Global Environment Facility funded Integrating Watersheds and Coastal Areas Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (GEF-IWCAM) Project Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Training Workshop 9 12 July 2008, Cienfuegos, Cuba WORKSHOP REPORT
Table of Contents Page 1. Introduction and Workshop Objectives 3 2. The GEF-IWCAM Project and GIS in IWCAM 3 3. GIS-assisted Water Environmental Diagnostics in the Caribbean 3 4. Introduction to GIS I & II 4 5. Summary of Day 1 5 6. Modeling Non-point Sources of Pollution 5 7. N-SPECT Application in Cienfuegos Watershed 6 8. Representing the Landscape in GIS I,II &III 6 9. Discussion 6 10. The Way Forward 7 Appendix 1 Workshop Agenda 9 Appendix 2 Participants List 11 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Presentation: Introduction to GEF-IWCAM Project and GIS for IWCAM Presentation: GIS assisted Watershed Environmental Diagnostics in the Caribbean 15 18 Appendix 5 Presentation: The Buccoo Reef Trust and GIS 22 Appendix 6 Presentation: Introduction to GIS I 24 Appendix 7 Presentation: Introduction to GIS II 27 Appendix 8 Presentation: Modeling Non-Point Sources of 33 Pollution Appendix 9 Presentation: The N-SPECT Tool applied to the 37 Cienfuegos Watershed Appendix 10 Presentation: Representing the Landscape in GIS I 40 Appendix 11 Appendix 12 Presentation: Representing the Landscape in GIS II Presentation: Exploring ILWIS and Landscape Analysis 42 43 2
Thursday 10 July: 1. Introduction and Workshop Objectives: The Global Environment Facility-funded Integrating Watershed and Coastal Areas Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (GEF-IWCAM) Project held a Geographic Information Systems Training Workshop for Participating Countries from 9 12 July 2008 at the Hotel Jagua, in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The GEF-IWCAM Project, its implementing agencies, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and its executing agencies, the Secretariat of the Cartagena Convention, UNEP Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) and the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), invited Participating Countries to nominate one person each to participate in this GIS Training Workshop. Following the Capacity Assessment of GIS Capabilities in Participating Countries and resulting Road Map completed in 2007, this was the first technical hands-on training offered under the GEF-IWCAM Project. Participants all had some background in GIS and were afterward expected to apply this training to IWCAM at either Demonstration Project or national level. Donna Spencer, Communications, Networking and Information Specialist (CNIS) of the GEF- IWCAM Project Coordination Unit, welcomed the Participants (see Participants List, Appendix 2, pg. 11) and set out the objectives of the Training Workshop, as follows: To introduce GIS concepts relevant to watershed and coastal areas management To provide training in Pollutant and Erosion Modeling To further strengthen the regional network of GIS practitioners (Informal GIS Working Group) 2. The GEF-IWCAM Project and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in IWCAM: The CNIS gave the background of the GEF-IWCAM Project, stating its main objective and describing broadly its five components, including descriptions of the nine Demonstration Projects (See Appendix 3, pg. 15). It was pointed out that the GEF-IWCAM Project recognized GIS as an important tool for integrated data analysis and management early and in 2007 had commissioned a Regional Assessment of GIS capacity in Participating Countries. In addition a Road Map which inter alia provides guidance to effective and efficient GIS implementation and identifies key resources required for GIS implementation had been reviewed, discussed and endorsed by stakeholders at a Regional GIS Workshop which took place in July 2007 in Dominica. GIS applications relevant to an integrated approach to watershed and coastal areas management include non-point pollution and erosion modeling, the subject of this Training Workshop. The Project has created an Informal GIS Working Group which consists of both generators and users of GIS and which serves essentially as an advisory body to GIS implementation activities in support of IWCAM. It was hoped that following the meeting Participants in this Workshop would join and participate in an expanded GIS Working Group. The Terms of Reference of the WG were presented: To serve as advisory body to GIS implementation activities in the IWCAM Project To propose GIS activities for implementation in the wider Caribbean To investigate development of a regional reference centre for GIS To coordinate with other related regional initiatives such as URISA, etc. To assist in development of regionally standardized data collection protocols To promote standardization in terms of database design To design and deliver training 3
