COUPLING GIS WITH LOCAL KNOWLEDGE FOR
INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

Uluocha, N. O.

Department of Geography, University of Lagos (NG)

Introduction
Coastal zones are naturally endowed with mineral resources, rich marine and land biodiversity, fertile lands and picturesque scenes. Hence, coastal zones have often attracted large human populations as well as socio-economic activities such as fisheries, agriculture, mineral exploitation, industries, transportation, port activities, tourism and recreation, and so on. Quite often the influx of people and the increasing intensity and unscrupulous execution of socio-economic activities in the coastal area are known to impact negatively on the coastal environment. As a result of the constant interplay of both cultural and natural forces in the narrow coastal strip, this zone is often prone to ecological degradation. In several parts of the world, the coastal environment is inundated with diverse large-scale ecological problems such as erosion, flooding, pollution, subsidence, ocean surges, loss of habitat, and decimation of aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna.

In recent years, the global attention has been drawn to the deplorable situation of coastal environments in different parts of the world, and hence, the need to take urgent and decisive steps towards remedying the situation. In particular, the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 1993 World Coast Conference held in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, and the 2002 follow-up Earth Submit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, afforded the global community the opportunity to critically address coastal management issues. It is now crystal-clear that if the coastal zone is to be properly and effectively managed in a sustainable manner, then an integrated approach must necessarily be adopted.

However, among other things, lack of appropriate data and misunderstanding of coastal processes are major factors leading to inefficiency in coastal management and misuse of coastal resources (Vrees, 1997). To manage the coastal zone in a sustainable and integrated manner would definitely require the availability and use of relevant, comprehensive, current and accurate data. A rich pool of social, economic, political, legal and environmental data is a sine qua non for effective coastal zone planning, development and management. This would entail building a coastal zone spatial data infrastructure (CZSDI). A CZSDI is herein proposed because about 80% of the overall data needed to undertake coastal management is space-related. To properly handle the data for coastal management, a geospatial information technology, such as the Geographic Information System (GIS), would be needed. But putting in place a virile coastal zone spatial data infrastructure would also require the use of local knowledge system (LKS). Unfortunately, local knowledge has not been duly and widely recognized as a potent tool for coastal management. This, obviously, is an important missing link in the chain of contemporary efforts being made towards sustainable and integrated coastal zone management.

This paper, therefore, calls attention to the relatively hidden importance of indigenous knowledge in the sustainable and integrated management of coastal resources. The paper strongly advocates the integration and use of GIS and local knowledge (LK) as a viable, strategic and potent measure for sustainable coastal management. The paper also presents and discusses a model and work plan for collecting traditional knowledge and interfacing it with GIS for enhanced ICZM. The possible areas of application as well as potential benefits of marrying GIS with indigenous knowledge for coastal area management are equally highlighted.

The Concept of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
Hitherto, the sectoral approach was adopted in the management of the coastal zone. However, the sectoral approach is now widely acknowledged as an ineffective way of handling coastal problems. This is sequel to the fact that the application of sectoral solutions to coastal zone problems has some undesirable side effects (Ibe, 1998); moreover, sectoral approaches have been found inadequate to enforce coordinated planning and implementation (Vrees, 1997). Hence, as an alternative to the rather ineffective sectoral approach, an integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) was proposed and is now widely recognized as the best approach to handling coastal problems. Currently, the concept of ICZM is a highly accepted paradigm. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the 1993 World Coast Conference in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, and the recent 2003 Earth Summit II held in Johannesburg, all lent much credence to the idea of ICZM.

Basically, integrated coastal zone management involves the management of coastal waters and related land resources in an integrated manner (Folorunsho and Awosika, 1997). Linden (1997) summarizes the concept and benefits of ICZM thus:

"The concept of ICZM addresses the broad range of social and environmental issues in coastal areas with the goal of moving towards sustainable development. It is a holistic planning and coordinating process suited to ensuring that the large economic benefits from coastal resources are managed to maximize social welfare and not dissipated by destructive practices or inappropriate use. ICZM has two fundamental objectives: (1) to promote sustainable utilization of coastal resources, and (2) to restore and maintain the integrity of coastal resources including space, and foster equitable distribution of benefits among stakeholders. It is an ecologically and socially based approach to environmental management that is a significant departure from traditional sectoral approaches which have proven unable to deal with the complexity that characterizes coastal area problems."

