Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Implemented by the Organization of American States
Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment
for the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Caribbean Regional Program

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CDMP Progress Bulletin

Geographic Information System/Environmental Planning Assistance for the Commonwealth of Dominica

Bulletin Date: December 1999

In September 1996, the Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project (CDMP) received an earmarked allocation from USAID to assist the Commonwealth of Dominica with the further development of a forward planning capability in the national Physical Planning Unit (PPU) using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This project continues GIS development work begun under a grant from Canadian International Development Assistance (CIDA). The PPU used this activity to support an integrated multi-agency land use planning effort.

Project Objectives

In proposing this project, the Government of Dominica recognized the need for an integrated approach to development planning, with special attention to susceptibility to natural hazards and environmental impact. In recent years, the mandate of the PPU has been expanded to emphasize forward planning, development control and environmental protection. The project's aim was to build institutional capacity at the PPU to perform these new duties by providing additional GIS equipment and software, expanding the existing digital database with and providing technical assistance in map preparation. Informational meetings, a technical working group and inter-agency dialogue were incorporated to build a broader constituency for the planning process.

A series of landslides and associated landslide dams occurred in the upper Layou River valley in the fall of 1997. Response to this hazard significantly affected the project time schedule during 1998, but also provided an opportunity for applications of GIS to hazard management in Dominica. A CDMP progress bulletin on post-disaster response to the landslide dams in the Layou River valley provides more information on these activities.

Project Outcomes

Upgraded physical resources and expanded digital databases: New computer hardware and software were purchased to enable more complex modeling and problem analysis in support of development planning, environmental management and hazard mitigation. A digital elevation model of Dominica was developed as part of the workshop on GIS for network operations. Given the significance of elevation and slope to development in Dominica, this is a critical component of the national GIS database.

Public information: A series of radio and TV information programs was developed to explain the needs and purposes for physical planning in Dominica and to build support for the planning efforts of the PPU. Interagency working sessions were held for PPU staff and technical specialists. The purpose of these sessions was to review materials that are available at the PPU and present examples of GIS modeling, to encourage discussion of the needs for forward planning in Dominica.

Inter-agency GIS workshops for specialists: Focused workshops for appropriate government and non-government personnel were planned, covering the use of GIS for: network operations for power, water, telephone systems and public works; agricultural and environmental problem solving; and road location for minimization of landslide hazards. Each of these workshops includes discussions of data acquistion, problem analysis and modeling of development planning issues in Dominica.

CDMP home page: http://www.oas.org/en/cdmp/ Project Contacts Page Last Updated: 20 April 2001