To assist in the development of resource materials (e.g. case studies) for resource managers, GIS specialists, etc. 3. GIS-assisted Watershed Environmental Diagnostics in the Caribbean: Dr. Christopher Cox, Acting Programme Director of the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) in this presentation (see Appendix 4, pg. 18) described a watershed planning unit and discussed the value of GIS in watershed management; the watershed planning unit and the way in which GIS can support decision making. GIS is used to address a number of issues in watershed management including: Aquifer degradation Reduction in surface water quality and availability Loss of watershed and coastal biodiversity Land degradation and loss of productivity Coastal erosion It is useful: In helping to identify, locate and determine the magnitude of hot-spots locations of environmental degradation In helping to design solutions to reduce degradation In representing solutions in a spatial context In deciding what should be done where? When the goal is change of state of environment In determining how/when a goal is attained, particularly when evaluation is done using an indicator(s). Furthermore it can help: Identify Priority Problems: Source categories and areas affected Set management objectives Identify, evaluate and select strategies and measures for objectives including the integration of LBS pollution strategies within existing strategies Land planning; Rural and urban land zoning Forestry management plans Well head protection plans Solid waste management plans Sewerage management plans Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies and measures: Environmental effectiveness - indicators Economic costs and benefits; Flexibility and effectiveness in administration. He gave an example of such an application in Dominica where GIS was used to assist land management planning and for monitoring. In closing Dr. Cox stressed how important it is for participants in the Workshop to consider their roles in the creative application of GIS to IWCAM. In terms of support for decisions of a technical nature, Demonstration Projects could possibly assemble archives of data specific to their respective watersheds and use this for basic analysis (e.g. possible pollutant loads under present land use using N-SPECT or a similar application, or, possible reduction in pollutant loads under improved land management scenarios). Countries without demonstration projects could consider replicating analysis for hot-spot watersheds. In terms of support for decision making of a political nature, GIS could be used to demonstrate relationships/ cause and effect to National Intersectoral Committees, senior administration personnel and ministers. 4
4. Introduction to GIS - I : Vijay Datadin, GIS Specialist with the Trinidad & Tobago Demonstration Project which is being implemented by the Buccoo Reef Trust, briefly introduced the work of the Trust (See Appendix 5, pg. 22). He then made two presentations, the first a general introduction to GIS. In his second presentation, he used two case studies: one showing the application of GIS to predict the distribution of greenheart in the Iwokrama Forest of Guyana; the other looking at different flooding scenarios in the same region. (See Appendices 6 and 7, pgs. 24 32). He stressed that GIS is a valuable tool for: mapping; visualization; assessment and planning; prediction, and; discovery. In closing, he also urged participants to ask themselves what they would do with GIS. This led to some discussion of possible GIS applications in Participating Countries. Some participants shared early ideas as to how they could use GIS: Andros, the Bahamas: mapping streams and culverts; Dominica parrot habitats vrs. Agricultural land; Tobago- routine, accurate rainfall maps; Barbados stream flow water abstraction model; St. Lucia wild pigs hotspot and water safety. It was emphasized that applications considered here should be relevant to management of the watershed and coastal areas. It was recognized that the GEF-IWCAM Project was relatively new to many Workshop Participants. They would need to become more familiar with its overall objectives as well as, in those countries with Demonstration Projects, with the particular aims and challenges of those projects, before deciding upon an application which would be of benefit. 