Browsing by Author "Mohamed, Juma"

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    Application of geographic information systems environmental impact assessment : A review of cases in Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2005) Mohamed, Juma
    Environmental impact assessment (EIA)has been given attention by most scholars, policy- makers and country legislations as an approach to sustainable development. In carrying out EIA one must understand the basic functions of the process of a wide range of environmental parameters and their relationships. Appropriate techniques to integrate these environmental parameters are required. Geographic information System (GIS) which is an integrated system of computer hardware and software capable of capturing, storing, retrieving, manipulation, analyzing and displaying geographically referenced information can offer effective information and communication instruments and can be applied in EIA stages for purpose of aiding decision making process. Despite the strengths of GIS it has not been used for EIA in Tanzania and where it does, it is limited to map production. Apart from this there is no documentation to explain the situation. Through evaluation and case study research approaches, the study intended to assess and document an extent to which GIS technology is being applied in EIA stages in Tanzania. The research Involved documentary reviews on research theme, interviews with consultants, clients and decision makers; and observations on GIS operations. The study reveals that GIS technology is used as a tool for establishing environmental baseline, communication instrument during public consultations and spatial database especially for EIA consultants. It is also used as analysis tool during scoping for determination of core impact area and areas of influence. The study further reveals that the modeling capacity of GIS is yet to be explored due to number of factors such as: low level of understanding by EIA decision makers and consultants on the role of GIS on EIA process, lack of expertise that could effectively link EIA processes and GIS, high cost of developing and operating GIS and lack of updated base maps. Also EIA itself is in infant stage in Tanzania. It is therefore recommended that awareness creation to EIA decision makers, clients and consultants on the role of GIS in EIA processes should be emphasized ; training is needed to link EIA and national GIS centre need to be established.
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    Micro and macro-modelling of environmental information systems for decision-making in Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2010) Mohamed, Juma
    Conventionally, institutions in both private and public sectors concentrate on economic gains, giving little attention on ensuring environmental concerns. The environment took a center stage in the public agenda through establishment of ‘sustainable development (SD)’ principle which is bundled with information and information systems. The SD principle has led many initiatives to open access to environmental information to all parties involved in environmental decision-making (EDM). This is due to the fact that SD requires analyses of vast amount of information about environmental condition, environmental performance as well as environmental management. Also in recent years, there has been an evolvement of a new type of system “the environmental management system (EMS)”, which is based on the international family of standards, ISO 14000. In fact, such system has created ever-growing environmental information demands. The literature survey indicates that EDM is associated with risks, information inadequacies, problems of access to and flow of information within and between organizations, lack of standardized procedures for developing and analysis of environmental data systems. They have led to, among others, fragmented environmental infornation systems (EIS). Moreover, a systematic analysis of EIS is lacking and little is known in terms of how investments in EIS contribute to improving EDM. Thus, attempts to bridge gaps between the environmental information management and analytical needs of environmental decision-makers are needed. Through a framework of soft systems methodology, this thesis aimed at developing and testing a generalized analytical EIS model for assessment, developing including operationalising environmental infornation systems to support EDM at different levels. Also the research aimed at exploring the role of EIS in EDM as well as identifying gaps between EDM and EIS. Some of the important mediating factors, which were assumed to facilitate flow of environmental information in EDM within and between organizations which constitute to model attributes are- environmental information system design, quality, usage and management. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis through structural equation modeling (SEM) were done to validate model attributes. Furthermore eight cases were used to explore EIS scope and a survey of 142 respondents from various organizations in Tanzania was used to highlight applicability of developed EIS assessment model. Significant and immediate result from this thesis is a methodological model for developing, assessing and operationalising environmental information systems. To facilitate applicability of the developed model, the thesis recommends; capacity building in environmental information mangement, standardization and harmonization of EIS, digitization of environmental databases as well as instituting EIS sustainability mechanisms. Further research extension is recommended in the area of environmental informatics, that among others, may include developing prototype models to test applicability of issues developed under this study and environmental decision support systems (EDSS).