96 research outputs found
Potential of Water Hyacinth Infestation on Lake Tana, Ethiopia: A Prediction Using a GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Technique
Water hyacinth is a well-known invasive weed in lakes across the world and harms the aquatic environment. Since 2011, the weed has invaded Lake Tana substantially posing a challenge to the ecosystem services of the lake. The major factors which affect the growth of the weed are phosphorus, nitrogen, temperature, pH, salinity, and lake depth. Understanding and investigating the hotspot areas is vital to predict the areas for proper planning of interventions. The main objective of this study is therefore to predict the hotspot areas of the water hyacinth over the surface of the lake using the geographical information system (GIS)-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) technique. The main parameters used in the multi-criteria analysis were total phosphorus (\u3e0.08 mg L−1), total nitrogen (\u3e1.1 mg L−1), temperature (\u3c26.2 °C), pH (\u3c8.6), salinity (\u3c0.011%), and depth (\u3c6 m). These parameters were collected from 143 sampling sites on the lake in August, December (2016), and March (2017). Fuzzy overlay spatial analysis was used to overlay the different parameters to obtain the final prediction map of water hyacinth infestation areas. The results indicated that 24,969 ha (8.1%), 21,568.7 ha (7.1%), and 24,036 ha (7.9%) of the lake are susceptible to invasion by the water hyacinth in August, December, and March, respectively. At the maximum historical lake level, 30,728.4 ha will be the potential susceptible area for water hyacinth growth and expansion at the end of the rainy season in August. According to the result of this study, the north and northeastern parts of the lake are highly susceptible for invasion. Hence, water hyacinth management and control plans shall mainly focus on the north and northeastern part of Lake Tana and upstream contributing watersheds
Soil erosion and conservation in Ethiopia : A review
This paper reviews Ethiopia’s experience and research progress in past soil and water conservation (SWC) efforts and suggests possible solutions for improvement. Although indigenous SWC techniques date back to 400 BC, institutionalized SWC activity in Ethiopia became significant only after the 1970s. At least six national SWC related programs have been initiated since the 1970s and their focus over time has shifted from food relief to land conservation and then to livelihoods. The overall current soil erosion rates are highly variable and large by international standards, and sheet, rill, and gully erosion are the dominant processes. The influence of human activities on the landscape has traditionally been deleterious, but this trend seems to have recently reversed in some parts of the country following the engagement of the communities in land management. The efficiency of SWC measures show mixed results that are influenced by the type of measures and the agro-ecology under which they were implemented; in general, the relative performance of the interventions is better in the drylands as compared to humid areas. Methodological limitations also occur when addressing the economic aspects related to benefits of ecosystem services and other externalities. Although farmers have shown an increased understanding of the soil erosion problem, SWC efforts face a host of barriers related to limited access to capital, limited benefits, land tenure insecurity, limited technology choices and technical support, and poor community participation. In general SWC research in Ethiopia is fragmented and not comprehensive, mainly because of a lack of participatory research, field observations, and adoptable methods to evaluate impacts. A potentially feasible approach to expand and sustain SWC programs is to attract benefits from global carbon markets. Moreover, a dedicated institution responsible for overseeing the research–extension linkage of SWC interventions of the country should be established
Evaluation of erosion risk using Analytic Network Process and GIS: a case study from Spanish mountain olive plantations
The study presents an approach that combined objective information such as sampling or experimental data with subjective information such as expert opinions. This combined approach was based on the Analytic Network Process method. It was applied to evaluate soil erosion risk and overcomes one of the drawbacks of USLE/RUSLE soil erosion models, namely that they do not consider interactions among soil erosion factors. Another advantage of this method is that it can be used the there are insufficient experimental data. The lack of experimental data can be compensated for through the use of expert evaluations. As an example of the proposed approach, the risk of soil erosion was evaluated in olive groves in Southern Spain, showing the potential of the ANP method for modelling a complex physical process like soil erosionEl estudio combina una técnica de decisión multicriterio (ANP) y el análisis territorial para determinar las zonas de mayor riesgo de erosión en olivares de montaña</p
Spatial decision support system for coastal flood management in Victoria, Australia
