
(2012-04-13)Community mapping natural resources

- While visiting fishing communities to create better
awareness and understanding of fisheries-related
laws and regulations NDFA staff also took the
opportunity to gather other information from
communities that may be useful for managing
fisheries resources as well as future community
development. This was the first time any data had
been collected at the community level.
The team also took with them a large map of the coastline printed with images taken from Google Earth. This generated considerable interest since this was the first time many had seen their communities from the air. The community members then marked on the map points of interest or concern such as where traditional ‘Tara Bandu’ laws were in place, e.g. illegal fishing, crocodile areas, where whales, turtles and dolphins could commonly be found. This data was then brought together digitally and the large maps were given back to the communities.