People and the Sea A Study of Coastal Livelihoods in Laborie, St. Lucia Project Document No. 8

Transcription

1 Popl and th Sa A Study of Coastal Livlihoods in Labori, St. Lucia Projct Documnt No. 8 Mapping Labori Bay, Saint Lucia A. H. Smith Sptmbr 2003 Caribban Natural Rsourcs Institut

2 This rport is a product of a rsarch projct aimd at tsting and dvloping tools, mthods and approachs critical to th sustainabl dvlopmnt of coastal communitis in th Caribban and othr parts of th world. Th projct, calld Popl and th Sa: a Study of Coastal Livlihoods in Labori, St. Lucia, is implmntd by th Caribban Natural Rsourcs Institut (CANARI) in collaboration with th Labori Dvlopmnt Planning Committ (LDPC), th Dpartmnt of Fishris in th Govrnmnt of St. Lucia, and a numbr of govrnmntal and community organisations. Popl and th Sa is fundd by th Unitd Kingdom Dpartmnt for Intrnational Dvlopmnt (DFID) undr its Natural Rsourcs Systms Programm, and rcivs tchnical assistanc from th Institut of Dvlopmnt Studis at th Univrsity of Sussx in th UK. Th primary focus of this initiativ is on tsting and dvloping spcific tools and mthods in participatory planning, institutional dsign and sustainabl us. Popl and th Sa thrfor tsts, dvlops, rfins and documnts mthods that aim at incrasing ffctiv participation of stakholdrs in all stags of planning and managmnt. It also xplors and documnts tchnologis and managmnt tools which can nhanc th social and conomic bnfits drivd from th sustainabl us of coastal rsourcs, and particularly from th rf fishry, sa urchin harvsting, sawd cultivation and hritag tourism. At th sam tim, th projct will hlp to valuat th impact of participation on th sustainability of rsourc us and on th livlihoods of popl, by idntifying and monitoring concrt linkags btwn institutional and tchnological chang on th on hand, and th wll-bing of both th popl and th rfs on th othr. At th nd of th projct, rsults will b analysd, documntd and dissminatd for th bnfit of rsourc managrs and policy makrs within and outsid th Caribban rgion. This publication is an output from a projct fundd by th UK Dpartmnt for Intrnational Dvlopmnt (DFID) for th bnfit of dvloping countris. Th viws xprssd ar not ncssarily thos of DFID. For mor information on Popl and th Sa, contact: Caribban Natural Rsourcs Institut (CANARI), Administration Building, Frnands Industrial Cntr, Eastrn Main Road, Lavntill, Trinidad and Tobago. Tl: , fax: info@canari.org, or Labori Dvlopmnt Foundation, P.O. Box 21, Labori, St. Lucia. Tl: labdv@slucia.com This documnt should b citd as: Smith, A.H Mapping Labori Bay, Saint Lucia. CANARI LWI Projct Documnt no. 8. CANARI Tchnical Rport no pp Kywords: St. Lucia, Labori, coral rfs, mapping, GIS, participation

