Guwahati: A three-day capacity-building workshop on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was recently organized by the Geospatial Technology and Application Division of Aaranyak and GEF Small Grants Program (SGP), India in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
The workshop, held from November 26 to 28, at the Extension Education Institute (NE Region), AAU in Khanapara, was attended by representatives of Community-Based Organizations supported by SGP India.
The inaugural session of the workshop was graced by Dr Dipankar Saharia, Senior Director- Social Transformation & Strategic Alliance and Administrative Services and Regional Centers of TERI; Dr Bibhuti Lahkar, Program Secretary of Aaranyak; Prof Jagannath Ambagudia, Campus Director, TISS Guwahati; Manish Kumar Pandey, National Coordinator, SGP, TERI; Nandita Hazarika, SGP-OP7; Mridusmrita Devi, Head of Operations, Aaranyak and the SGP team of TERI.
The invited guests spoke on the relevance and importance of GIS/GPS for effective field data collection.
The first technical session on ‘Introduction to Maps & Map Elements’ was imparted by Arup Kumar Das, Course Coordinator and Senior Manager, Geospatial Technology and Application Division of Aaranyak. It was followed by sessions on ‘Introduction to GPS, Open-Source GIS software’ by Madhumita Borthakur, Assistant Manager, Avishek Sarkar and Shivani Khalote, GIS Analyst of the Geospatial Technology and Application Division, Aaranyak.
The participants were acquainted with GIS Data preparation in Google Earth Pro Software.
During the second day, the Aaranyak team guided the participants on proper GPS field data collection at Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary, with support from Parineeta Singh, Range Officer, Amchang Wildlife Range and Guwahati Wildlife Division.
The field visit was followed by field data download and visualization in open-source GIS software QGIS, Basecamp, and Google Earth Pro.
During the third day, GIS data preparation, Basic editing,g and Map layout were performed in the form of hands-on sessions.
The closing ceremony was attended by Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI; Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, Secretary General & CEO, Aaranyak; Dr Bordoloi, Director, EEI and Dr Dipankar Saharia.
Dr Dhawan spoke on the need of the hour for tools like GPS and GIS in the field of nature-based solutions with support from the community.
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Dr Rajumoni Bordoloi spoke on the importance of the interdisciplinary approach to conservation and the role of GIS/GPS in this field, while Dr Talukdar shared the history and rationale behind the foundation of the Geospatial Technology and Application Division of Aaranyak and the various ways in which the division has been supporting different organizations.
The training concluded with the distribution of certificates to all the participants.