Coastal climate impact can affect coastal areas in a variety of ways, such as flooding, storm surges, reduction in beach sands and increased beach erosion. While each of these can have major impacts on the operation of coastal drainage systems, this thesis focuses on coastal and riverine flooding in coastal areas. Coastal flood risk varies within Australia, with the northern parts in the cyclone belt most affected and high levels of risk similar to other Asian countries. However, in Australia, the responsibility for managing coastal areas is shared between the Commonwealth government, Australian states and territories, and local governments. Strategies for floodplain management to reduce and control flooding are best implemented at the land use planning stage. Local governments make local decisions about coastal flood risk management through the assessment and approval of planning permit applications. Statutory planning by local government is informed by policies related to coastal flooding and coastal erosion, advice from government departments, agencies, experts and local community experts. The West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (WGCMA) works with local communities, Victorian State Emergency Services (VCSES), local government authorities (LGAs), and other local organizations to prepare the West Gippsland Flood Management Strategy (WGFMS). The strategy aims at identifying significant flood risks, mitigating those risks, and establishing a set of priorities for implementation of the strategy over a ten-year period. The Bass Coast Shire Council (BCSC) region has experienced significant flooding over the last few decades, causing the closure of roads, landslides and erosion. Wonthaggi was particularly affected during this period with roads were flooded causing the northern part of the city of Wonthaggi to be closed in the worst cases. Climate change and increased exposure through the growth of urban population have dramatically increased the frequency and the severity of flood events on human populations. Traditionally, while GIS has provided spatial data management, it has had limitations in modelling capability to solve complex hydrology problems such as flood events. Therefore, it has not been relied upon by decision-makers in the coastal management sector. Functionality improvements are therefore required to improve the processing or analytical capabilities of GIS in hydrology to provide more certainty for decision-makers. This research shows how the spatial data (LiDAR, Road, building, aerial photo) can be primarily processed by GIS and how by adopting the spatial analysis routines associated with hydrology these problems can be overcome. The aim of this research is to refine GIS-embedded hydrological modelling so they can be used to help communities better understand their exposure to flood risk and give them more control about how to adapt and respond. The research develops a new Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) to improve the implementation of coastal flooding risk assessment and management in Victoria, Australia. It is a solution integrating a range of approaches including, Light Detection and Ranging (Rata et al., 2014), GIS (Petroselli and sensing, 2012), hydrological models, numerical models, flood risk modelling, and multi-criteria techniques. Bass Coast Shire Council is an interesting study region for coastal flooding as it involves (i) a high rainfall area, (ii) and a major river meeting coastal area affected by storm surges, with frequent flooding of urban areas. Also, very high-quality Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data is available from the Victorian Government to support first-pass screening of coastal risks from flooding. The methods include using advanced GIS hydrology modelling and LiDAR digital elevation data to determine surface runoff to evaluate the flood risk for BCSC. This methodology addresses the limitations in flood hazard modelling mentioned above and gives a logical basis to estimate tidal impacts on flooding, and the impact and changes in atmospheric conditions, including precipitation and sea levels. This study examines how GIS hydrological modelling and LiDAR digital elevation data can be used to map and visualise flood risk in coastal built-up areas in BCSC. While this kind of visualisation is often used for the assessment of flood impacts to infrastructure risk, it has not been utilized in the BCSC. Previous research identified terrestrial areas at risk of flooding using a conceptual hydrological model (Pourali et al., 2014b) that models the flood-risk regions and provides flooding extent maps for the BCSC. It examined the consequences of various components influencing flooding for use in creating a framework to manage flood risk. The BCSC has recognised the benefits of combining these techniques that allow them to analyse data, deal with the problems, create intuitive visualization methods, and make decisions about addressing flood risk. The SDSS involves a GIS-embedded hydrological model that interlinks data integration and processing systems that interact through a linear cascade. Each stage of the cascade produces results which are input into the next model in a modelling chain hierarchy. The output involves GIS-based hydrological modelling to improve the implementation of coastal flood risk management plans developed by local governments. The SDSS