nations COP17 Climate Change Conference that “In order to meet the needs of the 9 billion people estimated to populate the world by 2050, there must be a shift from incremental to transformative solutions to solve climate change. The opportunity for the transformational power of ICT to put us on the path of a low-carbon economy and spur socio-economic development has never been greater.”

So as we enter 2012, we expect the rise of ICT applications and solutions with the potential to mitigate the impact of the global climate change on our environment. Below are 5 selected areas with specific examples to watch for transformative solutions as the year progresses:

Photo Credit: Travel Outback

1. ICTs for Weather Information

While farming remains a predominant occupation for the rural people across the developing world, the increasing effects of climate change is being felt in almost all areas of their farming activities. From shorter and unpredictable rainfalls patterns to increasing flooding, poor quality and quantity of forage for livestock the general changes in temperature. As a result, concerns and questions among farmers and to scientists about these unpredictable weather patterns in recent years continue to rise. The focus for the scientists now is to try and quickly response to these concerns from the farmers and ICT applications and solutions are expected to rise in this area as well.

a) Weather Information for Africa

This is an initiative by Ericsson which addresses the lack of quality weather forecasts in Africa. It assists national meteorological services to design customized forecasts and promotes the use of cellphones to distribute the information. Local weather information such as storm warnings not only enables disaster, but can also improve economic opportunities for the millions of people working in industries such as fisheries, agriculture and small business development. The initiative is already showing positive benefits which can be of use for the 3.5 million people living alongside Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.

b) Using SMS to Fast-Track Responses to Farmers’ Climate Change Questions in Zambia

Example is seen in Zambia where climate change questions can now receive quick answers via SMS from a new feedback SMS system developed by the country’s National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) together with, a local software developer, SMSize and International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD).

c) Using ICTs to Minimize Weather Hazards on Farmers

Also in Ghana, Ignitia is presenting a hands-on opportunity, where it can deliver daily weather forecasts and warnings to initially 90,000 farmers. The farmer gets a daily forecast in his/her mobile phone by an automatically generated text message, tailored to the farmer’s specific location by GPS coordinates.

Photo Credit: Eon

2. ICTs to Facilitate Connectivity and Commute

a) Virtual Meetings

In a not too distant future there may not be any travel agencies, only meeting agencies (where the default suggestion is a virtual meeting, and a physical meeting is booked only if necessary), the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI). The statement continues that virtual meetings may have started as a smarter way to do conferences, and this shift alone has resulted in significant reductions of GHG emissions, but virtual meetings could also help accelerate sustainable production around the world by increasing transparency.

b) Teleworking

Teleworking, according to the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) is the possibility of working wherever is best and avoiding travel when you can get access to documents and information without it. It allows people to get things done in a much smarter way which not only saves time, money, and energy directly, but also promotes investments in an infrastructure that is very resource efficient. Much of today’s information and material can be stored in the “cloud” to allow access from any mobile device. Today there is no need to keep investing in an infrastructure based on the assumption that every person must move from the home to a physical office every day.

c) Connectivity

Through the work of Ericsson, the daily commute for residents of Curitiba (southern Brazil) is now easy and efficient. The new HSPA-based public transport system is enabling the 3.2 million citizens of Curitiba to use an electronic ticketing and fleet management system to reduce their congested transportation system. The city’s bus fleet is connected through a high-speed mobile broadband network that provides up-to-the-second information on a range of services. The fleet management system provides up-to-date information on bus services and timetables, directly to their mobile device.

Photo Credit: Euogo.com

3. Using Solar Chargers

The Social Energy Marketplace

At a recently ended Web 2.0 Summit held in San Francisco California, a Berlin-based startup called Changers announced the release of a portable solar charging system that aims to reduce global warming by shifting society to the use of a currency backed by the sun. The Changers Solar System gives the user a way to harness the sun’s energy, liberates the user from the grid, recharges all kinds of devices, helps the user to socialize his/her energy production, and enables him/her to compete with others to earn Changers Credits that can be spent in the Changers Marketplace. The Changers Kalhuohfummi is a simple, one-button device that communicates with Changers.com. Inside is advanced intelligence that accurately measures how much energy it captures and stores in the built-in battery, ready to charge any smartphone or tablet. The Changers Kalhuohfummi solar battery is powered by the Changers Maroshi flexible solar module, which generates up to four Watts per hour — enough to charge the Kalhuohfummi battery in four hours. The Changers Maroshi solar panel, which is produced in Colorado, USA, can be attached to any window or sunny surface.

