Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis and UNU-IAS collaborate to enhance spatial dimensions of Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System
The United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) and the Center for Geographic Analysis (CGA) at Harvard University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at cooperation and collaboration on advancing technologies for online spatial data sharing and web mapping services regarding the Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System (WEMS). WEMS, a database of wildlife crime developed by UNU, is now being used to support the Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement operations directed at illegal trade in flora and fauna.
Effective from 1 October 2011, the agreement facilitates the incorporation of Harvard CGA’s WorldMap online database and mapping portal into WEMS. The integration of this rich source of spatial data into the cloud-based information-sharing platform will give the users of WEMS unprecedented analytical power to understand patterns in wildlife crime, not just in terms of location but in concert with the range of socio-economic data present in WorldMap.
The two parties also will collaborate on capacity building activities, including scholar exchange and technical training to incorporate WorldMap into WEMS and enhance its functionality. The aim is to promote research and education on spatial data provision and web mapping applications in Africa.
“UNU-IAS is committed to sharing its knowledge and resources for promoting good governance and capacity building, especially in regards to biodiversity conservation”, said UNU-IAS Director Govindan Parayil. “We welcome the participation of Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis in the WEMS initiative; it undoubtedly will enhance the capabilities of this exciting project, which uses the power of information and communication technologies to strengthen environmental governance across Africa.”
“It is exciting to see the Center’s WorldMap online database and portal taken up in this wildlife preservation project hosted at the UNU Institute of Advanced Studies in Yokohama. Preserving Africa's rich flora and fauna with the help of WorldMap, while also providing the means to analyse and better understand these natural forms in relationship to socio-economic, environmental and other data, is an important part of our broader mission”, said Prof. Suzanne Blier, Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of History of Art and Architecture.
With Africa at the frontline of wildlife crime enforcement, the agreement lays the foundation for the enhancement of UNU-IAS’s groundbreaking data-sharing innovation with spatial data from Harvard CGA’s WorldMap to build governance capacity in combating the illegal trade in endangered species. This will provide the basis for a wide-ranging research agenda in science–policy linkages at this critical time for global biodiversity.
For more information about this Memorandum of Understanding or future plans of the UNU-IAS/Harvard CGA collaboration, please contact Makiko Arima of UNU-IAS in Japan (tel: +81-45-221-2327; [email protected]) or Wendy Guan of Harvard CGA in the USA (tel: +1-617-496-6102; [email protected]). Further details of WEMS and WorldMap can be found, respectively, at http://www.wems-initiative.org and http://worldmap.harvard.edu/.
Africa Gears up for Inauguration of the Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System (WEMS)
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The Lusaka Agreement Task Force for Co-operative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora (LATF) in Kenya, the United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in Japan, and the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, through a tripartite partnership agreement, will be launching the Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System (WEMS) in Africa. The inauguration of the system will take place on 18 July 2011 at the seat of LATF in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of a series of events leading to the African Elephant Law Enforcement Day celebrations on 20 July 2011.
The Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System (WEMS), developed by the United Nations University (UNU), is the culmination of seven years of interdisciplinary field research involving policy makers, enforcement officials, computer scientists and civil society groups to address the challenges relating to documenting illegal wildlife exploitation and to provide a clear picture of trends regarding trans-boundary illegal wildlife trade. The main goal of WEMS in Africa is to strengthen information and reporting processes as well as analysis capabilities pertaining to the monitoring of illegal wildlife trade at both the national and regional levels. The system will also affirm the obligation of Parties to the Lusaka Agreement and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to collaborate closely in the application of the Convention as defined in the resolution on enforcement and compliance of CITES (Conf. 11.3 [Rev. CoP15]).
Mr. Bonaventure Ebayi, Director of LATF, stresses that “information sharing is a key component to combating wildlife crime in Africa. The effective implementation of WEMS in Africa will impact positively on information sharing and analysis at a global level as well as facilitate good understanding of our challenges by our partners and enhance our efficiencies in wildlife conservation”. He adds, “this is an important milestone towards achieving the ultimate objective to create an information centre of wildlife crime in Africa by pooling data on illegal trade from various national agencies in the region”.
The implementation of WEMS in Africa will take place in phases through the establishment of a regional environmental governance framework for research and development co-operation between LATF, UNU-IAS and ITC. The pilot implementation of the project in Africa will involve three member states to the Lusaka Agreement, namely, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. A second phase will involve all the Lusaka Agreement member states and thereafter other interested African States.
The research and development efforts aim at systematically bringing good governance and information and communication technology (ICT) enabled initiatives in managing wildlife crime information to Africa. UNU-IAS, through its Science and Technology for Sustainable Societies programme, will focus on the sustainable use of ICT by harvesting the power of cloud computing and mobile technology in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially focusing on MDG7 on environmental sustainability and MDG 8 (target 8F) on making available the benefits of new technologies to Africa, in co-operation with the private sector.
“UNU-IAS is pleased to be a partner in this important research and capacity building project in Africa using the WEMS platform in partnership with LATF and ITC Netherlands”, says UNU Vice-Rector and UNU-IAS Director, Prof. Govindan Parayil. “This is amongst several initiatives that UNU is undertaking to enhance our engagement with our partners and other stakeholders in Africa”.
Scientific experts at ITC will develop appropriate governance models for effective interagency sharing of wildlife crime data and for resolving the existing problems in governance on sharing and usage of information from the national to regional levels.
“Geospatial technology alone may not be a solution to the problem of transnational sharing of spatial information, especially when the information crossing borders is politically sensitive", says Tom Veldkamp, ITC Rector. "Our research on wildlife enforcement monitoring (WEMS) aims to understand the civic, scientific and bureaucratic cultures that interact when spatial information for WEMS is shared across national borders”.
Preparations have reached an advanced stage with the successful completion of the regional training workshop on WEMS from 23 to 25 May 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya, organized by LATF in collaboration with the UNU and ITC, which drew participants from Congo, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
This important milestone in the implementation of WEMS in Africa has been made possible with financial support by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), ESRI Corporation and the Parties to the Lusaka Agreement. The three parties call upon development partners and other agencies of mutual interest for support on this initiative.
WEMS on UN University Website
UNU Helps combat illicit wildlife trade in Africa
Some 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species of plants are protected against international trade under CITES. However, many of these species are traded illicitly, on a daily basis, on the thriving international black market for contraband flora and fauna. Although accurate figures are difficult to ascertain (since smugglers often escape detection), wildlife trafficking globally is estimated to be worth at least $5 billion annually (and potentially in excess of $20 billion). Many of the most lucrative commodities typically com
e from animal species native to Africa, such as tiger parts, elephant ivory, rhino horn and many exotic birds and reptiles.
Illicit trade in threatened plants and animals not only can have severe detrimental impacts on biodiversity and the conservation of natural ecosystems, but also can have serious social and economic consequences, particularly on source and transit countries. Efforts to stamp out the wildlife black market are interlinked with combating transnational organized crime more broadly, as many of the criminal groups involved in illicit wildlife trade also engage in other transnational crimes, such as arms and drugs smuggling. Read the full news article
