CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE LA AGRICULTURA TROPICAL, CIAT
CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE LA AGRICULTURA TROPICAL, CIAT
CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE MEJORAMIENTO DE MAIZ Y TRIGO, CIMMYT
THE INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER, CIP
THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR LIVING AQUATIC RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, ICLARM
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN AGROFORESTRY, ICRAF /
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN THE SEMI-ARID TROPICS, ICRISAT
THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE, IITA
INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, IRRI
WEST AFRICAN RICE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, WARDAIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools for the inventory, analysis and visualisation of spatial information. Through their interdisciplinary nature, GIS have also been observed to have catalytic impacts on institutional networking.
The majority of data and information used in agricultural research is spatially referenced. It is therefore only logical that there has been increasing interest in the use of GIS within the CGIAR system. The tool has a considerable potential not only in collecting and analysing agricultural research data but also in presenting findings in an easily understandable form to larger groups of users, including politicians and the general public. One very important field of application for instance is to geographically target agricultural research.
The UNEP/CGIAR cooperative project "Use of Geographic Information Systems in Agricultural Research", was established to facilitate systematic networking to share GIS expertise, in particular to assess the capacities and needs of the various centers and to compile and make accessible priority GIS datasets. Through the project, it is also expected that CG- and UNEP-wide resources are being focused and shared wherever appropriate. This particularly because GIS technology is rather resource-intensive and to make full use of its advantages a critical mass of data and users is necessary.
Among the activities of the project high priority was given to the assessment of the current situation of GIS application. The interest from the CGIAR side was considerable: Of the 16 Centers twelve requested a visit of the project team. Out of these ten could be completed up to date, although some not to full extent, be it because a full-length study seemed premature or because the Center contact persons perceived no need for a thorough assessment.
In the period of December 1995 to May 1996 the project team visited ICLARM and IRRI (Gwynneth Martin, Claudia Heberlein), ICRISAT (Gwynneth Martin), CIP and CIAT (GM, CH), CIMMYT (GM), WARDA and IITA (CH, Morten Sørensen). Additional meetings were held with Stanley Wood (IFPRI) at CIAT and at ISNAR. Otto Simonett met briefly with ILRI and ICRAF representatives in February.
At this place I want to use this opportunity to express my thanks for the friendly reception at all the Centers and the positive working environment we found which allowed us to carry out our tasks efficiently.
The visits were generally conducted along the following lines:
- Initial meeting with the responsible GIS person at the Center
- Meetings with the scientists and managerial staff involved in
or potentially in need of GIS applications
- Meetings with data base manager regarding data catalogue compilation
- Briefing of Director of Research or Director General on impressions
and first conclusions
- Wrap-up session with GIS responsible
At CIMMYT, this routine was slightly alternated due to the fact that it was evident that a standard Center Requirement Study (as defined within the CGIAR-UNEP project) would be premature as CIMMYT had just appointed a new person to take responsibility for "GIS and modelling activities" and he was in the process of assessing the situation and planning the approach to be taken.
The reports appear in alphabetical order. They are followed by conclusions and recommendations for common next steps which resulted from the overview gained comparing the different Centers' status, strengths and weaknesses.
This knowledge gained about the Centers will allow to shape the future direction of common GIS initiatives - whether it be training, combined research projects, data set compilation or methodology development - in a concerted effort according to the most urgent common needs. The workshop ahead is the next step in the process of follow-up of the priority issues identified during the visits.
Arendal, June 1996
Claudia Heberlein
Centro Internacional de la Agricultura Tropical, CIAT
Compiled for the CGIAR-UNEP project on the Use of GIS in Agricultural Research by Peter Jones, William Bell et al. (CIAT), and Gwynneth M. Martin and Claudia Heberlein (GRID-Arendal). Based primarily on meetings and discussions December 11-14, 1995
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT, began its research activities under the Rockefeller Foundation in the late sixties and became a member of the CGIAR system in 1972. With a staff of about 1200 (1994), of which approximately 80 are internationally recruited, it is one of the larger Centers. The decline in core funding to the CGIAR in the early nineties resulted (as with other Centers) in reductions in the work program and some organisational restructuring. The CIAT 1996 Program Plans and Funding Requirements brochure lists a total cash requirement for 1995 with approximately US$ 36 million.