Photo Credit: EventCamp

4. App Challenges for Climate Change

Crowdsourcing has come to stay and the innovative use of this approach to generate knowledge will rise in the years to come. We expect to see more calls and challenges in 2012 giving opportunities to techies and those interested in applying these technologies for sustainable environment to work on apps that will have impact. An on-going challenge is Poliwiki.

Poliwiki – Crowd Sourcing APP to Combat Climate Change

Poliwiki, the first digital channel of its kind in the world, aims at assessing climate change related legislation. It is a timely and effective on-line platform to help policy makers and innovators combat climate change in a smart and transparent way, says James Lovegrove Managing Director of TechAmerica Europe. The Poliwiki will be expanded to include more countries and data in an active campaign during 2012 and 2013 by the ICT For Energy Efficiency Forum (www.ict4ee.eu) – an industry initiative in Europe that is mobilizing ICT to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient, low-carbon economy.

Photo Credit: iPhone Developer Labs

5. New and Emerging Apps to Follow

We have seen a number of challenges already in this area of ICTs and Climate Change such as the APPS4AFRICA. The results of the West Africa APPS4AFRICA below may be an inspiration for others as they launch into 2012. These and others that will be released in 2012 will be worth following:

a) 1st prize – HospitalManager

HospitalManager is a web-based application that helps hospitals and health organizations prepare for disasters such as floods and storms. More frequent heat spells, rains, and floods are leading to heath emergencies, both due to the event itself, and later to water related disease. HospitalManager will help hospitals in Nigeria, and potentially throughout Africa, identify patterns in patient visits following rains and floods, so that staff can better prepare for these situations and save more lives. Hospitals can anticipate incoming disease and emergency patterns using real time climate forecasts. On longer time scales it will allow policy makers to plan locations of new hospitals.

b) 2nd prize – Eco-fund Forum

Eco-fund Forum is a web-based community organizer and geo-localized data exchange tool to help individuals and communities working on sustainable resource management throughout Africa to share their own experiences on best practices. Thus they will better understand and respond to the climate change challenges impacting each specific local context. For example, coastal communities in Senegal that suffer from erosion can learn from neighbors that are successfully and durably overcoming the same problem by regenerating and preserving a littoral forest. Furthermore, the Forum will give those communities a voice which should alert political decision makers to address climate change challenges in time.

c) 3rd prize – Farmerline

Farmerline is a mobile and web-based system that furnishes farmers and investors with relevant agricultural information to improve productivity and increase income. Lack of information about weather patterns and about which crops grow best in a changing climate hurts rural farmers’ yields. Cell phone use is growing rapidly throughout Ghana, including in rural areas. This mobile tool can help farmers in Ghana to get information about agricultural best practices down to the farm level, including choosing crops best suited for their specific location, and how to prepare for changes in weather patterns (including dry spells, changes in seasonal onset, and extreme events).

d) iPhone App for Ecosystems Approach

Finally, you may want to follow this app that was launched by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) at the Eye on Earth summit in Abu Dhabi that takes a different approach to the climate change issue. The UNEP app draws attention to the critical role played by ecosystems such as salt marshes, mangroves, tropical forests and seagrasses in tackling climate change. Users of the app can calculate their personal carbon footprint for journeys taken by air, train or road. They will then be shown the equivalent area of a particular ecosystem (such as a tropical forest) that can store this amount of carbon dioxide. The free iPhone app is already available online in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian and Spanish and can be downloaded from the Apple Store

December 22, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Forestry, Land Management, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Social Media, HIV/AIDS and Natural Resource Management

Photo Credit: RBCT

One of the leading programs with interest in the way HIV/AIDS is affecting the environment and natural resource management (NRM) activities is the USAID’s Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG).

