Dr. Lilian Pintea, the Jane Goodall Institute’s vice president of conservation science, spoke today at the GeoDesign Summit about the Takare Project framework used to conserve great ape habitat in Africa. According to Pintea, GeoDesign is the only approach now possible with current human density in Africa where the areas they are working are seeing a 5% annual population growth that is putting increasing pressure on preserved habitats.
The human landscape is out of balance, and working with communities to do land use planning that is participatory and bottom-up is needed. The process started by using high resolution to help the communities make land use plans, and continue to use this as an input. When on the ground however, often a much more traditional approach is needed, as depicted in the image above.
Pintea discussed the opportunity as local communities go from traditional land management to more of a national approach for approved plans. The GeoDesign approach will have a major impact on conservation and economic development in Africa.
Here’s a short video of the Takare project.