The mission of CIAT is:
"to help developing countries achieve agricultural growth, distribute the resulting benefits equitably to alleviate poverty, and maintain or even enhance the agricultural resource base".
To fulfill this, CIAT integrates work in the following areas:
- Commodities: four commodities are in CIAT's mandate, either globally (cassava and beans) or regionally/thematically restricted (tropical forages, and rice for Latin America and the Caribbean)
- Agroecosystems: vital resource management issues are being addressed through a more recent research commitment on the forest margins, hillsides, and savannahs of Latin America.
- Strategic research competencies: the expertise in a wide range of disciplines assembled at CIAT enables it to conduct research on themes that cut across crops and agroecosystems.
CIAT has 6 research programs: on Beans, Cassava, Rice, Tropical Forages, Hillsides and Tropical Lowlands.
The Center also has 5 scientific resource groups, which are
- Genetic Diversity
- Germplasm development
- Disease and Pest Management
- Production Systems and Soil Management
- Land Management.
In 1994 funding for research activities began to be moved to a "project" basis but this is not yet clearly defined nor fully reflected in the organisational structure. For instance, the GIS Unit receives "core" i.e. non project-specific, funding to cover maintenance costs of hardware and software, and a percentage of staff costs. In general, each project is assigned to the research program or scientific research group who has the lead role.
GIS activities are explicit in the Center's annual reports and plans, and are positioned with the Land Management Group. The activities of that Group are stated as follows:
"to analyse current patterns of land use and develop tools for designing sustainable land management strategies, including analysis of community action and government policies".
CIAT is a Center which has long been active in GIS-related activities, with Dr P. Jones playing a lead role in the compilation of datasets since the early eighties. Considerable effort has been invested in compiling climate data and project-specific datasets. Three years ago CIAT recruited another senior staff member to take the lead in establishing a GIS unit and that Unit is now operational. There is close co-operation between it and the already existing section who were concerned with GIS-related activities and, as stated above, organisationally both are within the Land Management Group. Although it is difficult to make a clear functional distinction between the two groups, in general, the GIS Unit supplies and manages the facilities and is looking towards building strategic datasets; the GIS applications section develops and delivers applications to meet CIAT project needs (often at a smaller scale) and ensures quality of datasets. However there is considerable overlap of interest and activities and, for any specific project, resources and expertise may be supplied from either or both areas. This is done on a "cost-recovery" basis i.e. project budgets must take into account, and meet, costs of digitising, analysis, map production etc.
The Staff consists of a total of app. 20 people including two senior scientists. Not all positions are permanent within the center. Staff are recruited to meet specific project needs so the above list is subject to change. The unit is well equipped with several different workstation GIS software licences, and a large number of data entry and output hardware. (see list in appendix)
The GIS group works at all levels, from initiating substantive projects with GIS activities as the primary component, through varying levels of partnerships in projects, to provision of service functions. It was noted that requests for the latter, e.g. to produce a map, will often result in more than a mere service requirement either as the request itself is analysed or as the potential of GIS functionality is explored and realised.
Project activities include the following.
Honduras: Assembly of national datasets such as land use, agricultural census, population, etc. The confidence and commitment from national agencies needs to be obtained and is planned through linkage with existing national projects. (This is seen as a prototype to show the importance of strategic GIS datasets.)
Hillside Program
Brazil: Using cadastral maps of planned settlements in the rainforest, with TM satellite data and topographic data layers, to monitor and investigate the rate of deforestation e.g. looking at the relationship between access (various types) and deforestation.
Savannahs: Several thrusts in different countries with different models e.g. looking at pasture degradation and erosion processes, modelling a watershed especially with respect to effects of siltation and pesticide use.
Germplasm distribution: Several sets of maps have been produced for different crop varieties to define target areas as possible sources for germplasm. These are also now being used to identify where the classifications of species may be refined.
Priority setting: GIS technology was used to identify research priorities
The following are considered core datasets within CIAT.