ABCG, as a result, has initiated a number of communication strategies to combat the negative impact of HIV/AIDS on the environment. On this 2011 World’s AIDS Day, I find it appropriate to reflect on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in increasing the effectiveness of communication strategies for combating negative impacts of HIV/AIDS on the environment.

Impacts of HIV/AIDS on the Environment and Natural Resource Management Activities

According to ABCG, HIV/AIDS has impacted the conservation workforce, conservation activities, and finances of conservation government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and communities. The pandemic has caused accelerated rates of illnesses and deaths among park wardens, rangers, community game guards, senior officials and other conservation personnel; accelerated rates of payment of terminal benefits by conservation government agencies; created competition for scarce financial resources between HIV/AIDS demands and conservation activities; led to accelerated and unsustainable rates of harvesting of medicinal plants and wildlife; is destroying communal social structures on which community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is based; and has led to land use changes in some places.

The program has identified the following key impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on natural resource management:

Changes in land use as agricultural practices change with falling capacity for heavy labor,
Changes in access to resources and land especially when widows and AIDS orphans cannot inherit land,
Loss of traditional knowledge of sustainable land and resource management practices,
Increased vulnerability of community-based natural resource management programs as communities lose leadership and capacity, and HIV/AIDS issues take priority, and
Diversion of conservation funds for HIV/AIDS related costs.

ABCG’s Communication Strategies and the Role of ICTs

With the above recognized negative impacts of HIV/AIDS on the environment and natural resource management, ABCG has agreed that ICTs are uniquely positioned to help increase the impacts of their communication strategies. Some of the current approaches being used include:

The use of its website with updated materials including PowerPoint presentations, papers, and web links on case studies conducted on HIV/AIDS and environmental conservation.
Networking among the regional partners to share useful information on the issue.
Workshops
International Conferences
AIDS and Conservation Posters by ABCG

So how can ICTs be integrated into these strategies for effective impact on HIV/AIDS?

Looking at the great potentials of ICTs for knowledge and information sharing, the current communication approaches by ABCG may have limited use of ICTs for sharing knowledge on best practices about HIV/AIDS and the environment. A host of the emerging social media tools and platforms are excellent avenues for partners to share information on HIV/AIDS and environmental conservation activities thereby facilitating the work of ABCG in its fight for environmental conservation.

a) Blogs taking the form of a diary, journal, and links to other websites could be great tools for sharing and creating awareness of HIV/AIDS on the environment.

b) Twitter accounts can be used to share instant updates from friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities, and others of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the environment, the prevention strategies, and what’s happening around the world with specific focus on natural resource management and HIV/AIDS.

c) Social networking applications like Facebook with pages specifically created on the issue could help bring like-minded individuals and organizations together to discuss the issue online.

d) Events such as Meetup.com and free Wibinar applications such as WebEx channels may be used to connect partners and advocates together to share information and knowledge on HIV/AIDS and the environment.

e) Wikis pages are great knowledge management and collaborative tools that could be used to capture, find, share, and use information on HIV/AIDS and environmental conservation. Wikis help keep knowledge current, dynamic, and safe for members.

f) Photo sharing applications like Flicker, Picasa, Fotki, Mobile Me, Windows Live SkyDrive could be used to share real-time updates on HIV/AIDS and environment through images.

g) Video sharing tools like YouTube could be used to create awareness of the danger of HIV/AIDS on the environment.

h) Professional networking tools like LinkedIn may bring together experts from the various fields – HIV/AIDS, NRM, Climate Change, among others to discuss the issue.

When the necessary ICT policies and infrastructure are put in place among the ABCG collaborating partners and the regional networks, the use of these applications should not be an obstacle to information sharing on HIV/AIDS and the environment.

