GIS in the Marshall Islands Building Resilience to Climate Change

Marshall Islands o North of the Equator o Population of 53,000 o Gained Independence in 1986 from the US o Micronesian Culture

Geography of RMI o 33 Atolls o 4 Islands o 2 Chains o 750,000 sq. miles EEZ o 70 sq. miles land o Ave. height above sea level 7 foot

Building GIS for Health o To reduce waterborne illnesses mapping and documenting where/when outbreaks occur and isolate the cause of illness. o Famous case of Dr. John Snow identifying that the outbreak of cholera in London in the 1840’s o A great way of understanding the spread can be used as a tool to inform the public of any potential health emergencies/outbreaks.

Building GIS for Community Based Resource Management- Reimaanlok o Involves a step-by-step guide with management tools and examples that will help establish resource management plans and community-based conservation areas that consider current and future trends (including climate change), locally and globally, that affect the islands’ resources and their sustainability. o The Namdrik Atoll Local Resources Committee, received global recognition for its outstanding efforts in sustainable development at the Rio +20 United Nation’s Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. o Process aims to gather GIS database information atoll by atoll to develop a comprehensive resource management network across RMI for future management needs and requirements.

Building GIS for Infrastructure Management o MWSC water utility do not have a comprehensive GIS database of their infrastructure and the quantities of water flowing through their systems. o GIS can map the infrastructure network and attempt to monitor the flow quantities across the network

Building GIS to Analyse Water Supply & Sanitation Methods o Census Data is revealing in that it tells us the percentage of improved water treatment methods and breaks it down into methods o However there is a need to locate the communities that need improved water treatment methods o GIS mapping of the data by household can create a picture of where to focus programs

Census GIS Mapping

Building GIS to Analyse Water Supply & Sanitation Methods o Data can be misleading by itself o 16% of households take over 30 mins round trip o However this is primarily on Ebeye, where workers in the morning head to Kwajalein US Army Base with a empty water container, and return at the end of the day with it filled to Ebeye. o This distorts the figures greatly.

Building GIS to Analyse Water Supply & Sanitation Methods o Similar to water supply, household sanitation coverage data is misleading o 29% of the population do not have improved sanitation methods o This mainly occurs in the Outer Islands where it is still common to defecate either in the water or on the land directly o However issues arise with septic coverage within the urban areas where they are often required to use the municipal piped system. o Hence coverage of septic vs. piped systems need to be mapped to visualise any trends

Building GIS to Monitor Water Quality Parameters over time o There are plans to ramp up water quality monitoring in the outer islands o However the results need to be documented to see the change over time, especially in the salinity and faecal contamination of the groundwater o The information presented back to the islanders needs to be as basic and visual as possible for them to understand o GIS can be a great tool in presenting that information

Using GIS to Enable Donor Delivery o When donors deliver projects they do their own assessment like the EU with their Rainwater Tanks program. o The EU developed a great database of the ranking the needs of households and target the most advantaged first. o However various other programs that followed could have built upon this information and delivered to the next most needed households instead they spent great money on developing their own systems o RMI needs to develop a database of rainwater tanks and required tanks in order to remain consistent in delivery in targeting the disadvantaged o It can also be used to entice further donor investments, with known requirements and outcomes

Using GIS to Build Resistance to Climate Variability o In understanding climate variability it is importing to monitor the parameters of the environment and resources whether that entails sea-level rise, air and water temperature, coastal morphology, rainfall or other parameters. o The change over time and the trends that the information gives enables greater decision making and planning for disaster risk management, climate change adaptations and resource use management practices.

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