3 Mapping Labori Bay, Saint Lucia Allan H. Smith Background Mapping is a valuabl tool for th ffctiv managmnt of natural rsourcs, providing visual rprsntations of th typs and xtnt of rsourcs and thir pattrns of us. Th mappd information can b analysd in dtail, for xampl to monitor changs ovr tim, using an appropriat Gographic Information Systm (GIS).Thr is a wid assortmnt of tools and mthods availabl for mapping rfs and othr marin and coastal faturs and th fild has dvlopd rapidly in rcnt yars. This rflcts th bnfits of improvd rmot snsing data and Global Positioning Systm (GPS) tools, and th dvlopmnt of affordabl cartographic and GIS hardwar and softwar. Howvr, th cost and complxity of som of ths tools can b vry high and th choic of tchniqus must b carfully balancd against th purpos of any mapping xrcis. In th Eastrn Caribban thr ar a fw xampls of dtaild marin habitat mapping, such as for th British Virgin Islands, th Unitd Stats Virgin Islands, and Anguilla. Ths xampls rprsnt an approach basd largly on rmot snsing, including satllit imagry, to provid small-scal maps of substrat and habitat typs. Simplr tools and approachs may b mor appropriat for rlativly small study aras rquiring largr scal maps. In addition, whn mapping is bing undrtakn as part of a participatory procss thn prcis dlination of substrat typs may not b th most appropriat nd product. Popl in coastal communitis will hav a walth of information that can b incorporatd in maps, such as local nams for diffrnt physical faturs and placs usd for spcific activitis as wll as ancdotal and historical information. Mapping such information will man focusing on faturs that ar maningful to, and usd by, rsourc usrs as wll as working at much largr scals than ar typically usd for habitat mapping. This is particularly tru in th coastal aras of high volcanic islands whr rcognisabl shallow watr faturs such as rfs ar only found clos to shor. On activity of th Popl and th Sa projct was th dscription of th typ and distribution of habitats and othr faturs in th study ara. Th study sit includs thr bays along 3.0km of coastlin, Labori Bay itslf, Sapphir to th wst and Titwou to th ast. Rfs ar found in all thr, and xtnd to approximatly 1.5km offshor in th first two. Th Labori watrshd covrs approximatly 100ha, with drainag limitd to a numbr of small sasonal strams and man-mad drains running through th villag. As with most islands in th Eastrn Caribban, Saint Lucia s rfs hav not yt bn mappd in any dtail and it was soon vidnt that thr was littl publishd information on th rfs in Labori Bay. Givn that mapping can b a vry costly xrcis thr was a nd to mak th bst us of any xisting matrial, and to build on that using cost-ffctiv mthods and quipmnt. Th would involv firstly th collction of xisting information of any typ and complmnting it with data gathrd through fild survys and from th Labori community, and scondly th us of th gographic information in xprimnts in participatory approachs to rsourc managmnt and information dissmination.

4 Cartography rsourcs Th assssmnt bgan with th idntification of whatvr publishd information was availabl in Saint Lucia on marin and coastal habitats, and idntifid th following. Rproductions of various historical maps with littl or no dtail of marin faturs. A numbr of ths hav bn producd commrcially and ar radily availabl in shops catring to visitors, particularly at marinas and chandlris. Original hand-paintd maps from th mid 18 th Cntury indicating soundings, rfs and anchorags. Ths wr locatd in th collctions of th Saint Lucia National Archivs whr thy wr mad availabl for scanning. Rlvant sctions wr scannd dirctly into a notbook computr using a dsk top scannr. Topographic maps at 1:2,500, 1:10,000, 1:25,000 and 1:50,000, th most rcnt compild in 1995 from a 1992 arial survy. Ths wr radily availabl in th Lands and Survys Dpartmnt of th Ministry of Planning. Hard copis masurd up to 0.7m X 1.0m and wr scannd on a drum scannr and savd to CD. Navigational charts showing gnral rf distribution but at a vry coars lvl of dtail, intndd only to idntify th saward boundary of rfs as potntial navigational hazards and mainly basd on 19 th Cntury survys. Charts ar includd in various cruising guids to th rgion as wll as from softwar packags, such as Chart Navigator, producd for th yachting community. Airphotos mad for land cartography but including marin faturs to a distanc of approximatly 1.25 km from shor, from sris mad in 1941, 1966, 1977 and 1992, wr also mad availabl by th Survy and Mapping Dpartmnt and scannd dirctly into a notbook computr using a dsk top scannr. Rlvant information is also availabl in a numbr of tchnical publications on marin habitats, particularly thos focusing on th status and distribution of rfs, and many of ths ar availabl fr from Intrnt sourcs. Many astronaut photographs takn from th Spac Shuttl clarly show shallow rfs to a dpth of 15m and ar now frly availabl via th Intrnt from th NASA-Johnson Spac Cntr. Som ky rsourcs of this typ ar listd in th bibliography. Tools An appropriat GIS application was ndd to us th availabl maps and airphotos, and to gnrat nw maps to includ information that would b gathrd during th projct. Th following critria wr usd in slcting a GIS application for th projct: Ability to xchang spatial data with GIS applications alrady in us in th country. Ability to us both rastr and vctor formats 1. Ability to calibrat (gorfrnc) rastr imags. Affordability at startup, without costly annual maintnanc and upgrad fs. 1 An xampl of a rastr imag is a scannd map in which ach pixl is dscribd, but which dos not contain information that dscribs objcts. Common fil formats ar *.BMP, *.JPG and *.TIF. An xampl of a vctor imag is an objct drawn in Map Makr or othr GIS. A vctor fil contains information that dscribs th position and magnitud of objcts. Fil typs includ *.DRA usd by Map Makr, *.DXF usd in CAD applications, and *.SHP usd by Arc Viw.

