Publication: Environmental Information Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa : From Innovation to Management
Date
1999-02
ISSN
Published
1999-02
Author(s)
Prévost, Yves
Gilruth, Peter
Abstract
The development of Environmental
Information Systems (EIS) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the
1970s and 1980s was slow, in spite of several efforts to
introduce the technology. However since 1990, growth has
been phenomenal. Whereas, only one or two institutions in
each country were previously active in EIS, over 500 EIS
related projects are now under way, involving thousands of
African experts, plus numerous development partners from non
government organizations (NGOs), the private sector,
bilateral agencies, and international organizations. Not
surprisingly, the number of actors involved in EIS
construction is expected to increase even further, until all
institutions and organizations involved in environmental
management have adopted EIS-related technologies. The EIS
concept as know it today emerges from several initiatives to
promote the more efficient use of data in environmental
management. First, the advent of satellite remote sensing in
1972 gave a new perspective to viewing the earth's
resources and led to large data and training subsidies to
stimulate the use of first Landsat and then SPOT products.
Next came the early environmental applications of remote
sensing in Africa, championed by United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), which used satellite imagery to monitor
rangeland dynamics and desertification. The term EIS only
came into wide use in the 1990s, concurrent with the advent
of natural resource and environment action plans. The
concept reflects our growing understanding of the link
between environment and development. Thus, environmental
information is the data, statistics, and other documents,
that enable managers to identify and quantify specific
environmental resource categories, and to determine their
optimum utilization. Seen in this larger context, an EIS is
the institutional and technical response needed to improve
the role and benefits of information in environmental management.
Citation
“Prévost, Yves; Gilruth, Peter. 1999. Environmental Information Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa : From Innovation to Management. Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs; No. 128. © http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/2eee7f05-4b76-5928-be57-943dc7a7f953 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”