also derives a set of Coastal Climate Change (CCC) flood risk assessment parameters (performance indicators), such as land use, settlement, infrastructure and other relevant indicators for coastal and bayside ecosystems. By adopting the SDSS, coastal managers will be able to systematically compare alternative coastal flood-risk management plans and make decisions about the most appropriate option. By integrating relevant models within a structured framework, the system will promote transparency of policy development and flood risk management. This thesis focuses on extending the spatial data handling capability of GIS to integrate climatic and other spatial data to help local governments with coastal exposure develop programs to adapt to climate change. The SDSS will assist planners to prepare for changing climate conditions. BCSC is a municipal government body with a coastal boundary and has assisted in the development and testing of the SDSS and derived many benefits from using the SDSS developed as a result of this research. Local governments at risk of coastal flooding that use the SDSS can use the Google Earth data sharing tool to determine appropriate land use controls to manage long-term flood risk to human settlement. The present research describes an attempt to develop a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) to aid decision makers to identify the proper location of new settlements where additional land development could be located based on decision rules. Also presented is an online decision-support tool that all stakeholders can use to share the results
Interactive Problem Structuring with ICZM Stakeholders
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is struggling with a lack of science-management integration. Many computer systems, usually known as “decision support systems”, have been developed with the intention to make scientific knowledge about complex systems more accessible for coastal managers. These tools, allowing a multi-disciplinary approach with multi-criteria analyses, are designed for well-defined, structured problems. However, in practice stakeholder consensus on the problem structure is usually lacking. Aim of this paper is to explore the practical opportunities for the new so-called Quasta approach to structure complex problems in a group setting. This approach is based on a combination of Cognitive Mapping and Qualitative Probabilistic Networks. It comprehends a new type of computer system which is quite simple and flexible as well. The tool is tested in two workshops in which various coastal management issues were discussed. Evaluations of these workshops show that (1) this system helps stakeholders to make them aware of causal relationships, (2) it is useful for a qualitative exploration of scenarios, (3) it identifies the quantitative knowledge gaps of the problem being discussed and (4) the threshold for non technicians to use this tool is quite low.Integrated Coastal Zone Management, Problem Structuring, Stakeholder Participation, Cognitive Mapping, Interactive Policy Making
AN INFORMATION SYSTEM TO ANALYZE AND MONITORING COASTAL AREAS FOR PLANNING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. APPLICATIONS FOR SANTOS ESTUARY (BRAZIL) AND BAHIA BLANCA (ARGENTINA)
2005/2006Questa tesi di dottorato è stata realizzata nell'ambito del progetto ECOManage (Jntegrated Ecological Coastal Zone Management System ), un progetto internazionale che ha come obiettivi comprendere e descrivere come gli ecosistemi estuarini rispondano agli impatti antropici, allo scopo di promuovere l'uso sostenibile, la protezione e la gestione della risorsa idrica; e fornire un supporto scientifico agli enti ambientali locali riguardo alle migliori pratiche politiche da attuare. I siti di interesse del progetto sono tre diverse aree costiere: un estuario con mangrovie (Santos, in Brasile), un grande estuario con estese aree intertidali (Bahia Bianca, in Argentina) e un fiordo (Puerto Aysen, in Cile). Le fasce costiere sono oggigiorno una delle zone più minacciate del mondo a causa della loro attrattiva e della disponibilità di risorse per lo sviluppo urbano e industriale. Per questo motivo molte di queste aree hanno raggiunto condizioni ambientali critiche come risultato della forte pressione antropica e del sovrasfruttamento delle risorse. Le aree costiere sono tra le più vulnerabili della Terra, quindi qualsiasi attività messa in pratica, dovrebbe essere accuratamente pianificata. Inoltre ciò che accade sulle coste ha effetti che vanno molto al di là delle comunità acquatiche e umane locali, causando conseguenze a lungo termine o irreparabili. In questa tesi ci si è occupati di due delle aree di studio costiere del progetto ECOManage: Santos e Bahia Bianca. Le due aree di studio sono sottoposte ad un notevole stress, causato specialmente da una mediocre pianificazione del territorio e dalle attività umane. La baia di Santos è contraddistinta dalla presenza di ecosistemi unici e di grande valore come la Mata Atlantica (foresta atlantica) e le foreste di mangrovie che sono costantemente sotto forte pressione provocata da un enorme sviluppo urbano nell'area che influenza anche la qualità dell'estuario stesso. Per questa ragione e per avere un'idea chiara delle condizioni di inquinamento dell'acqua dell'estuario di Santos, è