The Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) has acquired the distinguished Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award from Esri Inc., the worldwide chief in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) know-how, in recognition of its progressive use of geospatial applied sciences to advance biodiversity conservation throughout Africa.
The award was introduced through the annual Esri User Conference (Esri UC) in San Diego, California, putting the Nairobi-based intergovernmental group amongst a choose group of establishments acknowledged globally for excellence in making use of GIS know-how to resolve complicated improvement and environmental challenges.
RCMRD earned the award by means of its European Union-funded Regional Centre of Excellence (RCoE), which helps biodiversity conservation, forest administration and seascape ecosystem monitoring throughout Eastern and Southern Africa. Selected from a whole lot of 1000’s of organizations worldwide, the centre was acknowledged for its management in utilizing superior mapping and spatial analytics to enhance conservation planning and decision-making.
Since its inception in 1998, the Special Achievement in GIS Award has honoured organizations that reveal excellent software of Geographic Information Systems to establish patterns, analyze information and handle urgent challenges throughout numerous sectors.
“Each year, users demonstrate how crucial mapping technology is for our connected world, where almost every critical problem we face has a geographic component,” stated Esri president Jack Dangermond. “Recognizing these organizations is an honor since they are using GIS to not only improve their own decision-making but are innovating through their work to the benefit of our whole geospatial community.”
According to RCMRD, the popularity highlights the influence of the Regional Centre of Excellence in selling geospatial innovation for biodiversity conservation and sustainable improvement all through Eastern and Southern Africa. The initiative helps biodiversity, forests and seascape ecosystems administration whereas strengthening the area’s potential to watch environmental modifications and implement conservation insurance policies.
The award additionally displays the European Union’s funding in enhancing Africa’s geospatial capabilities by supporting governments, conservation companies and improvement companions with dependable spatial information and analytical instruments.
Many nations in Eastern and Southern Africa proceed to face challenges in monitoring biodiversity, managing protected areas and reporting progress towards worldwide conservation commitments such because the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). Although massive volumes of environmental and satellite tv for pc information exist, a lot of the knowledge stays fragmented, troublesome to entry and infrequently translated into sensible decision-making.
This has restricted the area’s potential to successfully measure progress towards the worldwide goal of conserving 30 % of land and sea areas by 2030.
To bridge this hole, the Regional Centre of Excellence has developed a regional geospatial information portal that gives biodiversity maps, coverage briefs, standardized area information assortment instruments and interactive visualization platforms, together with the RCoE Map Book Gallery. The platform additionally provides spatial evaluation providers, automated nation profile updates and capacity-building programmes geared toward enhancing environmental monitoring and conservation planning.
Through these initiatives, RCMRD says it has enabled nations throughout the area to make sooner, evidence-based selections on protected and conserved areas. The programme at present helps 24 nations in monitoring ecosystems and strengthening the planning and administration of protected areas, instantly contributing to the achievement of KM-GBF Target 3.
“Our work has enhanced environmental monitoring, spatial planning, and evidence-based policy formulation for governments, conservation agencies and local communities across Eastern and Southern Africa. For nearly five decades, RCMRD has worked to strengthen Africa’s capacity to manage its own natural resources. This award affirms that geospatial innovation, built in partnership with our member states and the European Union, is delivering real impact where it matters most: on the ground, ahead of the 2030 deadline the world has set for itself,” stated Dr. Emmanuel Nkurunziza, RCMRD Director General.
The Regional Centre of Excellence operates with help from the European Union beneath the Africa Regional Centres of Excellence (ArcX) Programme, a continental initiative that contributes to the AU-EU Innovation Agenda and aligns with the European Union’s Global Gateway Strategy.
The programme promotes analysis and innovation as key drivers of sustainable improvement and focuses on 5 interconnected thematic areas: water, biodiversity, agroecology, oceans and local weather change. Together, these areas intention to strengthen ecosystem well being, enhance livelihoods and help long-term environmental sustainability throughout the continent.
This 12 months’s Special Achievement in GIS Awards acknowledged a complete of 187 organizations drawn from sectors together with authorities, protection, transportation, telecommunications, industrial business and nonprofit organizations. Esri workers nominate a whole lot of candidates yearly from all over the world, with the ultimate recipients chosen by Esri President Jack Dangermond.
Founded in Nairobi in 1975 beneath the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the previous Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), RCMRD is an intergovernmental group devoted to strengthening member states’ capability in pure useful resource administration by means of geospatial applied sciences.
The group at present serves 20 member states: Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Regional Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity, Forests and Seascapes for Eastern and Southern Africa (RCoE-ESA) is collectively applied by RCMRD and the Landscape Alliance, previously referred to as CIFOR-ICRAF, with funding from the European Union. The initiative leverages science, know-how and innovation to offer well timed, correct and complete data that helps evidence-based decision-making for sustainable administration of forests, biodiversity and seascape ecosystems throughout 24 nations within the area.
Esri, headquartered in Redlands, California, was based in 1969 and is widely known as the worldwide market chief in GIS software program, location intelligence and digital mapping. Its know-how is utilized by a whole lot of 1000’s of organizations worldwide, together with governments, Fortune 500 firms, universities and nonprofit establishments, serving to customers apply geographic evaluation to handle a few of the world’s most complicated environmental, financial and social challenges.