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The Coastal Resource Information System:
An Approach to the Development of a Decision Support System
Ian C King
CARICOM RPIU for the ACCC ProjectAt the
UNDESA/OAS Meeting
St. Lucia May 27th & 28th, 2003
The CPACC Project
• Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Global Climate Change (CPACC) Project– 12 countries– 9 components – 4 regional and 5 pilot– 1997 – 2001 – US $6.9 million (~$6.4 million)
• to support Caribbean countries in preparing to cope with the adverse effects of global climate change (GCC), particularly sea level rise, in coastal and marine areas through vulnerability assessment, adaptation planning, and capacity building linked to adaptation planning
CPACC Components - Regional
1. Design and Establishment of Sea Level/Climate Monitoring Network
2. Establishment of Databases and Information Systems
3. Inventory of Coastal Resources and Uses 4. Formulation of a Policy Framework for
Integrated Coastal and Marine Management
5. Coral Reef Monitoring for Climate Change – Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica
6. Coastal Vulnerability and Risk Assessment –Barbados, Grenada, Guyana
7. Economic Valuation of Coastal and Marine Resources – Dominica, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago
8. Formulation of Economic/Regulatory Proposals – Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis
9. Enabling the preparation of national Communication in Response to Commitments to the UNFCCC – St. Vincent & the Grenadines
CPACC Components - Pilot
Component 3 Objectives
• Originally, the Inventory of Coastal Resources and Uses– Enhance participating countries’ inventories of coastal
resources so as to provide the necessary baseline data for the execution of other project activities
– Capacity building based on a regional workshop
• Revised goals– Develop a facility to enable wide access to spatial and
monitoring data for the purpose of decision making in a format that the users understand and can utilise
– Develop the capacity within local institutions to apply and adapt the facility – CRIS, to meet institutional and national needs
– Promote sustainable data management
CRIS Facts
• Regional/Canadian consultants selected after RFPs – Alleyne Planning Assoc, Barbados; Centre for Geospatial Studies, Trinidad &Tobago; ESSA Technologies, Canada
• Contract signed in 1999 and final products delivered in 2001
• National Repositories identified as main beneficiaries of training and recipients of CRIS products
CRIS Process (1)
• Data Assessment– To assess the status of coastal resources management
data in each of the participating countries.
• Metadata creation– To establish a data catalogue for coastal resource
inventories of each participating country.
• Database Design and Management– To develop a database system design and management
strategy for the coastal resource inventory.
• Data Collection– To collect baseline coastal resource data for each
participating country.
CRIS Process (2)
• Data Automation/Conversion– To convert the baseline coastal resource data
collected for each participating country into digital form.
• Database Implementation– To implement the CRIS and deliver it to the
appropriate agencies in each participating country.
• Training– To develop the capacity to create, use and maintain
a coastal resource inventory in each participating country.
CRIS System Objectives
• Facilitate storage, retrieval, updating, analysis and manipulation of coastal resource data
• Facilitate the sharing of coastal resource data within each country
CRIS Functionality
• 2 types of functionality:– Entry, storage, updating and retrieval of coastal
resource data; and– Manipulation of these data
• Users– Regular end users– Systems administrators
CRIS Structure
• Spatial database– Includes both raster and vector data, to be
stored directly within a GIS (i.e., ArcView).
• Attribute database– Non-spatial data stored in a relational database
(i.e., Microsoft Access).
