Sattellite Imagery vs. PDA Data

An interesting BBC article on the the first international forum for indigenous peoples highlights the use of gis to preserve indigenous rainforest or pygmy communities. The DLH group which created the specialized non-expert user software and ruggedized PDA’s for the project have an interesting article on the project. Data is captured when a user touches “a recognizable symbol on the specially configured touch-screen of the handheld computer, for instance, every time they encounter a sacred tree, a burial site or a special tree with many caterpillars which make up an important protein
substitute in their diet.The exact GPS position is then stored in the PDA to eventually produce a complete overview for the community of its resources. The community owns the intellectual rights to the maps completely and are put in charge of the mapping process themselves. This then allows them to enter into negotiations with CIB to secure their livelihoods.” The original project won a world bank award in 2005. What is also intereseting is that according to the New Agriculturist “These areas are all seemingly devoid of human habitation as the satellite imaging fails to register such low level human activity deep in the forest”