Project Description
The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History has been funded by the MacArthur Foundation to conduct detailed analyses of areas of high conservation priority in the provinces of Thua-Thien-Hu and Quang Nam. Using high-resolution satellite data, areas suitable for restoration or that could act as biological corridors between existing protected areas will be determined. A historical analysis of land cover change in the same area will be conducted. Finally, the land cover data will be integrated with species distribution data and used for species distribution modeling. Significantly, this project will serve as a model for the use of RS/GIS for land use/land cover analysis and conservation planning that can then be applied to other parts of Vietnam and in adjacent transboundary regions. The project will effectively complement other field studies in the Central Truong Son Mountain region, including those being conducted by the WWF Indochina, and Birdlife International others?
The CBC is collaborating with the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics (GIEE) at the University of Vermont to further explore spatial patterns and landscape processes by applying simulation modeling techniques. Many, if not most, management decisions concerning the environment affect and are affected by the landscape. Therefore, understanding the spatial patterns of landscape processes and changes over time is critical to effective environmental management. Taking this step to be able to predict the effect different decisions will have on the landscape is necessary to realize the maximum benefit from the products generated during this project.
Throughout this project we will be collecting and creating data layers. To understand how these layers interact and what are the functions and properties emerging from these interactions we need to apply a systems approach and embed the information available into simulation models. By applying the modeling techniques we will then be able to construct various land cover outcomes based on an assortment of possible scenarios. This is a very important step and to facilitate the transition from this project to a future project we will hold a short atelier course to determine how best to proceed to the modeling stage. For this effort we will rely on the expertise of the GIEE.
GIEE has a substantial history of modeling land cover change and they have developed methods and tools for the analysis and dissemination of information among local stakeholders and government officials. The Institute is a pioneer in developing the self-designing, collaborative problem-solving process called a "scientific atelier" (Cowling and Costanza 1997, Campbell et al. 2000). The word 'atelier' is derived from the French term meaning 'artisanŐs workshop', and the method employs a combination interdisciplinary workshop, case study, design studio and guest lecture system rolled into one. Faculty currently at GIEE have already carried out 5 ateliers: (1) Trade and the environment, focusing on the US-Mexico free trade agreement (Costanza et al. 1995); (2) Valuation and management of fynbos ecosystems in South Africa (Cowling, and Costanza, 1997); (3) Land use options in dry tropical ecosystems in Zimbabwe (Campbell, Costanza and van den Belt 2000); (4) Sustainable tourism on small islands of the Caribbean; and (5) Restoration of BrazilŐs Atlantic forest as a watershed management tool. A sixth atelier will be held in January, 2003, in Manila, Philippines and will focus on the impact of industrial shrimp aquaculture on mangrove ecosystems, fisheries and local communities.
The atelier course will be a hands-on experience for a group of 15-20 students and about the same number of faculty, working in close contact with local stakeholders on small projects focused in a variety of problem areas with the overreaching goal to identify the foci of a modeling exercise based on the data sets already available. It will define the format, structure, spatial and temporal resolution and the goals of the models to be built.
The workshop will take place in Vietnam in 2006 outlining skills and techniques for the development of a predictive model of existing land cover patterns in Central Vietnam. Participants will include scientists and land managers from the Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF) in central Vietnam, as well as staff from AMNH and GIEE. GIEE staff will prepare workshop materials, conduct the workshop, and prepare post-workshop summaries and evaluations.
Workshop preparation will include regularly scheduled meetings with CBC and GIEE staff to assure workshop development is in line with goals of the project on "Improving Biodiversity Conservation in Threatened Landscapes of Central Vietnam" funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
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