National Forest Demarcation & Bio-

Physical Resource Inventory Project

Vijay Datadin

GIS & Data Management Specialist

Banana Industry Trust/ Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry & Fisheries

The Saint Lucia Forestry Department has embarked on a process … new forest sector management plan.

National Forest Demarcation & Bio-

Physical Resource Inventory Project

Banana Industry Trust/ Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry & Fisheries

Important in the management plan will be redefining the department’s mission to conform to an ecosystem approach to the management of forest resources.

Prerequisites to plan formulation and implementation are delineation of the forest resource, and determining the quantity and quality/ nature/ characteristics of the biophysical resources.

National Forest Demarcation & Bio-

Physical Resource Inventory Project

Banana Industry Trust/ Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry & Fisheries

To plan what to do where, you’ve got to know where is what.

National Forest Demarcation & Bio-Physical Resource Inventory Project

Timber Inventory

Botanical Survey

Mammal Survey

Herpetological SurveyInsect Survey

Bird Survey

Land Survey

Managed with GIS

GIS TOR

Build GIS

Produce Maps

Link with Forest Management Information

System (Inventory)

Produce Maps

What is GIS?

Geographic Information System

Data-crunching power of a database

Communication ability of a map

Humans think spatially.

GIS works spatially.

What is GIS?

Since it is an Information System

Hardware – PCs, GPS

Software – ArcGIS; IDRISI, ERDAS, ILWIS

Dedicated personnel – it is a speciality

Institutionalised protocols/ procedures

What has the GIS been used for in this project?

Planning fieldwork

Rapid reporting and quality control

Final reports

Integration of surveys

Integration of other data

Analysis

Timber Inventory

Timber Inventory

Timber Inventory

Timber Inventory

Timber Inventory

Timber Inventory

Timber

Inventory

Fieldwork

FMIS

Spread-

sheet

GIS data

Analytical

Maps

Done by

SLFD

Planning Fieldwork

for other Surveys

Botanical Survey

Mammal Survey

Mammal

Survey

Mammal

Survey

Bird

Survey

Herpetological

Survey

Herpetological

Survey

Land (Boundary)

Survey

LandSat 7 ETM+

Imagery

integration in

the

GIS

30m resolution

Suitable for

Vegetation

Analysis Tropical conditions

Cloud cover

High biodiversity

LandSat 7 ETM+ Classification with Botanical Survey data

LandSat 7 ETM+ Classification with Botanical Survey data

LandSat 7 ETM+ Classification with Botanical Survey data

LandSat 7

ETM+

Classification

with Botanical

Survey data

Vegetation

Map

of

Saint Lucia

Management

Plan

Incorporate

archival data

with current

surveys

Produce

verifiable

metrics

Integration of high resolution IKONOS imagery

Integration of high resolution IKONOS imagery

National Forest Demarcation & Bio-

Physical Resource Inventory Project

Vijay Datadin

Banana Industry Trust/ Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry & Fisheries

GIS & Data Management Specialistvijay@caribbeangis.com