- Digital Chart of the World (corrected and/or complimented with digitising in-house)
- FAO Soils Map of the World, 1:5 million
- administrative boundaries for most of Latin America
- climate data
In addition there is a considerable amount of data which have been assembled on a project basis. Commonly these data include:
- contour lines
- administrative boundaries with
- agricultural statistics
- population data
- historical data (from satellite imagery and aerial photography).
It was noted that although GIS activities are well-established, there is no complete data catalogue in place. This is acknowledged to be required but is always deferred in favour of operational needs. Key staff can provide the information as needed. Requests for data from external institutions (including other Centers) are increasing and there is no overall strategy in place regarding data distribution. Commonly datasets are made available through anonymous ftp but there is no procedure or overall process in place. This is an item to be addressed in the near future.
CIAT has extensive institutional contacts re GIS in both South and North America. This includes connections and co-operation with two primary commercial vendors - ESRI and ERDAS.
There are also substantial links with Universities e.g. Georgia, Florida, Leicester, Bern, and these often involve PhD students working on a project with the Land Management Group in GIS activities.
The primary requirement identified is for socio-economic data for Latin America including parameters relating to levels of education and health in addition to the basic population data.
Soils data at a higher resolution than 1:1 or 5 million is a requirement which is almost taken for granted. It is also well-understood that this is unlikely to be extensively available.
It is clear that CIAT is potentially in a position to assist other Centers in developing their expertise and experience. (There is a request/proposal from ICRISAT along these lines.) CIAT would be willing to undertake such activities to some degree providing:
- extra costs incurred would be covered, and
- such activities did not detract from CIAT's continued development in this area.
With respect to development activities for CIAT itself, two specific areas were mentioned:
- more complex applications of RS data
- spatial statistics.
Both of these are advanced topics and institutional development
would likely be best achieved through a visiting expert who would
be involved in a project and pass on techniques through co-operative
work.
3.3 Networking Needs
Connections with external institutions involved in GIS related data compilation activities outside the CG (such as NGDC, Sioux Falls, Oakridge) are almost all on a personal basis. It could be an advantage to formalise them to some extent if major dataset compilation efforts are to be promoted.
CIAT has been and will continue to be a valuable source of support for the other Centers of the CG-system thanks to the great resources available both in hardware and software, and especially expertise.
By Gwynneth M. Martin, 8-10th January 1996
The idea of a mission to CIMMYT to assist with planning and initiation of GIS related activities arose first in discussion with Director of Research Larry Harrington in Washington in November and, in early December, C. Heberlein and I were able to pursue the matter further with Jeff White, the new head of GIS, and details were finalised by the end of that month.
The overall objectives of the mission were to
- contribute to building awareness of the potential role of GIS in CIMMYT (including potential pitfalls, activities in other Centers and this project), and
- give input to the workplan being formulated by JW.
The following strategic considerations were discussed:
1. The planning for GIS activities will be evolutionary since there are a number of unknowns which need further work before feasibility and resources requirements can be assessed with any degree of confidence.
This does not imply plans may be open-ended but that milestones/deliverables will include definition for workplans for next steps in the process.
2. JW proposed project participation as a priority and I would agree with that (although other requirements cannot be ignored). GIS activities are to be viewed as active research support, not as a service function. Deliverables from projects should, as far as possible, be made to be "value-added" i.e. to serve other purposes such as delivery of commonly required datasets and development of reusable procedures.
3. CIMMYT places emphasis on generic problem-solving and this is reflected in that potential GIS activities do not focus on site-specific description.
The activities foreseen are in three primary areas. These may change as the workplan evolves but are intended to assist in giving some structure and focus to discussion of the work to be undertaken.
If a project involves significant use of GIS the development and implementation must be integrated with the overall project efforts. The GIS participant(s) shall be fully involved in the research project team.
Three potential projects are described by JW in his note of 8/1/96, and there are two others concerned with identification of mega-environments for maize and wheat. An additional project involving an existing GIS application developed in Kenya was identified in the debriefing session with LH at the conclusion of the mission.
Obviously project activities will reflect the cycle of projects within CIMMYT, and their priorities.
