WEB GIS MEETS RANGELANDS

 In this blog article, web GIS is used in the context of rangeland planning ; Ha Nthapo village in Lesotho serving as case study. In this study, storymap has been produced to show how it can be used to visualize participatory rangeland planning that emphasises the engagement of user community in all aspects of environmental planning. First, public gathering is convened to obtain views of users about historical use patterns. Emphasis here is on indigenous knowledge system as a technique in environmental planning. In addition, participatory transect walk and mobile observations tools are showcased.


Steps followed to develop the community based plan outlined above are as follows

  • Needs assessment
  • Using Pitso system as democratic tool for participatory planning
  • Taking participatory transect walk to record landscape features, map various land uses, bright spots, hotspots and sites of cultural, historic and scientific significance.
  • Rangeland Health Assessment using robust tools such as Land Degradation Surveillance Framework(LDSF), Disc Pasture Meter and Score Scard, Global Navigation Satellite System handheld device with Open Data Kit(ODK) collect installed for data capturing.
  • Data Analysis using R programming language to produce different charts/figures depicting various rangeland health properties and generate yield propery map using generalized linear model
  • Map Produciton using QGIS and ArcGIS Online Platform for Story Map generation.
  • Presentation of findings to stakeholders including rangeland users to get their views and to validate the plan before it is implemented
  • Implementation of the plan within regulatory framework and stipulated period
  • Monitoring and review where necessary
The story map depicting grazing management planning in one of  the grazing associations in Lesotho can be viewed here: Community-Based Grazing Plan



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