GIS-‐based coastal sensiWvity map for Tanzania

GIS-­‐based coastal sensi1vity map for Tanzania Christopher A. Muhando, Ins&tute of Marine Sciences – muhando@ims.udsm.ac.tz Yves Barthélemy, OBSCOM Paris and MaBhew D. Richmond, Samaki Consultants Ltd. Dar es Salaam Supported by Oil and Gas Companies Statoil Tanzania BG Tanzania Petrobras 1 Outline •  Introduc&on –  Ra&onale & Objec&ve •  Methodology •  Results and lessons •  Recommenda&ons 2 Tanzania Coastal resources and ac1vi1es •  Coastal zone is important –  Communi&es dependence is high • 
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Important habitats Fisheries resources Transporta&on Oil and gas •  Threatened –  by natural disasters and –  Anthropogenic ac&vi&es leading to pollu&on and degrada&on 3 Lack or little information to guide decisions
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Habitat distribu&on and status Fisheries resources distribu&on and status Other human ac&vi&es • 
What would be the impacts of oil spill accident or any coastal disasters –  Which areas deserve high aDen1on –  The mapping of the sensi&vity of the environment to accidental oil pollu&on is an essen&al step in oil pollu&on preparedness, response and coopera&on efforts, and maps are a crucial tool to assist responders during an incident. –  Tz Government insisted that oil and gas explora1ons must have a con1ngency plans • 
A GIS-­‐based coastal sensi1vity map for Tanzania was requested –  Environmental sensi&vity analysis process ends up with a sensi&vity index (ESI) map 4 Environmental Sensi&vity Index (ESI) •  ESI maps –  provide a concise summary of coastal features, resources and ac&vi&es that are at risk if an oil spill occurs nearby. •  sensi&ve shorelines •  biological resources and •  human-­‐use resources •  When an oil spill occurs, ESI maps can help in reducing the environmental consequences of the spill –  iden&fy vulnerable loca&ons, –  establish protec&on priori&es, and –  iden&fy cleanup strategies. 5 GIS based Environmental Sensi&vity mapping benefits include: •  Easy to update, •  Clear graphical displays •  GIS layers can be supplied with fully compa&ble viewing soaware •  Support in the prepara&on of integrated spill con&ngency plans 6 Aproaches 1.  To map shoreline features (or characteris&cs) 2.  To map areas with important biological resources 3.  To map socio-­‐economic ac&vi&es 4.  To evaluate combined ESI (1+2+3) 7 Methodology •  Geo-­‐referencing features –  ranked based on their sensi&vity to oiling. •  Consulted responders and coastal zone managers. •  Made use of available sources 8 9 10 11 12 13 Biological features (lea) converted to Sensi&vity grids (right) 14 Biological sensi&vity (lea) and Human Resource use (right) 15 Reclassified table showing ESI input values and the final ESI values Input rela1ve sensi1vity value Output values 0 1 (Green) 1 1 (Green) 2 2 (Yellow) 3 2 (Yellow) 4 2 (Yellow) 5 3 (Orange) 6 3 (Orange) 7 3 (Orange) 8 4 (Red) 9 4 (Red) 10 4 (Red) 16 Environmental Sensi&vity Index (ESI) 17 18 19 Concluding Remarks – 1 •  Data sets generally old, collec1on methods old and not really objec1ve – improvements required •  Data set not backed up by strong thema1c surveys or reports –backup report are required •  Generally characterized by low resolu1on (low accuracy). Not very useful at opera1onal (large scale) situa1ons – Opera1onal resolu1on required •  Low representa1veness and low sampling intensity (generally low quality) but considered beDer than nothing -­‐ improvements required •  Datasets could be improved (updated geometrically and aDribute levels) -­‐ improvements required Concluding Remarks -­‐ 2 • 
GIS literacy (awareness) among managers and decision makers is the first main problem. Data needs, methods, analysis oWen not guided by decision makers. -­‐ Educa1on and awareness required • 
Responsible na1onal GIS ins1tu1ons seem to be lagging behind research and projects or less interest in coastal and marine data. • 
There is adequate Na1onal spa1al data infrastructure as such. – developing it is encouraged. • 
Data gathering protocols and formats are not standardized to help the Na1onal ins1tu1ons to harvest sectoral data sets easily. -­‐ improvements required •  Tanzania Government is now working towards rec1fying all men1oned weaknesses. 21 TanSeA Maps (pdf) are available online •  Downloadable at www.tansea.org and www.ims.udsm.ac.tz •  Shape files and other datasets are freely available to government agencies and for educa&on purposes THANK YOU