stato calcolato un indice di qualità, applicando i principi dell'analisi Fuzzy, sulla base di campionamenti di acqua, sedimenti e organismi effettuati dal CETESB nel 1999 e nel 2000. L'indice di qualità evidenzia quelle aree dell'estuario in cui è presente un grado elevato, moderato e accettabile di inquinamento. Bahia Bianca è caratterizzata da estesi campi agricoli e da pascoli che la rendono una delle principali province argentine per l'esportazione di grano e di lana. Quest'area, pur essendo meno disturbata dal punto di vista ambientale rispetto alla baia di Santos, subisce un rilevante stress a causa delle attività agricole intensive che provocano erosione del suolo e degradazione del terreno. Lo scopo generale di questa ricerca è di creare un sistema di informazione completo e integrato usando le tecniche di telerilevamento e GIS, come fonte di dati per l'analisi dei problemi locali di Santos e Bahia Bianca, come ad esempio la perdita di suolo e l 'urbanizzazione. Inoltre stimare e comparare i risultati ottenuti da due modelli di erosione per evidenziare l'importanza della copertura vegetale come prevenzione dei processi di perdita del suolo che affliggono queste due aree. Nell'area di Santos è stata inclusa anche, come importante fonte di informazioni per gli studi attuali e futuri, un'analisi multitemporale della copertura del suolo, per determinare i cambiamenti di uso del suolo lungo un periodo di sette anni e la predizione dei cambiamenti nel futuro, applicando specifici software e tecniche di modellizzazione. Un sistema di supporto alle decisioni spaziale (SDSS) è stato elaborato per l'area di studio brasiliana per analizzare uno dei più importanti problemi di Santos: l'urbanizzazione, fornendo alle autorità locali uno strumento affidabile per i processi decisionali. L'analisi dei cambiamenti di copertura del suolo ha evidenziato le aree più vulnerabili alle pressioni antropiche (principalmente a causa della deforestazione e dell'urbanizzazione). I risultati ottenuti enfatizzano come le aree soggette maggiormente alle attività umane siano localizzate in zone di bassa e media elevazione, mentre le aree con maggior altitudine e forte pendenza ne sono meno influenzate. La maggior parte delle classi nelle due mappe di copertura del suolo (derivate dalla classificazione di due immagini satellitari Landsat del 1993 e del 2000) sono rimaste le stesse. Ciò è molto significativo in termini di impatto ambientale. La predizione della copertura del suolo per il 20 l O è stata ottenuta attraverso un'interpolazione basata sulle mappe di copertura del 1993 e del 2000. L'andamento di copertura del suolo per il 2010 rileva un apparente diminuzione degli effetti antropici e una copertura più uniforme. Ciò può essere giustificato dal miglioramento dell'applicazione delle leggi ambientali vigenti nell'area (CONAMA, 2002). La possibilità di predire la copertura del suolo del futuro è molto importante per effettuare valutazioni ambientali e per prevenire attività umane incontrollate, prevedendo possibili scenari riguardanti l'uso e la copertura del suolo dopo un numero specifico di anni. Per lo studio della degradazione del terreno e degli impatti dell'uomo sull'ambiente nelle due aree di studio, sono state elaborate delle mappe di rischio di erosione usando due diversi modelli, il RUSLE e l'USPED. Quest'ultimo permette di quantificare non solo la perdita di suolo ma anche i processi di deposizione che hanno luogo in una determinata regione. Il tasso di erosione è piuttosto basso sia per Santos che per Bahia Bianca, dove sembra che i processi di erosione siano determinati principalmente dalle caratteristiche topografiche delle due aree. Più bassi livelli di erosione sono stati trovati in terreni pianeggianti: in Santos le mangrovie hanno un tasso molto basso di erosione, mentre la vegetazione bassa ha un tasso più elevato; in Bahia Bianca le pianure intertidali hanno un tasso molto basso di erosione, mentre il suolo nudo a maggiori altitudini presenta un incremento dell'erosione. Ciò nonostante nell'area di Santos, la Mata Atlantica delle zone montane (che si trova prevalentemente ad altitudini maggiori a 570 m) presenta un'erosione molto bassa, evidenziando l 'importanza di una buona copertura vegetale nelle aree altrimenti soggette ad un elevato rischio di erosione. Comunque i livelli di erosione riscontrati nelle due aree di studio sono inferiori a quanto ci si aspettava: un'erosione molto elevata è stata rilevata solo nei terreni a maggior pendenza. Sfortunatamente la validazione dei risultati di erosione/sedimentazione non è possibile dal momento che non sono disponili misure in campo, ad ogni modo i risultati appaiono affidabili se confrontati con studi precedenti effettuati in località vicine con peculiarità simili. Inoltre i modelli di erosione sono un importante strumento per la valutazione dei processi di perdita di suolo e per l'elaborazione di mappe di rischio di erosione che possono essere utilizzate come utile riferimento per la pianificazione delle attività future, allo scopo di diminuire gli effetti erosivi attuali e di prevenire future degradazioni del suolo. Infine, l'elaborazione di un sistema di supporto decisionale spaziale per l'analisi dei problemi di urbanizzazione di Santos è stato possibile utilizzando i GIS. L'SDSS è stato progettato per