Projects and Activities of EnviroSense

Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Analysis Projects

 

An Atlas of Wader Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia (AEWA) , a major publication of Wetlands International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. The comprehensive atlas will show the breeding ranges, plotted water bird count data and flyway boundaries of the 218 bio geographic populations of 90 species of waders found in the AEWA region.

EnviroSense work on this project lasted from November 2005 to February 2006.

Work included:

  • Analysis of GIS data according to bird expert sitings
  • Implementation of map layout standards
  • Development of 90 maps for the atlas
  • Development of wader species map as sample for WI preliminary work and poster

For more information about AEWA please see the AEWA website.

 

Assessment of the conservation status of the bats of Central America, project by the Wildlife Conservation Society. This is a five-year project to assess the conservation status of the bats of Central America . A Gap Analysis is undertaken to determine the extent of critical habitats and protected status throughout Central America and when data are available, the Caribbean. A risk assessment using meta-population models will also be undertaken when sufficient data has been compiled for each country. For more information please see the Belize Biodiversity Information System website.

The role of EnviroSense in this project was to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing Biomapper, a GIS and statistical program designed to build habitat suitability models and maps, for bat species of Belize. Work was carried out from October to December 2004.

For ecological information on habitat mapping please refer to

Corsi, F. (2004) Applications of existing biodiversity information: capacity to support decision-making

 

Investigation of the Relationship between Chlorophyll Concentration and High Spectral Resolution Data of Phragmites australis in Heavy Metal Contaminated Sites. MSc Thesis topic in Natural Resources Management , specialization in Rural Land Ecology with distinction from the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands. September 2001 to March 2003.

Field work in Gyongyosorozi mine tailing sites and Tedej agriculture area, Hungary (Summer 2002)

Research entailed:

  • Work with large quantity of data [more than 700 variables per observation (60)]
  • Quantitative analyses and modeling using SPSS, SYSTAT and STATISTICA
  • Remote sensing hyperspectral data analyses and work with field spectrometer GER 3700
  • Understanding of ecology of plant and soil interactions
  • Field and lab sampling and testing

 

Environmental Research and Education Projects

 

EnviroSecurity Assessments by the IES, Den Haag, The Netherlands. April 2004 to November 2005.

Research work carried out entailed:

  • Identification of environmental destruction in 3 case study areas
    1. Great Lakes region of Africa namely – Uganda , Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo
    2. Amazon region – Matavén Forest , Vichada Department , Colombia
    3. Island of Borneo – Central Kalimantan , Indonesia
  • Identification of and consultation with local stakeholders and contacts
  • Development of recommendations and best management practices to prevent potential conflicts
  • Formulation of an overall methodology to be replicated by others in the promotion of environmental security and poverty reduction
  • Responsible for project planning and coordination

Reports of 3 case study regions:

    1. Promoting Environmental Security and Poverty Alleviation in Virunga-Bwindi, Great Lakes Africa
    2. Promoting Environmental Security and Poverty Alleviation in the Matavén area of Colombia
    3. Promoting Environmental Security and Poverty Alleviation in the Peat Swamps of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

 

Scientific Assistance in the Natural Resources Department, International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands. September 2003 to January 2004.

Responsibilities included co-moderating the natural resource management course, co-designing exercises for and supervising students in GIS and RS courses.

 

Curriculum development for urban planning and management with a special emphasis on poverty alleviation (UPA) for the Asia-Link Programme (an EU initiative). The 3-year Asia-Link UPA project was implemented in the period 19 September 2002 to 19 September 2005 by the following academic institutes:

  • The International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands
  • University of Dortmund , Faculty of Spatial Planning (SPRING), Germany
  • Wuhan University , School of Urban Studies (SUS), China
  • University of the Philippines , National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) and School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP), The Philippines

The project succeeded in developing five new educational packages on urban planning and management, each package containing enough material for three weeks teaching at MSc degree level. The packages focus on:

  • Poverty
  • Urban land management
  • Experiences in urban land management and poverty alleviation
  • Urban poverty mapping
  • Urban planning and management tools for poverty alleviation

For a more detailed description about this project please click here.

EnviroSense assisted ITC, The Netherlands, from March to September 2003, wiith developing GIS training exercises for the ITC educational package “GIS for poverty mapping and poverty alleviation”. Exercises were made for students in four European and Asian higher education institutions.

For the online results of the project you may go to http://www.itc.nl/upa/

 

Natural Resources Management

 

Greening Foreign and Security Policy: The Role of Europe, is a joint initiative by the Global Legislators Organization for a Balance Environment (GLOBE-EU), Brussels , Belgium , and the Institute for Environmental Security (IES) , Den Haag, The Netherlands. The focus was on the linkages between the 4 stages of conflict and the integration of the three pillars – environment and security and development into European foreign and security policies. Discussions and research by experts culminated with a conference at the European Parliament 6 – 7 December 2006 . The aim of the conference with attendants from the EU parliament, UN organizations and international environmental organizations, was to help promote a political process for the better integration of environment and sustainable development into European foreign and security policies.

EnviroSense played a coordinating role in the Working Group on Predicting Instability, November to December 2006. Functions performed:

  • Reviewed current European and international policies and best practices in order to identify gaps with respect to the integration of environment, development and security.
  • Participated in discussions with group of experts in the field of “Monitoring and risk assessments in vulnerable areas and measures to avoid conflict”.
  • Developed report on Predicting Instability which aims to support the implementation of an integrated strategy for environment, sustainable development and security in Europe .

EnviroSense also made a presentation on the link between the environment and conflicts or opportunities and the need for a permanent global remote sensing monitoring system.

For more information and copies of the reports please refer to the links:

 

 

Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation Program by the IES, Den Haag, The Netherlands. December 2005 to present.

EnviroSense provided project leadership for the IES Colombia case study. Functions included:

  • Action plan development which incorporates the IES environmental security assessment methodology
  • Recommendation gap analysis and investigation of best practices for implementation of recommendations
  • Assisting with local contact funds acquisition
  • Report writing
  • Advocacy and networking to create awareness of environmental security issues and initiatives amongst locals.

Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation Program by the IES, Den Haag, The Netherlands . December 2005 to present.

EnviroSense Science and Methodology Coordinating role includes:

  • GIS/cartography solution development;
  • Management of subcontractors and quality evaluation of remote sensing, GIS and cartographic products;
  • Report writing
  • Advocating for environmental conservation and a permanent global remote sensing monitoring system to groups such as EU parliament, UN organizations and international environmental organizations
  • Networking with other organizations for sharing of data, information and strategies.