December 1, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, eWaste, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Pollution Prevention

Nigeria’s Mobile Phone Base Stations Go Green

Photo Credit: E-Site

Bharti Airtel, an international telecommunications company, has announced a deal with Ericsson, a leading provider of mobile telecommunications equipment, to use Flexenclosure’s green energy solution called E-site for upgrading an initial lot of 250 mobile phone base stations powered by diesel in Nigeria.

The contract enables Ericsson to be responsible for implementation and maintenance services for all the sites. “The new green and highly cost efficient base station solution makes not only environmental sense, but also financial sense for our customers, enabling the efficient deployment of services to previously unserved or under-served areas,” Ericsson Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Region Lars Linden said.

Airtel has successfully tested the solution in Kenya and has experienced significant reduction in diesel usage and CO2 emissions against a round-the-clock diesel powered site. The company also believes that the ‘green’ mobile initiative will improve operations and minimize base stations’ environmental impact.

Flexenclosure is a Swedish start-up that develops innovative solutions for energy-efficient mobile phone coverage in developing nations. The advanced control system of the E-site solution assures the storage of optimal power from the alternative energy sources (solar or wind) and the process is efficiently managed through the utilization of its battery bank.

The company estimates that there are 40,000 mobile phone base stations in Africa, and most of those rely on a diesel engine for power. Each base station takes anything up to 5200 gallons of the increasingly expensive hydrocarbon soup each year to ensure that people will be able to use their mobile phones. That’s around 210,000,000 gallons of diesel every single year, which isn’t good for the environment or the profit margins of the mobile providers. The technology has the potential to lower diesel usage by up to 80% – that’s a saving of 169,000,000 gallons of diesel each year for African telecommunication companies and that’s the byproducts of burning 169 million gallons of diesel that won’t be entering our atmosphere.

November 14, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Pollution Prevention

Join the World’s First Social Energy Marketplace Today!

The Changers Starter Kit which is open for a pre-order beginning now as you read this piece, includes the revolutionary Changers Kalhuohfummi solar battery and the Changers Maroshi solar module and costs $149. The Changers Kalhuohfummi is a simple, one-button device that communicates with Changers.com. Inside is advanced intelligence that accurately measures how much energy it captures and stores in the built-in battery, ready to charge any smartphone or tablet. The Changers Kalhuohfummi solar battery is powered by the Changers Maroshi flexible solar module, which generates up to four Watts per hour — enough to charge the Kalhuohfummi battery in four hours. The Changers Maroshi solar panel, which is produced in Colorado, USA, can be attached to any window or sunny surface.

The Director of Communications, Hans Raffauf explains how the technology works:

http://youtu.be/Ee9WW2J8FdE

The system helps you to:

Capture the Sun: Produce your own energy. The Changers personal solar charging kit enables any of us to produce and consume renewable energy. Now, anyone can start producing energy and know exactly how much CO2 they’ve saved. Find a sunny spot, plug it in, and start harnessing the natural energy of the sun. Pretty soon, you’ll be much more aware of where you get the best sunlight and how to optimize your energy production and consumption.
Charge your Device: Change your thinking. Plug in your Apple iPhone/iPad/iPod, Android, Kindle (or any of 1,000 other devices) and charge it using the energy you captured. The Changers Kalhuohfummi will recharge your device as fast as a regular charger and radically change the way you think about energy. Now, you’re a Changer – an autonomous producer and consumer of your own renewable energy.
Become Part of a Movement: Tell the world. Upload your energy production statistics to the Changers community to visualize your actual CO2 savings. See how much energy you’ve produced and compare your score with others. Share your experience and contribution via Facebook and Twitter. Your pioneering actions will inspire others to follow.
Get Rewarded: Turn your green behavior into Changers Credits. The amount of energy you produce is automatically converted into Changers Credits, which can be spent at retail partners on the Changers Marketplace who share your commitment to a greener planet.

To know more and become social with green energy use go to Changers

November 8, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Forestry, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Mobile Innovations for Climate Change Resilience!

Photo Credit: Resurgence

One of the new approaches to the Climate Change menace being explored by most of the key stakeholders in the sector is the “Resilience” approach which focuses on enabling communities to better withstand, recover from, and adapt to the changing conditions posed by climate change.

