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ANNEX III ADB-Knowledge Showcase |
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Support for Knowledge-Based Forest
Management in Post Tsunami Aceh |
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By Dr. Amin Huq, Maurice Bowen, Dr.
Dennis Cengel and Aman Mehta (2) |
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· Following
the tragic events of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, officials of the Government of
Indonesia (GOI), Banda Aceh, were tasked with supporting a new, emerging
natural resources policy framework. · ADB,
having already provided Information Technology (IT) support to spatial
planning, was approached by GOI officials to discuss how similar technology
could improve forest management. · The
outcome was the formulation of a project to design a Forest Information
System (FIS) based upon Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote
Sensing (RS) data and technologies - a knowledge-based approach. · Building
the FIS involved innovative ways of engaging stakeholders in system
development, and ensuring that capacity building was tailored to assessed
needs. Introduction ADB’s Earthquake and Tsunami
Emergency Support Project (ETESP) has been well documented elsewhere[1].
In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, ADB successfully implemented a Forestry Information
System (FIS) for the Agency for Forestry and Plantations or Dinas Kehutanan
dan Perkebunan (DisHutBun). This note illustrates how the project leveraged
the inherent flexibility and agility of ETESP to innovatively tailor the
project to the operational realities and issues encountered during
implementation. Issues and
challenges: In post-tsunami Aceh a public perception
emerged that forest management issues were not being addressed. Topping the
list of concerns were illegal logging and the unimpeded conversion of forest
lands to plantations. Resource issues, such as lack of data, inadequate human
resources and low IT capacity also surfaced. These pressing issues deserved a
full assessment and a rapid response within an emergency context. Key factors that led to project success
included an innovative stakeholder engagement strategy and a systematic,
iterative approach to FIS design and implementation. This allowed adjustments
during implementation reflecting stakeholder feedback. The illustrations to
the right map the relationship between indentified needs and the strategic
response. Lessons
learned are summarized below. |
Stakeholder
consultation formed the core of an iterative 6-step System Development Life
Cycle (SDLC) which also facilitated the coordination of multiple inputs |
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Outcomes and Key Findings · A Modular, Scalable
Forest Information System GOI forestry officials helped
identify forest management function areas of high priority for which fourteen
component modules were developed utilizing GIS and RS technologies. |
A key
challenge was to identify, prioritize and build system modules within the
agency officering the most promise for
project uptake and sustainability |
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· Quantification/Classification of the
Forest Resource Base; · Land suitability Analysis for Forests/Tree Crops Plantations; ·
Environmental Sensitivity Mapping; |
· Forest Fire Risk management for
Protection, Land Rehabilitation, and Social Forestry · Remote Sensing Applications at the Watershed Level; |
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User Guides were prepared for each module
and integrated in the FIS as Help Files accessible with a
Internet Browser. · Innovative Stakeholder Engagement Stakeholder engagement was a multi-level process,
including several formal stakeholder workshops involving senior officials.
Additionally, six Forestry Sectors Workgroups were paired with forestry
officials to work with them on a day-to-day basis, encouraging and
facilitating informal dialogue. An outcome of this working partnership was a
continuous, iterative feedback to the FIS development team enabling them to
continuously fine-tune the system to actual needs. In an emergency context
such an approach is seen as decidedly more effective than a one-time, upfront
user-needs study. · A capacity building program ensured the sustainability of
system use, administration and maintenance. Approximately 1.5 months were devoted
towards the end of the project for additional demonstration, training and
testing the system with the help of 25 GOI staff. Impact assessment from
trainee feedback showed that 88% of the trainees were fully capable of
operating, managing and maintaining the FIS. Conclusions and recommendations · The design of IT Applications for natural
resources benefits from a flexible, continuous engagement which allows the
team to capture and learn from iterative stakeholder inputs; · The implementation schedule should allow
time for programming and capacity-building efforts to receive feedback during
and after system development; · As depicted on the right, agency decision
makers need to be engaged and consulted on integrating the system with the
institution’s management and administrative structure. |
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Agency staff assisted with
system institutional integration, including the design of a management unit
(FISMU) supported by detailed job descriptions. |
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