CRIS Interface
Access to CRIS Data
Report Generation
Displaying maps
Development of a Spatial Database
• CRIS database utilizing:– A generic dataset (e.g. coastline, coastal
landuse, bathymetry)– Pilot specific data sets– Country/theme specific datasets– Existing analog and digital data– RS imagery (to meet pilot & country needs)
• Development of metadata
Context for the CRIS
• Meeting of coastal resource managers in 1998 with resource persons to identify broad goals of Component 3
• Data categories for coastal resource information system prepared by regional consultants – 1998
• Meeting of regional GIS practitioners to identify needs and priorities – 1999
• Build on experience of similar activity in Trinidad and Tobago
• OECS/NRMU DFID funded initiative for St. Vincent, Dominica and one other termed CRIS with same concept, features, software and end users at same time initiated independently
Capacity Building• Strategy
– ID key agencies at national level for participation in the process - repositories
– Involve agencies in CRIS process where capacity exists
– Training addressing major elements of CRIS process – generally 2 persons per country, 1 from National Repository and 1 from major coastal resource management institution
– Provision of tools to facilitate application and management of the CRIS
– Support complimentary activities to the CRIS development where strategically advantageous (SIDSnet training)
Capacity Building continued
• Focus on utilizing regional capacity where appropriate
• Support development of a GIS laboratory in the CERMES Building, UWI Cave Hill Campus to facilitate the extension of the UWI CGLIS program
• Sponsoring regional participants for the CGLIS course
• Encouraging and sponsoring participation and presentation in relevant conferences
Challenges• Varying capacities amongst countries to absorb
technology transfer and participate in process• Lack of national data access policy almost universal• Uncertainty about existence and status of data generally• Limited monitoring data and where exists, uncertainty
over quality• Differing stages of pilot components and therefore
understanding of data needs• Limited budget to serve 12 countries and 4 pilot
components• Project conceptualized and designed 3 years prior to
start mainly by individuals no longer involved
Successes• Establishment of a community of GIS practitioners
• Development of national and regional capacity to the extent that some of the trainees have been able to offer technical support to other national and regional institutions as well as the Component 3 generally
• Development of metadata for the countries
• Development and delivery of the country CRISs
• Creating a foundation upon which countries can develop their own coastal/environmental resource decision support systems
• ESRI 2000 Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award • Adaptation of CRIS approach in a pilot activity in Guyana -
SDLIS
Limitations
• An independent review of the CRIS and associated activities indicated several key issues– CRIS not rigorously tested in terms of data
management and how well it can serve managers’ needs
– Cannot expect to change even institutional approaches to data collection and management within the time frame
• Limited resources did not allow adequate promotion, testing and follow-up support
• Did not fully integrate satellite imagery
CRIS Potential
• The main potential is to build on the concept: – capacity building at national and regional levels
– data management
– access to information by a wide range of users in a fashion they can easily utilise
• Move towards a web-enabled approach• Sector specific applications
Follow-on Activities
• Adapting to Climate Change in the Caribbean (ACCC) project (Oct 2001 to March 2004)
• Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) project (April 2003 – mid 2007)
• Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) to be based in Belize – formally to commence in 2003
ACCC
• 9 components
• Very valuable as a bridge between CPACC and following activities MACC and CCCCC
• Did not offer an opportunity to address CRIS issues or build on this initiative
ACCC Components
1. Development of Business Plan for Caribbean Centre for Climate Change and Detailed ACCC Project Design
2. Public Education and Outreach (continuation of CPACC) 3. Risk Management Approach to Climate Change 4. Capacity Building
1. Assisting CIMH and National partners to play a greater role in climate change.
2. Masters Course in Climate Change – UWI Cave Hill 3. Climate Scenario Training 4. Liaison with other SIDS
ACCC Components
5. Consideration of Climate Change in Environmental Impacts Assessment
6. Adaptation to Climate change in WATER SECTOR
7. Adaptation to Climate Change in HEALTH SECTOR
8. Adaptation to Climate Change in AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY
9. Outreach to and Involvement of Non-CARICOM countries of Caribbean
MACC & CCCCC
• 4 major areas
• Under vulnerability assessment, some scope to build on CRIS activities
• CCCCC has scope to go further as is expected to find resources and exploit opportunities to address wider issues
MACC Elements (1)Component I: Build Capacity to Identify Climate Change Risks1.1 Expanding and strengthening the existing knowledge base1.2 Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Component II: Build Capacity to Reduce Vulnerability to
Climate Change2.1. Country-level sectoral adaptation strategies2.2. Upgrading infrastructure norms2.3.Incorporating Climate Change into Environmental Impact
Assessments
MACC Elements (2)
Component III: Build Capacity to Effectively Access & Utilize Resources to Minimize the Costs of Climate Change
3.1 Development of a Regional Agenda3.2 Development of a Regional Strategy for Adaptation
to Climate Change Component IV: Public Education & Outreach Component V: Project Management
Conclusions
• Improving access to and management of information for decision-making– Need for national policy on data and information as adhoc,
institution specific approaches create tremendous challenges
– Proper management of data – metadata, data dictionaries required (many agencies have very pretty maps of which little can be said of the information being displayed)
– Given limited national resources, regional approaches can be useful for support and guarding against loss of capacity by changing personnel.