valutare i problemi urbani di Santos, poiché c'è un numero considerevole di persone che vivono in aree protette come le riserve ecologiche delle mangrovie, comportando una forte pressione su questo fragile ed unico ecosistema, rendendo la loro sistemazione un importante problema da risolvere. Nella maggior parte dei casi queste persone appartengono alle classi sociali più basse, con stipendi miseri e uno stile di vita molto povero, aumentando la difficoltà della loro risistemazione. Essi dovrebbero venire al più presto spostati in zone più adeguate e più salubri. L'SDSS indica i posti più appropriate per realizzare questo progetto, tenendo in considerazione una serie di criteri. I fattori e le limitazioni considerate sono la topografia, la presenza di corpi d'acqua, la localizzazione di insediamenti urbani già esistenti, il tasso di erosione, il tipo di copertura del suolo, l'esistenza di aree protette. Tale strumento è un elemento prezioso che facilita la proposta di possibili soluzioni e gestioni del territorio attuabili per migliorare il problema dell'urbanizzazione a Santos e nei dintorni. Per questa ragione la realizzazione di un SDSS in questa tesi viene considerata come un metodo utile e affidabile per aiutare le autorità locali con i processi decisionali riguardanti le politiche da attuare per risolvere questo ed altri problemi critici che minacciano la città di Santos al momento attuale. È molto importante, quindi, fornire ai responsabili regionali e locali dei mezzi utili come i GIS, il telerilevamento, e strumenti di pianificazione attendibili come l'SDSS, come quelli realizzati in questa tesi, per aiutarli nel prendere decisioni, nel gestire il territorio e nell'affrontare i problemi odierni evitando un peggioramento dello scenario attuale.This thesis is developed within the ECOManage Project which have the strategic objectives to understand and quantify similarities and differences of estuarine system function in response to anthropogenic impacts in order to recommend restoration and/or sustainable development measures and to provide scientific support to local environmental managers on best-practice policies on 3 different coastal zones, including an estuary with mangroves (Santos-Brazil), a large estuary with wide intertidai areas (Bahia Bianca-Argentina) and a fiord (Aysen-Chile). This thesis focus mainly on two of Ecomanage study areas: Santos (Brazil) and Bahia Bianca (Argentina). Coastal areas, broadiy defined as near-coast waters and the adjacent land area, are nowadays one of the most threatened zones all over the world, due to their attractiveness, convenience and availability of resources for urban and industrial development. Therefore, many of these areas worldwide have reached critical environmental conditions as a result of great anthropologic pressure and overexploitation of their resources. Coastal areas are among the most vulnerable of Earth's ecosystems, any activity carried out in these areas should be carefully planned since what happens to the coasts has effects that reach far beyond their local aquatic and human communities, thus, causing irreparable or long term consequences. The two study areas that this thesis approach are characterized for being under significant environmental stress specially caused by poor urban planning and other anthropogenic activities like intensive agriculture. Santos is characterized by the presence of valuable and unique ecosystems as Mata Atlantica (Atlantic forest) and mangrove forests that are currently under great stress due to strong urban development in the area, which is also affecting the quality of its estuary. For this reason and so to have an appreciative idea of water quality conditions of Santos Estuary a quality index was also calculated applying Fuzzy set principles and based on water, sediment and organism samples collected by CETESB in 1999 and 2000. The quality index highlighted those areas with bad, moderate and acceptable pollution in the estuary. Bahia Bianca it is characterized by its extensive crop fields and pastures for grazing which make of i t one of the most important provinces in Argentina for grain and wool exportation. These area is under stress due to the intense agricultural activities which cause soil erosion and land degradation, however it is less environmentally affected than Santos Estuary. The general aim of this research is to create a complete information system using GIS and remote sensing techniques as data sources for the analysis of local problems of Santos and Bahia Bianca i.e. soil loss, urbanization. Furthermore, to estimate and compare rates of soil erosion obtained by two different erosion models stressing the importance of vegetation coverage as prevention of soil loss processes affecting these two study areas. The integration of landcover analysis making emphasis on multitemporal studies in the area of Santos to detect landcover change over a seven year period and the prediction of landcover change using specific software and modeling techniques was also included as an important source of information for the present and future studies. A Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) was elaborated for Santos study area to tackle one of its most important problems, urbanization, therefore providing local authorities with a reliable tool