The Geographic Foundation for Agenda 21

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

As a component of the State Department's contribution to the World Summit in Johannesburg (September 2002), this study will examine the geographic foundation for natural resource management and development issues in Africa. Specific examples will be drawn from case-study regions where USAID and other agencies have broad experience. Centered on a place-based, integrative framework, the study will draw on experiences of U.S. government agencies, international groups, decision-makers, and experts to examine 1) existing remote-sensing and GIS efforts in case-study regions, and lessons learned from those efforts, 2) existing levels of local expertise and technology, and ongoing efforts in geospatial capacity building, 3) a range of questions relating to the practical application of new and existing spatial data (e.g. required resolution, challenges of integrating layers of environmental and social data, and baseline data against which future change can be measured); 4) the role of decision support systems in the application of these data; and 5) options for making efforts sustainable beyond 2002.