Stakeholders learn to use new data collection technology for better land use planning |19 February 2020

Mr Maudho conducting the training (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

A group of technicians working in the ministry of land use and key stakeholder representatives working in agriculture and other land management fields are following a week-long training to use a new satellite imagery tool and methodologies to collect data to draw a land use map for future projects.

The training, which has been organised by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), is taking place at the UniSey IT Room at Mont Fleuri.

The training, which officially opened on Monday, is part of a project to support sustainable land resources management in Seychelles and it aims at training relevant stakeholders in data collection, analysis and processing on issues like climate change, land use change and degradation of land.

This workshop is to enhance the capacity of the Seychelles Agricultural Agency (SAA) technicians and extension officers, geographic information system (GIS) technicians from the Ministry of Habitat, infrastructure and Land Transport (MHILT), lecturers from the Seychelles Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (SIAH) among other relevant stakeholders in collecting, analysing and processing data on climate, land use, land use change and land degradation using appropriate FAO tools and methodologies for supporting decision makers and reporting to international conventions and support land suitability and land use planning activities.

The five-day training session is being led by a consultant and specialist in the field from the FAO, Adish Maudho.

He explained to the press that the aim is to make a complete assessment of land use in Seychelles, to analyse how land use has changed over the years. These will be carried out with a new satellite imagery tool developed by the FAO which allows to assess and analyse how the different changes have happened, precautionary measures required to prevent land degradation and erosion, and how to better plan for the future.

During the five days, those taking part in the training will learn how to use the new tool to collect data and draw up a new land use map for future projects.

“The importance of such a process is to allow for better planning in the future and to assist decision-makers in quickly identifying which areas are more suitable for a particular type of agriculture and for different types of settlements,” Mr Maudho explained.

He went on to note that technology is becoming more and advanced and very much accessible which allows for things to be done quite easily and much faster and the good thing is that more people can have access to very high and precise technologies from the confines of their offices.

Will Dogley, the national coordinator for the project with the SAA, said the training is part of a larger project to support sustainable land resources management in Seychelles which started sometime back and other international consultants have also carried out different land surveys and analysis of different land related issues to come up with better land management protection measures.

“The training is paramount for future land use and planning and for earmarking and protecting agricultural land,” Mr Dogley stated.

Marie-Anne Lepathy