Though Developing countries including Ethiopia are known by their natural resources possession, they utilize uneconomically because of lack of knowledge, finance and technology. Besides, currently, due to population pressure, farmers are forced to invade forest areas, wetlands and parks in search of farmland. As a result, the ecosystem is being disturbed and water bodies are getting shrank. Soils are also highly exposed to erosion due to overgrazing of grass lands. These again aggravate desertification that contributes to poverty.
To avert this onerous situation, the Global Monitoring of Environment for Security (GMES) provided training to professionals here in the capital recently on how to mapping the locations of vulnerable natural resource areas based on geo-spatial information obtained from satellites so that utilizing the resource sustainably will be realized.
According to the plan, application of the information on areas exposed to degradation and monitoring assessment on wetlands are underway to prepare open geographic reference vector data base for water and agro- ecological zonation.
While approached by The Ethiopian Herald, Tulu Beshah (PhD), Director of the Ethiopian Geospatial Information Institute said that the Kenyan based Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development is established by the African countries and mainly focusses to reach the Southern and Eastern African Countries through geospatial information to achieve sustainable development.
As to the director, its products are crucial to be utilized as inputs by decision makers to reach on sounding decision regarding the economic usage of the natural resources.
Besides, the geospatial information helps to maintain and protect the ecosystem and to get knowledge regarding the status of land and water bodies whether they are degraded or not.
It is also vital to the end users such as farmers and pastoral communities to benefit from the resource economically. As it is boldly known, farmers plow their farm lands in order to meet the need for food for their families. However, according to the director, when they find the land becomes infertile due to an uninterrupted plowing and the reduction of the precipitation of soil, they resort to change forest lands in to farm lands. This measure of cutting trees in turn exacerbates soil erosion.
As a result, the rain water, instead of going to underground, will be changed into flood. The situation, thus, negatively affects crop productivity. The geospatial information obtained from satellite indicates the size of the cleared forest areas from time to time and based on the information decision makers decide to halt the invasion of forest land by farmers through intensive discussions with the community members.
The same is true to pastorals. In many countries, pastorals have a cultural value of owning excess number of animals beyond the caring capacity of the land. As a result, the overgrazing practiced in wet lands in most countries is shrinking the areas and some places are totally destroyed. The geo special information indicates how the areas are shrinking from time to time. And the pastorals, as the end users of the land, should be informed to take various measures to protect the ecosystem that include reduction of the number of their animals for their own survival so that it goes in line with the available resources.
Degineh Sendabo is working in the Nairobi based Regional Center for Mapping Resources for Development. As to him, the program began based on the agreement between the European Union and the African Union.
Adding he said that, the geo spatial information helps to mitigate the impacts of climate change and global warming on natural resources. It also indicates what kinds of crops can be grown in various agro-ecological zones such as in arid, mild and cold mountain areas which in turn support the effort ensuring food security.
It also enables to identify areas suitable to use for the purposes of urban development, agriculture and forest among others.
Degineh further said that, the major objective of his organization is providing the necessary geo special information for the end users such as farmers and pastoral communities.
As to Degneh, 20 years ago, the size of Lake Metehara was very small. But today, it engulfed the town and if extreme rainy weather condition occurs, it will bring devastation on property and human and animal lives. To mitigate such natural calamities utilizing geospatial information is vital.
In fact, obtaining the information and utilizing it properly are not one and the same. Thus, timely application of the information is as valuable as its reception. Unless there are efficient institutions with well qualified human resources, getting the information by itself is meaningless. The expansion of Lake Metahara is posed by geological and anthropogenic activities. Since long ago, geo spatial information regarding the expansion of the lake has been provided to the pertinent officials but because of reluctance and negligence, they failed to utilize the information in the way they can mitigate the problem. Currently, therefore, the town is in a critical situation because of the underground water easily reachable under the top surface of the ground.
On the contrary, the drying up of Lake Haromaya had been aggravated by human activities. The Water used to be drained away from the lake by about 120 water pumps to the nearby chat farms. The geo spatial information with regard to the water was available to the pertinent institutions but their effort to save the water from demolishing was not successful.
Steven Sandy is working for Regional Center for Mapping for Development. For his part, he said that field observation brings good opportunities to protect natural resources from devastation caused by human activities and natural phenomena. The reason is it enables to do analysis on various ecological zones based on their level of ecosystem and the areas of land degradation. Since the information is timely, it helps decision makers to utilize it in appropriate manner.
Obtaining, processing and disseminating the information requires knowledge, capital and technology. In this regard, the regional office, with the support of the African union commission and in collaboration with the Ethiopian Geospatial Information Institute has engaged in capacity building of the member countries, professionals and relevant stake holders.
Through matching the field- observation data of the ground, trainees will be able to process the data and produce information. But ultimately, it is the decision makers who have the mandate to utilize the information as an input and implement it in collaboration with the end users, Sandy stressed.
BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
The Ethiopian Herald May 19/2021