5. Summary of Day 1: At the end of the day, Jean-Nicolas Poussart, Junior Programme Officer, UNEP CEP, drew the following points to the attention of participants: the presentation of case studies and of how problems are elucidated or solved using GIS was useful. He emphasized the value of this rather than simply learning about particular types of software. Asking ourselves what are we trying to do? is fundamental to designing a GIS application which has useful outputs and we need to recognize how important it is to sell those outputs or questions to decision-makers. The importance of publicizing or promoting best practice also cannot be underestimated. Referring to Christopher Cox s concept paper on GIS for watershed diagnostics, within each demonstration project an effort should be made to use GIS to identify one problem and suggest a solution. The rate of soil erosion and its effect upon water quality, for instance, is a significant one therefore modeling soil erosion might be useful. The networking made possible by the workshop is valuable. More seasoned practitioners can share experience. The structure of a database for storage of water quality data is, for example, one subject which had already been tackled by the Cuban Demonstration Project. The use of pre-determined indicators in GIS supported spatial evaluation can result in very useful applications for monitoring and evaluation over time. He ended by noting that he would be attending the GEOSS of the Americas meeting due to take place in Panama in September 2008. One subject for consideration there would be the kind of earth observation data that would be helpful to SIDS. Discussions here, he said, would help him to contribute to that discussion. 5
Friday 11 July: 6. Modeling Non-Point Sources of Pollution: In the first of two presentations before going into the hands-on Non-point Source Pollution and Erosion Modeling sessions Jean-Nicolas Poussart focused on the use of GIS as a tool to promote the implementation of the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (the LBS Protocol) which was adopted in 1999 but which had, to date, been ratified by only 5 countries in a presentation titled Modeling Non-Point Sources of Pollution (see Appendix 8, pg. 33). The estimation or characterization of both point and non-point sources of pollution is key to this Protocol. Annex 4 deals with the single largest non-point source of pollution, agricultural runoff. He introduced the Watershed Analysis for the Mesoamerican Region which was completed in 2006 and which was an application of the nonpoint source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool (N-SPECT). N-SPECT: Is a GIS-based tool for estimating and comparing nonpoint source pollution and erosion Software developed by NOAA s Coastal change Analysis ProgramCCAP) in 2004 which is in the public domain and is extension compatible with ArcGIS 8.x and 9.x Although initially developed for a region of Oahu, Hawaii, is transferable and can be used in any location where input datasets are available. Is flexible; adaptable to local areas, different tie scales Answers questions about effects of land cover change on water quality in watersheds Has relatively short processing times. Using N-SPECT, the MAR study, using hydrological modeling technology, presented the results of an analysis of estimated sediment and nutrient delivery for over 400 watersheds in the MAR region. The analysis compares sediment and nutrient delivery under current land cover (2004) and three potential scenarios of land cover in 2005. He noted that such an application relies upon data on non-point sources of pollution and this is scarce in the Caribbean. 