Environmental Management in the Guadiana Estuary Saltmarshes - GIS tools, multimedia application and web-based information delivery

Carlos Loureiro, Luís Albardeiro, Susete Limpo & Tomasz Boski

Centre for Marine and Environmental Research, University of Algarve, (PT)

The spatial and temporal variability of the natural phenomena that shape the ever changing ocean-continent interface has been profoundly transformed by human action in the last two thousand years. As a result of its strategic geographical location, the Guadiana River Estuary constitutes, since the Antiquity, an important economical pole, articulating human activities developed both upstream, in the drainage basin, and downstream, in the neighbouring coastal area. Due to the growing human influence in this estuarine system, there has been an increasing need, not only to obtain scientifically valid information about the present state and the evolution trends of several biogeochemical parameters in the system, but also to deliver that information to the proper authorities and local stakeholders in a way they can use it, based on the leading edge information technology. To fulfil this need, the Centre for Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Algarve, jointly with the Department of Geology of the University of Huelva and the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville are developing the MEGASIG project under the framework of the European INTERREG IIIA Program. Aiming to support a sound environmental management of the Guadiana Estuary saltmarshes and also to promote the natural heritage conservation and public awareness to the site's values, MEGASIG project presents three main outcomes:

• A GIS tool with updated multi-thematic information regarding the estuarine area of the Guadiana River to be used by local and regional authorities in their management activities.
• A multimedia application intended mainly for environmental education to be used by schools, NGO's and the general public.
• A webpage for information delivery with general information about the area, the project and its results and also with a WebGIS application.

This poster highlights the expected outcomes of the project, since it is still under development. The creation of scientifically supported user-friendly tools for environmental management and the web-based delivery of information are expected to be an important contribute to the sustainability of an environmentally fragile coastal area.