Coral Reef & Mangrove management and GIS

Interesting sources on Coral Reef & Mangrove management and GIS:

Coral Reef Monitoring for Management
http://www.oneocean.org/download/20010430/coral_reef_monitoring.pdf

Mangrove Management Handbook
http://www.oneocean.org/download/db_files/mangrove_management_handbook.pdf

Participatory Coastal Resource Assesssment: A Handbook for
Community Workers and Coastal Resource Managers
http://www.oneocean.org/download/db_files/pcra_handbook.pdf

Participatory Coastal Resource Assesssment Training Guide
http://www.oneocean.org/download/db_files/pcra_training_guide.pdf


These two guides are useful technical references:

Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources
http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/facilities/bookshop/survey-manual/bs-survey-manual01.html

Remote Sensing Handbook for Tropical Coastal Management
http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/rs.htm

Source: Posted by Miguel Castrense in Society for Conservation GIS listserv

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

EcoGIS project: Ecosystem Approaches to Management

For those interested in ecosystem-based management and fisheries management take a look at the EcoGIS project at NOAA.

The EcoGIS project is a component of the Ecosystem Pilot Projects funded by Congress in FY04. The project was launched with the Workshop on GIS Tools Supporting Ecosystem Approaches to Management, held September 8-10, 2004 in Charleston, S.C. The result of this workshop was a summary document that outlines the basic science and management mapping needs for ecosystem approaches to management.

By considering the priority issues confronting managers and scientists, the EcoGIS team has developed a set of questions to focus the direction of tool development. For example: Given an area of interest, how much and what types of critical or essential fish habitat are present? What fisheries catch and effort statistics are available in the area of interest? How have fishing fleets been displaced in response to environmental or regulatory changes? Can fishing effort be summarized by underlying habitats or other features? Where are interactions between fisheries occurring?

These are just a few of the considerations of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management. Following the completion of EcoGIS’s pilot phase in September 2006, project staff will begin to incorporate additional analyses to cover a greater spectrum of the needs of managers and scientists. In the future, we envision EcoGIS to be an ecosystem management decision support system that incorporates ecosystem models, considers external influences such as changes in ocean currents or temperature, and factors in human activities in other sectors such as shipping, aquaculture, ecotourism, and oil and gas exploration/extraction.

Data management and framework activities external to the EcoGIS project are very important to the future success of EcoGIS. We are following closely the development of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), marine framework data standards through the FGDC Marine and Coastal Spatial Data Subcommittee, and the Enterprise GIS Architecture for NOAA.

Through September 2006, the EcoGIS team will be developing prototype tools to address the priority needs described above. Initially, the prototype will focus on a few locations in New England and South Atlantic waters that provide the best available data, but the tools developed will be portable to other waters of the country given sufficient data resources. The EcoGIS team will also be writing a blueprint for the future of EcoGIS that incorporates new science and considers evolving ocean governance structures and observation systems.

Webpage: http://www.st.nmfs.gov/ecogis/about.htm

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

8th International Conference Littoral2006: Coastal Innovations and Initiatives

18^th-20^th September 2006, Gdansk University of Technology
Gdansk, Poland.

Papers focusing on Knowledge, Entrepreneurships, Innovations, Techniques and Instruments, Theory and Practice or Case Studies, Applications and Implementations are now invited on the following major topics:

• Socio-economic Value of Coastal Areas - Regional Coastal Economies
• Coastal Information, Communications, and Data Network
• Coastal and Marine Tourism and Recreation
• Trends and Processes in Coastal Environment
• Exploration and Exploitation of Live Marine Resources
• Coastal Protection, Dynamics and Geomorphology
• Protection of Marine and Coastal Habitats
• Conservation of Coastal Culture Heritage and Landscape Values
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Maritime Administration
• Coastal Policy, Planning and Land Use Conflicts
• Changing Nature of Coastal Communities
• Coastal Research and Development Programme and Implementation - Connecting Science and Policy
• Education and Training
• Urban Waterfront Development
• Ports and Harbours
• Coastal Energy

Littoral 2006 will also include a small number of one-day or half-day,
peer-reviewed workshops. The aim of the workshops is to bring together professionals from academia and industry to exchange ideas, experiences and identify obstacles and propose solutions in littoral domains.