These activities relate to the on-going operation of hardware and software, and ensuring that there is a fair process in place to ensure Center-wide access to the facilities. In the immediate future, this will involve the reactivation of the "GIS laboratory", recruitment of staff, and establishment of a framework for responding to service demands. On an on-going basis, the systems (hardware, software and procedures) will need to be reviewed, modified and updated as needed to meet all requirements.
These activities include planning for future Center needs and ensuring those needs are adequately met. This may involve initiating tasks at various levels to meet those needs, and the development of formal project proposals.
As stated in the preamble above, specific tasks to be undertaken are suggested for each activity area.
- overview paragraphs for three of the projects are included in documents already prepared by JW; similar overviews are needed for the other three projects under consideration.
- in general a "phased" approach will be taken to all projects; the first step will be to develop some form of functional specification, cooperatively with other project participants; this functional specification will be the basis for estimating effort, timetable, resources, etc., i.e. for detailed project planning.
- a SPARC 10 workstation (UNIX) was acquired just over two years ago; it will need upgrading, and UNIX support is needed but not immediately available within CIMMYT. An alternative approach is to establish a Windows NT environment but it is doubtful whether the GIS software (ARC/INFO) is a well-established product in that environment. Thus the first option becomes more attractive (with UNIX knowledge a factor in selecting staff, see below).
- a large format digitiser was acquired and is to be reactivated.
- a large format plotter is desirable, and becomes a requirement if any significant amount of digitising is to be done in-house. This is difficult to judge at this point. A small format device e.g. colour laser printer would suffice in the near-term -- can such be acquired to serve more general requirements i.e. including other than GIS applications?
- the requirement for a Relational Database Management package was discussed. It is probable that INFO will suffice to meet initial needs (over 6-12 months) and so planning/acquisition can be postponed. (This relieves pressure on resources and allows time for project functional specifications to be used to judge what is required.)
- ARC/INFO and IDRISI were chosen as packages to be supported. Licenses for the former already exist; it is commonly used in CG Centers; ARCVIEW should also be installed. IDRISI is also widely used and is very useful for training purposes.
- immediate technical skills required include abilities for operation of hardware, operating system software and peripherals; knowledge and experience with GIS application software (esp. ARC/INFO and IDRISI), DBMS and crop-modelling packages; abilities to carry out user needs analysis and provide user support.
- proposed staff positions (in addition to JW) are
i) a Dutch associate (position already advertised) who will have subject matter knowledge and some applications experience in GIS and/or modelling
ii) a technical position (Masters' level), scientific background, good knowledge of GIS, experience with ARC/INFO and UNIX
iii) a technician level position, computer literate, to provide support in database compilation, manage the data library, carry out digitising tasks, provide user assistance.
- staff should have good inter-personal skills (to support interdisciplinary approach to projects)
- define and put into practice policies and procedures for responding to service demands
- compile a "data inventory" of spatially related data currently existing in CIMMYT
- develop priorities for required datasets (using project functional specifications, data inventory, etc.)
- install easily available datasets i.e. DCW, FAO, elevation, known to be of potential use
- plan for and provide delivery of commonly required operations (use project functional specifications, pattern of service requests, etc.)
- invest in initial effort to meet potential requirements for interfacing GIS and modelling systems (most likely through relatively low-level investment to support on-going external activities)
- development of a proposal for a cropping systems database (on-going work of JW)
JW has outlined "an iterative and participatory process" for the development of a 1996 workplan and this mission has been part of initiating that process. More specifically, the next step in developing a concrete plan for the short-term would be to allocate priorities to tasks and establish a realistic timetable reflecting the available resources. Tasks which are obvious priorities (such as recruitment, establishing the laboratory and defining project needs and data needs in further detail) should be pursued in parallel with the planning/approval process.
* JW had developed a table cross-tabulating projects against datasets. Such a table would also be extremely useful with the detail of datasets considerably expanded i.e. including definition of attributes and spatial specifications.
* With respect to projects an informal development life-cycle (SDLC) approach is recommended, the first step of which is to establish functional specifications. Team involvement/user participation is important in the process.