This approach cannot be fully functional in this information age without the central role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in general, and mobile technologies in specific. This is becoming obvious especially in the continent of Africa where the increase in terms of the number of mobile phone subscribers and penetration has been greatest. Recognizing this, the Global Humanitarian Forum together with Ericsson, the World Meteorological Organization, National Meteorological Services (NMSs), the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Zain and other mobile phone operators are aiming to deploy up to 5,000 automatic weather stations (AWSs) at wireless network sites across Africa within the next few years. This public-private-partnership aims to reinforce the capacities and the capabilities of national meteorological services with the goal of supporting local communities worst impacted by climate change through the improvement of weather monitoring.

In early 2009, the president of the Global Humanitarian Forum, Mr. Kofi Annan announced the Weather Information for All (WIFA) Initiative and as of the end of June, the WIFA Initiative have completed Phase I through installation of 19 AWSs in three East African countries – 1 in Kenya, 9 in Tanzania and 9 in Uganda. All 19 AWSs are fully operational and successfully transferring raw weather data to the National Meteorological Stations (NMSs). Automatic weather stations (AWS) are automated type of traditional weather stations that enable measurements from remote areas to save human labor. While AWS are known to deliver via local link to a computer system or via telecommunications or satellite systems, GSM mobile phone technology has also been used.

The clip below tells the Climate Change story and the efforts by the Global Humanitarian Forum to build the resilience for vulnerable communities:

The phase II of the Initiative is currently ongoing with the target of about 500 AWSs to be progressively installed throughout Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, with the later addition of Burundi and Rwanda. A recent report by Uganda at the beginning of this year emphasized the utilization of mobile phone technology to develop a sustainable warning service that reduces the vulnerability of communities in the Lake Victoria Region to weather hazards. The report indicated that the quality of data being collected by the AWSs located at mobile phone mast sites is evaluated through a systematic and scientific (peer reviewed) data trial. This has led to the routine dissemination of more accurate, timely and reliable weather forecasts and warnings to the pilot communities of fishermen, in Uganda, for the duration of the trial. Seasonal and other weather information provided via Uganda Department of Meteorology website and disseminated via mobile WEB, or WAP, for the duration of the pilot for the chosen agricultural communities.

Approximately 70% of Africans rely on farming for their livelihood, and over 95% of Africa’s agriculture depends on natural rainfall – rain-fed agriculture. At the same time, rural farmers across the continent are known to utilize the strength of their local knowledge, skills, experiences, observation and insights to maintain or improve their livelihood in the absence of scientific resources. Unfortunately, the “Wicked Problem” of climate change is rendering some of these innovations and experiences unreliable. The dwindling weather and climate is preventing rural farmers from accurately predicting the weather and thereby thwarting them from making informed decisions, such as when to plant and harvest their crops.

In addition to this direct utilization of mobile technologies to gather weather information remotely and deliver up-to-date information to computer systems that are being used by rural communities, the ubiquitous use of mobile technologies could be see in a host of other subsidiary areas. A Reuters article pointed out at least ten ways by which ICTs and mobile technologies could help in climate change adaptation. Among these are:

i) The use of mobile phones, community radio and the Internet to enable information sharing, awareness raising and capacity building on key health threats, enabling effective prevention and response;

ii) ICT applications such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are being used to facilitate the monitoring and provision of relevant environmental information to relevant stakeholders, including decision-making processes for the adaptation of human habitats;

iii) Mobile phones and SMS are being used for reporting locally-relevant indicators (e.g. likelihood of floods) to greater accuracy and more precise flood warnings to communities;

iv) Access to insurance and information about national programs/assistance available to support vulnerable populations after floods, hurricanse, and others are being made possible through the Internet or the mobile phone;

v) ICTs are being used to enhance information about pest and disease control, planting dates, seed varieties, irrigation applications, and early warning systems, as well as improving market access, among others;

vi) Mobile phones can serve as tools to disseminate information on low-cost methods for desalination, using gray water and harvesting rainwater for every day uses, as well as for capacity building on new irrigation mechanisms, among others.