Workshops on the following topics are planned to be organised:

• Land Use of Waterfront Areas
• Conservation of Spits and Peninsulas

The official language of the conference will be English.

Important dates

Abstract submission due	15th February 2006 (since 1st January 2006)
Abstract acceptance notification due	30th March 2006
Camera-ready final papers due	31th May 2006
Registration / payment due	31th May 2006
Registration at the Conference	18th-20th September 2006

We invite you to sumbit your paper abstract via www.

The absract submission will be available
from 1.01.2006 till 15.02.2006.

Electronic registration and full paper submission will be available
via www for authors of the accepted abstracts.

Conference webpage: http://www.littoral2006.gda.pl

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

5th European Congress on Regional Geoscientific Cartography and Information Systems

Every three years, the Congress on Regional Geological Cartography and Information Systems provides an important meeting point for the European researchers and technicians. After four congresses in Bologna (1994), Barcelona (1997), Munich (2000) and Bologna (2003), the fifth edition will be held again in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain) in June 2006. The aim is to continue the dialogue and exchange of ideas. There was a lively and lasting exchange of experiences amongst the numerous participants coming from all over Europe, and even from Northern Africa, North America and Asia. The Congress should bring together those who study the characteristics of the territory, work out solutions of environmental problems, or focus on the application of geological know how in their respective regional and national reality.

These research efforts increasingly rely on the use of information systems for the management of environmental data and the elaboration of thematic maps.

This fifth congress will particularly focus on the analysis of the effectiveness of geological, hydrological and soil surveys contributing to society's needs, and the Administration operating at different levels, executing European, National, Regional and Local directives in the quest for land planning and sustainable development.

Contributions:
Presentations should concern the following themes:
1. Quality and quantity of water in the future
2. Soil conservation
3. Mineral resources and geothermal energy
4. Climate change
5. Geological risk assessment and security policies
6. Coastal system management
7. Geology of urban areas
8. Popularisation of geology
9. Remote sensing applications
10. Maps, information systems and new tools

Important dates:

September 30th, 2005	Deadline for preliminary registration and abstract titles
October 28th, 2005	Second circular
January 20th, 2006	Deadline for abstracts admittance
April, 2006	Third circular
April 18th, 2006	Deadline for registration at reduced fee
June 13th - 15th, 2006	Congress

Pre-registration forms should be returned before 15th July 2005.

Pre-registration can be made by mail, fax, e-mail, or online on our web page:

econgeo2006@icc.es
http://www.icc.es/econgeo2006/first_circular_econgeo2006.pdf

Fees are 130 Euro before April 30th, 2006 and 160 Euro after this date.

Pre-registration form Deadline: July 15th, 2005

Mail or fax to: 5th Congress on Geoscientific Cartography
and Information Systems
Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya
Parc de Montjuïc | 08028 Barcelona
Fax +34 935671568

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

NEW ISpecies online service

If looking for species information on the web you should try the new Roderic Page's (r.page@bio.gla.ac.uk) ISpecies. The online tool allows querying the entire WWW and then it generates "on the fly" taxonomic and genomic data from NCBI, images from Yahoo Images, and documents from Google Scholar.

Give it a try at: http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/ispecies/index.php and/or at the blog: http://ispecies.blogspot.com/

New improvements should come in the near future!

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

ECO-IMAGINE NEW THEMATIC CONFERENCE: BUILDING COASTAL KNOWLEDGE AND GI

Thematic Conference: BUILDING COASTAL KNOWLEDGE AND GI

Cork (IE), 13th–17th June 2006

Convenor:
University College Cork
Coastal And Marine Resources Centre

Webpage: http://cmrc.ucc.ie

Key issues for the practical implementation of ICM objectives are the availability and easy

accessibility of appropriate data and information relevant to coastal issues. Building coastal knowledge and geographic information requires attention at different levels of development, from data collection and analysis to data distribution. This conference will look at Irish and European examples at various stages of data collection, analysis and distribution.

The collection of data should be done scientifically and comprehensively in order to establish a solid base on which to build. Efforts should be made in the development of techniques to quickly process raw data and investigate means of continuous updating. The conference will include examples of techniques for improved field data collection and other methods of data creation and management.