5 Ability to import and us GPS data. Ability to convrt among rastr fil formats. Availability of ths faturs in on program without th nd for costly add-on moduls or third-party softwar. Basd on ths rquirmnts, Map Makr Pro, dvlopd by Map Makr Ltd in th UK was a suitabl choic. Of particular importanc was its compatibility with all commonly usd GIS packags and that it was dsignd spcifically for rsourc managmnt studis. Data gathring Historical maps Early maps of Saint Lucia, producd in th 17 th and 18 th Cnturis, did not idntify Labori Bay but showd a small island at th astrn nd of it, and th small bach at Sapphir idntifid as Ans a Charls (Figur 1). Th bay was also idntifid as an anchorag for ships. Figur 1. Extract of a map from 1758

6 Mor dtaild dscription and cartography of th ara wr publishd in 1784, with subsqunt vrsions of maps, by Jan Francois Lfort d Latour, Survyor to th King of Franc. Figur 2 shows part of th original oil painting which dpictd th whol of Saint Lucia. Labori was locatd in th Quartir d l Islt à Cart, indicating th importanc of th xtnsiv sandy bach as a turtl nsting sit. Labori was thus on of dozns of placs in th rgion namd aftr turtls, providing an historical proxy of cosystm chang and of th past abundanc and subsqunt dclin of ths and othr spcis (Jackson t al. 2001). At that tim th small island in Labori Bay, namd l Islt à Carrt (Figurs 2 to 4), was also notd for turtl nsting and as a roosting sit for sabirds. This was possibly a sand bank and vn whn it was dscribd in 1787 it was alrady bing washd away by th sa (Jss 1986). Th units of masurmnt ar not indicatd on th maps of Lfort d Latour but th unit usd for th dpth soundings was most likly th Frnch fathom, or tois, quivalnt to 1.949m. Fig. 2. Extract of an original 1787 map by Lfort d Latour

7 Fig. 3 Extract of on of th copis of th original map of Lfort d Latour Fig. 4. Dtail of Fig. 3 showing dpth soundings and th location of th island in Labori Bay in th 1780s

8 Topographic maps Topographic maps prpard in 1995 at 1:2500 scal wr obtaind from th Survy and Mapping Dpartmnt in hard copy, scannd on a drum scannr and calibratd (gorfrncd) in Map Makr. A mosaic was compild of th thr map fils that covrd th study ara and an xtract from th mosaic is shown in Figur 5. Ths calibratd maps providd th basis for calibrating airphotos and for vrifying th accuracy of GPS coordinats. Airphotos Contact prints of monochrom airphotos wr availabl from survys conductd in 1941, 1966 and 1977, and from 1992 in normal colour. Whil ths wr producd for land cartography thr is som marin covrag whr flight paths crossd mbaymnts, such as Labori. Rlvant prints wr scannd and calibratd. Th colour airphotos from 1992 providd th initial information on th gnral distribution of diffrnt marin habitats, including sand, sagrass, rf and mangrov aras. 4 August : 7, Figur 5. Extract from a mosaic of thr 1:2500 topographic maps. Som rctification of airphotos was ncssary for trrstrial faturs to account th distortion inducd by th hilly topography. This was don using th rubbr shting facility in Map Makr, which manipulats th rastr imag to match idntifiabl faturs in a vctor layr drawn from th topographic maps. Calibration using faturs on flattr coastal aras gav a mor prcis match with th topographic maps and no rctification was ncssary.