7. N-SPECT Application in Cienfuegos Watershed : Minerva Sanchez Llull of the Center for Environmental Studies of Cienfuegos (CEAC) in a brief presentation (see Appendix 9, pg. 37) demonstrated how Cuba s GEF-IWCAM Demonstration Project in Cienfuegos had used N-SPECT to look at land cover, precipitation and soils in the Cienfuegos watershed in order to estimate runoff volume at both local and watershed levels. 8. Representing the Landscape in GIS: For the remainder of the day hands-on training was conducted in a series of sessions by Vijay Datadin. Participants were introduced to the following free and open source types of GIS software: Quantum GIS Vers. 0.10 Integrated Land and Water Information System ILWIS 3.4 Open, developed by the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), Enschede, the Netherlands. Data from the Trinidad & Tobago Demonstration Project was used for most of the exercises. See Appendices 10, 11 and 12, pgs. 40 45 for the presentations which were referred to during these sessions which lasted all of the afternoon of 11 July and continued the next morning. 6
Saturday 12 July: Training continued - Representing the Landscape in GIS: RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil loss Equation) 9. Discussion: Discussion amongst participants followed. Following are some of the points made; Although GIS is currently used directly by only one GEF-IWCAM Demonstration Project (Trinidad & Tobago), several of the Projects have access to the services of a GIS department (e.g. Jamaica and NEPA) or specialist. In the context of watershed and coastal areas management, the GIS technician/specialist ideally works as part of a team which includes specialists e.g. soil scientists who are able to provide guidance as well as needed inputs. While any number of applications may be possible, the major criteria for deciding which one to use should be the urgency of the management issue to be addressed by decisionmakers. The importance of ground truthing should not be underestimated and needs to be planned and budgeted for. Some countries, such as Cuba and Haiti, are developing national GIS databases. GIS is part of an information gathering, management and dissemination system - as such, serious thought should must be given to the inputs (including types of data) needed when designing a project as well as to what will be done with the outputs/results. A strategy is needed for getting the results of analysis using GIS out, particularly to decision makers. The Workshop has introduced participants to useful free, open source GIS software alternatives to the commercial, and expensive, GIS software. The Workshop has been particularly valuable because it has allowed the sharing of experiences, challenges and successful examples of GIS applications amongst practitioners present. This networking should continue through the GIS Working Group as well as via direct communication. 10. The Way Forward: Donna Spencer, CNIS, then pointed the Way Forward by listing some recommendations based upon discussions which had taken place during the Workshop. These were then discussed and the recommendations agreed to are noted below as agreed by all participants. The Draft Workshop Report would be prepared and circulated for review by participants before the end of July. It would include recommendations and next steps. Recommendations agreed to by the Participants: The Final Workshop Report would be distributed to the following: Participants in the Workshop (for submission to their managers/supervisors); Demonstration Project Managers; National Focal Points; members of the Regional Technical Advisory Group and the Project Steering Committee. Demonstration Project Managers would be asked 7
to connect with participants in this Workshop in order to plan a possible GIS application within the project context. This could be done through direct meetings with relevant personnel or via small workshops/meetings. The focus should be upon how GIS can be used to support decision-making in watershed management. Emphasis should be upon selecting sites or issues of high value to the demonstration projects, where they exist, or to the national interest. Each participant will prepare a map of their watershed showing limits of the watershed and features of environmental interest for publication on the relevant country page of the new GEF-IWCAM website. This should be submitted to Donna Spencer by 1 st September 2008. The GIS Working Group (a Google Group) would be expanded to include all participants