Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...
Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...
Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...
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uild up your GIS database. Clearly <strong>the</strong> shape of GIS database depends <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> requirements of<br />
<strong>the</strong> park. For instance, a nati<strong>on</strong>al park may be interested in m<strong>on</strong>itoring changes in land use in<br />
<strong>the</strong> surrounding areas, which can be visualized by importing informati<strong>on</strong> from a remote sensing<br />
platform such as LandSat or Aster. This may not be a c<strong>on</strong>cern for o<strong>the</strong>r parks, where m<strong>on</strong>itoring<br />
disease events and epidemics may be a larger c<strong>on</strong>cern.<br />
There are many different sources of GIS informati<strong>on</strong> that can be used for building your base<br />
layers. Digitizing c<strong>on</strong>tours and hydrology from existing published topographical maps is labour<br />
intensive, especially for large areas, but in some cases may be <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>ly opti<strong>on</strong>. Remember that<br />
<strong>the</strong> data is as <strong>on</strong>ly good as its source – <strong>the</strong> data from a digitized 1:50,000 topographical map will<br />
not give <strong>the</strong> same accuracy as <strong>the</strong> data from a 1:1000 map. Alternatively, some base layers can<br />
be downloaded free of charge from <strong>the</strong> internet. For instance, c<strong>on</strong>tours can be generated from <strong>the</strong><br />
Shuttle Radar Topology Missi<strong>on</strong> (SRTM), ra<strong>the</strong>r than digitizing <strong>the</strong>m all from topographical maps. A<br />
coarse resoluti<strong>on</strong> vegetati<strong>on</strong> map for Africa can be downloaded free of charge from <strong>the</strong> Global Land<br />
Cover Facility. Google Earth allows you view satellite images of <strong>the</strong> earth for free as does NASA’s<br />
WorldWind program. The FAO offers data <strong>on</strong> rivers, geomorphology, agriculture, vegetati<strong>on</strong>, roads,<br />
villages and general infrastructure at <strong>the</strong>ir AfriCover website. In additi<strong>on</strong>, <strong>the</strong> FAO also offer a<br />
Soils and Terrain (SOTER) layer for <strong>the</strong> entire African c<strong>on</strong>tinent. The MODIS platform offers daily<br />
informati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> active fires across Africa, and will even send you an email with <strong>the</strong> locati<strong>on</strong> of fires<br />
in your area. For a list of useful websites and sources of spatial data see Appendix 3.<br />
Editing and maintaining base layers is very important, but can be excepti<strong>on</strong>ally time<br />
c<strong>on</strong>suming. In some cases simply having <strong>the</strong> base layer may not be sufficient and you may find<br />
you want to classify it fur<strong>the</strong>r based <strong>on</strong> some criteria. For instance, <strong>the</strong> Serengeti Database required<br />
classifying all rivers into ephemeral, seas<strong>on</strong>al and permanent ra<strong>the</strong>r than just leaving <strong>the</strong>m as rivers<br />
as this was not informative enough. Remember when you are editing layers that it is imperative to<br />
maintain sequential versi<strong>on</strong>s of <strong>the</strong> data as you proceed. Overwriting <strong>the</strong> previous versi<strong>on</strong>s can be<br />
disastrous. What happens if you suddenly discover that your edits are wr<strong>on</strong>g? Having a previous<br />
versi<strong>on</strong> will save you a lot of time, heartache and gray hairs.<br />
Collecting Data: Ranger Based M<strong>on</strong>itoring Systems<br />
If you really want to understand an area, <strong>the</strong>re is nothing better than exploring it <strong>on</strong> foot. The people<br />
who understand an ecosystem <strong>the</strong> best are <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>es who look under <strong>the</strong> st<strong>on</strong>es, climb <strong>the</strong> hills, and<br />
interact with <strong>the</strong> communities and cultures living around it. Generally, <strong>the</strong>se are also <strong>the</strong> people who<br />
are fully aware of <strong>the</strong> threats a protected area faces. However, <strong>the</strong> reality is that <strong>on</strong>ly a select few are<br />
privileged enough to be able to do this. For <strong>the</strong> most part, managers are transferred out of <strong>the</strong> field<br />
to office positi<strong>on</strong>s where <strong>the</strong>y are forced to make decisi<strong>on</strong>s remotely.<br />
Keeping managers in touch with events in <strong>the</strong> field allows <strong>the</strong>m to react quickly and with<br />
certainty. Having a stream of informati<strong>on</strong> coming in from field rangers literally means that head<br />
knows what <strong>the</strong> eyes are seeing, and <strong>the</strong> park operates in a cohesive and coordinated manner. A<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Walia</str<strong>on</strong>g>-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Special</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Editi<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> 316