9 Nautical charts A widly usd chart of th bay is shown in Figur 6 blow. This givs only a vry gnral indication of rf distribution as navigational hazard. It dos, howvr, mphasis th distanc to which shallow rf xtnd offshor, which is uncommon in many of th volcanic islands of th rgion whr bathymtry commonly drops sharply clos to shor. 29 May :20,000 Kms Caribban Yachting Charts, Nautical Publications GmbH, : 20, Figur 6. Extract of a currnt nautical chart of Labori Bay showing rfs in grn, with 5m, 10m and 20m isobaths, basd on 19 th Cntury British Admiralty survys.

10 Popular knowldg Whil som rfs could b clarly dlinatd from th airphotos, mor dtaild dfinition rquird ground truthing and gathring information from fishrs and divrs. This bgan with boat trips with popl familiar with th ara. To prpar for ths, copis of th scannd airphotos wr printd, mountd on card and covrd with clar plastic sht. As th boat captain navigatd around th Bay faturs in th airphotos wr annotatd using prmannt markr on th plastic ovrlay, to includ plac nams (Fig. 7) and nots on any locations of particular importanc for fishing or othr activitis. GPS waypoints wr savd at ky locations to improv th accuracy of mapping and to provid a mans of rturning to placs of intrst for furthr survying and dscription of habitats. Th information was usd to compil thmatic maps, using th topographic maps as a bas, but in th ongoing procss of information xchang th airphotos wr found to b a mor ffctiv tool than lin-drawn rprsntations of th Bay. Popl who wr not familiar with intrprting ithr lin-drawn maps or arial viws would vry asily orint thmslvs to faturs in th airphotos dspit nvr prviously having had accss to such a prspctiv of thir nvironmnt. Onc th main rfs had bn idntifid, a larg painting dpicting a vrtical viw of th Bay was prpard on a 4ft X 8ft sht of plywood. Th rfs idntifid in th fild trips wr clarly shown and lablld with thir local nams. As with th airphotos, popl radily orintd thmslvs to th faturs in th painting and wr abl to provid and locat additional dtails. This painting was usd in planning activitis and in public mtings as a cntr for discussion, which allowd popl to continu to contribut information rlatd to spcific locations. Latr it bcam possibl to borrow an LCD projctor and this was usd with th projct computr at vning mtings in th villag marktplac. This was an ffctiv mans of prsnting various typs of information, including maps, txt and tabls of data from survys, but was particularly ffctiv whn projcting colour airphotos of th Bay. Projcting th airphotos in Map Makr allowd graphic annotations to b displayd as thmatic layrs but qually important it was a dynamic tool that allowd nw information to b addd and displayd during th mtings. It is worth noting that th us of a laptop computr and projctor appard to b quit appropriat for public mtings in th villag marktplac. Fild survys Intrprtation of som of th faturs idntifid in th airphotos was aidd by photographs takn at lowr altitud from a hlicoptr. In cass of uncrtainty rf locations wr confirmd by swimming around thir boundaris whil storing routs or waypoints in a GPS. To map th variation of rf community composition bnthic survys wr conductd using th Rf Chck protocol (Rf Chck Foundation 2003) which had bn slctd by th Global Coral Rf Monitoring Ntwork (GCRMN) as th community-lvl rf assssmnt tool. Th protocol quantifis rlativ covr of diffrnt substrat typs including liv coral and macroalga as indicators of rf condition.

11 Most fild survys wr conductd with a kayak, aidd by GPS, a hand-hld dpth soundr and undrwatr camra quipmnt. Th kayak was a convnint platform ithr for two popl with snorklling gar or for on prson with SCUBA gar. GPS waypoints wr usd to locat spcific rf and sagrass sits for rpatd visits, such as th monitoring of sa urchin populations. 7 April ' 150"E 0 9' 300"E 0 9' 450"E 0 10' E 0 10' 150"E 0 10' 300"E 0 10' 450"E 0 11' E 0 11' 150"E 7 096m 9 022m km km 1, m 1, m N 0 " 3 2 ' ' 3 0 " N o rth n tru f o a st u d 2 " ' is m ap o fth g d rn w st th t a g rid T h N 0 " ' Kay Tiyo Sapphir Kay Tòti Kay Ska Kay Won Kay Siwijn Koléwa Flatland Papè l 1520km 1520km T R U E N O R T H Kay Kén Kay Mayòt 500 Twa Lanm 500 Bwizan Pwnt-la Bwizé Kay Ati Labatwi T R U E N O R T H ' " N T hg r id a t th a strn dg o fth m ap is ' " du a st o f tru n o rth 2 ' N Bwizan dènyé ' N Go Lou 1:9,000 mtrs 1, m 1, m km km m Scal 1: 9, m Cntrd on 508,059m, 1,519,712m UK National Grid ( 63 32' 11.96" N 0 10' 17.48" E ) 0 9' 150"E 0 9' 300"E 0 9' 450"E 0 10' E 0 10' 150"E 0 10' 300"E 0 10' 450"E 0 11' E 0 11' 150"E canari Figur 7. Distribution of rfs in th study ara.