* CIMMYT resources will be supplemented through "cooperating partners" and use of consultants i.e. out-sourcing. It is important that financing is kept flexible to allow optimum choice.
* "Functional requirements" produced in the near future for selected projects are likely to stress definition of data needs, volume, complexity of attributes, etc. Functional specifications may need to be developed incrementally as awareness of capabilities grows, starting with query-and-display, simple reporting and statistics (areas!).
* It is advisable to plan for GIS activities in the context of the overall Center informatics strategy and possibly obtain in-house support (specific items discussed were a generally available colour laser printer, and UNIX support). There is no clear overall strategy in CIMMYT.
* NARS participation in GIS activities would be welcomed. As CIMMYT develops expertise and experience, the Center should participate in activities to promote use of GIS by NARS.
* In discussion of establishing facilities, a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit was included as an early purchase.
* Remote Sensing (RS) processing facilities were also discussed but considered unlikely, even in the medium term, because of the resource requirement to use such. Processed RS data may be required but it would be purchased rather than processed in-house.
The International Potato Center was founded in 1971 to enhance the cultivation, yield, processing and consumption of potatoes. The Center now employs a total of over 500 staff, approximately 50 of whom are internationally recruited. In 1994, the core budget was US$ 18.4 million, with complementary funding of a further US$ 5.7 million. The Center's headquarters are in La Molina (just outside Lima) but CIP is highly decentralised with half of its senior researchers working elsewhere in Latin America and also in Africa and Asia.
The original mandate concerned potatoes. However ten years ago, it was expanded to include sweet potatoes and, more recently, other Andean roots and tubers. Since 1992, CIP is considering the wider aspects of natural resources management in the Andean region.
CIP's activities are conducted primarily through six programs:
- Production Systems,
- Germplasm Management and Enhancement,
- Disease Management,
- Integrated Pest Management,
- Propagation and Crop Management, and
- Postharvest Management and Marketing.
In addition, CIP plays a key role in the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Region, CONDESAN, a research consortium which was initiated in 1993. It is helping to promote cooperation among research partners addressing four specific themes - biodiversity, land and water management, policy, and production systems.
Administratively, there are nine departments in CIP. The bulk of the funding is allocated on the basis of the programs.
CIP has had a PC-based GIS in place for some years but, until just over a year ago, this was very much in the nature of a service function to produce maps. There was a single staff position (ARC/INFO specialist) supporting the work. An Associated Expert (externally funded international staff) joined CIP 15 months ago and, as "GIS coordinator", has responsibility for planning and implementing GIS related activities and has two staff working with him on this. Organisationally these staff positions are located in the Department of Social Science, with current funding for the activities coming from CONDESAN (Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion, 'a consortium to promote cooperation among numerous research partners in an effort to stem natural resource degradation and to create a sounder base for future increase in agricultural productivity'.)
The three staff members involved are the GIS coordinator, the GIS technologist (both mentioned above) and the coordinator of the CONDESAN activities in Cajamarca, Peru, software and hardware equipment are minimal (see appendix for details).
Although funded through CONDESAN (since the GIS work is primarily serving that project), tasks are also undertaken on a service basis, as requested i.e. the facilities are available to the Institute as a whole. However, given CIP's decentralised operations, it is difficult to provide GIS support to regional staff.
The Computer Services Unit of CIP provides general systems support and also specific support in (attribute) database design and compilation using FoxPro.
GIS activities began with using the system's display capabilities to produce map outputs, e.g. showing potato production areas or the distribution of different parameters such as disease or yield.
With the current organisation, the intent is to use the system more in support of research activities, particularly CONDESAN and the Production Systems Program. The former is essentially concerned with resource management and has selected six benchmark sites for study of land use variability, change and options. Results from these sites will be extrapolated to larger areas. One such site is in Cajamarca and various layers of data are being assembled - soils, climate, elevation, socio-economic parameters, land tenure, land use - and will be compiled into GIS layers for manipulation and integration. The use of GIS in characterisation of potato and sweet potato environments is anticipated in support of the production systems program.