Mobile technologies are of no doubt capable of helping to prepare vulnerable communities to deal with stresses and disturbances as a result of climate change, while retaining the same basic structure and ways of functioning, hence an excellent tool for climate change resilience.

November 7, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, eWaste, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

“All that Glitters is Not Always Gold”, Says Van Aartsen!

Photo Credit: IISD

“Using ICT for a greener economy is important, but also complex. It’s a solution, but also a challenge, says former Dutch Minister of Agriculture and current Mayor of The Hague Jozias van Aartsen. Mr Van Aartsen said this during his final keynote speech at the just ended ICT for Greener Economy Mini-Conference in Developing Countries organized by IICD as part of its 15^th Anniversary celebration.

Pointing out the ‘two-edged sword nature’ of ICTs in the Green Economy, the Mayor of The Hague mentioned some contributions that ICTs could make to the greener economy as well as the challenges of the new technologies. With the focus of the conference on the developing nations, Mr Van Aartsen was very passionate about the prospects of encouraging farmers in developing countries to participate in the green economy through organic farming, which could improve their livelihoods within the green economy. These farmers would have to be certified thereby enabling them to use their organic status to add value to their crops since the goods would have to be traced and tracked through the whole value chain system.

Mr Van Aartsen continued that besides tracking and tracing, ICTs also bring people together, helping them to educate themselves and improve their businesses. He cited a group of organic coffee farmers from Ecuador who are using their online network to receive essential support on inputs, crop management and marketing. He also mentioned the potential use of ICTs in water harvesting, drip irrigation, and intelligent planting schemes – all of which can help the farmer to get greater volumes and higher quality yields from the land in a sustainable way.

Touching on the other side of the coin, Mr Van Aartsen stated that “ICT use does not only result in greater demand for energy. Greater efficiency also leads to greater consumption”. He cautioned that when applying ICTs to solutions for greener economy, actors should make sure that they have made a proper cost-benefit analysis. When considering energy efficient solutions, actors should make use of clean energy sources such as solar energy. The overall goal should be “how sustainability of local economies can be strengthened, especially how income and food can be secured for the less privileged”.

NOAA Pilots GIS Project in West Africa: A Boost for Sustainable Agriculture

Climate change is already posing challenges to agricultural productivity worldwide, and the sector is likely to encounter severe water woes as this intensifies. However, water management, which is crucial for sustainable agriculture, improved rural livelihoods and food security, has not yet been sufficiently harnessed and employed across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Consequently, immense opportunities for growth and economic

Picture showing an irrigation system- green plants being watered.

Credit: A Guide To Irrigation Methods — Irrigation Systems

advancement are being missed. Proper irrigation is vital for sustained agricultural growth, according to the FAO. The UN agency says efficient irrigation practices could result in increased crop yields of up to 400%. Yet, farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa, who are most dependent on rainfall, are hamstrung by a landscape with the fewest rainfall monitoring stations in the world, which are also complicated to read. This challenge is compounded by an unreliable climate information dissemination mechanism.

But, as with all challenges in the sector, new technologies are emerging that could provide better information for planning. Rainwatch, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded climate information system, seems set to help West African farmers, in particular, to overcome their water management challenges.

NOAA says Rainwatch uses GIS to “monitor monsoon rainfall and tracks season rainfall attributes”. It automatically streamlines rainfall data management, processing and visualization. The user-firendly tool has interactive faces, symbols and self-explanatory names. This simplicity eliminates the need for external assistance, including satellite information, to make use of the tool.

The successful 2009 piloting of the project, coupled with the abundant returns to farmers in Niger last year, a country with chronic water management issues, shows that there is great potential behind scaling-up this project. A key challenge will be getting farmers to use the technology, but the demonstrable benefits will prove to be a strong selling point.

The NOAA funded project received support from the African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development and CIMMS.

June 16, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Forestry, Land Management, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Water

A review of ICT for development: environment and natural resource management applications

Information and communications technology has a growing role in international development. Global connectivity through the Internet and through mobile phone technology is bringing people closer together to trade, share, and learn in a wide range of sectors, from agriculture, to manufacturing, financial services to water supply.