12 Th availability of airphotos also allowd th mapping of th dvlopmnt of th villag sinc 1941, shown in Figur 8, and in Figur 5 basd on th 1992 arial survy. 4 August :8,000 mtrs : 8, August :8,000 mtrs : 8, August :8,000 mtrs : 8, Figur 8. Dvlopmnt of Labori villag from 1941 to 1977

13 Discussion Accss to information on th history of cosystms and habitats provids a usful basis for undrstanding past trnds and possibl dirctions for managmnt. Maps ar an important componnt of th historical rcord that can provid invaluabl dtails on th dvlopmnt of sttlmnts and th urbanisation of coastal aras, changs in vgtation covr on land, and coastal changs du to natural procsss human impacts. Old maps may includ plac nams and annotations that rflct past conditions and typs of rsourcs or activitis that no longr xist, but which may hlp in th intrprtation of currnt faturs and conditions. In som cass, collctions of airphotos may b availabl and ths ar particularly usful whn thr is a tim sris ovr a numbr of dcads. Oldr airphotos focus primarily on th land but shallow marin faturs may b includd. Mor rcnt photographic covrag conductd for land survys is likly to b in normal colour which gratly nhancs th intrprtation of marin faturs. Whil trrstrial mapping has volvd rlativly rapidly, updating th historical rcord, in th cas of coral rfs th only information availabl for many islands, such as nautical charts, may b basd on data collctd in th 19 th Cntury. Rfs wr oftn mappd rlativly coarsly as navigational hazards, but th sris of dpth soundings on oldr charts provid a usful baslin for comparison with nw survys. On advantag of th prsnt projct was th opportunity gathr and rdistribut information ovr an xtndd tim priod as this allowd for an itrativ procss that is not possibl in a singl rapid assssmnt (Doolittl 2003). This procss also ncouragd th gradual involvmnt of popl who only bgan to participat, oftn vry constructivly, aftr a priod of obsrving from th frings of th public mtings. Whil much of th information gathrd showd that popl had a good undrstanding of aspcts of th nvironmnt in which thy livd and workd, thr ar som limitations to th way that such information can contribut to a participatory mapping xrcis. For xampl, popl s undrstanding may b limitd to only thos aspcts that dirctly affct thir livlihoods and diffrnt rsourc usrs will thrfor hav diffrnt intrprtations of th sam faturs and procsss. An important part of information gathring, thrfor, is th ability and opportunity to tst and validat it. In addition to providing opportunitis for popl to contribut information, th mapping xrcis was a usful tool for dissminating information, both at th popular lvl in community mtings and at th tchnical lvl in prsntations to managmnt agncis. Thr is an xtnsiv litratur on th us and mis-us of GIS and its potntial to dismpowr communitis and to formalis information that may not warrant it. Th Popl and th Sa projct dmonstratd th bnfits of th tchnology whn th information bas is dvlopd through th intgration of scintific and popular knowldg. Whil th projct usd som of th analytical tools availabl in th GIS application, probably th gratst bnfit of GIS was in th us of its cartographic tools as a mans of gathring and rdistributing information at community mtings. Th ability to manag both rastr and vctor imags allowd th us of airphotos, GPS data and thmatic layrs which could b projctd and manipulatd during public discussions. Th gographic information collctd during th projct was an ssntial part of th rsarch and xprimntation around which th projct was dsignd. Howvr, th us of this information rsourc xtndd byond its rsarch application. It was also an intgral part of a ral-lif procss of rsourc managmnt that dirctly impactd popl s