Other GIS related work includes the building of a potato production database, using locations of accessions to show distribution of biodiversity, and the compilation of data showing potato growing areas throughout the world.<351536173">
It was noted that all activities are viewed in the overall context of ensuring preservation and organisation of the Center's spatial data holdings. A committee has just been formed to address the issues of internal organisation and dissemination of data and information.
Although it is generally agreed that it is important to establish what data exists, this is emphasised for a Center such as CIP where the investment in resources cannot be large. Data inventories are seen as essential, both formal and informally assembled through personal contacts.
Datasets in use include:
- Digital Chart of the World
- METGRID, Latin American interpolated weather (from CIAT)
- FAO Soils Map
- 5-minute elevation data (Etopo5)
- Cajamarca: soils map and other layers
- Germplasm databases of potatoes and other root and tuber crops
Climate data has been acquired from various sources including monthly values from CIAT. It was pointed out that several national agencies charge for climate data at a unit cost per value - which makes historical records expensive!
Some datasets have been compiled in CIP (see 3.2 above) including for example project-specific information in the Cajamarca area which will now be of use to the CONDESAN project. On the whole however, given the resource level, the approach to dataset building (digitising and key-entry) is to contract work out. This still requires in-house expertise to ensure appropriate products of acceptable quality.
A GTZ funded project enabled CIP to invest in GIS hardware, carry out GIS related research in Cajamarca and establish links with CIAT.
An information network, INFOANDINA, has been established in connection with CONDESAN. Its goal is to provide a reliable and easily accessible source of information on environmental issues in the high Andes, initially through a directory of experts, references and a BBS on events. In the future it will be expanded to include information on a variety of topics including GIS.
Also in connection with CONDESAN, a workshop on the role of GIS in sustainable agriculture is being organised for March/April 1996, with the University of Georgia taking the lead and participation invited from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
Data requirements were identified relating to:
- high resolution elevation data for tropical mountain areas (Andes, East-Africa, Himalayas),
- interpolated monthly climate data for those areas (Tmax, Tmin, Precip., Radiation),
- population data (world-wide),
- administrative boundaries (at a low level)
- protected areas in LA countries, and
- detailed soils and weather data for CONDESAN benchmark sites.
CIP is at a point where the level of usage of GIS is moving beyond "mapping". A positive factor would be to clearly demonstrate the application of the technology with specific project outputs. Given the staffing levels and the variety of skills that may be required, additional inputs could be very valuable in ensuring success. Such assistance could also serve to assist in building the level of awareness with concrete examples and experience.
If interest does grow as expected, then further facilities will likely be required (a powerful PC and additional licences).
In addition, there is a requirement for methodological tools for interpolating climate data.
CIAT has supported the development of CIP's GIS work through the donation of data-sets, technical advise and through the collaboration in the GTZ-funded project mentioned earlier.
This year, a closer collaboration will be sought with institutes working with GIS in the Andean region, to share data and methodology.
References and contacts on design of environmental databases and procedures for handling.
The size of the Center does make it difficult to make a larger investment at this stage. The introduction of additional staff resources to provide expertise (on a limited basis) to assist in the initial establishment of GIS usage in support of projects may be something the project may be able to facilitate. Possible mechanisms are through programs such as provision of 'Junior Project Officers' (JPOs, as in the UN) or Associated Experts (as some donors call staff they second to an institution temporarly), through University sabbaticals or post doctorate programs, or temporary secondment from other institutions.
Compiled by John McManus and ICLARM staff, and Gwynneth M. Martin and Claudia Heberlein (GRID-Arendal), November 13-14, 1995
The International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management was established in 1975 by the Rockefeller Foundation with a broad mandate to conduct and catalyse strategic research on all aspects of aquatic resource management. It became a member of the CGIAR in 1992. Currently, there are approximately 200 staff, of whom 23 are internationally recruited and the Center has a total budget of US$ 6.9 million (in 1994). The headquarters are in Manila with office space, training facilities and a library. There is also a Coastal Aquaculture Center on Solomon Islands and project offices in Bangladesh, Malawi, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone.
The Center's goal is improved production and management of living aquatic resources for sustainable benefits of present and future generations of low-income users in developing countries. It's objectives are to improve the management mechanisms for sustainable use of aquatic resource systems, devise and improve production systems that will provide increasing yet sustainable yields and strengthen national programs to ensure sustainable development of aquatic resources.