in this training Workshop. The WG would continue to be moderated by Donna Spencer with help from Vijay Datadin. This would be the forum for discussion of all matters relevant to GIS in IWCAM. Members can initiate and participate in discussions. This WG is expected to form the basis later of the IWCAM GIS exchange which will be hosted on the new GEF-IWCAM website eventually. The new GEF-IWCAM website would have a section/page titled Maps and GIS which would effectively be a node for IWCAM GIS resources. These would include: case studies showing problems elucidated or solved by GIS; examples of successful applications; lessons learned; documents such as the GEF-IWCAM Road Map Towards Effective Mainstreaming of GIS for Watershed Management in the Caribbean ( September 2007); resources or links to resources (including open source software); and links to other useful sites. With regard to the development of GIS for watershed management, emphasis would also be placed upon looking for best value and for possible exchange opportunities for training. It was agreed that the need for standardization of data and data integration issues, given the different reference grids used, as well as the relationship between indicators and GIS are priority issues to be addressed. In building databases attention should be given to supporting the requirements of the LBS Protocol as well as IWCAM and IWRM. 8
Global Environment Facility funded Integrating Watersheds and Coastal Areas Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (GEF-IWCAM) Project* Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Training Workshop 9 12 July 2008, Hotel Jagua, Cienfuegos, Cuba Provisional Agenda DAY 1: Wednesday 9 July By 17:00 Arrival of Participants 18:00 20:00 Informal Dinner and Introductions DAY 2: Thursday 10 July 8:30 8:35 Introduction & Objectives of Workshop Donna Spencer 8:35 8:50 8:50 9:15 The GEF-IWCAM Project and GIS in IWCAM GIS-assisted Watershed Environmental Diagnostics in the Caribbean Donna Spencer Christopher Cox 9:15 10:00 Introduction to GIS I Vijay Datadin 10:00 10:30 Coffee Break 10:30 12:00 Introduction to GIS - II Vijay Datadin 12:00 13:00 Lunch 13:00 14:30 Representing the Landscape in GIS - I Vijay Datadin 14:30 14:45 Coffee Break Media invited 14:45 16:00 Representing the Landscape in GIS II Vijay Datadin Summary of Day 2 Jean-Nicolas Poussart 9
16:15 16:30 DAY 3: Friday 11 July 8:30 10:15 Non-Point Source Pollution and Erosion Modelling I Vijay Datadin 10:15 10:30 Coffee Break 10:30 12:00 Non-Point Source Pollution and Erosion Modelling II Vijay Datadin 12:00 13:00 Lunch 13:00 14:30 Non-Point Source Pollution and Erosion Modelling III Vijay Datadin 14:30 14:45 Coffee Break 14:45 16:00 Non-Point Source Pollution and Erosion Modelling IV Vijay Datadin 16:00 16:15 Summary of Day 3 Jean-Nicolas Poussart DAY 4: Saturday 12 July 8:30 8:40 Introduction to Day 4 Christopher Cox 8:40 10:00 Non-Point Source Pollution and Erosion Modelling V Vijay Datadin 10:00 10:15 Coffee Break 10:15-11:30 Non-Point Source Pollution and Erosion Modelling Wrap- up and Discussion Vijay Datadin 11:30 12:00 The Way Forward Donna Spencer 12:00 13:00 Lunch * The GEF-IWCAM Project is co-implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and coexecuted by the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) and the Secretariat of the Cartagena Convention (UNEP CAR-RCU). 10
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Training Workshop Participants List Countries PARTICIPANT PARTICIPANT A&B Sean Peters GIS Engineer Antigua Public Utilities Authority P.O. Box 416 Cassada Gardens St John s Antigua and Barbuda Tel: 268 480 7000 ext. 7744 Fax: E-mail: sdpeters@apua.ag seanp_ls@hotmail.com BAH Danielle Hanek Urban Planner Ministry of The Environment & Maritime Affairs Dockendale House West Bay Street P.O Box N-3040 The Bahamas Tel: +242 328-2700/1 ext 249 Fax: +242 323-1141 Email: dmhanek@yahoo.fr BAR CUB Charles Leslie Civil Engineer Barbados Water Authority Pine East West Boulevard, St Michael Barbados Tel: 1-246 427 3990 Fax: 1 246 228 0850 E-mail: lesliecc@caribsurf.com Alain Muñoz Caravaca Cienfuegos Bay IWCAM Demo Project Environmental Studies Centre of Cienfuegos Cienfuegos AP 5 CP 59350 Cuba Tel: 5343965146 Fax: 5343965146 Email: alain@gestion.ceac.cu Minerva Sanchez Llull Computer Machine Engineer Environmental Studies Centre of Cienfuegos Cienfuegos APS CP 59350 Cuba Tel: 5343965146 Fax: E-mail: minerva@gestion.ceac.cu 11