for decision making processes. Santos landcover change analysis highlighted the most vulnerable areas regarding anthropogenic pressures, mainly deforestation and urbanization. Results obtained emphasize that areas mostly affected by anthropogenic activities are located on low and medium elevations, while those areas characterized by high elevations and steep slopes are less influenced by human activities. Most of the classes in both cases seem to remain as themselves, between 70% and 90% of the area represented by each class does not suffer any impact or transformation into other class, which is quite significant in terms of environmental impact. Landcover prediction of 2010 was obtained through interpolation of surfaces based on the input landcover maps of 1993 and 2000. Landcover trend map of 20 l O highlight an apparent decrease of anthropogenic effects and a more uniform landcover. This could be justified by the improvement in application of environmental laws in the area (CONAMA, 2002). The possibility to predict future landcover is quite significant for performing environmental assessment and preventing uncontrolled anthropogenic activities in this way foreseeing possible scenarios regarding landuse and lancover after a specified number of years. Another important factor that was taken into consideration for Iand degradation and environmental impacts of human activities in these two areas, was the calculation of erosion risk maps using two different models, the RUSLE and USPED, the latest one also gives a quantification of deposition processes taking place. Erosion rates tend to be quite low for both study areas. In Santos and Bahia Bianca it seems that erosion processes are mainly determined by topographic characteristics of each area. Lower erosion rates are found on plain terrains: in Santos mangroves have very low erosion rates, while low vegetation have higher erosion rates; for Bahia Bianca intertidal flats have very low erosion rates, while bare soil at higher elevation increase its erosion rates. Nevertheless, in Santos Mata Atlantica of highlands is mainly found at elevations of more than 570 m, but erosion rates are still very low, this fact highlight the importance of a good vegetation cover in those areas at high risk of erosion. However, erosion rates obtained for Santos and Bahia Bianca, are quite lower than expected, very high erosion values were found only on steep slopes. Unfortunately, validation of erosion-sedimentation results was not possible since in-situ field measurements were not available, nevertheless, results tend to be quite reliable if compared to previous studies performed in nearby areas with similar characteristics. Nevertheless erosion modeling is an important tool for assessment of soil loss processes and elaboration of soil erosion risk maps which are useful references for planning future activities, decreasing current erosion effects as well as preventing future soil degradation. Finally, the elaboration of a Spatial Decision Support System for analyzing urbanization problems in Santos was also possible by the application of GIS. The SDSS was designed to evaluate urban problems in Santos, as there is a considerable number of people living in protected areas as mangrove ecological reserves, which put significant pressure on this fragile and unique ecosystem, so making their relocation an important issue to be solved. In most of the cases these people belong to the lowest social class, characterized by very low incomes and living in extreme poor conditions, which make the difficult task of relocation even more difficult. These people must be conveniently moved as soon as possible to adequate and safe areas. The SDSS indicates the most appropriate places for doing so, taking into consideration a series of local factors and constraints such as, topography, water bodies, existing urban settlements, erosion and landuse, that are the basis of the analysis performed to determine "suitable" locations. The SDSS was an important asset that facilitated the proposal of feasible solutions and viable recommendations to improve urbanization problems in the area of Santos and surroundings. For this reason the elaboration of a SDSS within this thesis, was intended to be a useful and reliable tool to help local authorities with the decision making process for solving Santos most critical threats affecting the city at the present time. It is important to provide regional responsible authorities with the right tools as remote sensing and GIS and reliable planning sources like SDSS thus, helping them in the decision making process for efficiently face current problems avoiding a worsening of the present scenarios.XIX Ciclo1973Versione digitalizzata della tesi di dottorato cartacea
A joint stocktaking of CGIAR work on forest and landscape restoration
Despite the high level of political engagement and the wide range of organizations involved in restoration projects from local to global levels, beyond some success stories, restoration is not happening at scale. To address this issue, three CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) – Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA); Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM) and Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) – decided to bring together their expertise in a joint stocktaking of CGIAR work on restoration. This publication illustrates with concrete examples the powerful contribution of forest and landscape restoration to the achievement of most, if not all the 17 sustainable development goals. It can be used to support the design of future restoration activities, programs and projects. We hope that this document will help upscale restoration efforts and deliver enhanced impact from our CGIAR research
