Geographic Information Systems at Iracambi

Geographic Information System

The Iracambi GIS supports our land management program

The ultimate aim of the GIS project is to build up a system that will create a full and accurate picture of the state of biodiversity conservation in the Serra do Brigadeiro Terrirory. The information will tell us where the forests are, what their state of health is, and where the critical hotspots that need priority attention lie. Our GIS will not only help the Territory plan its conservation activities, but will also serve as a basis for future decisions on land use amongst both individual and community land users. It is our aim, in time, to make the system the on-line accessible database of all geographic information for the the nine municípios (counties) that make up the Serra do Brigadeiro Development Territory.

Ongoing work

Maintaining GIS disc structure.
Making sure that the GIS is used where relevant in all the research projects.
Assisting researchers and volunteers with maps and GIS.
Improving the existing GIS data.
Deciding what work needs to be done mapping the local area.
Writing materials to make our GIS as user friendly as possible for a variety of different users.

Current priorities

Working on our land management planning projects;
Find funds for the next phase of the GIS project;
Develop an on-line system for the Development Territory.

Skills and expertise needed

Advance skills in use of ArcView
Degree or professional experience in GIS
Fluent in Portuguese and/or English

Time frame

This is a project that can be worked on all year round.

Project update

We have finished taking points in the local area to be used in geo-referencing our aerial photographs. This means that we should soon have aerial photography of the area we work in. The folder structure has been updated to make it more user friendly. Themes have been tidied up and organised.

Day in the life

Hi everyone. My name is Anders, I have been volunteering at Iracambi for almost two months now, being occupied with GIS tasks. At present, the Iracambi GIS (I-GIS) consists of basic data like elevation, streams, buildings and infrastructure in the conservation area. Also, five years of research work has provided digital geographical data on, for instance, forest fragments, landuse and biodiversity subjects. Through further work with the maps and mapping, the I-GIS will be a yet greater tool for future researchers and volunteers visiting Iracambi.

My task here at Iracambi has been to improve the GIS. The problem for the Iracambi GIS has been the lack of GIS expert volunteers, so that the GIS here was not in a state which pleases a map-man. In detail, the faults includes poor topology, lack of important attributes as date and accuracy, duplicate files, poor naming of files and a badly organised disc structure. I have tried to tidy up all this a bit, and I am writing guidelines for future researchers and volunteers on how to use the GIS, as well as how they can add their research work onto the Iracambi GIS. If you want more information, you can read about the GIS in other sections of the website.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying to volunteer on this project, you need to e-mail us on iracambi@iracambi.com with an up to date copy of your CV/Resume and give us the following details:

How do you feel you can benefit the project?
What interests you about our project?
What relevant experience and interests do you have?
What other interests do you have?
What expectations do you have from your time here?
What language skills do you have?
What date are you planning to come to Iracambi and how long are you going to stay?
How did you find out about Iracambi?

We look forward to hearing from you soon.