CUB DOM DR HA JA Lorenzo Brito GIS Specialist CIGEA CITMA Calle 20 Esq. 18-A Miramar, Playa Ciudad Habana CUBA Tel.: (537) 202 9351 Fax.: (537) 204 9031 E-mail: lorenzo@ama.cu lor01@yahoo.com Stephen Durand Assistant Forestry Officer Forestry and Wildlife Division Botanical Gardens Roseau Dominica Tel: 767 266 3817 Fax: 767 448 7999 Mob: 767 265 0908 Email : forestofficerprotection@cwdom.dm nazarai@gmail.com Francis Cuevas Environmental Technician III Secetaria de Estado de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales 27 de febrero Plaza Merengue Local 201 D.N Tel: 809 472 1194 Fax: 809 472 0631 Email: francis_cuevas@hotmail.com Samuel Genea Coordinator of National Observatory for Environment and Vulnerability Ministry of the Environment of Haiti 181 Haut Turgeau Port au Prince Haiti Tel : 509 3508 1779 Fax : Email : samgen67@yahoo.fr Kapleton Hall Conservation Officer National Environment Planning Agency 10 Caledonia Avenue Kingston 10 Tel: 876 754 7540 Fax: 876 754 7595/99 Email: khall@nepa.gov.jm 12
SKN SLU SVG T&T CEHI Edwin Ible Draughtsman Water Services Department Needsmust Estate St Kitts and Nevis Tel: 1 869 466 3070/466 1467 Fax: 1 869 466 7091 E-mail: wsdskn@sisterisle.kn incontrolll@hotmail.com Rebecca Rock Officer in Charge Forestry Department GIS Unit Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Sir Stanislaus James Building Waterfront Castries SAINT LUCIA Tel.: (758) 519-3384/468-5656 Fax.: (758) 450 2078 E-mail: rock_rebecca@hotmail.com rrock@candw.lc Samuel Harry Forestry Officer Forestry Department Camp Park Kingstown St Vincent and the Grenadines Tel: 1 784 457 8594 Fax: 1 784 457 8520 Email: jrharry70@yahoo.com Vijay Datadin GIS Specialist Buccoo Reef Trust (BRT) Cowie s Building Carnbee Junction Auchenskeoch Road Carnbee TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Tel.: (868) 635 2000 Fax.: (868) 639 7333 Mobile : 868 324 0628 E-mail: v.datadin@buccooreef.org Cox, Christopher Programme Director (Ag.) Caribbean Environmental Health Institute P.O. Box 1111 The Morne Castries SAINT LUCIA Tel: (758) 452-2501 Fax: (758) 453-2721 E-mail: ccox@cehi.org.lc 13
RAC-CIMAB RAC-CIMAB Jean Nicolas Poussart Junior Programme Officer UNEP CEP Carratera del Cristo No 3 Casablanca Havana Cuba Tel: 5378624387 Fax:537 866 9681 E-mail: jnp@cep.unep.org Orleans Garcia Industrial Ecology Divison LBS-RAC Cimab Carretera del Cristo No. 3 Finca Tiscornia Casablanca Regla C. Havana Cuba Tel: 5378624387 Fax: 537 866 9681 E-mail: orleans@cimab.transnet.cu RAC- CIMAB Ernesto Garcia Ecologist Department LBS-RAC Cimab Carretera del Cristo No. 3 Finca Tiscornia Casablanca Regla C. Havana Cuba Tel: 5378624387 Fax: 537 866 9681 E-mail : ernesto@cimab.transnet.cu GEF-IWCAM Project Coordinating Unit Donna Spencer Communications, Networking, and Information Specialist GEF-IWCAM Project Coordination Unit C/O Caribbean Environmental Health Institute The Morne, P.O. Box 1111 Castries ST. LUCIA Tel: 758 452-2501, 452-1412 Fax: 758 453-2721 Email: dspencer@cehi.org.lc Una McPherson Administrative Officer GEF-IWCAM Project Coordinating Unit C/O Caribbean Environmental Health Institute The Morne, P.O. Box 1111 Castries ST. LUCIA Tel: 758 452-2501, 452-1412 Fax: 758 453-2721 E-mail: una.mcpherson@unep.org 14
Appendix 3: Introduction to the GEF-IWCAM Project and GIS in IWCAM 15
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Appendix 4: GIS-assisted Watershed Environmental Diagnostics in the Caribbean 18
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Appendix 5: The Buccoo Reef Trust and GIS 22
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Appendix 6: Introduction to GIS I 24
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Appendix 7: Introduction to GIS II 27
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Appendix 8: Modeling Non-Point Sources of Pollution 33
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Appendix 9: The N-SPECT Tool applied to the Cienfuegos Watershed 37
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Appendix 10: Representing the Landscape in GIS I 40
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Appendix 11: Representing the Landscape in GIS II 42
Appendix 12: Exploring ILWIS and Landscape Analysis 43
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