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THE WOCATEER
(No. 3 - July 2001)
(WOCAT Newsletter)
Introduction
This is the third WOCAT
newsletter in about a year, indicating that there is sufficient WOCAcTivity
to be reported about. The only problem is that we do not receive as many
reports to contribute to this newsletter as we would hope. So the summary
below is based on what we know and how we interpret it. Please provide
us with any additional or improved information wherever applicable!
Moreover, during recent
workshop we noticed that our communication channels do not always work
as smoothly as we think or wish, and people whom we assumed to have received
the newsletter and other mailings reported to have got nothing at all.
So please check with other (WO)Colleagues if they receive(d) our mailings
and keep us informed about any changes in (Email and postal) addresses.
Announcement:
Sixth WOCAT Annual Workshop and Steering Meeting, September 24-27, Nyeri,
Kenya.
The sixth WOCAT Annual
Workshop and Steering Meeting (WWSM6) will be organised by RELMA and be
held in Nyeri, Kenya, from 24-27 September 2001. A separate invitation
has been sent out to all WOCAT core collaborators. Should you not have
received an invitation, but you are interested in participating, please
contact the WOCAT secretariat.
Prior to the workshop an
informative meeting for donor agencies/embassies, bi-lateral and multilateral
organisations and other interested institutions will take place on Friday
21 September at the premises of RELMA/ICRAF in Nairobi. The meeting will
take place in the morning and will provide an introduction to WOCAT as
well as an opportunity to discuss use of WOCAT in on-going projects. Please
inform the WOCAT secretariat and Mr. G. Kimaru
at RELMA if you’d like to attend this meeting.
After the workshop, a special
meeting will be held on Friday afternoon 28/9 and Saturday morning 29/9
for members of RELMAs Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) to discuss the
potential for WOCAT in their countries and programmes.
Latest
News: July 2001
The second WOCAT Newsletter
appeared in December 2000. Since then the following new and on-going activities
have taken place (in reversed chronological order):
- The WOCAT
Website is regularly updated and improved. Its layout is now very
similar to that of the latest CD ROM (v. 2) but of course its contents
are more recent. The Website contains some important additional items,
such as the "News" section (containing all issues of the Newsletters);
an "Updates, Tips and Tricks section" giving some technical
hints e.g. on how to solve some problems with the databases or the CD
ROM (see below); on-line (as well as downloadable) databases; links
to other interesting sites; etc. Please bookmark the WOCAT Website and
pass it on! We also would like to get your comments and suggestions
or hear about any problems you might encounter in accessing the site
or any of the pages. Downloading some files from the Website can be
very time-consuming. A helpful programme that can be downloaded for
free is Download Accelerator. This not only enhances downloading, but
also has a "resume" function in case of intentional or accidental
interruption of the download. See http://www.speedbit.com.
- Technical problems encountered:
it should be noted that running the databases directly from the CD ROM
is not possible in ACCESS2000, as the files on the CD ROM are read-only
and cannot be handled directly by ACCESS2000 (this is not a problem
with ACCESS97). The files should therefore be copied onto your hard
disk and the read-only attribute removed (by clicking on file properties
and removing the read-only tick). This also applies to the ACCESS 97
version if one wants to make changes or add data. Additionally, some
ACCESS 2000 users have reported significant problems in running some
of the databases. This is due to a compatibility problem between the
two ACCESS versions! Please check the WOCAT
Website for details. To run the Map viewer in the Map database (QM),
the ESRI software MapObjects LT 1.0 should have been installed. This
software is not available on the WOCAT CD ROM! If you have problems
running the video, please make sure the Windows Mediaplayer is properly
installed (from your Windows95 or 98 CD). Other players which can read
Mpeg files may also be used.
- The idea
of a Training for National Trainers (TNT) was first suggested
by South Africa and taken up by the MG. The idea is to a) broaden the
pool of facilitators at the national level, who will enhance and coordinate
national/regional data collection and analysis (often the national coordinators
and database managers), and b) increase the pool of international facilitators
that can serve as resource persons in training workshops outside their
country or region. Both aspects are increasingly important in view of
the growing number of national/regional activities and requests for
technical assistance in workshops and follow-up. A TNT might be held
towards the end of this year possibly in Europe, but time and venue
have yet to be set. Some cost-sharing between WOCAT and the participating
institutions will be important to make the training possible. Participants
(about two per country) should already have had significant involvement
in WOCAT activities. It is expected that the TNT participants will play
a significant role as resource persons in future national/regional training
workshops.
- An electronic
Email forum (WOCAT-L)
was set up in March through and with help of FAO. This forum enables
and facilitates exchange of information between WOCAT and its collaborators
(e.g. for sending the Newsletter), as well as exchange of information
and ideas among collaborators. So far the second function has not been
used a lot and readers are encouraged to make more use of it.
- WOCAT
has been approached by Anton Vlaanderen, director of EMDA
(Foundation for European Development Assistance), to make a joint project
proposal to the EU in which WOCAT would play a key role. Deadline
for this proposal was late May. Anton was involved in the early stages
of WOCAT in a major effort to establish a SWC Expert System. This idea
was abandoned after realising the mere complexity of such a system and
the then upcoming alternative of an advanced WOCAT database and query
system (which is a decision support system rather than an expert system).
