Knowledge on a country’s biodiversity is critical for the operationalisation of systemic conservation management and reporting which begins with evidence generation. The use of GIS for planning and monitoring purposes is however limited in Swaziland in particular as it informs conservation management, research and community development. Swaziland’s formal Protected Areas (PAs) cover approximately 4% of the country’s total land area, and are relatively rich in biodiversity with their share of endemism as represented in various ecosystems. Furthermore, the country has set targets for the conservation of its ecosystems and species in line with the National Development Strategy (Vision 2022) and other international targets such as the Aichi Targets under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity. While some of the critical ecosystems and species are found in existing PAs, some are found in areas where there is prone to unstainable utilization and overexploitation of resources, thereby threatening livelihoods and impeding sustainable development.
The Strengthening National Protected Areas Systems (SNPAS) in Swaziland is a six years (2014-2020) Project funded by GEF aims at developing, expanding and effectively managing the capacities of Swaziland’s PAs network in order to adequately protect the biodiversity. This will be undertaken through the “landscapes” approach towards sustainable development and will involve integrated land and natural resource management that transforms the current PA patchwork into network and enhance vulnerable communities’ livelihoods, in particular those adjacent to the PAs.
The SNPAS Project has been organised around three components: (i) knowledge-based platform operationalised at the national, regional and community levels to address current and emerging threats to PAs and biodiversity conservation; (ii Expansion of PA network, and (iii) strengthening PA functioning through improved conservation management and operational support for existing and new PAs, including both formal and informal. PAs will be established and managed in critical biodiversity areas as clusters, integrating different sites that are managed by the Government of Swaziland (GoS), the private sector and local communities. A GIS-based knowledge and information management system has been proposed to facilitate systematic mapping and planning for ecological support and biodiversity conservation management as well as provision of information for global reporting.
In this regard, the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs (MTEA) seeks the technical services of a Geographic Information Systems Expert with strong database management and application development/programming skills to develop a national knowledge-based information system for the country’s biodiversity and PAs.
Objective
To collate data and information for the establishment and operationalisation of a GIS knowledge-based information management system for conservation management and monitoring in PAs and the wider landscapes in the country. This will contribute to improved global reporting, as well as biodiversity data and information management and dissemination.
Scope
The assessment will encompass capturing of information on Biodiversity in Protected Areas in Swaziland for both formalised and informal PA entities to be used for planning, managing and monitoring effective biodiversity conservation in PAs according to global standards and expectations, and establishing the necessary capacities and infrastructure and through the development of the GIS knowledge-based system.
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