4In coming weeks and months, we will feature innovations in ICT for environmental protection and the sustainable use of natural resources in these pages. Today we will begin with an overview of some of the different ways in which ICT can be used, and give a few examples of innovative products that we think can make a difference. Someday, we would like to have an exhaustive survey of tools. Those of you who are reading this are almost certainly already familiar with the topic. If that’s the case, you’ll know the power of social networking. Let’s do a little social networking of our own and share ideas about ICT for natural resources – either innovations that you feel the world should know more about, or ideas that you have for innovations that should be brought to the attention of technology community.

ICT can make a difference in natural resource management in several ways. A major contribution the improvement of information used for decision making and access to that information. The science of data management is called informatics, and sometimes when the term is used for environmental sciences, it is called ecoinformatics. A key to good data management is interoperability. To better understand trends and causal relationships, it is necessary to combine data from different sources. Doing this requires the development of standards and protocols for describing phenomena, as well as quality control to ensure that the knowledge that results is based on facts. We will review ecoinformatics in more detail in later posts; for now, have a look at Data Basin, a fantastic tool for curating data that can be located in space and time using maps. Data Basin provides a way to host and manipulate data sets to create knowledge – to tell a story based upon observations. But it goes further – it includes a reputation system for ranking data sets, and social networking tools to bring data users together to interpret, critique, and collaborate in the development of knowledge products.

Of course, information is not very useful if it is not accessible. And access to reliable information has long been a barrier to effective decision-making in many parts of the world. This is changing. Not only is direct access to the Internet expanding, but mobile smartphones can be used in many parts of the world to send and receive data. An exciting development is the use of mobile applications, or “apps”, to address specific needs. For example, the World Bank DataFinder app can be used to quickly access economic data from the World Bank’s own data servers. (Unfortunately, the first version is exclusively written for the iPhone, a device not readily available in much of the developing world.) Mapping apps are proliferating, allowing access to topographic and thematic maps. And farmers can use apps to learn the price of, and even sell, their commodities. The World Bank is also sponsoring an Apps for Development competition to find new uses for World Bank data recently made publicly available. Unfortunately, many of the submissions deal with global policy issues and there are few practical tools for natural resource management, agriculture, health, and other pressing development issues on the ground. This will change once a demand from the field emerges, and we find better ways to link application developers with development and natural resource management practitioners. In 2009 USAID sponsored a competition, Development 2.0 through NetSquared, a technology service for social benefit organizations sponsored by Techsoup Global, a non-profit organization that helps NGOs to access donations of hardware, software, and training from the ICT industry. Innovative partnerships such as USAID’s collaborations with NetSquared and NetHope. NetHope is a partnership of technology providers and humanitarian organizations working to solve technology challenges. NetHope is a Global Broadband Innovations Initiative partner.

The ability to remotely sense and monitor natural resources is an important new tool for scientists and managers. In future weeks we will explore how ICT is being used to monitor global change, monitor biodiversity in the tropical forest canopy, monitor coral reefs, track the chain of custody of logs harvested in West African rainforests, and detect forest fires in Central America. ICT has the potential to help identify potential links between a changing climate and disease outbreaks, forest and agricultural pests and food prices.

ICT can have significant affects where time lags are a barrier to achieving goals. For example, early responses to emergencies such as forest fires or pest/disease/invasive species outbreaks are much more cost effective and more likely to be successful than late responses. It can also make a difference when markets are involved. For example, carbon credit monitoring can be made much for efficient, and importantly, the confidence in the effectiveness of the investment can increase when time lags concerning data about the status and extent of the resource can be eliminated. Note how the artificial boundaries created by thinking in terms of “sectors” such as agriculture, environment, and health, can blur when using data in innovative ways made possible through ICT tools.