GIS and ICZM
Geographic Information System (GIS) is an orderly assemblage of computer-based hardware, software, data, personnel and procedures, configured to handle all forms of geographically referenced information to satisfy the needs of the user. A modern GIS should have the capability to integrate data for different topics and from different sources (Frank, 1988). GIS is usually designed to facilitate the collection, input, editing, storage, retrieval, update, manipulation, query, analysis, display/visualization and output of spatially-referenced information in form of maps, graphs, or tables (Uluocha, 2000). Hence, geographic information systems provide researchers, resource managers, and decision makers with a tool for effective and efficient storage and manipulation of remotely sensed data, mapped data, and other spatial and non-spatial data types for both scientific, management and policy oriented information (Star, et al, 1991). The primary purpose of a GIS is to furnish humans relevant, timely, accurate and comprehensive spatial information necessary for making their decisions in application domains involving resource planning and management (Egenhofer, 1990).

Given that integrated coastal zone management is mostly a space-related activity, no meaningful management decision can be made towards this end without the use of relevant, adequate and well-managed geospatial information. The GIS technology eminently qualifies as a veritable tool for handling geo-referenced data for coastal area management. In combination with remote sensing techniques, GIS can be effectively used to establish zonation schemes which consider coastal processes (geological, physical, chemical, biological), land uses, water uses and environmental impact of human activities (Folorunsho and Awosika, 1997).

The major applications of GIS in ICZM could be summarized as follows (see also Bhardwaj, URL and Folorunsho and Awosika, 1997):

Local Knowledge (LK) as a Tool for ICZM
There is no universally accepted definition of the term "local knowledge" (also known as indigenous knowledge or traditional knowledge). Hence, there is a plethora of definitions or descriptions of what local knowledge (LK) is. To Flavier, et al. (1995:479) indigenous knowledge (IK) refers to "local knowledge that is unique to a given culture. It is the information base for a society which facilitates communication and decision-making. Indigenous information systems are dynamic, and are continually influenced by internal creativity and experimentation as well as by contact with external systems." Furthermore, Louise Grenier, author of Working With Indigenous Knowledge: a guide for researchers, considers IK as the unique, traditional and local knowledge existing within and developed around specific conditions of women and men indigenous to a particular geographic area (IDRC, 1998). IK has some characteristics that clearly distinguish it. Such characteristics are (Nuffic, URL):

Attempts are often made to dichotomize between scientific knowledge and indigenous (local) knowledge. Such division is, to this author, rather uncalled for. As a matter of fact, placing indigenous knowledge and scientific information in opposition to one another is an unnecessary division that does damage to both (McKinnon, URL). For all intent and purpose, indigenous knowledge can be collected, stored, manipulated analyzed and displayed in the same way as scientific knowledge. To dismiss IK as unsystematic, and hence, less useful in problem-solving, is baseless. The sentiment that IK is inferior to scientific knowledge has often hindered its conscious and logical use in the decision-making process in environmental management.

Fortunately, however, the potential contribution of local knowledge to environmental management is gradually but steadily being recognized globally. For instance, the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the 1999 World Conference on Science held in Budapest strongly endorsed indigenous knowledge as an important component of sustainable development and environmental management. The call has therefore been made for the integration of indigenous knowledge in the work of scientists as a complementary contribution to all efforts of science and technology in its search for solutions and strategies to combat poverty and to generate sustainability in development (Nuffic, URL; Uluocha, 2003).

Local knowledge is a sure source of reliable data for ICZM. Unfortunately, many a researcher or coastal manager hardly realizes this truth. It is, hence, not so surprising that not much effort has been made to explore the efficacy and relevance of local knowledge, and thus harness it, in coastal area management. The failure to utilize indigenous knowledge in ICZM obviously leaves a significant inhibiting gap in the effort to handle coastal environmental management in a holistic and sustainable manner. Local knowledge systems are essential to proper understanding of the local context of coastal problems. By overlooking the role of indigenous knowledge (IK), researchers and indeed other coastal zone managers have failed in sustaining the human-environment relationship (Waldron and Sui, URL). Omitting the coastal resource-users' knowledge leads to information deficiency in coastal zone management. Inaccurate and insufficient information greatly affects understanding of the linkages between human activities and coastal environments. IK can support or supplement scientifically acquired environmental and socio-economic data for solving coastal problems. IK is quite helpful in understanding and explaining not only the physical and biological coastal environmental conditions, but also the socio-economic dimensions of coastal changes. In other words, with local knowledge, it is possible to gain better understanding of the cultural processes leading to coastal deformation; this would in turn aid the formulation of more pragmatic and effective mitigation measures. Moreover, local knowledge system could be quite useful in ground-truthing of aerial photographs and satellite imagery acquired for coastal area management. Like agricultural, aquaculture, forestry, medicine, livestock management, wildlife management and some others, coastal management "projects employed without the benefit of local knowledge considerations often meet with untimely ends. Yet, when local knowledge is taken into consideration, benefits are abundant" (Waldron and Sui, URL).