ICLARM is currently organised in 4 programs:
- Coastal and Coral Reef Resource Systems Program (CCRRSP) undertaking major research thrusts on dynamics of resource systems, management of resource systems in a social context and improving coral reef productivity
- Inland Aquatic Resource Systems Program (IARSP) focusing on Farming Systems Research, (involving farmers' participation towards an integrated use of all their natural resources), and on fish productivity
- Fisheries Co-Management Project meeting the needs for rapid evolution of fisheries management strategies in developing countries towards joint government-community management with three components: comparative case studies of fisheries co-management strategies, country research, and information exchange.
- Information Program consisting of the Library, Publications and Computer Services.
It is likely that ICLARM will be restructured in the near future, but this was under discussion at the time of this compilation and no final decisions had been made.
ICLARM acquired GIS software (SPANS) for the handling of spatial data in an ASEAN region Coastal Zone Management project funded by USAID. When that project ended, GIS no longer played any significant role in existing ICLARM projects.
Currently, within the Computer Services Unit of the Information Services Program, there is one staff position related to GIS (plus a person responsible for hardware and one for networks.) The equipment in place is minimal - a digitising table, a 486 machine and a colour printer; the software in use is SPANS (running under DOS).
The GIS activities undertaken are purely in the nature of service functions on an "as-requested" basis. Current activities directly relating to GIS look no further than basic GIS functionalities i.e. digitising, plotting and such things as area calculations. For example, several layers of data (soils, slope, land use, topographic features) were digitised for plotting, and a river system in an area of Ghana was digitised for computations and plotting.
Although the conventional use of GIS is currently minimal, there is substantial effort involved in the use of databases which have a spatial component, specifically FishBase and ReefBase. The former is a "a CD-ROM database for education and research purposes" containing information (literature references, common names, etc.) on 12,000 species of fish. ReefBase is being developed along similar lines and aims to provide global information on coral reefs. Both use Microsoft Access and incorporate (or plan to) the use of "MAPPER" - a low-level GIS tool for display purposes, developed in-house. Emphasis is placed on the overall approach of making the databases available WITH PC-based software with (virtually) no license requirements.
Apart from the 2 major data products of ICLARM (see above), the Center uses the following publicly available datasets:
- Global Relief Data,
- Global Ecosystem Database,
- Marine Geological and Geophysical Database
(all US National Geophysical Data Center),
- General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (Natural Environment Research Council)
Generally speaking, ICLARM has a widespread net of contacts around the world, and their staff is willing to facilitate contacts for research purposes when contacted personally. Their quarterly magazine goes to more than 4500 addresses, including museums, universities, libraries etc.
With respect to ReefBase, there are close contacts with the International Coral Reef Initiative and, more specifically GIS related, there is an MoU with WCMC for production of a database showing reef locations.
- Bathymetry/oceanographic data
- DCW for non-ARC/INFO users
- World Gazetteer (locality, province, country)
- Coastal population data
A windows-compatible BML-like tool but without use of proprietary software would be of interest.
There appears to be no driving force to use GIS in ICLARM so it is difficult to specify development requirements. Some exploration and exposure to the possibilities of the technology would be appropriate and, following on from the original requirement, Coastal Zone Management is a suitable application area. It is also potentially an area which the Center wishes to emphasise in the future.
The possibility of development of WWW Interface/CD-ROM applications of databases was raised as being potentially of interest to several Centers. This might be done through provision of an external expert for the work.
Meryl Williams asked for reference material concerning cost-benefit figures from use of GIS in a Norwegian community study (used by Svein Tveitdal in ICW presentation).
There was interest in possible application of RADARSAT.
It seems premature to talk about a chance for the establishment of a strong GIS unit within the structural changes ahead, because the need for it doesn't seem to be urgent, even if the willingness to support GIS activities was underlined by the DG.
Some of the benefits our project should bring are only useful for Centers which have ARC/INFO software, which is not so in the case of ICLARM.
Last updated September 04, 1996 by Lorant Czaran / 