The use of quality data plays an important role in performing accurate and reliable coastal data analysis. The methodologies used in conducting data analyses should ensure an integrated approach to consider a broad range of potential influences. Particularly when studying the coastal landscape, data and information across scientific and socio-economic disciplines must be investigated in order to provide a well-balanced, integrated analysis.

Efforts in building coastal knowledge should provide an opportunity for stakeholders to contribute their perceptions of an area in order to create a comprehensive knowledge of that area. Community members can offer different perspectives of an area's problems, historical and cultural issues, as well as ideas for its management. Elements of effective community involvement in building coastal knowledge will be discussed.

Sharing coastal knowledge and information once it is built requires the development of useful comprehensive tools to disseminate that information, taking advantage of modern technologies to do so. Issues surrounding the sharing of coastal data and information, both within the coastal professional community and with non-expert end users, will be discussed.

Examples of efforts to view and manage geographic information and coastal knowledge using various means with a broad audience in response to community needs will be presented. Relevant field trips will allow attendees to get a first hand personal acquaintance with the regional and local initiatives relevant to the conference themes.

With reference to the activities of the project ECO-IMAGINE for the organisation of a series of EuroEvents, supported by the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission – Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses, we are glad to inform you that the allocation grants for early-stage researchers and for experienced researchers is foreseen to support their participation in the ECO-IMAGINE events.

You are invited to apply for the Marie Curie grants. At the beginning of 2006, you will find the forms to fill in and the deadline of submission in their web-page.

Eco-imagine & grant webpage: http://www.gisig.it/eco-imagine/default.htm

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

SCGIS Conference Scholarship Awards Program for 2006

Each year the Society for Conservation GIS announces a conference scholarship award program.

Conservation GIS users who require financial assistance to enable them to attend the annual SCGIS conference can apply for these competitive scholarships. Scholarship funds cover an airfare and some or all waivers for the SCGIS conference registration. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) usually supports awardees with waivers for their Annual ESRI User conference registration and pre and post conference training in Redlands, California.

Stay tuned each year to scholarship announcements.

2006 International Scholarship Announcement

Source: Society for Conservation GIS (http://www.scgis.org)

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

2006 Benthic Ecology Meeting Announcement

We are pleased to inform you that the web site for the 2006 Benthic
Ecology Meeting is now fully functional and can be found at:

http://www.bem2006.org 

More info: The basic information remains the same (Quebec City; March
8-12 [presentations March 9-11]; submission of abstracts by January 16;
early registration by February 3), but much more information is now
available and you can both register for the meeting and book
accommodations on-line.  Directions for submitting abstracts by e-mail
are also given.

Some important details:

1. Air Canada is offering a discount to conference attendees (see
“Transportation” link).
2. Rooms rates offer up to quadruple occupancy for the same price ($115
CAD/night).
3. Special accommodation rate for students - $25 CAD/night (see “Your
Stay” link).
      N.B.  All prices are in Canadian dollars. 

Hotel info: We encourage you to stay at the beautiful Hotel Loews le
Concorde, the conference hotel and venue, which is located just outside
the fortified walls and offers a superb base for exploring the city.  A
block of rooms has been reserved at a conference rate, but the number is
limited.  Thus we ask you to book as early as possible in order that we
can negotiate for additional rooms and services (you can always cancel
your reservation later if you change your mind).   For more general
information:   
http://www.loewshotels.com/hotels/quebec/default.asp

Fun time: Our program is planned to allow Friday afternoon and evening
free to explore the city and surrounding region.  The city offers an
abundance of museums, restaurants, clubs, galleries and shops in an old
world atmosphere.  Nearby there are three downhill ski resorts (20-40
minutes away), but for cross-country skiing, you can just cross street
to the 270 acre Battlefield Park.  So much to do -- why not come a day
early or stay a day late!?!  For more general information:
 http://www.quebecregion.com/e/.

We are looking forward to having an interesting and exciting meeting and
hope that you will be able to join us.  If you have specific questions,
feel free to contact us at any time.

