Integrating Socio-Economic Data for Integrated Land Management (ILM): Examples from the Humber River Basin, Western Newfoundland

• Published in: GEOMATICA
• Main Authors: Eddy, Brian, Dort, Andrea
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2011
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Geography, Planning and Development; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.5623/cig2011-044; https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.5623/cig2011-044

The application of geomatics for Integrated Land Management (ILM) often focuses on analysis and modelling of bio-physical dimensions of a study area. However, data about human dimensions, such as socioeconomic conditions of communities within a region, are equally important to consider as key drivers behind various ILM scenarios. Incorporating socio-economic conditions of communities in a spatially-explicit manner presents a number of challenges due to differences in spatial frameworks associated with human and biophysical data. This paper presents an approach for integrating socio-economic data for ILM analysis that allows better geospatial alignment and integration of human and biophysical dimensions, and further allows for a more local, contextual analysis of the relationships and dependencies particular communities have with the surrounding landscape and its resources. It does this using a concept of communities as ‘human habitats’ whereby each community in a region can be analyzed in terms of how it is co-evolving and adapting with other communities in the region and with natural changes in the bio-physical landscape.