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GIS and natural resource management : prospect and problems
Kanyati Communal Lands, Zimbabwe
essential data were of low quality, out of date or lacking, funds for new data acquisition was not be
available and trained staff for implementing and updating the GIS database were not present. Also the
initial awareness of the potential of a GIS information system was virtually absent.
But even when these barriers to GIS implementation were overcome through the acceptance of lower
data quality, the provision of the minimum hardware and software, a short training course and
demonstration of the developed applications, the response among leading local staff remained low.
Middle-level technical local staff clearly became aware of the benefits of the system, but interest and
willingness of higher staff to actual use and develop the GIS applications further for their own use was
lacking.
This lack of interest among higher staff can be partially explained by a still limited awareness of the
potential of a GIS-information system for local level decision making and a lack of insight of how an
information system could support decisions with regard to the use of natural resources. But the
reluctance to actually start using the information system might also be inherent in the prevailing
governance settings. Information on the magnitude of the problems among the various villages, for
example, is possibly not the most required for actual public decision making in the area. The potential
of an information system to make public decisions more efficient and transparent may in some
governmental settings be less desired than is often assumed from an outsiders' point of view.
7. Conclusions
Applications of a GIS-based information system shown in this paper have the potential to make
decisions with respect to natural resources more efficient and transparent. Although the development
of the GIS information-system for the Nyaminyami Rural District Council was, on purpose, low
profile, the lessons learnt are clear. A number of barriers that hamper GIS implementation, like lack of
training in GIS and limited software and hardware resources in local institutions need to be overcome.
However, lack of interest among key decision-makers to understand and use available information
appeared to be the most limiting factor in establishing an operational GIS-based information system as
an integral part of the natural resource management planning activities at the local level. The low
response of the local institutions reveals and confirms the need to pay sufficient attention to issues of
utilisation of GIS in actual government in addition to issues of implementation.
References
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