However, in reality this is not as easy as it sounds. Chances are that only when the wells run dry will an alarm be raised. This is because it is not easy to monitor water levels without the use of appropriate technology.

This vulnerable aspect of Pacific islands will soon be a thing of the past when island countries start implementing new technology that will accurately monitor water levels and allow for timely decision making – like securing the funds, the shipping and supply of water to the outer islands or even to the capitals before its reservoirs run completely dry.

Kiribati is well on its way to ensuring that its islands do not run dry. This is through the “Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States” project funded by European Union and run by South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC). The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) component of this programme has supplied Kiribati with relevant technology to tackle the water issue. This technology includes Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS).

GIS allows people to represent the earth and the surrounding environment in digital map form where each feature can be queried for more details.

RS on the other hand is the study of the earth from a distance, for example taking pictures from a satellite. Kautoa Tonganibeia, an environment inspector at the Environment and Conservation Division in Kiribati, says GIS and RS has helped his department’s work a lot. “In Kiribati, the fisheries sector, agricultural sector, the Kiribati Water Engineering Unit and waste management sectors, among others have benefited from GIS and RS,” said Tonganibeia.

“For example, the Water Engineering Unit now knows what the water levels are in the islands. When it detects declining water levels the Unit is ready to cart water in time to avoid major water shortages.”

The use of GIS and RS can be applied to all natural resources. Such resources in the Pacific islands are changing as island populations increase and development takes place.

Agricultural activities and construction work on the islands modify the coastal areas and subsequent run-off into the sea affects the reefs and fish stocks. An increasing population means an increase in consumption, which brings about an increase in waste generation, which in turn changes the structure of the natural environment.

Development activities like telephone and electricity supplies add new structures to the existing environment, like poles or underground cabling for service transmission. Good information is required for the effective management and maintenance. The ten million Euro “Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States” project, which started in 2003 and is scheduled to end in 2006, allows for changes to natural resources planning, development and management to be monitored.

This in turn brings about effective decision-making by providing accurate and easy to interpret data and information to civil servants, politicians and other key development partners.

Through the Information and Communications technologies component of the “Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States” the application of GIS and RS has increased in both the private and public sectors. Kiribati is no exception. Tonganibeia says that in 2002 there were three organisations using this technology.

“Now, there are around 10 organisations, both in the public and private sector using GIS and RS.” Tonganibeia says that apart from providing infrastructure like map servers that host the data and training people on the use of this technology, the project has also promoted information exchange between parties, which is a first for this country. “Sometimes there is data that we need already existing within another organisation. Through the training and networking facilitated by this project we have access to data already available and the stakeholders are willing to share data amongst themselves. This means that we save on resources and time in not replicating data that already exists.” Kiribati was one of the first countries to benefit from the ICT component of the “Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States” project. Other countries like Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu have also benefited from it.

Doreen Leona, Telecom Vanuatu’s Assistant Manager External Line Plant, says that training provided by SOPAC through the “Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States” project has helped people in Vanuatu a lot.

“SOPAC has provided high resolution satellite images of the different islands that make up Vanuatu and these have been used as a base map for the telecom network,” said Leona. Leona benefited from training offered under the project in June 2003, on accessing map information and remote sensing. “The training provided by SOPAC under the ICT component of the ‘Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States’ project has been very helpful to how I approach things in my job at Telecom Vanuatu.” She said the training familiarised participants with new methods of using GIS. It also helped put in contact different GIS users in Vanuatu to easier data exchange.

James Atherton, a GIS specialist from Samoa was also pleased with the training that SOPAC had provided. He attended a training September last year. “The SOPAC training that I attended was on satellite images as an alternate source of data,” said Atherton. “Satellite images are acquired much more quickly than other sources and they can show greater detail.” One of the major aims of the ICT component of the “Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States” project is establish a map server in each Pacific island country so that GIS data can be shared amongst different stakeholders. Atherton said that the mapserver for Samoa will be installed early next year And would allow people to share their data and avoid the unnecessary repetition of work. Atherton, Leona and Tonganibeia attended the Annual Pacific Island countries Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing User conference in Suva last month,which had the theme “GIS towards knowledge based economy”. The focus of the conference being to encourage the development of a professional and more effective GIS and Remote Sensing Community in Pacific Island region.

Fig 1: This high-resolution satellite image shows Bikenibeu, Kiribati (near airport) and Bonriki. The population density in Bikenibeu is visible.

Tonganibeia said the conference provided him with an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with other GIS and RS users in the region.

SOPAC’s GIS and RS specialist Wolf Forstreuter says GIS and RS have a wide range of application and countries like Fiji have used this in a number of different sectors. “In Fiji, GIS and RS is in use by many government departments like the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Forestry and Fisheries, the Public Works Department, Town and Country Planning, Land Department and the Native Land Trust Board,” said Forstreuter.

He said the Fiji Electricity Authority, Telecom and the Fiji Museum also used this technology. “There is a lot of potential for GIS and RS in the Pacific Region. In 2005 SOPAC through the ICT component of the ‘Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States’ project will continue training stakeholders in the use of GIS and RS and establishing GIS networks in the various stakeholders offices, throughout the Pacifc Islands region.”

Fig 2: The Department of Agriculture in Kiribati carries out vegetation mapping using image data displayed on the monitor screen. The separation of areas covered by coconuts, mangroves and other vegetation becomes easy as GIS techniques can be utilised after training was provided by the SOPAC-EU project.

For More Information: http://www.sopac.org/ism

© 2004 SOPAC distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License (www.gnu.org)