Land Use Planning & Referral Systems

Presentation for the Southern Tribal Council and

Large / Unaffiliated First Nations of OntarioOctober 25, 2012

Grant GilronTechnical Solutions CoordinatorEcotrust Canada

Overview• Ecotrust Canada• Aboriginal Mapping Network (AMN)• Terratruth• The Living Atlas• Case studies• Questions & Answers

Ecotrust Canada• Mission – support the emergence of a

conservation economy• An enterprising non-profit, working at the

intersection of conservation and community economic development

Philosophy• Respect for People in place, local decision

making• Information democracy• Economy, Ecology and Equity

Approach• Provide tools to support decision making• Program Strengths:

– forestry, fisheries and other resource industries

– provide GIS, mapping, cartography services– triple bottom line business planning

Ecotrust Programs– Fisheries

• Traceability (http://thisfish.info/)• Electronic Monitoring• Fisheries Diversification Model

– Forestry / Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM)• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification• Traceability (http://thisforest.net/)• Local resource use and economic development

– Qwii-qwiq-sap: Standing tree to standing home

Ecotrust Programs– Knowledge Systems & Planning

• Skeena Habitat Mapping Project• customized database solutions• Living Atlas, Terratruth

– Community Economic Development• Cumulative Impact Assessments• Business Plan Developments• Feasibility Studies

Aboriginal Mapping Network• established in 1998 as a joint initiative of the

Gitxsan and Ahousaht First Nations and Ecotrust Canada

• mandate to support aboriginal and indigenous peoples facing similar issues (i.e. land claims, treaty negotiations and resource development)

• valuable strategic resource for practitioners of traditional knowledge mapping around the world

http://nativemaps.org/

What’s the core idea?To support communities in their efforts to track and evaluate impacts of proposed land use activities in their territories.

Who are the key players?•First Nations, external proponents, communities, municipalities, land use planners•Current Partners:Lil'wat, Haida, Okanagan Nation Alliance, Northeast Superior Forestry Community / Northeast Superior Regional Chiefs' Forum

What are the advantages of Terratruth?•Enables accessible, land use activity decision-making, by multiple non-technical users•Usable in standard web browsers•Implemented through a collaborative partnership model•Built on open source technology, resulting in low development and implementation costs

Features•User authentication (user login required for access)•Data encryption employing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)•Data-driven•Customizable reporting•Image rectification (i.e. rubber sheeting)•ESRI Shapefile upload or creation•Third party upload of proposed activity data•Meta data management•Download to Google Earth for further visualization

Technology / Application Stack•Django Web Development Framework (Python)•Postgres/PostGIS relational database back-end•OpenLayers - JavaScript library for displaying map data in web browsers•MapServer – Spatial data visualization•ExtJS (user interface widgets)

All components built with Open Source technology

http://terratruth.info/

An interactive thematic atlas focused on the changing geography of communities over time

What’s the core idea?The Atlas supports an appreciation and understanding of the Nuu-chah-nulth term 'Hishuk ish tsawalk' or 'everything is one and all is interconnected'.

This is achieved by tracking specific knowledge themes over time with different voices and information types.

Features•Web-based mapping•Data grouped by theme•Multimedia content (photos, video, stories)•Time slider displaying data chronology•User authentication (for upload of spatial data and multimedia)

An interactive thematic atlas focused on the changing geography of communities over time

Technology•Django Web Development Framework (Python)•Postgres/PostGIS relational database•OpenLayers, MapServer (WMS & WFS), jQuery•All components built with open source software

An interactive thematic atlas focused on the changing geography of communities over time

Who are the key players?•First Nations•Forestry Communities•Municipalities•Schools

An interactive thematic atlas focused on the changing geography of communities over time

Current Partners:•Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations (livingatlas.org)•Okanagan Nation Alliance (voicesontheland.org)•Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (cstc.livingatlas.org)•The Northeast Superior Forestry Community / Northeast Superior Regional Chiefs' Forum (atlas.nsfc.ca)•First Nations Technology Council of BC (atlas.kingcome.ca, atlas.tseshaht.com)

An interactive thematic atlas focused on the changing geography of communities over time

Thank you!Grant Gilron – grant@ecotrust.ca Technical Solutions Coordinator

Ecotrust Canada

Clara Lauziere – clara.lauziere@nsfc.ca General Manager

Northeast Superior Forest Community