Integration of local participatory and regional planning for resources management using remote sensing and GIS

With the introduction of participatory approaches in development programs, it has become essential for planners to build and implement land use strategies based on the objectives, perceptions and knowledge of local people. Despite the richness of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) information used in the planning process, efficient geographic information gathering and relevant spatial analytical tools necessary to support the negotiation among the stakeholders are lacking. Besides, methods are needed to allow a harmonious integration between the local participatory and regional planning, so as to impulse a bottom land use planning process.

It was the aim of this study to develop a method for a rational integration of local participatory land use planning and regional planning for sustainable resources management. It combined participatory land use planning methods based on participatory rural appraisal, with technical methods using geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing. It was based on a case study of a participatory land use planning implemented in the province of Houet in South-western Burkina Faso.

Chapter 1 gives a general introduction to the thesis. It analyses the foundations and context of participatory land use planning in Burkina Faso, and formulates the motivation, objectives and scope of the research.

Chapter 2 investigates a method contributing at linking PRA and GIS. Information collected through participatory surveys was used as GIS input for spatial analysis in a village land use planning. For this, the main factors determining the definition of the land management units relevant to all the stakeholders involved the participatory land use planning were identified and discussed. The chapter analyses the relevance of these factors for mapping the management units with a GIS. PRA data was used to understand land use strategies and identify the different factors influencing the definition of the local management units for further analysis in the GIS.

Chapter 3 develops a spatial approach for integrating local participatory land management information into regional planning, contributing to a bottom-up approach to land use planning. For coherently linking these two levels of planning a bi-directional approach has been proposed. It was capable of operating a spatial transformation of the information issued at one level, to serve as input at the other level. It was based on principles of geo-data abstraction procedure developed in spatial data handling theory. With such procedure, it was possible to determine the impact of different socio-cultural and economic factors (tenure regimes, labour shortage and time constraints) on the implementation of land management activities using PRA tools. Similarly in the downward way, it was possible to identify the areas where the impact of regional activities might have a negative impact on the implementation of local planning processes.

Chapter 4 proposes an expert system as a mean of integrating the local perceptions and knowledge in order to map land degradation at a regional scale. The expert system combined the knowledge of local people (used as expert knowledge) together with biophysical, socio-economical and cultural data organized as GIS layers to classify land degradation areas at regional level using Bayesian probability rules. To validate the expert system, the a priori probabilities used to build the expert rule were determined with the villager during PRA surveys conducted in sample villages. An accuracy test of the expert system using participatory ground truth mapping data collected in an independent sample set of 50 villages, gave an overall accuracy of 82%.

Chapter 5 evaluates the state of the degradation of the local villages territories from a regional perspective. The map produced by the expert system was compared with maps created by a nutrient balance model and a vegetation trend mapping model using NOAA satellite image data. The expert system was used to develop different scenarios allowing to predict different figures of land degradation. These scenarios were based on the objectives determined by the local farmers in the framework of their participatory land use plans. According to the results, the scenario of environmental conservation reflected better the state of land degradation as perceived by the local population.

Chapter 6 Links PRA and GIS for conflict risk mapping in bottom-up land use planning. In this chapter an approach for determining the main causal and predictive factors of conflicts in the study area, based on both interpretative and prescriptive analyses, is was proposed. It used a stakeholder analysis to identify the main stakeholders and their interests, which served as basis for proposing a typology of the main conflicts using multiple keys. The conflicts as perceived by the local people were examined to derive the main causes using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and questionnaire data. The study showed that the local population perceived the population pressure as the main cause of the conflict over the use of the natural resources This factor was used to create a conflict risk index on agricultural lands and a conflict risk index on pastoral lands, which were used to map the potential areas at risk of conflict at a regional scale. A regression model was run, allowing testing the hypothesis that: conflicts are functions of the competition (for land), the insecurity in land rights, and the absence of authority (weak institutional representation and policy instruments).

Finally the thesis uses a SWOT analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) as a means of evaluating the different methods developed in the study. It derives the potential contributions to local participatory land use planning and draw the implications for regional policy and planning. In many aspects, the study gave answers to some important conceptual and methodological questions in the participatory GIS research agenda, such as how to link PRA and GIS. The hybrid system development methodology used in the study offered the advantage of really merging together indigenous knowledge with outsiders' expertise and scientific skills It allowed to develop an information system capable of handling land use and land management issues as perceived by both local and development partners. In this respect the approach and methods used in the study could be an important contribution to the success of the Programme National de Gestion des Terroirs (PNGT) in Burkina Faso, by providing a framework for a harmonious integration between the local participatory and regional levels of planning.