Chabala Chiyaze, Zambia

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03-18-2020 05:55 PM

Chabala Chiyaze, Zambia

Chabala Chiyaze, Zambia Wildlife Authority, Zambia

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Jan 2016-present:  Engineer at Department of National Parks and Wildlife  (Photo Right: Scgis Zambia Chapter co-founders Chaka Kaumba (L) and Chabala (R) with Jack Dangermond at the 2012 Esri International Conference.)

(All photos courtesy Chabala Chiyaze)

CHRONOLOGY

2019:  Mentor to Scgis 2018 Scholar Jackson Katampi

Aug 2008 – Jan 2016  Chabala Chiteta Chiyaze  Planning Officer Land Surveying, , Zambia Wildlife Authority

    -Monitor and review the implementation of Management Plans for Protected Areas

    -Reveal and review protected areas boundaries in order to secure wildlife resources;
    -Monitor the extent of encroachment in the Protected Areas and prescribe mitigation measures of boundary conflicts

2009-Present: Annual Scholarship Program Mentor & Reviewer

2009  Co-founder of Scgis Zambia Chapter, current board member

2012 Scholar Profile

HISTORY:    "I graduated at the University of Zambia in 2008 with a bachelor of Geomatic Engineering with majors of Land surveying and GIS. Also studied natural resource planning using mainly GIS. Most of the projects that I have undertaken involve GIS in presentation of maps and plans. I Joined Zambia Wildlife Authority(ZAWA) in 2008 and involved in conservation of wildlife, protected area management planning, environmental monitoring and evaluation of tourism sites, ecological sensitive area, wildlife corridors and transfrontiers. At ZAWA the Use of GIS include resource mapping, land surveying of protected area boundaries, encroachment conflicts resolutions etc

 

Zambia Wildlife Authority is one of the organizations that apply GIS tools in its management of wildlife estates but with a lot of challenges as can be seen from the example of budgetary allocation to support GIS. The GIS unit is the most widely used by management to solve issues associated with protected areas and yet least funded. This has led to inadequacies to carry out activities using GIS tools. Areas such as monitoring of protected areas boundaries cannot be fully accomplished which has led to increased occurrence of encroachment by local people in the parks consequently leading to loss of habitat for wild animals.

 

To effectively manage park resources, managers need accurate information to recognize changes in ecosystems and to link trends with causes so that natural and anthropogenic threats may be distinguished. High quality information is necessary to identify trends and respond to them intelligently and deliberately. Such information is essential to ensure that rational and ecologically sound decisions are made concerning development, mitigation, monitoring and other management issues. implementation of a GIS tool as a high-priority is required for Park personnel and other managers to evaluate land and resource use alternatives while also considering environmental impacts, economic implications and potential use conflicts thus assisting all National Parks and Game Management Areas interpretation, ranger activities, research, resource management, maintenance and administration/management.     Through Zambia Wildlife Authority and SCGIS I participate in data sharing and GIS campaign awareness. I have been a member of SCGIS Zambia Chapter from its inception and have been an active member participating in all chapter activities.

 

The most unique and challenging thing about my work in conservation and GIS is the combination of community interactions and field data collection. Most times, it is usually difficult to explain technical aspects of GIS tools to the local communities to understand the actual work to being done. The community will only be interested in the end products which mostly are maps. It has also been difficult to manage GIS database due to inadequate GIS software and hardware.      Working in National Parks and Game Management Areas is adventurous as one gets to view wildlife which includes fauna and flora. This also gives me the experience to know the biodiversity of these protected areas.  The uniqueness of my work which may also be a challenge is I have to provide the first line of interaction in the event of human wildlife conflicts and attempt to apply GPS/GIS technologies to find solutions.

 

2012 Conference Abstract:

Participatory GIS in the development of Wildlife Protected Areas Management Plans.

Participatory GIS is a practice in which members of the local communities share their indigenous knowledge, skills and opinions in the preparation of maps in partnership with GIS professionals to enhance management decision making. Participatory GIS fosters discussion and collaboration among stakeholders and can capture important knowledge from underrepresented groups. In this case, this paper shall elaborate how participatory GIS is used to concretize all the decisions made by various stakeholders in the preparation of management plans for wildlife protected areas. The development of management plans is achieved through a number of steps and phases of the Strategic Planning Process (SPP) and it involves an interdisciplinary team of core planning team members drawn from professional planners, park managers and staffs knowledegable about the area’s resources and problems, scientists, research specialist, local communities and others with particular experience, expertise or interest in the area participate in the process of preparing management plans. The steps and phases which involve among others the following:

- Preliminary data collection and analysis,

- Development of possible scenarios,

- Presentation of findings through workshops to the parties involved, and

- Finalization of the plans on the basis of the chosen management options.

  GIS plays a key role in the preparation of the Management Plans in that, a GIS expert is required in the data collection and analysis of the protected area. The data collected is then presented to all stakeholders who later shall be required to participate in the zoning scheme of the protected area. The various zones are formulated in order to enhance conservation and socio-economic utilization of the Protected area and its resources.

 

 

x2012Scholar  x2012Talk  xScholar  xTalk  xZambia  xAfrica  xLandscape  xPark  xWildlife  xProtectedArea  xPlan xSurvey  xWildlife  xAntipoaching  xCommunity xPOC

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