We hope that this renewed collaboration with Anton Vlaanderen and with
the EU (which was represented in the first WOCAT meeting in 1993 in
Riederalp by Dr. Mario Cattizone) will bear fruits. From the WOCAT side
Will Critchley of CDCS has joined Anton to develop the proposal and
to play a main role in the execution of the project if it will be approved.
- A technical
meeting was held in March, when Godert van Lynden visited CDE on
the occasion of a one-day forum on WOCAT with several Swiss development
organisations. WOCAT was critically but positively received by all present,
and SDC as a long-term supporter since the very start of the project
seemed also determined to continue this support. The rest of this week
Hanspeter Liniger, Godert van Lynden and Gudrun Schwilch spent time
on technical and administrative issues such as: the Guidelines
(with assistance from Karl Herweg), QM (which was sent out to collaborators
in South Africa, Thailand and the Philippines for the first proper beta
testing), workplan and missions, TNT and WWSM6.
- Another
technical meeting was held at CDE in Bern from January 22-26
with Hanspeter Liniger (CDE), Gudrun Schwilch (CDE), Wolfgang Prante
(FAO) and Godert van Lynden (ISRIC). The main focus of the meeting was
the further development of databases (QM in particular) and Website,
but as usual a lot of other issues was discussed, in particular the
annual workplan; various Memorandums of Understandings; PR materials
such as a flyer, posters and presentations; SWC classification; and
the Proceedings
of the Wageningen Workshop. Considerable progress was booked on most
of these issues. A scheme for testing the final draft of the map database
was set after some final improvements. Several compatibility problems
and bugs were solved. Various improvements for the Website
were discussed and partly implemented on the spot. It was decided to
set up a general E-discussion
forum and make this accessible through the Website. A possible Training
for National Trainers (TNT) was discussed and the resulting ideas circulated
by Email (see above).
- A spontaneous
exchange of Emails early 2001 on educational tools used by, or
making use of, WOCAT, developed into a lively Email discussion on this
subject. It actually became the forerunner of the WOCAT-L discussion
list (see above). As the discussion was not formally started, it has
not formally stopped, but since a summary was made by Samran Sombatpanit
in March, not many further contributions have come in. Recently the
WOCAT Secretariat has requested (through WOCAT-L)
all those in some way involved in education to send to Bern any WOCAT-related
materials that they use for that purpose. These materials will then
be compiled and harmonised, so that a more or less standard set of educational
tools can be provided and no one has to re-invent the wheel. Obviously
this has to cater for a wide range of uses and users and be easily adaptable.
Regional/national
initiatives:
- The Philippines
(PHILCAT) has
been quite active for the past several months. Jose Rondal gave a presentation
on WOCAT at the Philippine Mountain Summit held at the University of
the Philippines, Los Baños, in December 2000, and another presentation
at the International Symposium on the Sustainable Use of Soil and Water
Resources at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM). Romeo
Labios presented WOCAT at the UPLB-REPSA Symposium in September 2000,
and at the Asian Agriculture Congress in Manila in April. In May, Romeo
Labios, together with Ms. Apuntree Prueksapong from Thailand had a prize-winning
poster at the conference on "Sustaining Upland Development in Southeast
Asia: Issues, Tools and Institutions for Local Natural Resources Management"
at Makati City. PHILCAT has distributed quite a number of CDs and
brochures, especially to state colleges and universities. These were
encouraged to look at the CD as a possible teaching tool in natural
resource management. Some positive feedback was received about the CD
and the members of PHILCAT from the academies will use the CD in their
teaching jobs. Other recipients of the CD are planners who are looking
for tools in SWC training. A national and regional training proposal
has been endorsed to the Agricultural Training Institute for possible
funding. The first batch is scheduled sometime in the last week of July
2001. Data collection trips by PHILCAT members have been made to various
places in the Philippines. These were effectively combined with other
official jobs. PHILCAT members have agreed to contribute at least one
QA or QT to the database before mid-July 2001 for evaluation and possible
encoding. At least 10 QAs/QTs are targeted for inclusion in the next
version of the CD-ROM. For QM, Mindanao island is being taken as a "trial"
using the SOTER map as a basis. Jose Rondal was in Japan for an official
visit from June 24 to July 7. One of his activities was a lecture-presentation
about WOCAT for the graduate students and some professors of Ibaraki
University, located about 60 km north of Tokyo. The lecture was well
received despite the language problem.
-
Thailand
appears to be really taking off now after a long preliminary phase.
Several persons are involved in collection and validation of information
on Technologies and Approaches. It is expected that a substantial
number of questionnaires that were filled in since several years ago
(during and after the workshop in Chiang Mai, in 1996) could be updated
now. Also improvements of the WOCAT Map for Thailand are undertaken,
in close collaboration with the Map taskforce and several local cartographic
specialists. While the main partner agency remains the Land Development
Department (LDD), with Ms Apuntree Prueksapong as a principal contact
person, some other research and educational institutions have started
to participate, such as Chiang Mai University and Mae Jo University.
