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| Mapping philosophy & excellence |
Community mapping
To map remote Africa accurately, reliably and ecologically correct cannot be done by conventional mapping means (tracings from official maps and satellite imagery). It requires extensive GPS field mapping projects which are uneconomical. Given that Africa is constantly changing, with every rainy season and with every new local political order it will require mapping and re-mapping.
To construct an eco-map is a ground zero mission and at best the job can only be done by experienced eco-travelers, people with a passion for Africa and its preservation. There is only one way to map Africa accurately, reliably and environmentally correctly: to put the land surveying in the hands of experienced and responsible eco-travelers who know conditions at ground zero.
Common hand-held GPS units offer the functionality to store both WAYPOINTS and TRACKS. The latter is an electronic recording of the actual ‘spoor’ or ’breadcrumbs’, showing the precise roads and tracks that were traversed by the user. What is needed is an electronic VECTOR map that comprises only/strictly of GPS recorded/confirmed data. More important is to have access to a continuous stream of fresh GPS recorded data to update this map, because Africa constantly changes. There are enough GPS receivers out there and enough IT skills accompanying the many leisure trips to remote Africa to make community mapping work.
In the late 90’s environmental users began to put their GPS systems to good use. In the next 7 years 5.5 millions km of GPS recorded track data and 110,000 waypoints have been collected and processed according to the T4A quality standards. This has provided a huge set of properly warehoused data from countless leisure travels/activities into the safe reaches of Africa. This data repository is known as the "T4A vault". The data set represents the collective property of T4A data members. The "T4A data vault" cannot be sold and it cannot be employed commercially.
Cleaned, consolidated and spatially averaged the "T4A data vault" yields high quality, super accurate and reliable navigation data. This data is called the "T4A data set" and cast into a GPS map called the “T4A Map QA”. This map is returned to the T4A Community free of charge to check if their data submissions have been processed correctly. For more information on this see The red and the grey.
Based on the principles of SYNERGY and SYMBIOSIS the Tracks4Africa philosophy of MAPPING AFRICA is both ORGANIC and HOLISTIC. (Gabri Rigotti)
The 4th dimension of eco-travel
The Tracks4Africa understanding is that there are 4 dimensions to a navigational picture:
GPS waypoints offers only a 1-dimensional navigation picture.
GPS waypoints and tracks offer a 2-dimensional navigation picture.
Geo-features (river, lakes, dams, mountains, contour lines) add the 3rd dimension.
INFORMATION is the 4th dimension and the most critical aspect of the concept.
Even with the best and most accurate GPS map available, the question still remains: what INFORMATION is needed so as not to expose oneself, one’s travel companions, the vehicle and the environment, to unnecessary risk? INFORMATION needed to make informed decisions on the spot.
Overnight camping at waterholes/fountains of Damaraland (Namibia) is a NO-NO. Mother rhino and baby, having walked 30km in the heat of the desert to drink, are prevented from doing so because tourists have chosen to camp there, perhaps with the innocent (but ill advised) intent on viewing rhino or other wildlife. The rhinos then have to walk another 40km to the next waterhole only to find a similar set of tourists awaiting them. At some point the baby rhino won’t make it to the next waterhole having not been able to keep up with the mother in the driest and harshest of conditions.
The informed eco-traveler is well aware that camping at animal watering points in Kaokoland (Namibia) is a NO-NO. To take another example, Himba cattle have adapted, over the centuries, to feed as far as 35km away from water, returning to drink only every second day when heat and dehydration all but overcomes them. This return usually occurs at nightfall or even later. In such circumstances, during the last 5km when the scent of water is picked up by the cattle, the thirsty animals often stampede towards the waterhole with potentially lethal implications for any unsuspecting overnight bush campers. A recent case in point was R 40,000 damage caused to a brand new 4WD in June 2003, luckily no one was injured on this occasion.
INFORMATION is a fundamental travel need. It is the common denominator amongst responsible eco-travelers to remote Africa. Far more is the need to share information, to learn from each others’ travel experiences. It is the driving force behind internet based “Environmental User Groups” and more to come.
To provide INFORMATION and to INFORM (Jan Joubert) are the only instruments to preserve and to protect environment for future generations to do the same.
Most of the eco-destinations are outside the National Parks, Nature Reserves and protected areas and as such do not enjoy the relative benefits of research, legislation and control. Moreover many of the eco-destinations in Africa are home to historical, cultural and religious heritage, and many suffer from environmental impact on specific bio-diversities due to a wide range of leisure activities including hiking trails, mountaineering, mountain bike trails, river rafting, bird watching, flower watching, paragliding, bike trails, quad bike trails and eco-travel.
It all boils down to the fact that responsibility for protection and preservation increasingly rests with ‘Environmental Users’ themselves. It also means that the definition of ‘NAVIGATIONAL TOOLKIT’ has to be replaced by an ‘INFORMATION TOOLKIT’.
The basic problem with the current 2nd generation handheld GPS with its screen the size of a match box, is that it is very restricted to convey INFORMATION. Provided quality ECO-DATA and INFORMATION is available, the new 3rd generation of GPS receivers offers to provide en-route and on the spot INFORMATION which is not possible with 2nd generation handheld GPS receivers. What is needed in order to progress into the 4th dimension is a method of ‘data mining’ and proper data warehousing combined with a means by which this information can be made available in a user-friendly format and also to the new generation GPS technology that will convey this information whilst en route. Tracks4Africa is the number one player in this regard. |
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