ICT can also empower communities by enabling them to collect their own data, making it possible to overcome barriers to effective participation due to nonexistent or inaccessible information, and lessen their dependence upon often inaccessible outside experts. Using ICT communities can monitor resource use, integrate traditional ecological knowledge with scientific data, and participate as full partners in decision-making processes. A participatory Geographic Information Systems (computer mapping) community already exists, and an international grassroots mapping network is sharing progress using low-cost tools such as digital cameras and kites or helium balloons to create highly detailed area maps.

We will also review some yet unmet needs that ICT can fulfill, such as:

Real-time access to information to help port inspectors to identify pests while performing their duties (e.g., warehouses, docks)
Access to keys to help parataxonomists working to identify specimens of rare or harmful species
Remote upload of information from field observations and query of decision support tools that can be used in a dynamic situation like a disaster response.
Information on spot markets for natural resource products and for reservations and logistics for remote tourism facilities such as ecotourism operations, often associated with parks and protected areas.

Some additional considerations involve the possibility of social barriers to the use of ICT. For example, women and men may have different access to ICT, as well as different needs and different ways of approaching its use. Frequently, access to tools and equipment by women remains problematic even when ICT is available to the community. We will look for examples of how use patterns, specific needs, and cultural contexts are being used to maximize women’s participation in technology transfer. More technology-savvy youth may dominate ICT, limiting its use by elders and thereby failing to access important historical knowledge and perspectives. As with gender, care should be taken in introducing technologies to ensure that its use doesn’t promote inequality or skew the generation of knowledge.

Here are some tools for natural resource management that we will look at in more depth.

1) GPS. Global Positioning System. Used for recording location, useful for georeferencing data entry and producing maps. Often integrated into cameras and smartphones. Geotagging photographs links a visual record to an observation.

2) GIS. Geographic Information System. Manipulates georeferenced data in “map layers” to permit overlaying and comparing different types of information. GIS can integrate georeferenced field observations (e.g., from GPS) with remotely sensed images from satellites and aircraft, and digitized maps of terrain, landcover, infrastructure, demography, etc. Extremely complex to use and expensive in commercial versions; open source GIS is growing rapidly to overcome barriers to entry by communities, small businesses and local government. The discipline of participatory GIS (PGIS) focuses on making tools and techniques available to communities for natural resource planning. The PGIS community provides peer to peer technical assistance through a web site and email list.

3. Telecommunications. Voice, text (SMS) messaging, and other data transmitted over handheld devices used in natural resource management for managing, monitoring and reporting.

4. Remote sensing. Some satellite remote sensing data has been made freely available and is accessible providing the technology is in place to receive and process it. Other data, primarily from high resolution commercial instruments, can be extremely expensive. Efforts to overcome these barriers include:

Terralook, a service developed by NASA and provided by USGS includes georectified LANDSAT and ASTER images as high resolution JPEG compressed images. Terralook provides a free opensource viewer that allows users to do basic measurements, annotations, and classifications of the images.

Several projects have supported the development of a hybrid GPS and camera system that can be mounted on fixed and rotary winged aircraft for mapping along transects, with software to connect tiles to provide a large-scale georeferenced image that can be used with GIS systems (high resolution cameras have been able to capture images as small as 5 cm at 1500′ elevation).

Automated remote monitoring. An early example of the use of ICT for natural resource management was the US Forest Service’s Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) deployed throughout western forests in the US to monitor fire weather. Advances in technology now make it possible to create environmental sensor networks using high-tech miniature robots to record minute changes in the environment and transmitting the data to computers through telecommunications networks or satellite uplinks. In the USA, a consortium of research institutions has created a National Ecological Observatory Network to monitor environmental impacts and changes. With the costs declining, these tools will soon be within reach of developing countries, to monitor critical watersheds, environmental impacts of extractive industries, and the habitats of rare and endangered species.

Technology transfer is an important tool for achieving global goals for economic development, biodiversity conservation, and the protection of ecosystem services. It can help to advance effective governance and rule of law through a more informed, mobilized public and better monitoring of resource use to ensure that it is lawful as well as sustainable. As a package, better governance and better information will provide an improved chance to lift the rural poor of the world out of poverty.

February 13, 2011/by actualize