À bientôt,

Ladd Johnson (ladd.johnson@bio.ulaval.ca)
Mathieu Cusson (mathieu.cusson@giroq.ulaval.ca)

Source: BEM-2006-GIROQ@LISTES.ULAVAL.CA

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

Opportunity for non-EU nationals to do research in EU

Webpage: http://www.cordis.lu/mariecurie-actions/iif/home.html

Marie Curie Incoming International Fellowships are individual
fellowships that aim to attract top-class researchers from third
countries to work and undertake research training in Europe from 1 to 2
years (incoming phase), with a view to developing mutually-beneficial
research co-operation. In the case of emerging and transition economies
and developing countries, the scheme may assist fellows to return to
their country of origin for, typically, half the duration of the first
phase (re-integration phase). Proposals from all areas of scientific and
technological research of interest to the European Community are
accepted and there are no pre-defined priority areas.

Incoming International Fellowships are available to researchers with the
nationality of any third country (i.e. not an EU Member State or
Associated State) with at least 4 years full-time research experience or
a doctorate and wishing to spend a mobility period working in a host
institution located in a Member State or Associated State. The
researcher applies in liaison with the host institution (and with the
re-integration host if there is a re-integration phase). Eligible host
institutions are organisations active in research or research training
(e.g. universities, research organisations, international organisations,
enterprises, etc.).

A call for proposals was published on 20 July 2005 with a deadline of 18
January 2006.

Source: Marine-B List

I hope this is of your interest. Regards.

Jorge Brenner

41st European Marine Biology Symposium

University College Cork, Ireland

September 4-8 2006

1 December 2005 to 14 February 2006-Submission of abstracts for poster and oral presentations

Contact us at: EMBS41@ucc.ie

Webpage: http://www.embs41.ucc.ie/index.htm

Source: MARINE-B@LISTSERV.HEANET.IE

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner

ONE YEAR OF BLOGGING!

Hello all! It has been one year since I started this blog. During this time, I have found blogging very rewarding by knowing that this effort contribute to our common interests. I would like to thank you for contributing to such enterprise.

Happy Birthday you all and keep contributing to OUR-OCEANS & More,

Best Regards

Jorge Brenner

Volunteer GIS trainer for the Greater Mara Ecosystem (GME), Kenya

NOT COASTAL-MARINE RELATED BUT INTERESTING GIS & CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITY!

Position: 2 volunteer GIS trainer

Start date: End of January 2006 (for 3 months)

Closing application date: 20th December

Position Location: Greater Mara Ecosystem (GME), Kenya

Project background: In response to the continuing threats to wildlife
In the GME, Friends of Conservation-Kenya and the Durrell Institute of
Conservation and Ecology have partnered to develop the Maasai Community
Scout Programme.

The programme aims to empower Maasai communities to monitor and protect
their natural resources and to manage human-wildlife conflict. The 74
Maasai scouts, who are located across the GME, have three main
activities.

The first two activities involve daily patrols across the GME to
monitor wildlife populations and to monitor their threats. These
activities are critical for understanding the where wildlife is most
vulnerable and requires greatest protection. The third activity involves
working directly with the local communities through community outreach.
This provides the scouts with an opportunity to report back to their
communities, updating them on their work, such as any problems that they
encountered. It also provides the communities with an opportunity to
question the scouts on various issues ranging from better natural
resource management to land rights. The scout patrol areas are
subdivided by 11 group ranches, and They report to one of the 6 Maasai
scout coordinators that cover these areas.

Position Description: Living in the GME, the successful volunteer will
work with the 6 scout coordinators in developing their ArcView GIS
skills. This will include activities such as inputting wildlife and
threat monitoring data, basic spatial analyses, mapping habitat change
(with a GPS) and map production for monthly reports.

Accommodation and travel within the GME will be provided and the
successful volunteer must provide funds for their flight to Kenya
(approx. £400), food (approx. £2-5/day), visa (approx. £30) and
insurance (approx. £40).

The position is available for 3 months.

For further details please contact Matthew Linkie and send a CV to
m.linkie@kent.ac.uk
Or visit the project website at http://www.foc-uk.com/kenya.asp

Source: SIG@LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES

I hope this is of your interest. Regards,

Jorge Brenner