An emergency preparedness framework for Sand andDust Storms (SDSs) in Kuwait
BackgroundThe current literature suggests that there is a lack of preparedness framework for Sand and Dust Storms (SDSs) globally and regionally and the existing disaster response strategies are not fit for purpose. Evidence suggests that research is warranted in this area. Thus, this research aims to investigate and develop the emergency preparedness framework for SDSs in the state of Kuwait.Methods:In this research an initial framework was designed to inform further research. Consequently, to understand what the current level of preparedness for SDSs within Kuwait is, and what is the possible method to integrate community-based approaches within existing disaster mitigation frameworks. Two studies using different methods were planned and conducted in Kuwait City. The first study was a questionnaire-based study that was distributed to 700 members of the community, of which only 398 responded. The second study involved interviewing 26 members of the emergency services. The results of the two studies were used for the development of the emergency preparedness framework. This in turn was used in the discussion held in the form of focus group study with 12 top emergency managers for framework validation.ResultsThe findings showed that people in Kuwait consider SDS to be very severe and are aware of SDS related to health issues. However, when it came measures that need to be taken due to SDS the Kuwait community were unaware on what needs to be done. The respondents accept that there is more to be done by emergency departments during SDSs. Surprisingly, health organization was not significant in any preparedness plans according to members of the community. The findings also showed that SDSs responders need to change their approaches to improve their reaction time during SDS events. The Kuwaiti community was not satisfied with the information that was published on SDSs or with the support that was provided by civil defense, fire department, emergency services, red cross, and health organization. The Kuwaiti community did not attend or get involved with aspects related to SDSs, such as sharing knowledge and responsibility through attending meetings, developing emergency plans, preparing emergency supply kits, or training others.Interviews with experts showed that the challenges that faces SDSs preparedness were slow warning system, pressure on financial resources and on emergency agencies, need to coordinate efforts and develop a disaster management framework, improve communications, training and research and allocate the proper resources. The framework resulted from the first two studies suggested different measures to control SDSs including long-term measures such stabilizing the soil and improving warning system. Global cooperation was also lacking at the moment in Kuwait response to SDSs according to some experts’ views.In the focus group 5 themes were identified. These were the need to improve preparedness, the need for education at all levels, better coordination between agencies, improve warning system and communication and implementing long-term solutions.ConclusionThe results suggest that the preparedness plan in Kuwait should be improved and the main point raised is the need of establishing an authority to coordinate the effort of the different departments to deals with SDSs. There is also a need for a broad and specific education programme and training plan to improve both the governmental and the community-based response. The final emergency preparedness framework, presented here, is a starting point to increase the maturity level of emergency preparednessXIVand to undertake further research.Recommendations• Through SDSs bespoke governmental regulations and the relevant legislations the response to SDSs must be improved according to research findings and expert views and recommendation from global organizations of concern such as WHO.• Education of the community on SDSs must be part of a campaign to raise the readiness of the community.• A central coordinating authority to deal with SDSs should be created and coordinate all actions on the preparedness plan as per the framework.• Continuous feedback and dissemination of information between different Ministries and Departments is essential.• Provide training for all emergency departments to enable them to act swiftly when SDS events are happening.• Global and regional cooperation is also essential.• Active research targeted at improving preparedness should be prioritised and disseminate findings.• All media outlets should be activated when early warning system provide information about an SDS event.• The community at large, including nomads and marginalised groups, should engage in the SDSs preparedness plan
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