14 livlihoods, such as th participatory planning of sa urchin harvsts, th dvlopmnt of an action plan for th futur dvlopmnt of sawd cultivation and th dcisions takn to invstigat options to rduc pollution lvls in th Bay. Ths xprincs dmonstratd th potntial bnfits to th community of transfrring this projct information managmnt systm to th Labori community for its futur us in rsourc managmnt and dvlopmnt planning. Accordingly, all of th GIS componnts, includings maps, data, projct documnts and photographs hav bn installd on th projct computr which has bn givn to community and housd in th offics of th Labori Villag Council. Following th closur of th Popl and th Sa projct CANARI will provid training to two mmbrs of th community in managing th systm, as part of a projct aimd at furthr dvloping th GIS in support of Labori s fforts to bttr manag its rf rsourcs. A not on th tchnology Th us of GPS tchnology was gratly nhancd whn th dgradation of th satllit signals (through Slctiv Availability) for public us was discontinud shortly bfor th start of th projct. Position rrors wr rducd from around 100m to th 15m rsolution of most hand-hld GPS rcivrs without diffrntial corrction. Dpnding on satllit gomtry, Estimatd Position Error computd by th GPS was commonly btwn 3 and 4m. Whil prcision was incrasd, accuracy prsnts a problm in th ara and GPS data nd som form of corrction or post-procssing. On option was to compar known coordinats and GPS coordinats for a numbr of locations and comput transform functions, such as th Molodnsky transformation. Fiv factors could b calculatd and usd by Map Makr to improv accuracy, and whil this was partly succssful thr ar insufficint known sts of coordinats in th south of th island to mak th bst us of this option. Transform functions ar most ffctiv th closr th dtrmination points ar to th study sit and functions dtrmind from stations in th north of th island wr found not to b hlpful. Instad a scond mthod was tstd. A st of waypoints wr gathrd at obvious landmarks and downloadd onto a calibratd 1:2500 topographic map. Th procss was rpatd at thr diffrnt tims to includ tmporal variations in signal quality. In ach cas it was vidnt that th displacmnt of th waypoints rlativ to th landmarks on th map was uniform in distanc and dirction. By moving th waypoint thmatic layr as a whol by a calculatd distanc and dirction all waypoints could b sn to match thir corrsponding landmarks with a man rror of around 5m. This approach was thrfor usd to corrct th GPS data collctd on th watr.

15 Slctd bibliography Doolittl, A Finding a nw dirction during a participatory community mapping projct. Tropical rsourcs 22: Earth Scincs and Imag Analysis, NASA-Johnson Spac Cntr Th Gatway to astronaut photography of arth. Jackson, J.B.C., M.X. Kirby, W.H. Brgr, K.A. Bjorndal, L.W. Botsford, B.J. Bourqu, R.H. Bradbury, R. Cook, J. Erlandson, J.A. Ests, T.P. Hughs, S. Kidwll, C.B. Lang, H.S. Lnihan, J.M. Pandolfi, C.H. Ptrson, R.S. Stnck, M.J. Tgnr and R.B. Warnr Historical ovrfishing and th rcnt collaps of coastal cosystms. Scinc 293: Jss, C Outlins of St. Lucia s history. Saint Lucia Archaological and Historical Socity, Castris, Saint Lucia. 99 pp. Rf Chck Foundation Rf Chck survy instruction manual. Rf Chck Foundation, Dpartmnt of th Environmnt, Univrsity of California, USA. 21 pp. Rfbas Rfbas: a global databas on coral rfs and thir rsourcs. Spalding, M.D., C. Ravilious and E.P. Grn World atlas of coral rfs. Prpard at th UNEP World Consrvation Monitoring Cntr. Univrsity of California Prss, Brkly, USA. 294 pp. UNEP/IUCN Coral rfs of th world. Volum 1: Atlantic and Eastrn Pacific. UNEP Rgional Sas Dirctoris and Bibiographis. IUCN, Gland, Switzrland and Cambridg, U.K./UNEP, Nairobi, Knya. 373 pp.