Environmental and Sustainability Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean

Ensure better access to infor-mation on sustainable develop-ment by devising relevant indi-cators for simplifying, quanti-fying and analysing technical information and communi-cating it to various groups of users. GIS is a tool for inte- grating economic, social and environmental indicators in a spatial framework which allows for more powerful analyses than conventional non-spatial methods. This way the cause-effect relationships alluded to in indicator models and frameworks, such as the Pressure-State-Impact-Response model, may be identified and analysed more accurately and realistically. Besides spatial analysis, GIS provide a mean for organising large datasets: the UNEP-CIAT Indicators Project has over 100 indicators stored in its GIS database.

Comprehensive data search and data validation is required to ensure reliable and up-to-date sources. The datasets not yet available in spatial format have to be related to spatial datasets or have a spatial element introduced so that they can be visualised in the GIS. The software has to be customised to enable users with little or no computer experience to get the most from the indicator datasets. Finally, land use models have to be incorporated to allow users to develop 'What if?'-scenarios. This extends the applicability of the product from a visualisation tool to a spatial decision support system.

CD-Rom containing the indicator database and the GIS software to visualise and analyse the indicators. Above: Pressure: deforrestation and roads State: urban population Response: protected areas

Left: Pressure (accessibility, hours) and Right: state (centres of crop production) indicators in a spatial framework.

Contact : Manuel Winograd (m.winograd@cgnet.com), Andrew Farrow (afarrow@sig.ciat.cgiar.org) Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), A.A. 6713, Cali, Colombia Phone: + 57 2 445 0000 Fax: + 57 2 445 0073 http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/land/indicators/project.html