Linking GIS and LK for ICZM
Local knowledge (LK) can, and in fact should, be integrated with the GIS technology for a more salutary coastal area management. GIS has been widely recognized and accepted as a powerful tool for ICZM. However, ICZM could receive a greater impetus if it is approached with a system that incorporates GIS and LK. Fundamentally, ICZM projects deal with links between culture, environment and development. In recent times there has been an upsurge in the clarion call for modern technology (such as GIS) to be linked with indigenous knowledge for a more sustainable natural resources management and human/environment-friendly development (see for example, Unesco, URL; Tabor and Hutchinson, nd; Omoluabi, 2001; Uluocha, 2003; Mwando and Matambanadzo, 2003).

A model/work plan for coupling local knowledge with geographic information system is diagrammatically presented in Figure 1. Before indigenous or local knowledge could be interlaced with the GIS technology, it must first be collected. Hence, having selected a coastal area for which information is needed, an indigenous knowledge data collection project should be initiated. Key local informants - the coastal resources users - should be identified for the data collection exercise. The informants should preferably be adult members of the coastal community, who are very much familiar with the local environment and also knowledgeable enough in the cultural values, perceptions and conceptions of the community. It is advisable that the army of informants should be made up of both males and females. With the team of data collectors now ready, the data collection exercise should be arranged and executed. Acquiring the relevant indigenous knowledge may involve adopting a number of approaches including Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), interpersonal oral interviews, well-structured questionnaire interviews, field trips, and in situ personal observations.

As much as possible, appropriate base maps (also aerial photographs or satellite imagery, where available) of the coastal area under study should be generously employed in the data collection exercise. The informants should be encouraged to locate much of their information on a base map. Where no base map of the area exists a sketch map should be prepared with the full participation of the local informants. Recording the data collected directly on the base map would make for easy geo-referencing. However, the Global Positioning System (GPS) could also be used to geo-reference the acquired local knowledge. Care should be taken to verify and validate the collected data. Where necessary, the data collected should be cartographically and/or statistically enhanced to render it suitable for geospatial data base creation and analysis in a GIS environment. As would be ideal, both spatial and aspatial databases should be created, along with the appropriate attribute data base. The data bases could be created directly in a GIS or created elsewhere (obviously a GIS-compatible software) and later transferred to a GIS environment. The GIS would be used to explore the data bases, undertake data analysis, and output the result in any desired form (maps, graphs, tables).

The information generated through data analysis can be used to make sound decisions in respect of coastal zone management. It is not, though, just enough to make good decisions; the decisions must be religiously implemented to achieve the desired result. It is often necessary to monitor and evaluate the impact of decision implementation. Depending on the nature of the outcome of the decision implementation evaluation, the coastal zone management project may be partially or entirely reviewed, for possible further improvement.

Figure 1: A model for coupling GIS with Local Knowledge for ICZM
(Adapted and modified from Uluocha, 2003).

Possible Applications and Benefits of the GIS-LK Model
A GIS-LK system would definitely have important practical applications in integrated coastal zone management. Some of the potential applications include:

The latent value of integrating indigenous knowledge and GIS in ICZM is quite enormous. Coupling LK and GIS in ICZM would ensure:

Conclusion
Being the point of intense land-ocean-atmosphere interaction, and hence, the melting-pot of various natural and cultural forces, the coastal zone is typically a complex and delicate milieu. The physical, social, cultural, economic, historical, aesthetic and recreational dimensions of coastal zones make it quite imperative that such zones should be managed in an integrated manner. However, effective and efficient coastal management cannot be attained without the availability and use of relevant, up-to-date, comprehensive, accurate and easily accessible geospatial information. Besides, effective and efficient coastal environmental management cannot be achieved without the active participation of the coastal resource users, who are equally likely to bear the brunt of coastal degradation. Hence, accomplishing ICZM would demand enlisting the full support of the coastal dwellers. One sure way of doing this is to harness the local values, perceptions and conceptions of the indigenous people as enshrined in their local knowledge system. Interfacing GIS and LK would not only ensure that adequate and relevant information for ICZM is collected and properly managed, it would also encourage a participatory approach to coastal resources management.

References