Publicity is a major activity of WOCAT Thailand. During the last few
months WOCAT was presented at the following venues: Land Management
Software Workshop at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok
in April; display at the poster exhibition of the LDD in May where
the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives visited the WOCAT booth;
at the International Workshop on Participatory Technology Development
and Local Knowledge for Sustainable Land Use in Southeast Asia, Chiang
Mai, June 6-7; and at the Watershed Management Short Course for Sri
Lankan specialists at AIT, June 25-27, by Michael Zoebisch, a Wocateer
who is a staff member of that institution. As a member of MG, Samran
Sombatpanit introduced WOCAT to various institutions in the country(/ies)
he visited. After the 11th ISCO Conference in Buenos Aires he illustrated
WOCAT at various institutions while travelling through Argentina and
Chile in October/November 2000. During a visit to India in May 2001
in connection with the new book Response to Land Degradation, he showed
WOCAT at the University of Delhi; the National Bureau of Soil Survey
and Land Use Planning, Nagpur; the Central Research Institute for
Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) at Hyderabad; the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru;
and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Since a WOCAT initiative
for India is envisaged, this kind of visit will help identify potential
institutions and SWC specialists that suit, and benefit from, such
activity. A trip to China is planned for this coming August, where
the main task is to work with the Chinese Wocateers in Fujian Province
for one week. More about this trip in the next issue of WOCATEER.
WOCAT
poster at LDD Exhibition on May 23 with Dr. Samran and Ms. Apuntree
- Kenya is still working hard on
the final draft of the Kenya Overview of Conservation Approaches and
Technologies (KOCAT), which will be a milestone for WOCAT – after always
claiming that the output of WOCAT consists of (a.o.) "Books, Overviews,
etc." Kenya will also be hosting the coming Annual Workshop and
Steering Meeting, which will be organised by RELMA.
Participants of the Nazareth workshop
Varzob valley: catastrophic flood with hail storm
on 19.05.01.
- Tanzania: Like Ethiopia, Tanzania
was also involved in the first regional workshop in 1995 and is now
undertaking a national WOCAT initiative through the HIMA project, sponsored
by DANIDA. Hanspeter Liniger, Kithinji Mutunga, Will Critchley and Godert
van Lynden attended the first training workshop in June 2001, held at
Iringa. This was also a very constructive and positive workshop and
the three participants who attended the Machakos workshop complimented
WOCAT on its progress and improvement of the methodology. Here too,
various follow-up activities at different levels were identified.
Training in using WOCAT database
- Yugoslavia (Miodrag Zlatic) reports
the following progress. The new WOCAT initiative is going slowly, but
the main thing is that it exists - after crucial events in the country
happened in the recent past. It has been a time of preparation, making
contacts and trying to find out possible contributors and donors in
rather difficult conditions. Unfortunately, no reaction was yet received
from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where it was expected
to start a WOCAT initiative in a smaller part of the region. Various
meetings to discuss WOCAT are foreseen:
1.
Meeting in the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Waterpower Engineering
(contacts were established with the Department for Agriculture and the
Department for Waterpower Engineering)
2.
Meeting in the Ministry for Agriculture of Serbian Republic in Bosnia
and Herzegovina (contacts were not established directly, but through
the Ministry for Forestry).
3.
Foreign embassies will be approached for support through the NGO "Center
for Ecology and Sustainable Development".
An initial workshop is planned, awaiting
reaction of all mentioned institutions. Translating questionnaires into
Serbian is also considered, because it is a common language in the region,
especially in the former Yugoslav republics, but the main drawback is
lack of funds. Just before sending this newsletter, news was received
that the department for Water Management of the Ministry for Agriculture,
Forestry and Waterpower Management will finance initiation of the national
WOCAT programme, as a joint project with the National Watershed Management
Project. Concerning WOCAT in education, new scientific programmes and
plans are being prepared; they have to be accepted by the University.
- ICIMOD has seen the departure
of both its DG Egbert Pelinck (who attended the WWSM5 in Wageningen
in private) and the WOCAT coordinator Tej Partap (now Vice Chancellor
of a Hill Agriculture University at Palampur, India). However, new and
encouraging contacts have been established with Dr. Roger White, who
will be now coordinating WOCAT activities at ICIMOD. The new ICIMOD
DG is Dr. Gabriel Campbell. Though not being an ICIMOD publication or
initiative, a recent report we received about a study in this region
is worth mentioning. A bachelor study conducted by Heidi Ravnborg under
supervision of Dr. Jens Jensen of the Royal Veterinary & Agricultural
University in Denmark explored the "Application of the WOCAT methodology
to the assessment of sloping land management practices and development
approaches in Kumpur sub-watershed" in Nepal. The report is sometimes
critical but also quite positive about the potential of WOCAT, in particular
as a tool for self-evaluation. For further information, please contact
Dr. Jensen. At the same time we certainly welcome more information on
similar experiences with the WOCAT methodology.
- South Africa has been active
as ever. See separate copy of their
Agricultural Newsletter.
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