Latin America and the Caribbean together make up nearly 15 percent of the Earth’s
land mass and, as of 1990, accounted for 8.3 percent of global population.In many
instances, though, the region’s share of the world’s natural resources is
substantially larger than its share of either population or land. For example, Latin
America and the Caribbean account for 38 percent of the world’s higher plant species,
which underlines the region’s immense biodiversity. Other major resources include 25
percent of the world’s forests and nearly 21 percent of its livestock.
The region’s topography and climate vary enormously—from
the coastal deserts and rugged Andean peaks of Peru, to the
tropical forests and dry savannas of Brazil and Colombia,
to the volcanic islands of the Caribbean. The mountainous
landscape found in many of the region’s 33 countries
and 12 territories makes for a multitude of elevation-related
ecological zones, often within a single country.
In the face of such complexities, it is no easy task for governments to juggle the
interests of environmental conservation, natural resource management, and social
development. In the Caribbean, for example, environmentalists are concerned about the
pressures on coral reefs. The health and survival of this resource depend partly on its
ecological relationship with nearby Mangrove swamps. These provide nutrients for coral
reefs and produce many of the fish species that inhabit them. Both the forests and reefs
are under growing pressure from tourism, which is one of the Caribbean's most promising
avenues for creating jobs and fueling economic development.
To set wise policies and plan actions that promote lasting economic benefits while
protecting the environment, planners and decision makers require many types of detailed
information. They need to know about crops and forest cover, climate, land and water uses,
topography, road locations, population distribution, pressures on the environment, and so
on. While this information is increasingly available, it comes from numerous and disparate
sources, often with gaps for particular years or countries.
At the same time, many national government agencies in Latin America and the Caribbean
have had little experience tapping the analytic potential of computerized geographical
information systems (GIS). In some cases, "they don’t know what GIS is or how to
use maps," says Andy Farrow, a CIAT geographer who helped develop the "Atlas of
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean," or
"Atlas CD" for short.
The computerized atlas, stored on a single CD-ROM, was the main product of a project
funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). As part of that effort, the
CIAT team also worked with Colombia’s national government to produce a Colombian
version of the atlas. And at the subnational level, CIAT worked with the natural resource
management agency of the government of Risaralda, one of 32 state (departamento)
governments in Colombia. In the case of Risaralda, "we helped to change the way
environmental planning decisions were taken," says Farrow.
As work continues over the next 2 years, CIAT will produce a CD-ROM-based environmental
atlas of one subregion of Latin America and the Caribbean—Central America. It will
also design a specialized atlas of the subregion’s water resources, plus CD-ROM
atlases for two countries: Honduras (at the watershed and state levels) and Nicaragua
(national level).
In this follow-up phase, CIAT will put strong emphasis on GIS training for planners in
government agencies responsible for land-use and environmental issues. As Farrow says,
"The learning process is as important as the product."
Compiling Useful Maps
CIAT’s Atlas CD for Latin America and the Caribbean, released in March 1998,
assembles much of the critical information needed by land-use planners and policy makers.
It offers a user-friendly interface that allows different combinations of information to
be overlaid on basic maps for viewing at different scales.
The interface organizes more than 200 social, economic, and environmental indicators
into four general categories: pressure, state, impact/effect, and response. These
categories are a variation of a conceptual framework for environmental dynamics that was
developed in the 1970s and fine-tuned by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) in the 1980s. The model has become the standard for UN agencies.
Under each of the four categories, indicators are available for the following 14
variables: population, economic development, human and social development, agriculture and
food, forests and savannas, ecosystems and land use, biodiversity, coastal resources,
fresh water, energy and transport, atmosphere and climate, natural events, industry and
materials, and waste.
Several indicators can be displayed on the same map. The interface also allows the user
to zoom into an area of interest for a more detailed image.
Here is an example of the indicators that can be displayed on a map for just one of the
14 variables, "forests and savannas":
- For the "pressure" (on the environment) category: production of charcoal,
production of wood, annual deforestation, deforestation in Amazonia, endangered frontier
forests, and livestock population.
- For the "state" (of the environment) category: ratio of wood reserves to wood
production, existing forest surface area, existing savanna surface area, rate of increase
of planted pastures.
- For the "impact/effect" category: areas deficient in wood, fragmentation of
forests, livestock carrying capacity index.
- For the "response" category: countries with forestry action plans, annual
reforestation, ratio of reforestation to deforestation, projections for deforestation.
Some indicators have charts and graphs associated with them. These can be viewed by
simply clicking with the mouse on the appropriate icons.
Besides the indicators and land use model, the CD-ROM also contains a detailed help
function, a glossary, data sources and dates (bibliographic references), technical notes,
and background on the project under which the atlas was developed. Basic topographical,
climatic and political data for the region can also be viewed on maps. These data include
national and subnational administrative boundaries, rivers, coastlines, life zones,
elevation, soils, rainfall and temperature.
A highly useful feature of the atlas is its land use model. This permits the user to
simulate the future of a particular ecological or "life" zone, such as tropical
dry forests or subtropical savannas, according to selected variables. When the model is
run, graphs projecting land use over time can be viewed, along with an analysis of the
projected changes.
System Requirements and Other Technical Information
Atlas CD runs on an IBM-compatible personal computer with a minimum 486 processor. A
Pentium is recommended.
The atlas requires a minimum of 12 Mb of RAM (32 recommended) and operates under
Microsoft® Windows95™ or WindowsNT™. It can also run under Windows 3.1 (with
Win32s).
Required accessories are a CD-ROM drive, a super VGA monitor (minimum VGA), a graphics
board for Super VGA (minimum VGA graphics board), and a mouse compatible with Microsoft®
Windows®.
The Spanish-language CD-ROM contains a spatial database of indicators, a land-use
simulation model, and a customized version of ArcView® 2.1 (a widely used software
package for geographical information systems) for viewing data on maps. The package
includes a hard copy of the user guide, in both Spanish and English.
Atlas CD is designed so that all the data can be accessed from the CD. However, the
data can be moved to a hard disk if necessary--for example, to accommodate users that
don’t have access to a CD-ROM drive. In that case, 500 Mb of free disk space are
needed.
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