Methods & Tools

Geo-based solutions are considered essential cross-cutting elements for integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to operationalise the action areas. Geo-based solutions help improve operational efficiency by promoting communication and collaboration as well as support inter-disciplinary approach by way of integration of social, economic and environmental parameters and analyse them in a common GIS platform. Given the heterogeneity and complexities of mountains, Geo-Information (GI) and Earth Observation (EO) applications and decision support systems would need to be highly adaptive in order to incorporate the required sensitivity. The relevance of GI and EO sciences and applications for mountain development, especially in disaster preparedness and mitigation and in the evolving context of climate change adaptation and mitigation can be demonstrated and made obvious only when appropriate applications and decision support systems are tailored to mountain situations.

As the potential of decision support systems (DSS) becomes increasingly obvious, there is a growing interest to explore the possibility of diverse applications of such tools. GIS application in environmental management and planning is an obvious DSS application, particularly in regard to environmental impact assessment (EIA) and disaster mitigation. The operation of such systems requires high resolution dataset and very high demands on the decision rules imposed by the government. EIA procedures may be country specific but overall procedures are more or less similar worldwide. It is important that an EIA is not just considered as a part of the project approval activity but should be linked with social, economic and environment protection to choose the best alternative solutions for development. For this GIS based application can be extremely useful tool for the assessment.